Update on the latest sports
APFRENCH OPEN
Nadal drops set, beats Schwartzman; Sakkari stops 2020 champ Swiatek
PARIS (AP) — Rafael Nadal’s French Open set streak is over but his pursuit of a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title remains very much intact.
Nadal shrugged off dropping a set in Paris for the first time in two years and quickly regained control for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over 10th-seeded Diego Schwartzman at Court Philippe Chatrier. That puts 13-time champion Nadal back in the semifinals at the clay-court major tournament.
Nadal will face either No. 1 Novak Djokovic or No. 9 Matteo Berrettini on Friday. The other men’s semifinal will be Stefanos Tsitsipas against Alexander Zverev.
In other action, Maria Sakkari ended defending French Open champion Iga Swiatek’s 11-match winning streak at Roland Garros in the quarterfinals.
Sakkari reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by beating Swiatek 6-4, 6-4. Sakkari next will face unseeded Barbora Krejcikova on Thursday.
Krejcikova got to her first major singles semifinal by stopping the run of 17-year-old Coco Gauff 7-6 (6), 6-3. Gauff was the youngest French Open women’s quarterfinalist in 15 years. She made 41 unforced errors that included seven double-faults.
All four women left are first-time major semifinalists so there will be a new Grand Slam champion in Paris. Thursday’s other pairing has No. 31 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova facing unseeded Tamara Zidansek.
NBA PLAYOFFS
Boosted by big crowds, Suns try to win again vs Nuggets
PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix Suns fans are enjoying the franchise’s return to the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
As COVID-19 restrictions have eased, more and more fans are packing into the arena each night. On Monday, there was a sellout crowd of 16,319 that watched the Suns rally past the Denver Nuggets 122-105 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Suns have won three of four home playoff games so far in the postseason. Game 2 is on Wednesday in Phoenix.
NBA NEWS
Nets’ Harden to miss Game 3; Pacers fire Bjorkgren as coach
NEW YORK (AP) — Brooklyn’s James Harden will miss Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals because of the right hamstring injury that forced him out of the series opener.
Harden left 43 seconds into that game with tightness but the Nets haven’t missed him, taking a 2-0 lead over the Bucks. Game 3 is Thursday in Milwaukee.
Harden missed 20 of 21 games late in the season because of the hamstring, after it was strained after he first experienced tightness.
Coach Steve Nash says the All-Star guard is progressing and he was optimistic for his return. There is no timetable for that.
In other NBA news:
— The Atlanta Hawks’ recent home success provides good reason for optimism in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Hawks are upbeat despite their inability to stop Joel Embiid in the first two games. The Hawks split two games at Philadelphia to open the series. They hope to continue their recent home dominance in the next two games in Atlanta, including Friday’s Game 3. Atlanta has won 13 consecutive home games, the NBA’s longest active home winning streak. The Hawks won both home games while taking their first-round series against the New York Knicks in five games.
— The Indiana Pacers have fired Nate Bjorkgren after missing the playoffs in his only season as coach. The Pacers went 34-38 and their season ended with a 142-115 loss to Washington in the play-in tournament that ended their run of five straight playoff appearances. Team president Kevin Pritchard chose afterward to take some time to evaluate the coaching position and has made his decision.
NHL PLAYOFFS
Varlamov’s strong play has Islanders on brink of semifinals
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — The Islanders have a chance to close out another series in front of their home fans tonight, when the host the Bruins for Game 6 of their series, up three games to two.
After a strong regular season, Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov found himself on the bench while rookie Ilya Sorokin was shining in the first round of the playoffs. But when Sorokin lost the series opener against Boston, New York coach Barry Trotz turned back to Varlamov and the veteran goalie has been stellar since.
Trotz credits Varlamov with being “low maintenance” and having a great mindset to bounce back from a bad game.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Cole vs Donaldson gets sticky; Big mound matchup in Chicago
UNDATED (AP) — New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole has found himself in a sticky situation. Days after Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson off-handedly alleged that Cole had been using foreign substances to sharpen his stuff, the pair will go head to head with Cole on the mound for New York at Minnesota tonight.
The pitches Cole threw in his previous outing didn’t rotate as much as usual, and Donaldson casually wondered aloud last week whether Cole had suddenly stopped using substances that could spike his spin rates, fearing an MLB crackdown.
Cole said the spin issues were due to mechanical flaws.
Elsewhere around the league tonight:
— Burly, bearded right-handers Lance Lynn and Alek Manoah are set to square off as the White Sox host the Blue Jays. Lynn — listed at 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds — has allowed one run or fewer in five of his past six starts for Chicago. During that span, he allowed three earned runs, all via solo homer. Manoah makes his third big league start for Toronto. After blanking the Yankees over six innings in his debut, the 6-foot-6, 260-pound righty gave up four runs to the Marlins in a 6-5 win last week.
— Skipped over in his last turn, Zach Eflin returns to Philadelphia’s rotation to face the visiting Braves. Eflin has lost his last four outings and last pitched on May 30. Phillies manager Joe Girardi seemed to be giving Eflin some extra rest when he held him out for a turn.
— Matt Harvey gets another shot at his old team when Baltimore hosts the New York Mets in the finale of a two-game interleague series at Camden Yards. The former Mets star was 3-2 with a 3.60 ERA when he took the mound May 12 at Citi Field and received three standing ovations. Pitching against New York for the first time, he gave up eight hits and a season-high seven runs in 4 1/3 innings, the second of five straight losses for the right-hander. Taijuan Walker starts for the Mets.
Other interleague games have San Francisco at Texas and Arizona at Oakland in matinees, while the Washington Nationals are in Tampa Bay again to play the Rays, and St. Louis hosts Cleveland.
American League matchups have the Astros visiting the Red Sox, the Mariners in Detroit to play the Tigers and the L.A. Angeles hosting the Kansas City Royals.
In the National League, the San Diego Padres are hosting the Chicago Cubs this afternoon, while the Dodgers are in Pittsburgh, Colorado is at Miami and the Brewers are in Cincinnati to play the Reds.
MLB NEWS
Baseball Hall delays induction to Sept 8. to allow crowd
COOPERSTOWN, N,Y. (AP) — Baseball’s Hall of Fame is moving this year’s induction ceremony for Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller from July 25 to Sept. 8 so a crowd may attend as coronavirus restrictions ease.
The ceremony will take place outdoors on the Hall’s lawn as a ticketed event with a limit on crowd size.
The inductions were to have taken place in July 2020 but were postponed due to the pandemic. No candidates were elected in 2021.
The Hall’s award presentations will remain on July 24 as an indoor, television-only event.
In other baseball news: — The Texas Rangers have placed closer Ian Kennedy on the 10-day injured list because of a mild left hamstring strain. Kennedy’s last appearance was a 30-pitch outing Friday night, when he got his 12th save of the season.
NFL NEWS
Sweat against Washington persuading players to get vaccine
UNDATED (AP) — Washington pass rusher Montez Sweat says he isn’t a fan of the team attempting to persuade players to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Sweat says he “probably won’t get vaccinated” until he has more facts.
Coach Ron Rivera says all staff members are fully vaccinated, compared with nearly half of his players. Rivera says the team is trying to convince players that reaching herd immunity will help everyone.
Sweat says his hesitancy about getting the vaccine is that he hasn’t contracted the virus yet. The NFL allows players, coaches and staff to go unmasked at team facilities when fully vaccinated.
In other NFL news:
— The Green Bay Packers have added a veteran presence at inside linebacker by signing De’Vondre Campbell. The 27-year-old Campbell comes to Green Bay after starting all 16 games for the Arizona Cardinals last season and posting 99 tackles, including 69 solos. Campbell previously spent four seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.
— Cleveland Browns chief of staff Callie Brownson has been suspended by the team but won’t lose her job after an arrest for drunken driving. Brownson pleaded no contest to charges stemming from her arrest on May 27.
— Greedy Williams is almost all the way back for the Browns. The third-year cornerback missed all last season with a nerve injury he suffered while making a routine tackle in practice. He’s been cleared to return to the field, but will soon have to test his shoulder with contact. The Browns drafted Northwestern cornerback Greg Newsome II in the first round this year, partly because of the uncertainty around Williams.
— The NFL wants to expand its international series by holding regular-season games in Germany and has launched a process to identify a partner city. Germany boasts a strong NFL fan base and is one of the world’s largest economies. That makes the country an attractive partner. The NFL has staged 28 regular-season games in London since 2007 and will play two more in October at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The NFL’s head of UK and Europe says “identifying a preferred host city is a key step in bringing regular-season NFL games to our millions of German fans.”
