Sports News Roundup: Tennis-'Surprised? Not really': Confident Basilashvili reaches Indian Wells semis; Athletics-De Grasse ready to dominate sprints, says Bolt and more

Zverev, who was aiming to win his third ATP Masters 1000 title of the season, lost 4-6 6-3 7-6(3) after Fritz fought back from 2-5 down in the final set and saved two match points to stun the German in the California desert. Tennis-Azarenka proud of fight in comeback win over Ostapenko Former world number one said she was proud of her fighting spirit in Friday's comeback victory against Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells tournament.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tennis-'Surprised? Not really': Confident Basilashvili reaches Indian Wells semis

Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili stunned world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas at Indian Wells on Friday, 6-4 2-6 6-4, to reach his first-ever Masters 1000 semi-final - surprising everyone, perhaps, but himself. The 36th-ranked Basilashvili was the clear underdog against the French Open finalist but mounted a stout defense to send the Greek packing, saving six of 10 break points after picking up a pair of ATP titles in Qatar and at the Bavarian Championships earlier this year.

Polish FA chief to ask FIFA to act after "false" racism allegations

Poland will ask FIFA to take action against people who made what it says are false accusations of racism against defender Kamil Glik after a heated mass scuffle during a game against England, the head of the country's football association said on Friday. Poland had previously said their players did not racially abuse England defender Kyle Walker during the fracas, which took place during a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw in Warsaw in September.

NHL roundup: Kraken edge Predators for first-ever win

Brandon Tanev scored twice and Alex Wennberg and Jared McCann each had a goal and an assist as the Seattle Kraken won for the first time in franchise history, defeating the host Nashville Predators 4-3 Thursday night. Wennberg netted the go-ahead goal at 9:54 of the second period, breaking a 2-2 tie. Tanev scored an empty-net goal at 18:39 of the third to give Seattle a 4-2 lead. Granlund scored on a rebound with 39.9 seconds left, but the Predators couldn't get the equalizer.

Texas House votes to keep transgender girls out of female sports

The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill that bans transgender women and girls from participating in female school sports after three previous attempts failed, all but assuring Republican Governor Greg Abbott will sign it into law. Texas is now poised to join seven other states that passed similar laws this year, part of a national campaign in which Republican legislators introduced such bills in 32 states.

NHL roundup: Wild nip Ducks in final seconds

Marcus Foligno scored the tiebreaking goal with 7.2 seconds left in regulation, and the Minnesota Wild opened their season with a 2-1 victory over the host Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. Minnesota pressured Anaheim goaltender Anthony Stolarz all night, and he came up big more often than not while recording 41 saves. However, the Wild kept the heat on, and Foligno found himself in front of the net to push home the go-ahead goal to give his club its eighth consecutive victory over Anaheim.

Athletics-De Grasse ready to dominate sprints, says Bolt

Lamont Marcell Jacobs may be the 100 metres Olympic champion but Andre De Grasse is the man to watch and runner most likely to put his stamp on the men's sprints, says the world's fastest man Usain Bolt. De Grasse took silver behind the Italian in Tokyo but the Canadian's consistency makes him the frontrunner to dominate the sprint scene, including next year's world championships which will be staged in the United States for the first time.

Alpine skiing-A season of big dreams ahead for Shiffrin

When it comes to alpine ski racing and the Olympics, Mikaela Shiffrin describes herself has not much of a gambler as the American all-rounder prefers Lady Luck to play no part in her results. But as ski racing is exposed to the elements and whims of Mother Nature, a race can be decided on something as simple as the luck of the draw.

Soccer-FIFA says it helped evacuate 100 players, family members from Afghanistan

World soccer's governing body FIFA said on Friday it had worked with the Qatari government to evacuate almost 100 football players and their families from Afghanistan. The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Aug. 15 and announced a new government last month after U.S.-led foreign forces withdrew and the Western-backed government collapsed.

Tennis-'Today was just not my day': Zverev regrets shock defeat to Fritz

Olympic champion Alexander Zverev admitted he blew the chance to win the Indian Wells tournament after Friday's shock quarter-final defeat by American Taylor Fritz and said he just wants to return home. Zverev, who was aiming to win his third ATP Masters 1000 title of the season, lost 4-6 6-3 7-6(3) after Fritz fought back from 2-5 down in the final set and saved two match points to stun the German in the California desert.

Tennis-Azarenka proud of fight in comeback win over Ostapenko

Former world number one said she was proud of her fighting spirit in Friday's comeback victory against Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells tournament. Azarenka, a two-time winner at the California event, fought back from a set and break down to beat 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko 3-6 6-3 7-5.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)