AUTO RACING

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia was postponed until Monday because of inclement weather.

Rain and light snow started falling Saturday afternoon and continued into the night, creating dangerous driving conditions on nearby roads and leaving little chance of getting the track cleared and dry enough to race Sunday.

There was no qualifying session Saturday for the Cup race, and the Truck Series race was halted after just 23 laps. That race will resume at 11 a.m. Monday, followed by the Cup Series race.

FORMULA ONE: Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel won the Australian Grand Prix for the third time, taking advantage of a well-timed, midrace safety car to grab the lead and holding off hard-charging Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton in a dramatic start to the new season.

Vettel became the fourth driver to claim 100 top-three finishes, joining Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost.

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TENNIS

MIAMI OPEN: Venus Williams squandered an early lead, fell behind late, then overcame three match points to rally past Kiki Bertens for a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory in the third round at Key Biscayne, Florida.

Williams blew a 5-0 lead in the first set and was down 5-3 in the third set.

Williams, a three-time champion seeded No. 8, will next face No. 11 Johanna Konta, the defending champ. Konta advanced with much less drama, beating No. 22 Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-1.

In men’s play, No. 2 Marin Cilic swept Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 7-6 (4).

BASKETBALL

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G LEAGUE: Zeke Upshaw of the Grand Rapids Drive is under care by doctors are he collapsed on the court near the end of a game Saturday night against the Long Island Nets.

The Drive said in a news release that updates on Upshaw’s condition will be provided when available.

Team spokeswoman Sarah Jbara told MLive.com that Upshaw, a 6-foot-6 swingman, tumbled to the floor with about 50 seconds remaining in the game. He was taken off the court on a stretcher.

The 26-year-old Upshaw scored 11 points to help the Drive earn a playoff spot with a 101-99 victory in the regular-season finale.

SKIING

U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS: Olympian Tommy Ford wrapped up a solid season by winning the giant slalom in Sun Valley, Idaho.

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Ford finished in a combined time of 2 minutes, 11.60 seconds to edge Brian McLaughlin by 0.36 seconds.

Ford, 29, had his best season on the World Cup circuit with three top-10 finishes in giant slalom.

On Saturday, Nina O’Brien won the women’s slalom and Hig Roberts captured the men’s slalom.

The championships wrap up Monday with a women’s giant slalom.

CYCLING

GENT-WEVELGEM: Peter Sagan came out on top of a bunched sprint to win the Gent-Wevelgem classic in Belgium for the third time.

The Slovakian rider attacked on the left of the group and had enough of a margin to hold off Elia Viviani. The Italian rider caught Frenchman Arnaud Demare near the line, pushing Demare down to third.

Sagan, a five-time winner of the Tour de France’s green jersey for best sprinter, also won the race in 2013 and 2016.

– News service report


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