U.S. Open puts Serena at 17
Serena Williams got a bit of a boost in the seedings for the U.S. Open by being placed at No. 17, nine spots above her current ranking.
The U.S. Tennis Association’s decision, announced Tuesday along with all the other seeds for the main draws of women’s and men’s singles, means Williams avoids a possible matchup against one of the top eight players in the third round.
It also sets up a possible matchup at that stage against her older sister Venus, who is No. 16, her ranking this week.
Indeed, all of the other seeds — 32 women, 32 men — were positioned based on the WTA and ATP rankings, as usual.
BASEBALL
The Washington Nationals traded second baseman Daniel Murphy to the Chicago Cubs and first baseman Matt Adams to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, essentially throwing in the towel on a disappointing season.
The Cubs are sending Class A infielder Andruw Monasterio and a player to be named later or cash to Washington for Murphy.
For Adams, the Cardinals are sending $50,000 to Washington.
SWIMMING
Liu Xiang swam a world-record time of 26.98 seconds to win the women’s 50-meter backstroke gold medal at the Asian Games in Jarkata, Indonesia.
The 21-year-old Liu, who prefers swimming the freestyle, became the first woman to break 27 seconds in the event, lowering the record of 27.06 set by fellow Chinese swimmer Zhao Jing at the world championships in Rome in 2009 before the contentious rubberized suits were banned.
Fu Yuanhui took silver in 27.68 in a 1-2 finish for China.
AUTO RACING
IndyCar driver Robert Wickens had titanium rods and screws placed in his spine to stabilize a fracture associated with a spinal cord injury suffered in a weekend crash at Pocono Raceway.
IndyCar said the severity of the spinal cord injury was unknown.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports later said it would not field the No. 6, the car Wickens’ drives, at this weekend’s race in St. Louis.
HOCKEY
Ottawa Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee resigned amid charges of harassment stemming from an incident at the NHL scouting combine in May.
Lee, who had been suspended by the Senators, said in a statement he is not in a position to fulfill his obligations with the team while his legal case is ongoing.
Lee is accused of making lewd comments and rubbing the shoulders of a 19-year-old male shuttle driver at the combine in Buffalo, N.Y. He pleaded not guilty.
The 56-year-old was scheduled to appear in court in Buffalo on Wednesday to argue motions, but that was pushed back to Sept. 13.
TENNIS
Roger Federer and Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic will headline the team from Europe next month in the Laver Cup.
A six-player team from Europe will face a team of players from the rest of the world in the second year of the competition Sept. 21-23 in Chicago.
Joining Federer and Djokovic will be Alexander Zverev of Germany, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, David Goffin of Belgium and Kyle Edmund of Britain. Only Edmund is not ranked among the top 10 players in the world.
Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro and Diego Schwartzman will play on the World team along with Americans John Isner and Jack Sock, Wimbledon runner-up Kevin Anderson of South Africa and Australian Nick Kyrgios.
FIGURE SKATING
Olympic bronze medalist Kaetlyn Osmond will skip the upcoming figure skating season after becoming the first Canadian woman to win the world championship in 45 years.
The 22-year-old Osmond already had decided to skip the Grand Prix circuit. The three-time Canadian champion announced that her break would extend to the entire figure skating season.