Update on the latest sports
APTENNIS-WIMBLEDON
Women’s final underway
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — The women’s Wimbledon final between top-ranked Ash Barty and eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova (PLIHSH’-koh-vah) is underway, with Prince William and his wife Kate looking on rom the Royal Box.
Barty is looking for her second Grand Slam title and is trying to become the first Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong in 1980 to win the Wimbledon title. Barty won the 2019 French Open.
Pliskova is a former No. 1-ranked player seeking her first Grand Slam title. She lost in the U.S. Open final in 2016.
Pliskova beat No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals at Wimbledon and is trying to do something only three other women have done in the Open era, which began in 1968: win the championship at the All England Club while beating the top two seeded players along the way.
Barty eliminated 2018 champion Angelique Kerber on Thursday.
WIMBLEDON-FEMALE UMPIRE
Men’s final will have female chair umpire
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — There will be a female chair umpire for the Wimbledon men’s singles final for the first time in the history of a tournament first played in 1877.
Marija Cicak, a 43-year-old from Croatia, will officiate Sunday when Novak Djokovic faces Matteo Berrettini for the championship at the All England Club.
The club announced Cicak’s selection on Saturday.
Cicak is a gold badge chair umpire and a member of the WTA Elite Team since 2012. She was the chair umpire for the 2014 Wimbledon women’s final and the women’s doubles final three years later. Cicak also officiated the women’s singles gold medal match at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
She has worked at 15 consecutive Wimbledon tournaments.
PGA-US SENIOR OPEN-STORM
Storm damage delays US Senior Open’s 3rd round in Omaha
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A severe overnight storm with damaging winds has caused the third round of the U.S. Senior Open to be pushed back three hours.
Winds topping 50 mph knocked over television camera towers and downed trees at the Omaha Country Club and left about 200,000 people across the city without electricity.
Tournament officials had announced Friday that play would begin at 7:15 a.m. Central Time with the hope of avoiding inclement weather. But heavy rain and high winds began shortly after midnight, and there was a continued threat of storms throughout the day.
Threesomes will tee off on both the first and 10th holes when the third round begins at 10:15 a.m.
Jim Furyk, who shot 6-under 64 on Friday, is the leader, two shots ahead of Stephen Ames. Miguel Angel Jimenez (AHN’-hehl hee-MEHN’-ehz) is another stroke behind.
TOKYO OLYMPICS-NO FANS
Fans being barred from more venues
TOKYO (AP) — Two more prefectures outside the immediate Tokyo area are barring fans from attending Olympic events because of rising coronavirus infections.
Fukushima (foo-koo-SHEE’-mah) prefecture in northeastern Japan has decided to hold its baseball and softball events without spectators. It has been joined by the northern island of Hokkaido (hoh-ky-doh) which will hold soccer games without fans. A few other events being held in outlying prefectures will go ahead with limited spectators.
Tokyo organizers and the IOC earlier in the week barred all fans from venues in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures. They make up the overwhelming majority of Olympic venues.
COVID-19 cases are popping up as thousands of athletes and officials start entering Japan with the opening ceremony set for July 23.
Tokyo registered 950 new infections on Saturday, the highest number since 1,010 were reported on May 13. It’s the 21st straight day that infections are higher than a week previous.
Japan has attributed about 15,000 deaths to COVID-19 with 16.8% of the population fully vaccinated.
