CNN
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Iga Świątek came from a set and a break down against Elena Rybakina to extend her winning run at the French Open, prevailing 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Sunday.

Three-time defending champion Świątek has now recorded 25 consecutive main draw wins at Roland-Garros, with Chris Evert the only woman in the Open Era to have more on 29.

She was made to work hard for it against former world No. 3 Rybakina, who battled hard to cause a huge upset on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Having raced into a 5-0 lead before wrapping up the opening set in just 35 minutes, Rybakina won the first eight points of the second set to put her in full control of the fourth-round contest.

But Świątek rallied in the second part of the match, edging out Rybakina in a tight deciding set to continue her hunt for a sixth grand slam title and fifth at the French Open.

“I was feeling pretty bad (at the start of the match), so I was kind of accepting that I can lose it,” Świątek later told reporters. “But it didn’t change the fact that I wanted to fight for it anyway.”

The world No. 5 will next play 13th seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals after the Ukrainian beat last year’s runner-up Jasmine Paolini on Sunday.

Having won in straight sets across the opening three rounds of the tournament, Świątek faced her first real test of this year’s French Open against Rybakina. She saved 10 break points over the course of the match, only edging in front in the final stages of the deciding set.

It was a gutsy, rather than an accomplished, victory for the Polish star. She made an uncharacteristic seven double faults during the match, including three in one game in the second set.

But in the context of her title defense, this sort of victory might feel more significant than the many routine wins she has had in Paris.

“I think I needed that kind of win … That I’m able to win under pressure, and even if it’s not going the right way, still turn the match around to win it,” Świątek said.

“For sure, it’s a great confirmation for me. Obviously, it’s great to also have full control over the match, but against great players, it’s not always going to be possible. I’m happy that I fought and also problem-solved on court.”

Another defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz, also overcame a challenging opponent to reach the quarterfinals, defeating American 13th seed Ben Shelton 7-6(8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Alcaraz had to save three set points to avoid handing Shelton the early lead, and he then faced six break points in the first game of the second set, only to survive and get a break of his own at 4-3.

Although Shelton had a glimmer of hope when he took the third set, the Spaniard hit back in the fourth, once again demonstrating his supremacy on clay to secure his 100th victory on the surface.

Coming into the tournament off the back of wins in Monte-Carlo and Rome, Alcaraz is looking to capture his fifth grand slam title and second at the French Open. On Tuesday, he faces American Tommy Paul for a spot in the final four.

CNN
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The Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks 125-108 to win the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals in six games and advance to the franchise’s first NBA Finals since 2000.

It was another hard fought battle between two teams with a storied past that was a tight game until the Pacers pulled away in the final quarter. Just like most of the playoffs, the duo of Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton led the way for Indiana, finishing with 31 points and 21 points respectively.

It was Siakam’s third game this series with at least 25 points which garnered him the Larry Bird Trophy – awarded to the MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals.

“It’s been such an amazing experience for me so far,” Siakam told the TNT Sports broadcast about his time in Indy. “From the first day I landed here like the love has been amazing. … First class organization. I’m just so happy to be here. I mean tonight, after a bad Game 5, we wanted to bounce back, I have like 100% belief in my teammates. Whenever we are down, we always find a way.”

The game also marked a historic moment for the broadcast; the Pacers victory was the last game in the long-standing relationship between the NBA and TNT. While “Inside the NBA” will continue on ESPN, the NBA on TNT ended at the culmination of the Eastern Conference finals.

Both teams kept it close in the first half, trading baskets despite the Knicks’ turnover issues that plagued them the whole game.

It was a quick 9-0 run from three consecutive 3-pointers to open the third quarter that made the difference for a fast-paced Pacers squad.

From there, the crowd on hand at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which featured WNBA star Caitlin Clark, roared the Pacers to the very end.

Haliburton said he was “really proud” of the way his team played.

“We had a tough showing last game as a group so we wanted to respond. We did a great job at that,” Haliburton told the TNT Sports broadcast.

“I don’t even have words. It’s really exciting. We will enjoy this one for now and theres a lot more work to do against a really tough team. Just really proud of this group.”

It was a tough night for the Knicks All-Star duo of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Brunson added 19 points.

New York struggled with the pestering Indiana defense, leading to 17 turnovers as a team. Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard had a game-high six steals.

Despite the Knicks appearing to inch their way back into the game multiple times, Indiana proved to be too much to handle as New York’s attempt to become the 14th team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 series deficit fell painfully short.

The Knicks, who haven’t won a title since 1973, let alone advance to the Finals since 1999, again were eliminated by a team they consider one of their greatest rivals.

The two teams met in the playoffs eight times in their histories including six in eight years between 1993-2000. Last year, Indiana defeated New York in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, setting an NBA record for the best field goal percentage ever in an NBA game, converting 67.1% of their shots.

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau pointed to all the adversity the team faced this season with injuries and late additions to the rotation when asked how they can take the next step and get to a Finals.

“I’m proud of what these guys did,” Thibodeau told reporters. “There was a lot that we had to get through and I thought we handled that part well. … A lot of moving parts but they kept fighting and moving forward. And I’ve got great respect for that.”

The 28-year-old Brunson didn’t mince his words about another loss to the Pacers, saying it “sucked” but expressed the confidence in how the team will rebound in the future.

“The most confidence. Overconfident. Seriously. There’s not an ounce of any type of doubt that I’m not confident with this group,” Brunson said.

Towns added that the moves the Knicks have made were to “win.”

“It hurts not to bring an opportunity to the city for a championship,” Towns said. “We got a bunch of great guys in that locker room and we hope to – the plan now is to put ourselves in this position again and succeed next time.”

The Pacers face a tall task next, playing the NBA’s best regular season team – the Oklahoma City Thunder, playing in their second-ever Finals appearance – which starts on Thursday at the Paycom Center.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN
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Welcome to Trendlines, your weekly installment of what’s trending up and what’s trending down in sports.

This week we’re talking about the sport of baseball and who is really America’s team. We’re trained to think America’s baseball team is the Yankees given all of their success in the 20th century.

But that was the past, and this is now.

The reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers are who we’re talking about now.

So let’s start with a big upswing.

Baseball differs from football in that baseball is far more regionalized. Even the best teams’ games aren’t usually put on national television.

Google searches, however, allow us to capture the national sentiment of a team. More people are searching for the Dodgers on Google this May than any other dating back since 2004 (when Google started tracking searches).

The Dodgers aren’t just beating their own records, though. They’re also beating the Yankees, who have traditionally been a top team in Google searches and had beaten the Dodgers in search traffic in every May before this one.

And yes, the Dodgers are beating the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Rams in Google searches as well. They’re clearly the top of their state and town, too.

One of the things I always talk about with Google searches is I liked to see them backed up in the real world and not just on the computer screen.

That’s definitely the case with the Dodgers. They’re drawing more than 50,000 fans to their average home game so far this season. The Yankees are the next closest, and they’re pulling in fewer than 43,000 fans per home game.

Indeed, no team has pulled in at least 50,000 fans per home game since the Yankees and New York Mets did it in 2008. We’re talking about nearly 20 years ago.

The Dodgers themselves have never averaged at least 50,000 fans per game. If the Dodgers continue at their current pace, they’ll top the 4 million mark for total attendance for the first time ever in their history.

Being able to get your home fans to come out is one thing. Getting fans on the road is something else entirely.

This is something the Yankees have continuously done well. Whether it be from fans traveling from Los Angeles or having a fan base so large that fans in opponents’ cities come out for you, road attendance is a way to understand broad appeal.

This year, the Dodgers are beating the pace they set last season through 29 road games when they eventually became the first team since the 2008 season to average more than 36,000 fans per road game.

The Yankees, for comparison, are pulling in only about 31,000 on average, even when you don’t count games played in minor league stadiums (the Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays) or early season games played in cold weather Detroit. Counting those games, the Yankees have averaged fewer than 25,000 coming out for their road games.

The bottom line is the Dodgers are America’s baseball team, not the Yankees. They’ve actually won a World Series in the last 15 years, have greater fan interest and more fans coming out to their games.

Of course, the Yankees will see a big boost this weekend for their road attendance as they visit the Dodgers. Now, that’s good baseball.