Carlos Alcaraz became the first player since Rafael Nadal to repeat as Barcelona Open champion on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

It was the third title won this year by the 19-year-old Spaniard, and the ninth of his career.

Alcaraz closed the final at the Rafa Nadal center court with a forehand winner for his fifth consecutive straight-set win at the tournament this year.

The second-ranked Spaniard had not successfully defended a title in his career before Sunday. Nadal was the last player to win consecutive titles in Barcelona with three straight from 2016-18. Alcaraz will also try to defend his title at this week’s Madrid Open.

He is now 23-2 for the year. His other titles this season came at Buenos Aires and Indian Wells.

Alcaraz was playing in his fourth final in five tournaments this year, winning it with 26 winners and seven unforced errors.

He and Tsitsipas exchanged breaks early in the first set but Alcaraz eventually took control to comfortably secure his fourth consecutive win over the fifth-ranked Greek. He had also beaten Tsitsipas in the Barcelona quarterfinals last year.

The 24-year-old Tsitsipas was trying to win his first title in Barcelona after twice losing the final to Nadal in 2018 and 2021. He was looking for his first title of the year.

• Iga Swiatek defended her Porsche Tennis Grand Prix title with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Aryna Sabalenka in Stuttgart, Germany.

Swiatek saved the only break point she faced and took two of her six opportunities to win her 13th title overall in 1 hour, 50 minutes. It was her third successful title defense after Rome last year and Doha this year.

Sabalenka had reached the Stuttgart final for the third year in a row. She was beaten by the world No. 1 on each occasion, losing to Ashleigh Barty in 2021, then Swiatek last year and this.

This year the Belarussian was appearing as the world No. 2-ranked player. It was the first time the world’s top two met in a WTA singles final since then-No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki defeated Simona Halep for the 2018 Australian Open title.

• Holger Rune defended his BMW Open title with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (3) win over Botic van de Zandschulp in the final in Munich.

Kiptum blazes to win in London Marathon

Kelvin Kiptum collapsed to the ground after winning the London Marathon and recording the second fastest time in history over the distance.

The 23-year-old Kenyan set the course record with a time of 2 hours, 1 minute, 25 seconds, missing out on Eliud Kipchoge’s world record by 16 seconds.

In the women’s race, Sifan Hassan completed a stunning comeback to win on her marathon debut after appearing to be injured part way through.

In what was long distance great Mo Farah’s final marathon, defending champion Amos Kipruto and world champion Tamirat Tola were also among the elite men’s field that Kiptum left behind.

Farah, 40, finished ninth with a time of 2:10:28.

Hassan won the women’s elite race in dramatic fashion in what was billed as possibly the strongest field ever.

The Ethiopian-born Dutch athlete triumphed despite falling off the pace and clutching her hip around the 15-mile mark.

The 30-year-old 5,000 and 10,000-meter Olympic champion then reeled in the leaders with three miles to go.

Hassan pulled away from Alemu Megertu and reigning Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir in a sprint finish along The Mall, coming home in 2:18:33.

Women’s world record holder Brigid Kosgei was forced to pull out after around 3 minutes.

The Kenyan runner, who holds the women’s record of 2:14:04, limped to the sidewalk. She then bent down to untie the laces on her running shoes and signalled that her race was over.

Long Beach State, UCLA on to NCAAs

UCLA and Long Beach State will head to Fairfax, Virginia next week for the NCAA men’s volleyball tournament at George Mason University.

UCLA (29-2) enters as the No. 1 seed for the tourney after winning the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title, while Long Beach State (20-4) earned a wild-card bid after tying Hawaii for the Big West regular-season title.

Other teams in the tourney are No. 2 seed Hawaii (28-2), winner of the Big West Tournament title; Grand Canyon (20-7) as a wild card out of the MPSF; and Penn State (26-3), Ohio State (22-9) and King University of Tennessee (16-15).

Long Beach State will meet Grand Canyon at 5 p.m. on May 2, the winner advancing to a semifinal match against UCLA on May 4.

— Bob Keisser

Blazing Sevens out of Kentucky Derby

Blazing Sevens has been withdrawn from the Kentucky Derby, allowing Jace’s Road into the 20-horse field for the 149th running on May 6 at Churchill Downs.

The Chad Brown-trained colt was tied for 17th with 46 points after his third-place finish in the Grade 1 Blue Grass at Keeneland on April 8.

Jace’s Road (45 points) gives Louisville-born trainer Brad Cox four Derby entries, with third-place Angel of Empire (154), Hit Show (60) and Verifying (54), which finished 5¾ lengths ahead of Blazing Sevens in the Blue Grass. Jace’s Road has two wins in six starts, including the Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds in December, and is coming off his second third-place run in the Louisiana Derby on March 25.

Barcelona ends skid, closes in on title

In a slump and facing the hottest team in Spain, Barcelona came through with an important win for its title hopes and quelled any fears of a late collapse.

Barcelona ended a three-game winless streak — and Atletico Madrid’s 13-game unbeaten run — with a 1-0 win to stay on track for its first Spanish league title in four years. The home win restored the team’s comfortable 11-point lead over Real Madrid with eight rounds remaining.

The victory also halted a six-game winning streak by Atletico, which lost ground to Madrid in the fight for second place.

Ferran Torres scored a 44th-minute winner at Camp Nou to end Barcelona’s recent problems.

It hadn’t scored in three straight games after being humiliated at home by Madrid 4-0 in the Copa del Rey semifinals and held to scoreless draws against modest league opponents in Girona and Getafe.