TENNIS
NEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams knocked out No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday night to ensure the 23-time Grand Slam champion will play at least one more singles match.
Williams, 40, has hinted this will be the last tournament of his illustrious career.
Williams missed about a year of action before returning to the tour in late June at Wimbledon. She lost in the first round there and was 1-3 in 2022 at the US Open, where she is 2-0 so far this week.
She beat Danka Kovinic in the first round before continuing against Kontaveit in front of a packed house at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She will play Friday for a spot in the fourth round. Her opponent will be Ajla Tomljanovic, a 29-year-old Australian ranked 46th.
NEW YORK (AP) — The last two women’s champions were already absent from the US Open and now the 2021 finalist and another semifinalist are gone.
Top players are falling fast at Flushing Meadows, and Serena Williams has taken care of another Wednesday night.
Hours before Williams beat No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit, third seed Maria Sakkari was ousted 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 by China’s Wang Xiyu in the second round.
Then, minutes after Williams’ win, No. 14 Leylah Fernandez was knocked out 6-3, 7-6(3) by Liudmila Samsonova, a year after the Canadian lost to Emma Raducanu in the final.
MLB
CHICAGO (AP) — White Sox manager Tony La Russa is out indefinitely with an unspecified medical condition.
La Russa, 77, missed Tuesday night’s 9-7 loss to Kansas City on the recommendation of his doctors. The team said he was due to undergo further testing in Arizona with his personal doctors “in the coming days”.
Bench coach Miguel Cairo will continue to act as caretaker manager while La Russa is out.
La Russa’s absence on Tuesday was announced about an hour before the first pitch. The Hall of Famer showed no signs of health issues in his pre-game briefing with reporters and during his interviews with general manager Rick Hahn and former Oakland Athletics pitcher, the great Dave Stewart before the game.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA Division I Board of Directors on Wednesday approved the establishment of fixed periods during which athletes can enter the transfer portal and be immediately eligible to compete at their new schools, as well as reforms to the application process.
Changes to the transfer rules will take effect immediately.
Winter sports athletes would be required to provide written transfer notification within 60 days of NCAA Championship tryouts in their sport.
For Spring Sports, transfer windows will be December 1-15 plus a 45-day period beginning the day after Championships selection.
In fall sports, including football, the first window will begin the day after Championship selection and will last for 45 days. The second would be from May 1 to 15.
CAR RACE
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is still sore from last week’s late wreck at Daytona and will not, as scheduled, compete in the Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway on Saturday.
Hamlin will be all-out for the Southern 500 on Sunday, the start of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Joe Gibbs Racing announced Hamlin’s status on Wednesday.
Hamlin’s JGR teammate Christopher Bell will take his place for Saturday’s race.
FEMALE HOCKEY
Members of the United States women’s hockey team agreed on Wednesday to extend their current contracts for a month to focus on completing the world championship tournament in Denmark.
Representatives for the players and USA Hockey confirmed the deal to The Associated Press hours before their current contract expired.
Saying an extension is in place, USA Hockey spokesman Dave Fischer said “our focus is on the world championships,” while adding, “Conversations continue to be productive and everyone everyone feels like we’re in a decent position.”
SOCCER
Morocco’s World Cup squad has hired Walid Regragui as their new coach ahead of the tournament in Qatar.
The former Moroccan international succeeds Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic, sacked just three months before the World Cup.
Regragui, 46, spent last season in charge of Moroccan first division club Wydad Casablanca, leading the team to a league and CAF Champions League double.
ROME (AP) — The New York Yankees have bought a minority stake in Italian soccer champion AC Milan, which announced the closing of its latest ownership change on Wednesday.
RedBird Capital Partners has reached an agreement to purchase a majority stake in the seven-time European champion for 1.2 billion euros ($1.2 billion).
It is the second football team that the Yankees have in part after that of New York in MLS.
Gerry Cardinale, who founded RedBird in 2014 and is its managing partner, announced a preliminary deal in June to buy Milan from fellow American Elliott Management.
OBITUARY
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Lee Thomas, an All-Star player who eventually became the architect for the 1993 NL champion Philadelphia Phillies, has died. He was 86 years old.
Thomas died Wednesday at his home in St. Louis, the Phillies announced. No details of the cause were given.
Thomas served as Philadelphia’s general manager from 1988 to 1997, and he spent the early part of his tenure acquiring players who helped the Phillies lead their unlikely run to the World Series. Thomas acquired John Kruk, Terry Mulholland, Curt Schilling, Lenny Dykstra, Milt Thompson, Danny Jackson and others who played on the team that lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series. Joe Carter hit the game-winning home run against Mitch Williams in Game 6 to win the championship.
A former All-Star who played both outfield and first base, Thomas hit 106 homers in 1,027 career games. In 1962, he was named an American League All-Star, batting .290 with 26 home runs and 104 RBIs. He played for eight seasons with the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros.
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