A summary of the major sporting news stories from the day. Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka was defeated in the Miami Masters by resurgent Romanian Sorana Cirstea, while Jannik Sinner advanced to the men’s singles semifinals.

Barcelona and Arsenal advanced to the women’s Champions League semifinals after strong performances. Tottenham Hotspur’s difficulties continue, as Fifa has issued club managing director Fabio Paratici a worldwide ban following the sacking of coach Antonio Conte.

In Formula One news, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton put to rest speculation over his desire to leave Mercedes by stating that he plans to stay with the team until his “final days.” Here are the top stories from worldwide sporting events for the day of March 30, 2023:

Lewis Hamilton wishes to retire from Mercedes-Benz. Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, put any speculation about him leaving Mercedes to rest on Thursday, stating he vowed to stay with the team “until my final days.”

The Briton’s disappointment during the season-opening grand prix in Bahrain, when he finished a distant fifth in his underperforming W14 car, fueled speculation that he was looking for a new job.

After a more competitive race in Saudi Arabia a fortnight ago, he insisted that was not the case. To be clear, the 38-year-old stated ahead of the Australian Grand Prix that he wants to complete his career with the once-dominant Silver Arrows.

“I feel wonderful about it (the future), I continue to feel very, very much at home, it’s a family,” he said of staying with a team that has been his home for a decade in Melbourne.

“I envision myself staying with Mercedes till the end.” “If you look at the legends, Sir Stirling Moss was with Mercedes to the end of his days, and that’s been my desire, to have that one day.” I mean, I have that, so just keep going with it, keep building with the brand.”

Hamilton won his first race for Mercedes in Melbourne in 2013, and he has since led the team to a historic 82 victories and 77 pole positions.

Sinner advances, Sabalenka exits World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka was stunned in straight sets by resurgent Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who reached her first WTA 1000 semi-final in a decade.

Cirstea, ranked 74th in the world, defeated the Australian Open winner 6-4, 6-4 to reach her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since Toronto in 2013.

The 32-year-old has improved her form after hiring Swedish coach Thomas Johansson, reaching the quarterfinals in Indian Wells and defeating world No. 4 Caroline Garcia of France in both legs of the “Sunshine Swing.”

“I’m speechless,” she admitted. “I came out expecting it to be a tough contest.” I attempted to stand firm. I’m quite pleased with my performance today, which was rather unexpected.”

“I was confident in my abilities. “I knew I was playing well, and I knew if I came out swinging and aggressive, I’d have a chance,” she added. Cirstea will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Ekaterina Alexandrova and Petra Kvitova, which was rescheduled for Thursday due to heavy rain.

Sinner advances to the semifinals Jannik Sinner of Italy advanced to the Miami semifinals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland. The game was delayed for two hours due to rain with Sinner leading 2-0 in the second set, but the halt had no effect on the match’s momentum.

Sinner will face the winner of the other quarter-final, which was postponed due to severe rain on Wednesday and is set to be played on Thursday, between world number one Carlos Alcaraz and American Taylor Fritz.

Ruusuvuori, 23, was the first Finnish player to reach a Masters 1000 quarter-final since Jarkko Nieminen a decade ago, but he faced Sinner in a determined mood.

Thus far in Miami, the 21-year-old from South Tyrol has not performed a set. Barcelona and Arsenal make strides

Barcelona advanced to the Women’s Champions League semifinals with a 5-1 win over Roma on Wednesday, while Arsenal came from behind to defeat Bayern Munich 2-1 on aggregate with a 2-0 win at the Emirates.

Barcelona had been holding to a slim 1-0 lead after the first leg in the Italian city last week. Yet, in front of 55,000 fans at the Camp Nou, last season’s runners-up raced to a 3-0 lead before halftime.

Fridolina Rolfo of Sweden scored twice in the first half, each side of Mapi Leon’s amazing long-range shot. After the break, Asisat Oshoala scored from close range, and Patri Guijarro headed in the fifth from a corner.

Roma’s Annamaria Serturini equalized against a Barcelona team that had won every game in the Spanish league and had only one defeat all season, against Bayern Munich in the group stage.

Barcelona has now reached the semi-finals in five straight seasons and will meet either Lyon or Chelsea in the last four. Meanwhile, in front of a record crowd of nearly 20,000, Arsenal overturned a 1-0 first-leg setback to reach the last four for the first time in ten years.

Although missing injured star strikers Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead, Arsenal dominated Bayern in the first half. On 20 minutes, Frida Maanum equalized with a scorching strike in off the underside of the crossbar.

Minutes later, Arsenal took the lead when Stina Blackstenius finished off a superb team play with a header into an unguarded goal from Katie McCabe’s cross. Fifa has banned Tottenham’s managing director.

Fifa has issued a worldwide ban to Tottenham Hotspur managing director Fabio Paratici, which could terminate his time with the north London club. In January, his old club Juventus was found guilty of false accounting and sentenced to a 30-month ban from Italian football.

Before joining Tottenham in June 2021, the 50-year-old Italian was sporting director and managing director at Juventus. His original ban only pertained to his native country, allowing him to continue working at Tottenham, where he was engaged in the departure of manager Antonio Conte and the start of the search for a new manager on Sunday.

However, Fifa issued a statement on Wednesday threatening to end his time at Tottenham, saying: “Fifa can confirm that, following a request by the Italian FA (FIGC), the chairperson of the Fifa disciplinary committee has decided to extend the sanctions imposed by FIGC on several football officials to have worldwide effect.”