Major return for Serena at French Open
Serena Williams’ coach says she will play the French Open beginning in two weeks.
The tournament will mark the 23-time Grand Slam champion’s first major since returning to the tour from maternity leave.
Coach Patrick Mouratoglou tells the WTA tour’s website, “Serena will play the French Open to win it.”
Williams returned to the tour briefly this year, after a 14-month absence to give birth to her daughter. But she withdrew from last week’s Madrid Open and this week’s Italian Open.
Mouratoglou says when Williams arrived to train with him in France late last month, “We realized that she was not ready yet. The time she lost after the delivery with all the medical issues she had to go through, was missing.”
Mouratoglou adds, “That is the reason why we decided to skip Madrid and Rome as she needed five weeks to be perfectly ready . ... I am very satisfied and confident that she will be ready for Roland Garros.”
The three-time French Open champion, has not played since a first-round loss to Naomi Osaka in March at the Miami Open. Roland Garros starts May 27. In other French Open news, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has withdrawn from the French Open because of a left knee injury . . ..
Novak Djokovic was not looking too far ahead after beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome.
NFL: Jets sign ex-Pat
The New York Jets claimed offensive tackle Antonio Garcia off waivers from the Patriots and waived kicker Nick Rose.
Garcia was a third-round draft pick of the Patriots last year out of Troy, but did not play because he was dealing with blood clots in his lungs. The Pats placed him on the reserve/non-football injury list in September and waived him last Friday.
The 6-foot-6, 302-pound Garcia told reporters in March that he was cleared to return to football. He will add depth to the Jets’ offensive line . . ..
The San Francisco 49ers signed sixth-round safety Marcell Harris to a four-year deal . . ..
The Oakland Raiders signed fifth-round pick Johnny Townsend to a four-year contract.
Misc.: Canada wins in OT
Canada bounced back from a loss to Finland by edging Latvia, 2-1, in overtime at the ice hockey world championship to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals in Herning, Denmark.
Also, the Czech Republic edged Austria, 4-3, and Russia shut out Slovakia, 4-0.
Norway beat South Korea, 3-0, to relegate the Asian debutant.
Captain Connor McDavid came to Canada’s rescue with a goal 46 seconds into overtime, knocking in a rebound in the air.
The United States tops Group B in Herning, followed by Finland and Canada. They all secured quarterfinal berths . . . .
Two-time U.S. pairs champions Alexa Scimeca-Knierim and Chris Knierim have decided to change their coaches and will work with Olympic gold medalist Aliona Savchenko and her group beginning this summer . . ..
Egan Bernal unleashed a big kick that drove him clear of the pack as he rode into the overall leader’s jersey after the second stage of the Tour of California in Santa Barbara, Calif.