Off the wire
TENNIS Istomin advances
Sixth- seeded Richard Gasquet lost 1- 6, 6- 4, 6- 4 to Denis Istomin in the first round of the Moselle Open at Metz, France, on Tuesday, while top- seeded Pablo Carreno
Busta withdrew from the tournament with an injury to his left hand. Organizers said the 10th- ranked Spaniard, who made it to the semifinals at the U. S. Open and was due to play his opening match Thursday, had been replaced in the draw by Frenchman Kenny De Schepper. Gasquet, who struggled with injuries recently but won a tournament on the Challenger tour last week in Poland, made a strong start and sealed the first set after dropping only four points on his serve. But the Frenchman then failed to convert any of seven break points and dropped his serve twice. Istomin will be up against lucky loser
Yannick Maden in the next round. Gasquet’s fellow Frenchman and No. 7 seed Benoit Paire advanced to the second round by defeating qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas 6- 2, 6- 4.
Cibulkova moves up
Fifth- seeded Dominika Cibulkova dispatched Carla Suarez Navarro 6- 3, 6- 3 to book a second- round spot in the Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday. Cibulkova has momentum after posting her best result of the season when reaching the final of the Connecticut Open in August. In Tokyo, she raced 5- 1 ahead. Suarez Navarro broke in a seventh game that contained four deuces, and briefly threatened to fight her way back. Last year’s WTA Finals champion, Cibulkova broke in the third game of the second set, and again to love in the final game. Cibulkova has a 5- 2 record against Suarez Navarro, including a victory here on her way to the semifinals in 2015. She next plays either Slovakian compatriot Jana Cepelova or Czech player Katerina Siniakova. Earlier, Caroline Garcia — seeded following the withdrawal of virushit Agnieszka Radwanska — beat lucky loser Aliaksandra
Sasnovich 6- 4, 6- 3. Garcia next meets home- crowd favorite Kurumi Nara, handed a wild card entry.
BASKETBALL
Cunningham signs A person familiar with the situation said the New Orleans Pelicans and forward Dante Cunningham have agreed on a one- year contract worth $ 2.3 million. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the agreement, which was first reported by Yahoo, has not been announced. The 6- 8 Cunningham spent the past three seasons in New Orleans, where he averaged 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in about 25 minutes per game last season. Cunningham, 30, has spent eight seasons in the NBA, beginning with Portland, which selected him in the second round of the 2009 draft out of Villanova. Cunningham could start for New Orleans at small forward in a lineup that would feature DeMarcus Cousins at center, Anthony Davis at power forward, Rajon Rondo at point guard and Jrue Holiday at shooting guard.
Gray Rookie of Year Dallas Wings guard Allisha Gray is the WNBA Rookie of the Year. The league announced Tuesday that Gray received 30 votes from a national media panel while Atlanta Dream guard Brittney Sykes got 10. Gray averaged 13 points and 3.9 rebounds and led all rookies with 1.53 steals per game. The 6- foot Gray, who was the fourth pick in the draft, started all 34 games for the Wings, averaging 27.2 minutes. Gray, who started college at North Carolina but transferred to South Carolina, is the first player not drafted in the top three picks to win the award since Temeka Johnson won it in 2005. Johnson was drafted sixth by the Washington Mystics. Gray is the second player in franchise history to earn the honor, joining Cheryl Ford who won the award in 2003 when the team was the Detroit Shock.
SOCCER
League sues USSF The North American Soccer League has sued the United States Soccer Federation, saying it has illegally protected the monopoly position of its business partner, Major League Soccer. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court. It asks a judge to conclude that the U. S. Soccer Federation violates antitrust laws and to grant it unspecified relief. The lawsuit said the U. S. Soccer Federation creates regulations to protect Major League Soccer from competition, enriching itself and protecting the league from competitors in the U. S. and Canada. The lawsuit said the North American Soccer League has sought to compete with Major League Soccer as a top- tier professional soccer league with its teams frequently defeating Major League Soccer teams in periodic matchups. The U. S. Soccer Federation declined comment.
Ruling challenged The Burkina Faso Football Federation has challenged FIFA’s ruling to replay a World Cup qualifying game because the referee was corrupt. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said the Burkinabe football body filed an appeal against FIFA’s decision to order a November replay of South Africa’s 2- 1 victory over Senegal last year. Burkina Faso called the ruling by a FIFA World Cup panel “an abuse of power.” FIFA banned Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for life for awarding the penalty that let South Africa lead 1- 0. Burkina Faso tops the qualifying group on goal difference over Cape Verde with two games left. Senegal trails by one point but could lead after the replay. Only the group winner advances to the World Cup. CAS has not set an appeal hearing date.
HOCKEY
Sanford injured St. Louis Blues forward Zach Sanford will undergo surgery and miss 5- 6 months of action after dislocating his left shoulder during training camp. Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong announced the injury on Tuesday. He also said defenseman Jay Bouwmeester has a left ankle fracture and will be re- evaluated in three weeks. Sanford, 22, joined St. Louis in February after a trade with Washington. The forward had 2 goals and 3 assists in 13 regular season appearances for the Blues, and he also played in four playoff games. Bouwmeester, who is 33, is entering his sixth season for St. Louis and had 14 assists and 1 goal last season. The Blues open their season at Pittsburgh on Oct. 4.
CYCLING
Race numbers reduced Cycling’s governing body has decided to reduce the number of riders in major road races in an effort to improve safety. There will now be a maximum of 176 riders in the peloton in all road events on the International Cycling Union calendar. That means there will be a maximum of 7 riders per team instead of 9, except in Grand Tours when 8 riders are allowed in each team. The decision was reached Tuesday at a meeting of the UCI management committee in Bergen, Norway, where the road world championship is taking place. Grand Tour organizers announced in November last year that the number of riders per team would be decreasing to eight from nine for events in 2017. The move was aimed at improving safety and making it more difficult for a team to dominate the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia or Spanish Vuelta. However, those plans were dropped.
BOXING
Former champ dies A former heavyweight boxing champ who was defeated by Larry Holmes has died in a construction accident in New Jersey. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said David Bey of Philadelphia was struck by a piece of metal on Thursday while working on a mixed- use real estate development project in Camden. His union said the 60- year- old was a second- generation pile driver. Bey made his professional boxing debut in 1981 and he went on to defeat Greg Page in 1984 for the United States Boxing Association’s heavyweight championship. He went 10 rounds with Holmes for the International Boxing Federation title in 1985, losing to Holmes by technical knockout. Bey left the ring in 1994 and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame this year.