Raonic pulls out of event in Belgium over strain
An abdominal strain forced Canadian Milos Raonic to withdraw ahead of his European Open quarter-final match Friday in Antwerp, Belgium.
The fifth-seeded Raonic was scheduled to face No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who was awarded a walkover win.
Raonic, 29, ranked 19th in the world, is coming off a run to the semifinals in St. Petersburg, Russia.
A push to start the 2020-21 NBA season on Christmas Day is gaining momentum, the New York Times reported Friday.
A start date was just one item on the agenda at Friday's meeting of the league's board of governors, along with discussions about fan attendance amid the pandemic and the possibility of playing fewer than 82 games, ESPN reported.
While a Dec. 25 start with a full holiday slate of marquee games would please the league's television partners, sources told ESPN that some teams are targeting a mid-january launch instead.
Last month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said his “best guess” was that the season wouldn't start until early 2021.
The NBA has made a vow that players would get at least an eightweek notice before the start of the season. Oct. 30 would be exactly eight weeks before Christmas Day.
There have been no new positive COVID-19 cases among players for 54 consecutive days, Major League Baseball and its players association announced Friday.
A total of 3,597 samples were collected and tested from Oct. 16-22, including players and staff.
The total number of tests done to date is 172,740, with 91 positive results (57 players and 34 staff members). Twenty-one different teams have had at least one positive test during the monitoring phase.
The Washington Football Team will allow about 3,000 fans to attend its Nov. 8 game at Fedex Field against the New York Giants.
“Welcome back! It's a small step back toward normalcy in this crazy time,” tweeted Julie Donaldson, the team's senior vice-president of media and content.
The team plays in Landover, Md., and state Gov. Larry Hogan announced last week that both the Washington team and Baltimore Ravens could open their stadiums to fans as long as they occupied fewer than 10 per cent of the seats amid the coronavirus pandemic. Fedex Field seats about 80,000. Tickets will be sold to season-ticket holders, based on tenure. All fans must wear face coverings.
Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon didn't practice for the third straight day Friday and will miss Sunday's game against Cleveland due to a foot injury.
Mixon, 24, has played in 34 straight games dating back to the 2018 season. He sustained the injury in the first half of Cincinnati's 31-27 loss to Indianapolis last Sunday. Mixon has 119 carries for 428 yards and three touchdowns in six games with the Bengals (1-4-1) this season. He also has reeled in 21 receptions for 138 yards and a score.