By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Juventus and Bayern Munich learned the hard way that Villarreal is no pushover even in Europe’s elite competition. Now the club from a small town of 50,000 inhabitants in eastern Spain must get past one more giant standing in the way of a dream appearance in
Continue Reading By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — With Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, the Brooklyn Nets had expectations of being the last team standing. Instead, they were the first team sent packing. Irving wasn’t around to start the season. Harden was long gone before the end of it. And after
Continue Reading By The Associated Press The PGA Tour returns to Mexico in the spring for the first time since 2020. Two years ago it was a World Golf Championship in Mexico City. Now it’s a regular PGA Tour event and resumes the history of the Mexico Open. Jon Rahm highlights an otherwise weak field that includes
Continue Reading By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer Roger Federer intends to return to tournament tennis after what will have been more than a year away from the tour by playing at the Swiss Indoors in October. The event in Basel announced in a statement posted on its website that the 20-time Grand Slam champion officially entered
Continue Reading LONDON (AP) — U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu has parted ways with coach Torben Beltz six months after hiring him. The 19-year-old British player said Tuesday she’s seeking “a new training model” despite rising to a career-high ranking of No. 11 this week after reaching the quarterfinals at the Stuttgart Open. Raducanu had split with
Continue Reading BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona says that central defender Ronald Araújo has agreed to a contract extension through the end of the 2025-26 season. Barcelona says that the 23-year-old Uruguay international will sign his new deal on Friday. Araújo has scored six goals in 78 career appearances with Barcelona. Araújo is considered Barcelona’s most talented
Continue Reading By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer The All England Club says Novak Djokovic will be allowed to defend his title at Wimbledon despite not being vaccinated against COVID-19 because the shots are not required to enter Britain. Djokovic is a 34-year-old from Serbia who is ranked No. 1. He missed the Australian Open in January
Continue Reading By Matias Grez and Sammy Mngqosini, CNN The International Swimming Federation (FINA), swimming’s global governing body, says it is investigating Russia’s Evgeny Rylov after the swimmer took part in his country’s national championships, despite receiving a nine-month ban just four days ago. FINA announced on April 21 that it had suspended the two-time Olympic champion
Continue Reading By JOHN WAWROW AP Hockey Writer Reagan Carey is the Premier Hockey Federation’s next commissioner. Carey takes over the PHF at a time when the league enters a critical offseason of expansion while facing the looming threat of competing for talent. The Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association continues to pursue plans to launch a league
Continue Reading MADRID (AP) — Valencia in eastern Spain has been selected as the fourth host city for the group stage of this year’s Davis Cup Finals. Bologna, Glasgow and Hamburg were previously named as hosts of the group phase to be played from Sept. 14-18. The southern Spanish city of Málaga will host the quarterfinals, semifinals
Continue Reading By Issy Ronald, CNN The Boston Celtics completed a 4-0 sweep of the Brooklyn Nets in their Eastern Conference first-round series by holding on to a 116-112 victory Monday night in New York. The Celtics led from the start as Jayson Tatum scored 29 points before fouling out with 2:49 remaining in the fourth quarter,
Continue Reading Story by Reuters Double Olympic snowboarding champion Chloe Kim said she will sit out the 2022-23 season to focus on her mental health after a “draining” year. The American became the youngest woman to claim an Olympic gold in snowboarding when she won the halfpipe at the 2018 Winter Games as a 17-year-old and defended
Continue Reading ROME (AP) — Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini plans to retire from the national team after the Finalissima match against Argentina in London on June 1. He says that “if I’m in form I’ll play and bid the national team goodbye at Wembley” adding that he reached “the apex” of his Italy career in the stadium
Continue Reading WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand will host the United States, Canada and Australia in the Pacific Four series in June as part of preparations for the women’s Rugby World Cup which kicks off in October. New Zealand will play Australia and the U.S. will take on Canada on June 6 to start the
Continue Reading By JAKE SEINER AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — At a time when ball clubs are valuing lineup versatility like never before, the communication between managers and players over who is playing — and where — has taken on greater importance. Mets manager Buck Showalter says he’s sharing every bit of information he can
Continue Reading By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Even as they rolled through the second half of their schedule, the Boston Celtics knew there was a notion they should lose. Tanking a game down the stretch and falling out of the No. 2 seed would have meant avoiding a playoff series with Kevin
Continue Reading By JOHN FINERAN Associated Press SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Marcus Freeman couldn’t have wished for a better ending to his first spring as Notre Dame’s head football coach. True freshman quarterback Steve Angeli’s 10-yard dash gave the Gold a 13-10 comeback victory over the Blue in the spring game. Freeman says that gave the
Continue Reading By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Walker Buehler tossed a three-hitter for his first career shutout, Will Smith launched a solo homer and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0. Buehler was superb, retiring 15 straight batters from the fourth inning to the ninth. He struck out 10, leaving the
Continue Reading By WARREN MAYES Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pinch-hitter Dominic Smith hustled for an infield single that drove in two pivotal runs, and the New York Mets capitalized on an uncharacteristic error by Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado to rally for five runs with two outs in the ninth inning of a 5-2
Continue Reading By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Sports Writer DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic had 33 points and 13 rebounds in his first home playoff game coming off a calf injury and the Dallas Mavericks routed the Utah Jazz 102-77 for a 3-2 lead in their first-round playoff series. After the first four games were decided by eight
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