Once is enough when it comes to beating Rafael Nadal on a clay court.

Throughout his career, Nadal has never lost consecutive matches on his favorite surface and the Spaniard extended that perfect record on Wednesday by beating John Isner 6-3, 6-1 to reach the third round of the Italian Open.

FIFA opened a disciplinary case Wednesday looking into whether Ecuador fielded an ineligible player during World Cup qualifying, a case that could see the country thrown out of this year's tournament in Qatar.

FIFA opened a disciplinary case after Chile filed a formal complaint last week alleging that Byron Castillo is Colombian and should not have been allowed to play for Ecuador in eight qualifying games. Ecuador now risks having to forfeit those games — including one win and a draw against Chile — as 3-0 losses.

It's been a quick rise for Carlos Alcaraz.

It wasn't long ago that the 19-year-old Spaniard was playing in youth tennis tournaments and talking about his idols Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, and about his dream of one day making it into the top 10 and winning the French Open and Wimbledon.

Brazil and Argentina lost their appeals to FIFA on Monday and will have to play the World Cup qualifying game that was abandoned last year in Sao Paulo amid chaos on the field caused by pandemic rule breaches.

In one of the most bizarre scenes during the qualifying program for the World Cup, Brazilian health officials came onto the field minutes after kickoff last September to dispute the quarantine status of some Argentina players.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks will have two preseason matchups at Abu Dhabi in October, marking the NBA's first games in the United Arab Emirates and the Arabian Gulf.

The two exhibitions will take place Oct. 6 and Oct. 8 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The NBA announced the games Tuesday in conjunction with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp laughed off some barbs from counterpart Pep Guardiola that have inflamed the Premier League title race, saying they were heat-of-the-moment comments likely fueled by Manchester City's painful elimination from the Champions League.

In an outburst after City's 5-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday, Guardiola said "everyone in the country" supports Liverpool and pointed out that the Reds have only won the Premier League once in 30 years despite having a strong record in the Champions League.

French champion Paris Saint-Germain threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with 15th-place Troyes in another disappointing performance on Sunday.

PSG was in control of the league game after 25 minutes with goals from central defender Marquinhos, after Angel Di Maria's pinpoint cross, and forward Neymar, who scored from the penalty spot after Kylian Mbappe was fouled.

Fresh off his victory at the Madrid Open, Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Italian Open on Monday because of a right ankle injury.

Later, Naomi Osaka withdrew from the women's tournament with a left Achilles heel injury.

Manchester City will have to cope without injured defenders Rúben Dias, Kyle Walker and John Stones for the final three matches of the Premier League title run-in.

Dias came off at halftime of City's 5-0 rout of Newcastle on Sunday with a hamstring problem and had to be replaced by the 37-year-old Fernandinho, who is leaving at the end of the season.

After keeping a promise that it wouldn't give Real Madrid an honor guard before the game, Atlético Madrid went on to beat the newly crowned Spanish league champion 1-0 Sunday and moved closer to securing a Champions League spot.

Atlético clinched the victory in the last city derby of the season with a 40th-minute penalty kick converted by Yannick Carrasco in the first win against its rival since 2018.