Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Plan to hold U.S. Open without fans awaits OK
Moving closer to holding the first Grand Slam tournament of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Tennis Association is awaiting the go-ahead from the New York state government to play the U.S. Open in New York starting in August — without fans and with strict health protocols.
“We’re ready to move forward,” USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said in a telephone interview Monday, “as long as we get all the approvals we need.”
A formal announcement could come this week.
“We’ve received a proposal and we’re reviewing it,” Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, wrote in an email.
Like many sports, the professional tennis tours have been suspended since March because of the pandemic. The French Open was postponed from May and currently is slated to start a week after the Sept. 13 end of the U.S. Open; Wimbledon was canceled altogether for the first time since World War II in 1945.
Even if the state OKs the U.S. Open, one significant question would remain: Which players actually would participate?
Such top names as both No. 1-ranked players, Novak Djokovic and Ash Barty, and defending men’s champion Rafael Nadal, have expressed reservations about heading to Flushing Meadows, where an indoor tennis facility was used as a temporary home for hundreds of hospital beds at the height of the city’s coronavirus crisis.
Already ruled out, regardless: Roger Federer, who has won five of his men’s-record 20 Grand Slam singles titles at the U.S. Open but announced recently that he is out for the rest of the year after needing a second arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
Berger a winner at Colonial, and PGA Tour feels like it, too
FORT WORTH, TEXAS »
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In this Sept. 8, 2019, file photo, Rafael Nadal, of Spain, hugs the trophy after defeating Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, to win the men’s singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York.
PGA Tour spent two months learning about the COVID-19 pandemic and trying to develop a safe plan to return, followed by another month hoping for the best.
Commissioner Jay Monahan said his confidence in the plan came with a dose of uncertainty.
“If we ... got into a situation where we were dealing with a number of positive tests, that’s something — candidly — that I lost a lot of sleep over in the weeks that preceded coming,” Monahan said.
Monahan felt every bit a winner as Daniel Berger at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
The tour administered 487 tests for the new coronavirus at Colonial, and the results on all of them came back negative. On the golf course, a dozen of some of golf’s best players — from Rory McIlroy to Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele to Jordan Spieth — all had a chance going into the final round.
“Listen, there is more work to be done,” Monahan said. “But this is a phenomenal start to our return.”
It was a healthy return, except for a somewhat sickly finish.
Berger made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and heard the deafening silence of a big moment with no spectators allowed at Colonial. He got into a playoff when Collin
Morikawa missed a 6-foot birdie putt for the win and Xander Schauffele missed his try from 25 feet.
Oregon, Arizona St athletes challenge NCAA in federal court
Attorneys filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in federal court Monday that seeks to prevent the association from limiting the amount of money athletes can make off their names, images and likenesses.
The antitrust lawsuit by attorneys representing two current college athletes also seeks damages for potential past earnings athletes have been denied by current NCAA rules. Arizona State swimmer Grant House and Oregon women’s basketball player Sedona Prince are the plaintiffs.
They are suing the NCAA and the Power Five Conferences — the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference — for unspecified damages. The suit seeks classaction status.
The latest legal challenge comes as the NCAA is the process of changing its rules to allow college athletes to earn money from third parties for things such as social media endorsements, sponsorship deals and personal appearances. The NCAA is also seeking help from Congress in the form of a federal law regarding name, image and likeness compensation that would superseded legislation being pushed at the state level.
Gundy’s OAN support angers star Oklahoma St RB Chuba Hubbard
OKLAHOMA CITY » Star Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard suggested Monday he may boycott the program after coach Mike Gundy was photographed wearing a T-shirt displaying the One America News Network, a far-right news channel that has been praised by President Donald Trump.
Gundy is seen in a photograph on Twitter wearing the shirt with the letters OAN. In a tweet responding to the photo, Hubbard said: “I will not stand for this. This is completely insensitive to everything going on in society, and it’s unacceptable. I will not be doing anything with Oklahoma State until things CHANGE.”
Hubbard, who is black, has been more active on social media since George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in the custody of Minneapolis police while under the knee of a white officer. Hubbard has been supportive of protests around the world.
Several current and former Oklahoma State athletes responded to Hubbard’s tweet with support. Current linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga declared “I stand with him!” while former Cowboys running back Justice Hill, now with the Baltimore Ravens, tweeted: “OSU Athletics and University need major change. 100% support brotha.”
An Oklahoma State athletic department spokesman said, “We don’t have a comment at this time.”
WNBA plans to play 2020 season in Florida starting late July
NEW YORK » The WNBA has announced plans to play a reduced season, with a 22-game schedule that would begin in late July without fans in attendance.
The league is still finalizing a partnership with IMG Academy in Florida to play all the games at the facility in Bradenton or other nearby locations. Players and team officials for the league’s 12 teams would be housed at IMG and hold training camps there.
“There’s a lot to do between now and the tip of the season, now that we’ve selected IMG Academy” as the location to play, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a phone interview Monday. “My hope is the July 24 date will stick. We have scenarios and plans to lift and shift the tip of the season. It could slip to a couple of days later. We want to have the appropriate number of days for training camp.”
Engelbert, who said she had a site visit at IMG, hopes to have teams in Florida by the first week of July to start training camps. The season had been postponed indefinitely in April because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The WNBA would use its regular playoff format, with the top eight teams making the postseason and the first two rounds being single-elimination. The top two seeds would have byes until the semifinals. The playoffs would begin in the middle of September and end in early October.
FIFA urges ‘tolerance’ after Trump’s anthem kneeling rebuke
FIFA appealed Monday for “tolerance, mutual respect and common sense” after U.S. President Donald Trump denounced the annulment of a policy that required soccer players to stand during the national anthem.
“I won’t be watching much anymore!” Trump tweeted Saturday.
Trump retweeted a tweet by Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who wrote: “I’d rather the US not have a soccer team than have a soccer team that won’t stand for the National Anthem.”
It was United States captain Megan Rapinoe kneeling in support of Colin Kaepernick
that led to the U.S. Soccer Federation adopting the rule in 2017. It was annulled last week after American soccer leaders acknowledged a change in sentiment among the public since the death of George Floyd sparked global anti-racism protests.
“FIFA strongly advocates for tolerance, mutual respect and common sense when such important matters are debated,” world soccer’s governing body said in a statement to The Associated Press when asked about Trump’s comments. “FIFA has a zero-tolerance approach to incidents of all forms of discrimination in football, as outlined in the FIFA Statutes. We must all say no to racism and no to violence.”
Doyle out as Iowa strength coach; Barta standing by Ferentz
IOWA CITY, IOWA » Iowa athletic director Gary Barta gave a vote of confidence to longtime football coach Kirk Ferentz on Monday after deciding to cut ties with a strength coach accused of mistreating African American players.
Ferentz has dealt seriously in addressing former and current players’ concerns about the program’s culture, Barta said. He also pointed to Ferentz’s on-field success, player development and the team’s record of community service.
“I do remain confident Kirk Ferentz can lead this team moving forward and many of the attributes we’re all familiar with over the last 20 years ... are still there and still a part of the foundation and who Kirk is,” Barta said at a news conference.
Iowa announced a separattion agreement with Chris Doyle, at the center of allegations he and other assistant coaches made racist comments and belittled players. Doyle will be paid more than $1.1 million by the university, which also said a Missouri law firm, Husch Blackwell, will conduct an independent review of the allegations against the football program.