Nishikori took a step closer to claiming his second title of the year by defeating Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-3 6-2. Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev dismantled Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-2 to face another Frenchman in Gael Monfils, who beat Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-2.
* Nabil Fekir earned Olympique Lyonnais a 2-1 home win against En Avant Guingamp on Friday as they cemented third place in Ligue 1 ahead of their Champions League clash against Barcelona. Fekir struck in the 35th minute after Felix Eboa Eboa had cancelled out Martin Terrier's opener to put Lyon on 46 points from 25 games.
* Premier League's Watford were made to sweat to beat lowly Championship club Queens Park Rangers 1-0 on Friday and book their spot in the FA Cup quarter-finals for the second time in four seasons.
* Serie A leaders Juventus made light work of Frosinone as they scored twice in the first 20 minutes on the way to a 3-0 win over the relegation-threatened side on Friday. Cristiano Ronaldo got on the scoresheet with his 19th league goal of the season when he swept home Mario Mandzukic's pass in the 63rd minute.
* Champions Bayern Munich twice needed to come from a goal down to beat hosts Augsburg 3-2 on Friday courtesy of Kingsley Coman's two goals, and cut the gap with leaders Borussia Dortmund to two points. The Bavarians are in second place on 48 points with Dortmund, on 50, travelling to bottom club Nuremberg on Monday.
* Top seed Simona Halep came back from 4-1 down in the deciding set to beat Elina Svitolina 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the Qatar Open semi-final on Friday, marking her first victory over the Ukrainian in nearly two years. Halep will face unseeded Belgian Elise Mertens in Saturday's final.
* Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen produced a scintillating second run to snatch gold in the giant slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships on Friday.
* Manchester United forwards Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard have been ruled out for up to three weeks due to injuries and will miss their next two matches against Chelsea and Liverpool, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Friday.
* The body of footballer Emiliano Sala arrived in Argentina on Friday, ahead of this weekend's wake and burial in his home town. Sala, 28, had been flying from his previous club Nantes in western France to Wales on Jan. 21 to join up with Cardiff City when the single-engined Piper Malibu aircraft disappeared over the English Channel. Wreckage was found on Feb. 3 following a privately-funded underwater search and a body was recovered three days later.
* Lionel Messi is one of the investors in the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid later this year, according to Barcelona team mate Gerard Pique whose Kosmos company has been instrumental in a revamp for the historic tennis competition. Pique's investment firm Kosmos has backed the new format to the tune of US$3 billion (£2.3 billion) over 25 years and will jointly run the competition alongside the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
* DPR Korea and Korea Republic are interested in a joint march at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics as well as fielding some unified teams in different sports, the president of the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.
* Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said he was pleased to have signed a new contract with the La Liga champions for another year to prevent any negative speculation affecting the team. Valverde signed a contract extension earlier on Friday until the end of the 2019-20 season with an option for one more year, having originally said he would wait until the end of the campaign before deciding whether or not to stay at the Nou Camp.
* Five-time World Cup winners Brazil will meet Panama in an international soccer friendly in Portugal next month, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said on Friday.
