AP National Sports

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer PARIS (AP) — Barbora Krejcikova arrived at the French Open as the defending champion in singles and doubles. She also was coming off a three-month absence from the tour because of an injured right elbow, so even her own expectations were rather modest. Krejcikova was right to be apprehensive

PARIS (AP) — Barbora Krejcikova has become only the third defending women’s champion to lose in the first round of the French Open. Krejcikova, a Czech player who was seeded second at Roland Garros, lost to 97th-ranked Diane Parry 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. It was Krejcikova’s first match since February because of an injured right elbow.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — Luge’s governing body said it plans on bringing races back to North America for the first time in nearly three years, with stops planned for Park City, Utah and Whistler, Canada. The International Luge Federation released its planned schedule for the 2022-23 season on Monday. It starts with two consecutive

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia captain Marek Hamšík is retiring from international soccer. The 34-year-old playmaker made his international debut in a friendly against Poland in 2007. He has played a record of 135 international matches for his country and scored a record 26 goals. He captained Slovakia to its only World Cup appearance at

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund has signed midfielder Salih Özcan from Bundesliga rival Cologne. Dortmund says the the 24-year-old Özcan signed a contract through June 2026 after completing a medical examination. He is the club’s fourth signing ahead of the offseason after defenders Niklas Süle and Nico Schlotterbeck and forward Karim Adeyemi. Özcan played

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Teenager Ansu Fati has been called up for Spain’s national team again after a long injury layoff. Spain coach Luis Enrique included the 19-year-old Barcelona forward in the list of 25 players selected for the four Nations League matches “La Roja” will play in June. Fati

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Liverpool and Aston Villa have started building for next season by announcing the signings of highly rated youngsters. Fabio Carvalho is a 19-year-old Portuguese forward who has just helped Fulham gain promotion to the Premier League and is joining Liverpool on July 1. Carvalho made four appearances for Fulham in the

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Aston Villa signed one of the most highly rated young players in French soccer by bringing in defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara on a free transfer. The 22-year-old Kamara’s contract with Marseille is expiring this month. He has signed a five-year deal with Villa. He was called up to the French national

By DANIELLA MATAR AP Sports Writer MILAN (AP) — AC Milan wasn’t expected to win the scudetto. It has young players and ageing forwards and a coach who had never won anything. On paper Inter Milan had the best squad but Stefano Pioli managed to instil a level of maturity and cohesiveness in his players.

By NOAH TRISTER AP Baseball Writer The Boston Red Sox needed a winning streak like this. Their slow start was exacerbated by the fact that the first-place Yankees were threatening to pull away in the AL East. But the Red Sox have now won five in a row after sweeping Seattle. Trevor Story has five

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Cody Simpson will be swimming rather than singing at the next Commonwealth Games. He was part of the entertainment lineup in the buildup to the 2018 Commonwealth Games that were hosted by his home town on Australia’s Gold Coast. He’ll be on the program again for the 2022 event in Birmingham

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Daniel Gazdag scored in the opening minutes and the Philadelphia Union went on to defeat the Portland Timbers 2-0. Sergio Santos also scored for the Union who came into the game with a streak of five straight draws. Goalkeeper Andre Blake finished with his

WASHINGTON (AP) — Candace Parker finished with her second career triple-double and the Chicago Sky pulled away in the second half to beat the Washington Mystics 82-73. Parker totaled 16 points, 13 rebounds and picked up a 10th assist on a basket by Allie Quigley with 21.2 seconds remaining. It was the 12th triple-double in