At 32, Sharapova ends tennis career

Maria Sharapova quietly walked away from tennis at the age of 32 on Wednesday, 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.

Sharapova, a Russion who moved to Florida as a child, burst onto the 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.

At the 2016 Australian Open, Sharapova tested positive for the newly banned drug meldonium.

After initially getting a two-year suspension, Sharapova appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which reduced the penalty, ruling she bore “less than significant fault” in the case and could not “be considered to be an intentional doper.”

Baseball:

Japan’s professional baseball league announced that it will play its 72 remaining preseason games in empty stadiums because of the threat of the spreading coronavirus. The regular season is to open March 20.

College football:

Penn State and coach James Franklin agreed to a new six-year contract through 2025 worth at least $38.2 million. Franklin, 48, was 56-23 in his first six seasons . ... Former TCU QB Trevone Boykin was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and witness tampering charges stemming from the 2018 beating of his girlfriend. Boykin, 26, played for the NFL’s Seahawks in 2016 . ... Michigan State All-American C Dick Tamburo died. He was 90. Tamburo served as an AD at Texas Tech, Arizona State and Missouri.

NFL:

The Giants released LB and team captain Alec Ogletree in a move to save $8.25 million in salary cap space. Ogletree, 28, totaled a team-high 173 tackles in his two seasons with the team since he was acquired in a trade with the Rams in 2018.

Soccer:

Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne scored late goals to rally Manchester City past host Real Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of a Champions League round of 16 match. In other action, Lucas Tousart scored to lead Lyon over visiting Juventus.