American Sloane Stephens recorded her fourth successive win over former world number one Victoria Azarenka to advance to the round of 16 at the Madrid Open.

The 26-year-old world number eight was broken twice as Azarenka, now ranked 52, took the match to a deciding set.

Belarusian Azarenka, 29, spurned two break points at 1-1 and Stephens won 6-4 2-6 6-2 in two hours, six minutes.

Stephens will face the winner of Tuesday's match between China's Zheng Saisai and Alize Cornet of France.

Defending champion Petra Kvitova thwarted a fightback from world number 63 Kristina Mladenovic to go through 6-3 7-6 (7-5) in an hour and 55 minutes.

The Czech second seed, chasing a fourth title on the Caja Magica clay, will face wild card Sorana Cirstea or Caroline Garcia in the last 16.

Seventh seed Kiki Bertens and 12th-ranked Anastasija Sevastova recorded straight-set victories over Jelena Ostapenko and Mihaela Buzarnescu respectively.

In the men's doubles, Britain's Kyle Edmund, who plays 10th seed Fabio Fognini in the singles on Tuesday, teamed up with Liverpudlian Neal Skupski to beat French pair Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon 6-2 6-3.

Britain's Dom Inglot, partnering India's Rohan Bopanna, lost in straight sets, while Joe Salisbury, in partnership with American Rajeev Ram, also went out, losing the deciding set 11-9 against Argentine duo Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos.

Meanwhile second seed Rafael Nadal, who faces highly-rated teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday, pulled out of his media conference with a stomach bug.

Ospreys and Scarlets might have to wait until the end of May to play-off for a place in the European Champions Cup.

It has also emerged that Ospreys could qualify automatically with Cardiff Blues facing Scarlets instead.

That could happen if Leinster beat Saracens in this season's Champions Cup final on 11 May AND the last four in the second-tier Challenge Cup all qualify through their domestic leagues.

It follows a "clarification" by Pro14 administrators.

Ospreys are due to host Scarlets on Saturday, 18 May (19:45 BST), and that match will go ahead if Saracens beat Leinster in the Champions Cup final.

But it would be delayed until after 25 May - with the play-off match being played on Wednesday, 29 May - if Leinster win.

And it could between Cardiff Blues and Scarlets with Ospreys qualifying automatically if the Pro14 gets an eighth qualifying place as a result of Leinster success.

It boils down to the way the 20th place in the Champions Cup is allocated and the Pro14 being split into two conferences instead of one league table.

The Pro14 has seven places in the Champions' Cup - six for the teams who finish in the top three of its two conferences and a seventh decided by a play-off between the teams which finish fourth.

An eighth would be allocated if Leinster win the Champions Cup and the four Challenge Cup semi-finalists - Clermont Auvergne, La Rochelle, Harlequins and Sale Sharks - clinch top six league positions in their domestic leagues.

All are currently in contention to qualify.

However, the regular English Premiership season does not finish until 18 May and the French Top 14 on 25 May.

Wales may have to wait

Wales' World Cup preparations could be affected by any delay.

The 42-man training squad are due to report for duty four weeks after playing their final matches of the domestic season.

That was due to be 27 May for Dragons and Blues players, and 18 June for Ospreys and Scarlets.

It could now be as late as the end of June with more than half Warren Gatland's training squad made up of Scarlets and Ospreys players.

For the latest Welsh rugby news follow @BBCScrumV on Twitter.

CONWAY, Ark. – The COMP Cams Super Dirt Series presented by Lucas Oil is set to make history this week.

The tour will sanction its richest stand-alone event in its 13-year history. The record-setting feat will be made as the tour embarks on the eighth annual Bad Boy 98 at Mooney Starr’s Batesville Motor Speedway in Arkansas.

“This is the richest, standalone weekend in the history of the COMP Cams Super Dirt Series, and we couldn’t be more excited,” COMP Cams Super Dirt Series CEO Chris Sullivan said. “There’s a lot of buzz among racers and fans. This is a must-see event, and it’s a really proud moment for our series. There’s some major money on the line, and best of all, the weekend features two complete shows.”

The eighth annual Bad Boy 98 is headlined by a $5,000-to-win/$500-to-start program on Friday night. The ante ramps up on Saturday evening, when the purse is increased to $15,000 to win and $1,000-to-start.

Bad Boy Motorsports CEO Bill Hurst is pleased to see a new, two-race format for the Bad Boy 98

“We are really excited with the new format of the two shows with a 30- lap feature on Friday night and a 68-lap feature on Saturday night to total 98 laps,” Hurst commented.

Former champions of the Bad Boy 98 include Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, John Blankenship and Scott Bloomquist.

With three events completed this year, Billy Moyer leads the way in the COMP Cams Super Dirt Series standings. However, since Moyer isn’t a paid series member, second-place runner Tony Jackson Jr. is currently the Midwest Sheet Metal Marked Man point leader for the series entering this weekend’s events. Kyle Beard, B.J. Robinson, Hunter Rasdon, Morgan Bagley, Scott Crigler, Gavin Landers, Timothy Culp, Brian Rickman, Charlie Cole, David Payne and Sawyer Crigler, Robert Baker, Chad Mallett, and Jon Mitchell round out the latest standings.

Scott Crigler enters the upcoming weekend as the Midwest Sheet Metal Rookie of the Year point leader. Charlie Cole and Chad Mallett round out the point’s battle.

On Thursday night an open practice session is slated from 7 p.m. to 10  p.m.

Friday night’s program finds the COMP Cams Super Dirt Series contingent competing in a $5,000-to-win, 30-lap event. IMCA Modifieds, Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Front Wheel Drives will contest a complete program.

On Saturday evening the COMP Cams Super Dirt Series competes in it’s richest single-day event in series history. A $15,000-to-win/$1,000-to-start, 68-lap finale is on tap. Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks will also be on the evening’s card.

DOVER, Del. – It may have taken an extra day due to weather, and he may have had to start at the rear, but Martin Truex Jr. made winning the Gander RV 400 at Dover Int’l Speedway look easy on Monday.

Truex didn’t take command of the race until the last lap of the second stage, thanks to inspection failures that relegated him to the back of the grid, but once he got to the front the No. 19 Toyota Camry was untouchable.

The Mayetta, N.J., native and 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion led 132 of the final 161 laps en route to his second win of the year, third at Dover and 21st of his career.

Notably, Truex’s first Cup Series win in 2007 came on a Monday at Dover after a weather postponement. Twelve years later, he found himself back in victory lane at the one-mile concrete oval in similar fashion.

“To be back here in victory lane at this place feels incredible; I’m so thankful for this team,” said Truex. “What a race car we had today. We came here with a new setup this time, because we had kind of an older setup that we won with in 2016, but lately it’s just been good here and not quite good enough. Today, it was a lot of work and it was tough, but it was good enough. This race car was incredible

“It’s pretty special with a new group of guys to now have two wins together,” Truex continued. “I’m really, really proud to drive these (Joe Gibbs Racing) Toyotas.”

Truex started 33rd on Monday but took just 86 of the 400 laps to pass 25 cars, finding himself solidly in eighth before a late yellow and subsequent pit strategy shuffled him back to 12th at the first stage break.

He didn’t stay there long, however.

Truex methodically worked his way forward during the second 120-lap stage, and by lap 195, was around Kyle Larson and into the top five, where he would remain for virtually the rest of the day.

Traffic allowed him to close even further, and with 11 laps to go – as leaders Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick fought lap traffic – Truex made it his mission to pounce. He slipped past Elliott for third with 12 to go in the second stage and powered around Harvick and into second eight laps later.

From there, Truex applied pressure on Bowman until the latter overdrove turn one on the final lap of the second stage, opening up the bottom and allowing Truex to cruise to the stage victory.

Once the final stage went green with 151 to go, only a round of green-flag pit stops with 80 to go kept Truex from leading the entire way. He dropped to pit lane on lap 320, taking four tires and letting the strategy for the rest of the field play out, while he waited in the wings to reclaim command for good.

Daniel Suarez, who pitted on lap 266 and could go longer on fuel than many of the frontrunners, cycled to the point on lap 327 and paced the field for 21 straight circuits, but his strategy gave up the ghost with 53 to go, giving Truex a lead he would never relinquish again.

Truex took the checkered flag in front by 9.501 seconds over Bowman, who also had to start from the rear but came through the field much like Truex did before earning his second-straight runner-up finish.

After climbing from his car, Bowman cracked a smile but was quick to note the physicality of the race.

“I’m worn out. This is physically the hardest race of the year,” he said. “I wish I had been in Martin’s way at the end of the race, but it just wasn’t meant to be there. We at least had a shot at it and congrats to them, because they ran a great race.

“This (No.) 88 team had a miserable start to the season, but we did a really good job resetting during the off week and we’ve come out strong since then,” Bowman added. “I’m proud of this one, for sure.”

Larson finally warded off the bad luck that has plagued him for most of the season to notch his first top-five finish of the year in 11 Cup Series starts, finishing third ahead of Harvick.

Polesitter Elliott crossed the line fifth after starting from the pole and leading a race-high 145 laps.

Erik Jones, Joey Logano, William Byron, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Larson completed the top 10.

Busch’s 10th-place finish matched Morgan Shepherd’s 1990 campaign for the most-consecutive top-10 finishes to start a Cup Series season in history, with 11 such results in the first 11 races.

JOLIET, Ill — Former Chicago-area midget racer Roger West passed away on Saturday, May 4 at the age of 78.

Suffering from health issues in recent years, West was the 1967 United Auto Racing Ass’n champion before going on to United States Auto Club midget competition and a try at the Indianapolis 500.

In 1967 West won the UARA title, defeating Bob Richards and Bill Kollman for the championship.  West won two UARA compact sprint features along the way.  He jumped into Dick Herath’s No. 22 at Joliet Memorial Stadium on July 15 and won a 75-lap championship race.  Later in the season, West was behind the wheel of his regular Bob Corson-owned ride, scoring a victory on the dirt at Peotone, Ill., on Aug. 25.

West finished 43rd in UARA points standings in his rookie year in 1963. He was 25th in the standings in 1964 and 11th in 1965. Highlights of the 1965 racing season were two trophy dash victories at the Mazon Speed Bowl over the Labor Day weekend in Joe Mogis’ Falcon-powered No. 95. West ended up sixth in UARA points in 1966, scoring his first career feature win on the flat, quarter-mile, Joliet oval on July 23, 1966, besting Willie Wilson and George Kladis.  West would win three straight at Joliet in Bob Corson’s Chevy-powered No. 15 midget.

West won six career USAC midget feature races – winning for the first time in 1968 at Chicagoland’s Santa Fe Park Speedway driving for former Indianapolis 500 competitor and Chicago area midget champ Eddie Russo. On July 19, 1968, West wheeled Russo’s Richmond Tire Co.-sponsored No. 97 to a 50-lap victory at the quarter-mile dirt oval.

In 1969, West won twice, scoring wins at Wisconsin’s Hales Corners Speedway, driving for Ed Loniewski, and again at Santa Fe, winning a 50-lap chase on August 8, 1969 behind the wheel of Dink Cornell’s black No. 8.  He won again in 1970, capturing a USAC main event in Lawton, Oklahoma and at Fairbury, Ill., both times driving the George Middleton Pizza Hut Special No. 15.  His final USAC victory came on June 4, 1972 as he piloted Gene Willman’s No. 71 Sesco-powered car first to the checkered flag in a 50 lapper at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis., besting Mel Kenyon and Lee Kunzman.

During West’s busy USAC midget years, he finished 11th in the standings in 1968, 10th in 1969, 8th in 1970 (competing in 35 races), 19th in 1971 and 16th in 1972.

West made two USAC Champ Car starts in 1968, competing at Springfield, Ill. and at The Milwaukee Mile driving for Joliet car owner Tim Delrose. West finished 10th at Springfield at the wheel of Delrose’s Offy-powered No. 58 dirt champ car.

West went to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1969 as a rookie.  Making his first appearance on the track on Monday, May 19, West was driving the Ford-powered Marathon Special No. 75 and had completed the first two phases of his rookie test..  West was working through the 150 mph segment of the test when he spun in turn one and tagged the outside wall.  West was not injured, but his car was damaged ending his quest to make the Indianapolis 500 classic.

West’s racing career pretty much came to a close by the mid 1970s although he made a few midget starts in the late 70s and early 80s.

West is survived by his wife of 52 years, Rosemary; children, Roger J. (Susie) West and Jeffrey G. West; grandsons, Tyler D. West and Nicholas W. West; siblings, Royce (Sharon) West, Brian (Denise) West, and Douglas West; special friend, Cheryl Nolden; many nieces and nephews also survive.  He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, David West.

Visitation will be Thursday, May 9, from 4 until 8 p.m., at the Fred C. Dames Funeral Home, 3200 Black at Essington Rds., Joliet, Ill.  Funeral Services will be Friday, May 10 at 10:30 a.m. at the funeral home chapel.  Interment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in Joliet.  Memorials in his name to the Alzheimer’s Association (https://act.alz.org/site/Donation) would be appreciated.

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Steven Drevicki has conquered championships in the Eastern U.S. in midgets twice as an ARDC champ and as a titlist in the inaugural Rapid Tire East Coast Sprint Car season in 2018.

Now, the Reading, Pa. driver has plans to enter the fray on the National level when the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship arrives for the 13th edition of the Eastern Storm on June 11-16, driving his own No. 19 Maxim chassis, utilizing a Rider engine from Gene Franckowiak and technical assistance from Clauson Marshall Newman Racing.

“Gene called me a couple weeks ago,” Drevicki recalled. “He threw an offer out to team up with him and CMNR for an Eastern storm deal. It’s going to be my car and crew all that stuff, Gene’s motor and technical assistance from CMNR. From my end, it’s a pretty neat opportunity for someone from the East Coast to have the opportunity to work with a national team like that. I’ve been trying for the last two years to put a deal together, but last year, the pieces didn’t all fall together. This deal came together, and it was something I couldn’t pass up.”

Drevicki, a graduate of Penn State University and a project engineer in the industrial crane business, leads the USAC East Coast Sprint Car standings following a season-opening victory with the series at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa. He won twice on the East Coast trail a year ago and has competed on the National stage in USAC’s NOS Energy Drink National Midget division, racing at Eldora during the “4-Crown Nationals” as well as “Pennsylvania Midget Week.”

Franckowiak has fielded front-running cars during Eastern Storm for a number of years, winning the Eastern Storm round at BAPS Motor Speedway in 2013 with driver Shane Cottle. CMNR had Franckowiak’s Rider-power under the hood en route to 11 victories and a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car crown in 2018. With that kind of championship pedigree in his corner, Drevicki relishes the opportunity.

“It’s about as exciting as it can get really,” Drevicki said. “We’ve raced on the national level with the midgets the last few years during Pennsylvania Midget Week.  It’s a little bit of a different level than it is on the East Coast.  Not to take anything away from the East Coast, but you’re racing with the absolute best there is.  To get to do that in front of the home crowd, it’s definitely an exciting opportunity.”

Tim Clauson of CMNR is thrilled with the opportunity to put this program together for Eastern Storm, something of which could become an annual reward for the USAC East Coast Sprint Car champion on a yearly basis in the future.

“I think we’ll take it one year at a time and see the first year goes,” Clauson said.  “Our partner, Gene Franckowiak, normally runs a car of his own and we talked about running a second car.  Gene actually had the idea to give the East Coast champion a chance and try to figure out something to do with them to help as a reward for that.  I thought it was a great idea!”

USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series Director Curt Michael is pleased to see the champion from the East get to go to battle on the big stage.

“It’s a great deal,” Michael said.  “I’m glad those guys are helping and working with us.  “The series is really going to give us a boost to show Drevicki is a really good racer. I think Drevicki is going to do a really good job.  It’s going to be a challenge to run up front, but he’s a smart racer and I think he’ll do really well at the racetracks they go to that he’s been to before.

“To have CMNR back our series like that is really going to help,” Michael continued.  I think you just might have people wanting to come run the series to try to catch that deal.  It’s really excellent the way CMNR helps racing.”

With a focus on defending his East Coast Sprint Car title in 2019, Drevicki stated that he’d like to do more 410 racing in the future, with a possible trip to the Midwest in the works later this season if all comes to fruition.

First up for Drevicki will be Eastern Storm, with five USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car races in six nights, beginning June 11 at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., followed up on June 12 at Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J., June 13 at BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa., a Silver Crown race on June 14 at Williams Grove Speedway in Williams Grove, Pa., June 15 at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa. and June 16 at Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y.

GREENVILLE, Texas – Officials from five Texas dirt ovals and the United States Modified Touring Series have jointly announced that this week’s USMTS events are being postponed to a later date.

With most of the region already rain-soaked, more wet weather and bitterly cold temperatures are forecasted for the May 7-11 swing. In fact, weather experts are calling for severe weather conditions and the possibility of tornadoes on Wednesday when the series was scheduled to be at the 82 Speedway in Petty.

The following events have been canceled for this week:

Tuesday, May 7, at the Superbowl Speedway in Greenville
Wednesday, May 8, at the 82 Speedway in Petty
Thursday, May 9, at the Monarch Motor Speedway in Wichita Falls
Friday, May 10, at the West Texas Raceway in Lubbock
Saturday, May 11, at the Route 66 Motor Speedway in Amarillo

All five Summit USMTS Southern Series will be rescheduled for a later date, likely sometime in June.

Next up for the USMTS will be a four-night Memorial Day Weekend trip through Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northern Iowa. The swing begins Thursday, May 23, at the Spring Lake Speedway in Unity, Wis., and then heads to the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis. On Saturday, May 25, the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., hosts the rabid USMTS road warriors before the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa, wraps things up on Sunday, May 26.

The Philadelphia Flyers added former NHL head coaches Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo to Alain Vigneault's staff on Monday.

The announcement was made by executive vice president and general manager Chuck Fletcher. Vigneault voiced his approval for the moves.

"I am excited to add Michel and Mike on our coaching staff to work alongside Ian Laperriere, Kim Dillabaugh and Adam Patterson," Vigneault said in a statement. "Both men have enjoyed success at all levels throughout their coaching careers, including working together at the NHL level. Each brings a considerable amount of experience and knowledge to our group, which I have no doubt will help lead our team to immediate success."

In addition, Scott Gordon, who served as the interim coach last season after Dave Hakstol was fired, will return to coach the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Fletcher announced. The Flyers finished 25-22-4 in Gordon's 51 games as the interim coach.

The Flyers named Vigneault the team's new head coach last month.

Therrien, 55, has a record of 406-303-23-82 in 12 seasons as a head coach, most recently with the Montreal Canadiens in the 2016-17 season. He led the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup final in 2008. Yeo, 45, is 246-181-55 in eight seasons as a head coach, most recently with the St. Louis Blues last season.

Assistant coaches Kris Knoblauch and Rick Wilson will not return for the 2019-20 season.