Arsenal stuns Barcelona to win the Women’s Champions League

LISBON, Portugal >> Red-and-white streamers exploded into the air as Arsenal lifted its second Women’s Champions League trophy after stunning defending champion Barcelona 1-0 in the final on Saturday.

Tough defense and a goal by Stina Blackstenius in the 75th minute from a pass by fellow second-half substitute Beth Mead powered Arsenal to glory at Estádio José Alvalade.

Arsenal’s title came 18 years after it became the first — and still the only — English club to win the top club title in women’s soccer.

Arsenal’s players embraced on the final whistle and ran to celebrate in front of the corner of the stands where their supporters reveled in the shock result.

“We had to be basically perfect to beat Barcelona,” Arsenal captain Kim Little said. “Our players who came on today had an incredible impact.”

Novak Djokovic clinches his 100th career singles title at Geneva Open

GENEVA >> Novak Djokovic made more tennis history by winning a 100th career singles title on Saturday and his first in a city that is special to his family.

Djokovic finally reached his century after rallying to beat Hubert Hurkacz 5-7, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) in more than three hours in the Geneva Open final. He lost his two previous finals since his 99th title win nine months ago at the Paris Olympics at Roland-Garros.

He joins tennis greats Jimmy Connors, who has a record 109 titles, and Roger Federer on 103 as the only men with a century of tournament wins in the Open era.

The 100th followed a typically tough and hard-working match, two days after his 38th birthday and surrounded by his family in the Swiss city where some relatives reside.

“I’m just grateful to clinch the 100 here,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview. “I had to work for it, that is for sure.”

His wife and children joined him in Geneva to celebrate his birthday after cutting a day off school, Djokovic quipped, also revealing another reason why he grabbed a late wild-card entry into the last clay-court warmup for the French Open.

The lakeside city is home to a much-loved aunt and uncle, and cousins including one who recently gave birth to a baby the Djokovics really wanted to meet.

Mexican rider Del Toro extends Giro lead beyond a minute after rivals slowed by crash

NOVA GORICA, Slovenia >> Overall leader Isaac Del Toro gained chunks of time on many of his biggest rivals who were slowed by a crash in the wet and slippery 14th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday.

Kasper Asgreen of Denmark, who got into an early breakaway, won the mostly flat stage all on his own.

Del Toro, the first Mexican rider to wear the pink jersey, finished in the second group 16 seconds behind.

But Del Toro’s UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso, 2023 champion Primoz Roglic and top-placed Italian Antonio Tiberi all finished further behind.

“We wanted to be ahead in case accidents like that happen or there are splits in the group,” said Del Toro, who is challenging for a Grand Tour victory for the first time.

He entered the stage 38 seconds up on Ayuso and improved his lead to 1 minute, 20 seconds over Simon Yates. Ayuso dropped to third, 1:26 behind; 2019 champion Richard Carapaz was fourth, 2:07 behind; and Roglic trailed by 2:23 in fifth.

— The Associated Press