Update on the latest sports
APTENNIS-FRENCH OPEN
Djokovic-Berrettini in Wimbledon rematch
NEW YORK (AP) — The man Novak Djokovic beat to win Wimbledon is his next opponent at the U.S. Open. The No. 1 seed faces No. 6 Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals at night.
It’s the third straight Grand Slam tournament in which the two are meeting. Djokovic beat Berrettini in the quarterfinals of the French Open in June, then came back after dropping the first set to top the Italian again at the All England Club in July. That gave Djokovic his 20th major title, tying Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most among men. It also kept him on pace to be the first man to win all four Grand Slams trophies in the same year since 1969, which he would do with three more victories.
The other men’s quarterfinal Wednesday pits No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany against unseeded South African Lloyd Harris.
In the day’s opening singles match, British qualifier Emma Raducanu tries to join fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in the women’s semifinals. Raducanu faces No. 11 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, the Olympic gold medalist. No. 4 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic plays No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece in the last women’s quarterfinal at night.
MLB-HALL OF FAME
Jeter, Walker, Simmons and Miller to be inducted into Hall of Fame
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller will be enshrined at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday, a year after the induction ceremonies were called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The four were chosen last year. No new members have been picked since.
With a mid-week ceremony instead of the traditional Sunday afternoon, school back in session and uncertainty about the weather, the Hall of Fame isn’t offering an attendance prediction for the afternoon ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York. The deaths of eight Hall of Famers over the past year and a half and the lingering pandemic have limited the number of returning Hall of Famers to 31.
In 2007, the inductions of Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn drew an estimated record crowd of 82,000 to the expansive grass field at the Clark Sports Center on the outskirts of Cooperstown.
GOLF-NEWS
Stricker fills out US team with 4 more Ryder Cup rookies
UNDATED (AP) — Steve Stricker has filled out his U.S. Ryder Cup team with six captain’s picks.
The list does not include Patrick Reed, who has a 7-3-2 record.
Stricker added Tony Finau (FEE’-now), Xander Schauffele (ZAN’-dur SHOW’-flee), Jordan Spieth (speeth) and Harris English. That was expected. They were next in line in the standings.
He also added Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler. That gives the Americans six rookies, the most for a Ryder Cup since 2008.
Scheffler is the first player since Rickie Fowler in 2010 to be picked for his first Ryder Cup without having won on the PGA Tour.
In other golf news:
— The British Open is heading back to Royal Portrush. The R&A says the world’s oldest major championship will return to the Northern Irish venue in 2025 after a successful staging of the British Open there in 2019 when Irish player Shane Lowry won by six shots. That marked the first time Royal Portrush had hosted the event since 1951. Some 237,750 spectators attended the four days of the 2019 Open and that was a record attendance in the championship’s 161-year history. A record 61,000 spectators attended practice days.
SPORTS BETTING
Half of US offers legal sports betting as NFL season begins
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — More than half of the United States now offers legal sports betting, just three years after it was allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys kick off the NFL season Thursday night, gamblers in 26 states plus the District of Columbia are expected be able to wager on it legally, according to the American Gaming Association, with as many as five additional states offering such bets before the season ends in February with the Super Bowl.
That’s up from 18 states with legal sports betting at the start of last year’s football season. And some of the biggest markets in the U.S., including California and Florida, are moving toward legalization, with New York planning to adopt mobile sports betting at some point.
The explosive growth of the industry comes as more and more companies join the fray, making it more challenging to gain and hold onto market share and profits. And it is making things worse for some people with gambling problems, as the industry is coming up with new ways to bet on sports, including live micro-betting on the outcome of things like the next possession in a football game.
NHL-PANTHERS-NIL DEAL
NHL’s Panthers offer deals to 200 FAU female athletes
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers were seeking a female athlete from Florida Atlantic University to be the next college student they sign to an endorsement deal. Unable to choose one, they’re making the offer to more than 200 of them.
The NHL team said Wednesday that it will sign any interested and eligible FAU female athlete to a deal under the new rules that allow college players to capitalize on their name, image and likeness for endorsement opportunities. The offer covers athletes from all 10 FAU women’s programs.
No other major sports franchise is known to have made such an offer. It comes after the Panthers became the first pro team to sign a college athlete as an endorser when they struck a deal with Miami quarterback D’Eriq (dee-EH’-rihk) King earlier this summer.
BEIJING OLYMPICS-BROADCASTER PRESSURE
Broadcasters urged to cancel plans to cover Beijing Olympics
TOKYO (AP) — Some of the world’s largest broadcasters, including NBC, are being asked by human rights groups to cancel plans to cover the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The request comes in an open letter from rights groups representing minorities in China including Uyghurs (WEE’-gurz), Tibetans, Hong Kong residents and others. The open letter was sent to NBC Universal chief executive officer Jeff Shell and other broadcast executives.
NBC has paid $7.75 billion for the rights to the next six Olympics. Those payments are estimated to account for about 40% of the International Olympic Committee’s income. The letter says broadcasters risk “being complicit” in the “worsening human rights abuses” in China.
The Winter Games are set to open on Feb. 4.
