Canada's Diallo, Shapovalov advance at Indian Wells; Andreescu out in first round.

The 24-year-old from Montreal, ranked No. 38 in the world, beat the 94th-ranked Bellucci 7-6 (5), 6-4 in men’s singles action Wednesday.

Diallo, who had been eliminated in the first round of his previous four ATP tournaments, fired 10 aces and committed just one double fault.

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., later beat Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to advance to the second round.

Next up, Diallo will face 17th-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia, while Shapovalov meets 29th-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina.

Elsewhere in the men’s tournament, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., fell 6-3, 6-4 to France’s Gaël Monfils.

In the women’s draw, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., lost 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-1 to Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova.

Andreescu, who won the tournament in 2019, fired 12 aces but committed five double faults and won just 57 per cent of points on her first serve.

Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., also exited the tournament, falling 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 against Austria’s Anastasia Potapova.

Lionel Messi knocked down as fans storm the pitch during Inter Miami friendly in Puerto Rico.

Inter Miami was playing Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle in Bayamón on Thursday when a fan ran to the center circle and grabbed Messi by the waist before both were pulled down by a security guard.

Messi appeared to be unharmed. The Argentine star immediately got up and walked to another part of the pitch.

It happened around the 88th minute of the exhibition tour match. Several fans jumped onto the pitch at Juan Ramón Loubriel stadium.

The match was originally scheduled for Feb. 13, but was postponed because Messi felt discomfort in his leg during the previous exhibition match against Barcelona SC of Ecuador.

Santiago Morales and #Messi scored in the 16th and 70th minutes respectively to give Inter Miami a 2-1 win.

#Miami, which started its MLS season with a 3-0 loss to LAFC, faces Orlando City next Sunday.

Tyler McGregor, Natalie Wilkie named Canada’s flag bearers for #Paralympics.

McGregor, of Forest, Ont., is heading to his fourth Games and owns two silver medals and a bronze, along with three world titles.

Wilkie, of Salmon Arm, B.C., has won seven Paralympic medals over two appearances, including two gold at Beijing 2022.

Canada will send 50 athletes to the Games, which run March 6-15.

The opening ceremony is set for March 6 in Verona, though Canadian athletes will remain in their villages to prepare for competition.

Competition begins March 7, with McGregor’s para #hockey team facing Slovakia and Wilkie racing in the biathlon sprint.

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Dabrowski’s reunion with Stefani pays off with WTA 1000 doubles title in Dubai.

DUBAI — Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski has her first WTA doubles title since reuniting with Brazil’s Luisa Stefani.

Dabrowski and Stefani, seeded fifth, defeated the unseeded duo of Germany’s Laura Siegemund and Russia’s Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-3 in Saturday’s final at the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The match lasted one hour 13 minutes, with Dabrowski and Stefani winning 59.3 per cent of total points.

They converted their only break-point opportunity and saved both they faced.

Dabrowski reunited with Stefani this season after she and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe mutually ended a 2 1/2-year partnership in November that produced multiple titles, including two U.S. Open women’s doubles titles.

Dabrowski and Stefani previously won titles together at the 2021 National Bank Open in Montreal and Chennai, India, in 2022.

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#Canada’s Thénault disappointed after just missing aerials super final. The 25-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que., just barely missed being within the top six that move forward to the super final. Her first finals jump was a back full-full-full that scored her 103.89 points — the same jump that vaulted her to the top of the qualifier earlier in the day.

She held on to the sixth and final spot until near the end, when American Kaila Kuhn, the reigning world champion, earned a 109.90 on the same jump, pushing the Canadian to seventh.

Thénault was last to go and launched into a back lay-full-full, but scored a 101.90 that was not enough to move her up the rankings.

“I’m clearly disappointed to not be in the super final,” Thénault said. “It’s hard, because I know I’m capable, but I landed too deep (on my skis) in the final. It’s my fault.”

Canadian trainer Jeff Bean said the slight mistake on landing was costly for Thénault.

“If she had landed that, it’s done. It’s the best lay-full-full she ever did,” he said. “She was just a little too much on her heels and a little too far forward, but we’re talking millimetres. The jump was magnificent. The job was done.”

Bean said Wednesday’s final was one for the record books.

“These are the best 24 jumps I’ve ever seen in a women’s aerials competition,” he said.

Thénault agreed.

“I think it’s the highest calibre in the history of women’s aerials,” she said. “It’s cool.”

It’s a second Olympics for Thénault, who won a bronze medal with Miha Fontaine and Lewis Irving in the mixed team aerials event in Beijing 2022.

Thénault said she had hoped for more from her Milan Cortina experience. “I was disappointed in Beijing too, so close to the super final… but now I know that I can do the best jumps in the world, that I’m part of the gang.”

Bean said Wednesday had been “the best day of jumps in her whole life” for Thénault.

“I’m really happy, but also gutted. For her, but also for me,” he said.

He noted that the jumps in the super final hadn’t reached the same level as those in round one, making the loss harder to swallow.

Thénault, however, said she sees a silver lining.

“I really had a good day today,” she said. “I’m happy with my jumps, the mental work I did, because these last months haven’t been easy. I’m very proud of that.”

China’s Xu Mengtao repeated as Olympic champion with a score of 112.90 points, beating out Australia’s Danielle Scott (102.17) and China’s Shao Qi (101.90).

The men’s aerials event is scheduled to take place on Thursday, with Fontaine, Irving, Émile Nadeau and Victor Primeau competing for Canada.

Several events in Livigno have been affected by the weather, and it remains to be seen whether it will once again disrupt proceedings with the forecast calling for possibly up to 25 centimetres of snow.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2026.

Frédéric Daigle, The Canadian Press

#BREAKING: #Canada eliminates Czechia to advance to men’s hockey semifinals.

Canada needed extra time to reach the medal round in men’s hockey at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Mitch Marner scored a dramatic winner at 1:22 of 3-on-3 overtime as the country battled back from a late 3-2 deficit, and survived the loss of captain Sidney Crosby, to pick up a 4-3 victory over Czechia in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

The Vegas Golden Knights winger sliced through the Czech defence and roofed a backhand to send the Canadian contingent in Italy into a frenzy.

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Macklin Celebrini, with a goal and two assists, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki provided the rest of the offence for Canada. Connor McDavid added two assists. Jordan Binnington made 30 saves.

#Canadian speedskaters to skate for gold in women’s team pursuit