Rogers enters 1st upset Down Under
Shelby Rogers caused the first upset of tennis’ Australian Open today, beating fourth-seeded Simona Halep 6-3, 6-1 in the opening match on the center court in Melbourne, Australia.
Playing just her second match in the main draw at the season’s first Grand Slam tournament, the 52ndranked Rogers broke the 2014 French Open finalist’s serve four times on Rod Laver Arena. It was the second year in a row that Halep lost in the first round at Melbourne Park, and the fourth time overall.
Seventh-seeded Garbine Muguruza saved a set point in the first set and needed a medical timeout before advancing with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Marina Erakovic.
Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig raced through her opening match, beating Patricia Tig 6-0, 6-1. Duan Yingying was among the early winners with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Rebecca Sramkova.
Jeremy Chardy was the first winner on the men’s side, and only played four games. He was leading 4-0 when Nicolas Almagro retired from their match with an injured right calf muscle.
Scheyer wins; Vonn returns
Christine Scheyer of Austria upset the pre-race favorites to win a women’s World Cup downhill in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, while American Lindsey Vonn placed 13th in her first ski race in nearly 11 months. The four-time overall champion Vonn, who holds the women’s record of 76 victories, was out nursing a knee injury and a broken arm since February last year. . . .
Henrik Kristoffersen’s hot streak in World Cup slalom extended to his fourth win of the season, and Marcel Hirscher was runner-up yet again in Wengen, Switzerland. Felix Neureuther of Germany was third.
Sevilla halts Real Madrid
Sevilla twice scored late, including an 85th-minute own goal by Sergio Ramos, to end Real Madrid’s 40-game unbeaten streak and move within one point of its rival atop soccer’s Spanish league with a 2-1 win. . . .
Former Napoli star Diego Maradona is in talks to work with the Serie A side, where he is still idolized nearly 27 years after leaving the club. . . .
Zlatan Ibrahimovic compensated for Paul Pogba’s recklessness by scoring Manchester United’s late equalizer in a 1-1 draw against fierce rival Liverpool, a result that damaged both teams’ Premier League title chances. . . .
Vanderbilt linebacker Zach Cunningham is bypassing his final year of college eligibility and entering the NFL draft. He is projected as a firstround pick in some mock drafts. . . .
Former pro wrestler Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, who earlier this month was found not competent to stand trial in the 1983 death of his girlfriend, died at his son-in-law’s home in Florida. He was 73. . . .
Kenya’s Dominic Ondoro won his first Houston Marathon and seventh overall since 2013. Ondoro pulled away late to win with a time of 2:12:05. Ethiopia’s Meskerem Assefa won her first marathon title, taking the women’s title with a time of 2:30:18.