U.S./World Sports category, Page 342
1 more for 24: Serena Williams reaches U.S. Open final again
NEW YORK — With another U.S. Open final in sight, and Grand Slam title No. 24 within reach, Serena Williams got past a slightly shaky start and quickly took control. Williams turned in an increasingly impressive performance for a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 5-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in...
Rafael Nadal beats Schwartzman in 3 tight sets to reach U.S. Open semis
NEW YORK — Rafael Nadal kept pulling away in his U.S. Open quarterfinal, then getting reeled back in by Diego Schwartzman. In the first set, Nadal led 4-0 before Schwartzman got to 4-all. In the second, Nadal went up 5-1 before Schwartzman made it 5-all. Took more than two hours...
Chase for Tom Herman ends well for Texas, LSU
AUSTIN, Texas — The chase was on for Tom Herman. In late 2016, Texas and LSU were eyeing the young hotshot coach from Houston until a wild Thanksgiving weekend that included a Tigers win, a Longhorns loss and leaked details of contract negotiations swung Herman to Texas and pushed LSU...
Speedy Tevin Bush gives lift to sluggish West Virginia offense
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Hints that Tevin Bush could make an impact for West Virginia in 2019 began at a simple team-building exercise during preseason camp. During a game of musical chairs, 300-pound linemen were knocking each other over to get to empty seats when the song stopped. The speedy, 5-foot-6...
Erratic Federer loses to Grigor Dimitrov in U.S. Open quarterfinals
NEW YORK — Betrayed by his forehand, and maybe his body, too, Roger Federer is out of the U.S. Open. Federer gave away a lead against a guy he’d never lost to and was beaten 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 by 78th-ranked Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals before a stunned...
Notre Dame searches for answers after uneven performance in opening winVideo
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — There are some questions marks for No. 8 Notre Dame after a somewhat lackluster showing on the road to open the season, even if it ended with a 35-17 win over Louisville. The silver lining for coach Brian Kelly: He was able to give his inexperienced...
AP Top 25 football teams open 23-0 vs unranked teams
The Top 25 went 23-0 against unranked teams to open the season, leaving the rankings mostly unchanged with No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama at the top of the first regular-season AP college football poll of 2019. The Tigers received 54 first-place votes out of 62 in the media...
Erik Jones’ win means Joe Gibbs Racing has 4 contenders for NASCAR Cup title
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Joe Gibbs has had the hottest hand in NASCAR this season. Now, after Erik Jones’ gritty, overnight victory at Darlington Raceway, the championship owner has four aces ready to contend for another title. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. have won four times each this...
Jalen Hurts has 6 TDs as No. 4 Oklahoma beats Houston
NORMAN, Okla. — Even one of the best nights ever for an Oklahoma player wasn’t good enough for Jalen Hurts. The new Sooners quarterback passed for three touchdowns and ran for three more, and No. 4 Oklahoma rolled past Houston 49-31 on Sunday night. It was Hurts’ first game for...
Serena Williams shakes off ankle injury to advance at U.S. Open
NEW YORK — Serena Williams was in pain — “acceptable” pain, her coach called it — after rolling her right ankle during the second set of a U.S. Open victory. That was the bad news. The good news for Williams as she pursues a seventh championship at Flushing Meadows and...
Defending champion Osaka eliminates American Gauff
NEW YORK — First, the tears came from Coco Gauff as the 15-year-old American’s U.S. Open came to an end against defending champion and No. 1 seed Naomi Osaka. Then it was Osaka’s turn to cry, moments after comforting Gauff with a hug and some words of encouragement Saturday night....
No. 2 Alabama starts slow, routs Duke
ATLANTA — Now that’s more like it, Alabama. Playing for the first time since its crushing loss to Clemson in the national championship game, the second-ranked Crimson Tide overcame a sluggish start to blow out Duke, 42-3, on Saturday in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Tua Tagovailoa threw for 336 yards...
Jimmie Johnson’s long, hard road to keep playoff run aliveVideo
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Jimmie Johnson knows he’s staring down the wrong kind of history when he lines up at Darlington Raceway. The seven-time NASCAR champion is 18th in the standings heading into the Southern 500, two spots and a huge 26 points out of NASCAR’s 16-team playoffs — a grid...
No. 21 Iowa State survives scare, clips Northern Iowa in 3OT
AMES, Iowa — Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy’s eyes lit up when he saw a potential fumble floating aimlessly near the goal line. The sophomore sprang into action, snapping up Sheldon Croney Jr.’s triple-overtime miscue and saving the Cyclones from a devastating defeat — even by their standards. Croney Jr....
No. 11 Oregon-No. 16 Auburn opener a rematch of 2010 title game
ARLINGTON, Texas — For all the expectations the 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks have for this season, there will first be a flashback to their championship near-misses of the past when they open against No. 16 Auburn. When the Ducks last played in the home stadium of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys five...
Roger Federer ends slow starts, rolls into 4th round at U.S. Open
NEW YORK — Roger Federer didn’t change much, outside of where his team was sitting. He certainly wasn’t going to overreact to a couple of poor starts after all these years and do anything different with his tennis. Federer rolled into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victory...
Arrest warrant issued for Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins
MOBILE, Ala. — Alabama police have issued an arrest warrant for Los Angeles Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge for harassing communications. The Mobile municipal court website indicates a warrant was issued for harassing communications, but does not list other details TMZ released an audio recording...
Teen phenom Coco Gauff to take on defending champ Osaka at U.S. Open
NEW YORK — Coco Gauff is still not quite used to hearing her name shouted by thousands of U.S. Open spectators reveling in each booming serve, each “How did she do that?” shot and each victory by a 15-year-old American who is the youngest woman in the U.S. Open’s third...
Surprise! 23-year-old Townsend of U.S. upsets Halep at Open
NEW YORK — The pure, raw emotion from Taylor Townsend came through after she delivered one last crisp forehand volley to complete her U.S. Open upset of two-time major champion Simona Halep, then clenched her fists, raised her arms and yelled, “Yes! Yes!” before patting her heart. And there it...
Rules changes could come to NCAA if California bill passes
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA wants a level playing field for all athletes, even if state law proposals threaten its longtime model for amateur sports. With the California assembly considering a potentially landmark measure that would allow athletes at state colleges and universities to profit from the use of their names,...
Ouch! Pro runner steps into Michigan pothole, breaks leg
FLINT, Mich. — There’s more evidence of Michigan’s woeful roads: A champion runner says he fractured a leg bone when he stepped into a pothole during a 10-mile race in Flint. Chris Derrick, a three-time U.S. Cross Country champion, posted a photo of his right leg on Instagram. View this...
Federer drops 1st set again but advances at U.S. Open
NEW YORK — Roger Federer’s not about to start trying new tricks now. So even though he has lost the opening set in each of his first two U.S. Open matches for the first time in the 19 times he has entered the Grand Slam tournament, it’s not as if...
Prep sports participation drops, led by decline in football
Led by a decline in football for the fifth straight year, participation in U.S. high school sports dropped in 2018-19 for the first time in 30 years, according to an annual survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations. The 2018-19 total of 7,937,491 participants was a...
Plum native Bjorn Fratangelo falls in U.S. Open first round
Bjorn Fratangelo, a native of Plum, engaged in a four-set battle with France’s Gilles Simon on Tuesday in the first round of the men’s singles draw at the U.S. Open in Flushing, N.Y., but the seven-year pro was not able to advance. Fratangelo, who picked up a wild-card entry to...
Wimbledon darling Coco Gauff opens U.S. Open with rousing victory
NEW YORK — Here’s how new all of this is to Coco Gauff: She didn’t quite realize she only has to play every other day at the U.S. Open. “I’m still used to playing juniors,” the American said with a chuckle, “so I forgot about the day off.” She’s just...
