Sharapova calls it quits
Maria Sharapova quietly walked away from tennis at the age of 32, ending a career that featured five Grand Slam titles, time at No. 1 in the WTA rankings and a 15-month doping ban.
She has been dealing with problems in her right shoulder for years and lost the last four matches she played at major tournaments.
This season, Sharapova played only two matches and lost both.
The Russian, who moved to Florida as a child, burst onto the tennis scene at 17 when she won Wimbledon in 2004 by upsetting Serena Williams in the final. She went on to complete a career Grand Slam with two titles at the French Open and one each at the U.S. Open and Australian Open.
Known as much for her grit with a racket in hand as for her groundstrokes, Sharapova reached No. 1 in 2005, the year before she won her second major trophy at Flushing Meadows. She added an Australian Open title in 2008, and then won the French Open in 2012 and 2014.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Lizzie Odegard scored 19 points as the UW-Milwaukee women’s team held off Youngstown State, 59-54, Thursday night at the Klotche Center.
McKaela Schmelzer and Brandy Bisping added 11 points apiece for UWM (13-15, 10-7 Horizon League).
Rutgers 63, UW women 43: Arella Guirantes poured in 26 points to lead the host Scarlet Knights past the Badgers (11-18, 3-15).
NBA
The NBA fined the Minnesota Timberwolves $25,000 for violating the player resting policy with point guard D’Angelo Russell.
Russell was held out Sunday at Denver for a planned rest. Though Russell did not play for Minnesota on Feb. 8 because of a quadriceps injury, two days after he was acquired in a trade, the NBA deemed Russell a healthy player under the policy that was designed in part to minimize star player absences from nationally televised games.
GOLF
Tom Lewis and Harris English, who are both playing with sponsors exemptions, each shot 4-under 66 to share the lead after the first round of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Lee Westwood – also in the field thanks to a sponsor exemption – was in a shot back with Zach Johnson, J.T. Poston, Brian Stuard and Cameron Tringale.
Defending champion Keith Mitchell finished birdie-birdie and still shot 75.
SOCCER
Gio Reyna is following his father to the U.S. national team.
The 17-year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder will be invited to the American training camp ahead of exhibitions on March 26 at the Netherlands and four days later at Wales.
Gio Reyna would be the sixth-youngest player to appear for the U.S. senior team since its accurate age records began in 1990, according to U.S. Soccer Federation. Freddy Adu was the youngest at 16.
Reyna’s father, Claudio, scored eight goals in 112 appearances for the U.S. from 1994 to 2006, appearing in three World Cups.
PREP FOOTBALL
Longtime coach Corky Rogers, who the most state championships of anyone in Florida football history, died at the age of 76 in Jacksonville after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Rogers went 465-84-1 during his 45-year coaching career and won a record 10 state championships at The Bolles School. His Wing-T offense was highly regarded and often mimicked. His attention to detail and focus on fundamentals were rarely matched.
Rogers’ 465 victories rank seventh nationally, and he is one of only 24 high school coaches to reach the 400-win mark. His winning percentage of 84.5 ranks fifth among those with at least 400 victories.