Djokovic wins, gets hit on the head with bottle
ROME — Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open in Rome on Friday.
Local organizers say a child was leaning over the railing to hand Djokovic a notebook for a signature and an aluminum-type water bottle fell out of the child’s backpack and hit the top-ranked player on the top of his head.
“Thank you for the messages of concern. This was an accident and I am fine resting at the hotel with an ice pack,” Djokovic posted on X. “See you all on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina withdrew before her opening match against IrinaCamelia Begu because of illness.
Also advancing in second-round matches were 2017 Rome champion Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and Ben Shelton. Sofia Kenin eliminated eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
COLLEGES C-USA to add Missouri State
Missouri State will move up to the highest tier of Division I college football and join Conference USA in 2025, the league announced Friday.
Missouri State will become the 12th full member of C-USA and the third school to move up from the Championship Subdivision to the Bowl Subdivision and join the league over the next two seasons.
Conference USA is adding Kennesaw State this season and Delaware is set to join in 2025.
Grand Canyon, Seattle joining West Coast Conference:
Grand Canyon University and Seattle University will join the West Coast Conference beginning with the 2025-26 season, giving the league best known nationally for its basketball programs 11 full members for the first time in its history.
The conference announced the additions Friday, with the two schools set to leave their affiliations with the Western Athletic Conference after the next school year.
Judge halts ACC’s suit against Florida State:
The Atlantic Coast Conference’s lawsuit against member school Florida State has come to a temporary halt.
North Carolina Chief
Business Court Judge
Louis Bledsoe III handed down a ruling Friday that puts a stay on all discovery and further court-related work on the case while FSU appeals to the North Carolina Supreme Court. The school is appealing Bledsoe’s earlier ruling that denied the school’s motion to dismiss the case.
Florida State has yet to actually file the case with the North Carolina Supreme Court, but lawyers have indicated that is in their intent.
“Under North Carolina law, the longstanding general rule is that an appeal divests the trial court of jurisdiction over a case until the appellate court returns its mandate,” Bledsoe wrote in his ruling on Friday. “The lower court only retains jurisdiction to take action which aids the appeal and to hear motions and grant orders that do not concern the subject matter of the suit and are not affected by the judgment that has been appealed.”
Florida State is challenging the conference’s exit fees and the validity of a grant-of-rights agreement that binds league members together through their media rights.
Illinois’ Shannon ordered to stand trial on a rape charge: A Kansas judge on Friday ordered University of Illinois basketball standout Terrence Shannon Jr. to stand trial on a rape charge following testimony from a woman who said she was “terrified” as she was being assaulted.
Shannon, 23, of Champaign, Ill., is accused of committing sexual assault on Sept. 9, in Lawrence, Kan. He has been charged with rape or an alternative count of sexual battery.
SOCCER
FIFA urging peace talks
FIFA offered peace talks to the global networks of player unions and domestic leagues on Friday after they threatened legal action about soccer’s congested international calendar.
FIFPRO and the World Leagues Association aired long-held frustrations at FIFA adding new and bigger events — including a revamped 32-team Club World Cup next year and a 48-team men’s World Cup in 2026 — without fully consulting their members.
The 2024-25 schedule in European soccer also will be squeezed by UEFA expanding its three main club competitions.