Off the wire

TENNIS Djokovic rained out

Novak Djokovic completed just one game of his second-round match against Vasek Pospisil at the Eastbourne International before rain washed out the day’s play at the Wimbledon warmup event on Tuesday. First up on Centre Court, the top-seeded Djokovic held serve for 1-0 and was 30-15 up in the second game when the players went off for rain. The covers stayed on until play was abandoned just before 5 p.m. local time. In the women’s tournament, second-seeded Simona Halep and seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova both were losing 2-1, to Ying-Ying Duan and Mona Barthel, respectively, when the rain started.

BASKETBALL Simon joins Lakers

Miles Simon has joined the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach. Lakers Coach Luke Walton announced the hire of his fellow former University of Arizona star Tuesday. Simon recently worked for USA Basketball, serving as head coach for the junior select national team. He spent three seasons as Lute Olson’s assistant at Arizona in 2005-2008. Simon also has worked as a player development coach, director of the Nike Basketball Academy and a college basketball analyst for ESPN. Simon joins associate head coach Brian Shaw and assistants Jesse Mermuys, Mark Madsen, Jud Buechler and Brian Keefe on Walton’s staff. Walton, Simon, Buechler and Mermuys all attended Arizona.

SWIMMING Ledecky, Adrian qualify

Olympic gold medalists Katie Ledecky and Nathan Adrian qualified for the American world championship team Tuesday night with each winning signature events at the U.S. National Championships at Indianapolis. Ledecky easily claimed the women’s 800-meter freestyle title in a time of 8 minutes, 11.50 seconds. The defending Olympic and world champion won by 8.96 seconds over Leah Smith. Adrian reclaimed the men’s 100 free title in 47.96 seconds, beating Caeleb Dressel by 0.01. Each winner makes the team. Second- place finishers are likely to be added when the selection process ends.

Mallory Comerford defeated American record-holder Simone Manuel in the women’s 100 free. But it took the world’s third-fastest time of the year, 52.81, to win. Hali Flickinger and Jack Conger claimed the 200 butterfly titles and True Sweetser won the men’s 1,500 free.

MOTOR SPORTS Elliott extends deal

Chase Elliott has signed a fouryear contract extension to drive for Hendrick Motorsports through 2022. The current contract ran through 2018 for Elliott, driver of the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet. Elliott originally signed with Hendrick Motorsports as a development driver in February 2011 as a 15-year-old high school freshman. He replaced Jeff Gordon last year in the Cup Series and was the top rookie. Elliott qualified for the playoffs and had 10

top-five finishes and 17 top-10s. He also won two poles, including the season-opening Daytona 500. He is currently sixth in the Monster Energy Cup standings, but still seeking his first series victory. Elliott is the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott.

HOCKEY Stars buy out Niemi

The Dallas Stars have announced their buyout of the final year of goalie Antti Niemi’s contract, a plan that will spread the $3 million payment over two seasons for an annual salary cap hit of $1.5 million. Niemi was due to make $4.5 million coming off a disappointing season in which he was 12-12-4 with a 3.3 goals-against average in 37 games. The ninthyear player became expendable after Ben Bishop was acquired in a trade that will likely make him the starter with Kari Lehtonen as the backup. The Stars made the Niemi move official Tuesday and have until Saturday to sign Bishop before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Lehtonen and Niemi, 33, split goalie duties for two years. It worked well the first season, when the Stars were the top seed in the NHL Western Conference and reached the second round of the playoffs. But last year Dallas missed the playoffs for the second time in four seasons under Lindy Ruff, who didn’t return.

CYCLING Support rider suspended

One of Alberto Contador’s key support riders has failed a doping test and been suspended from the Trek- Segafredo team four days before he was slated to start the Tour de France. The UCI said Andre Cardoso of Portugal was notified that he tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO following an out-of-competition test about 10 days ago. A statement from Trek said that “in accordance with our zero tolerance policy, (Cardoso) has been suspended immediately.” Cardoso can request that a backup “B” sample be tested before the UCI decides on an eventual punishment, although he has already been provisionally suspended by the sport’s governing body. Cardoso had been called on to help Contador on the key mountain stages of the Tour, which starts Saturday in Duesseldorf, Germany.

MISCELLANEOUS Injured bull rider improves

An Australian bull rider injured at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., is able to sit in a chair and even take some steps as he recovers in a Wyoming hospital. Bradie Gray remained in the intensive care unit Tuesday at the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper but a hospital spokesman said his condition was improving. The Casper Star-Tribune reported that the Odessa College Rodeo Team posted on its Facebook page that Gray is now breathing on his own. Gray was critically injured June 15 when a bull stepped on his sternum after bucking him off. The Odessa College cowboy suffered broken ribs, collapsed lungs and a tear in his aorta. The native of Hallsville, Australia, underwent multiple surgeries after the incident.