Williams highlights Wimbledon draw
Serena Williams will begin her Wimbledon comeback by facing Harmony Tan, a 24-year-old from France who is ranked 113th and owns a 2-6 career record in Grand Slam matches.
The placement of Williams in the women’s bracket was the most anticipated aspect of the draw at the All England Club.
She is making her first appearance in singles at any tournament since she hurt her right leg and stopped playing during the first set of her first-round match at Centre Court a year ago.
The top seed is world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic is the top seed and will start on Centre Court Monday against 75th-ranked Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea.
Hockey
A busy Penguins offseason of hockey operations changes continued with a departure and two promotions. Scott Young, who served as director of player development for the past five seasons, joined former Penguins GM Jim Rutherford’s Vancouver Canucks as director of player personnel. To fill Young’s vacancy, the Penguins promoted Tom Kostopoulos from player development coach to director of player development. Also, Madison Nikkel was promoted to video coach, replacing Andy Saucier who was previously named hockey operations analyst/pro personnel, a newly created role.
Baseball
Catcher Alex Alvarez hit a three-run homer in the second inning to lead the Washington Wild Things (25-12) past the Windy City Thunder-Bolts (16-19), 16-2, in the opening game of the road series.
College basketball
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge features Pitt at Northwestern on Nov. 28 and Penn State at Clemson on Nov. 29. The two conferences announced the 14 matchups for the 24th edition of the event. The ACC has a 144-121 advantage in all games since the genesis of the challenge in 1999.
• Mikaylah Williams, the top-ranked women’s recruit in the Class of 2023, committed to Kim Mulkey’s LSU program. Williams, a 6-foot-1 guard from Bossier City, La., chose LSU over Mississippi, Baylor, and Texas A&M.
• Top-five recruit Robert Dillingham committed to Kentucky, giving the Wildcats their second top-30 guard in the 2023 class.
Golf
Xander Schauffele shot his second consecutive 7-under 63 to take a five-stroke lead in the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn. The Olympic champion shot a 31 on the front nine at TPC River Highlands with four birdies, then had a 32 on the back, making birdies on 11, 14 and 17. He has hit 33 of 36 greens in regulation and is the only player in the tournament without a bogey. First-round leader Rory McIlroy was six shots back after a 70.
• Li Haotong kept his onestroke lead at the BMW International Open in Munich as Ryan Fox moved up to second with a strong round of 8under 64.
High schools
A basketball coach with years of experience on the women’s Division I college level will be in the WPIAL next season. Eddie Benton is the new girls basketball coach at Oakland Catholic. Benton, who played at Perry in the City League in the 1990s, spent last season as an assistant at Mississippi State and also has been an assistant at Brown, Cincinnati, Duquesne and Saint Francis (Pa.). He also has been a head women’s coach at La Roche.
Swimming
Katie Ledecky extended her record haul of medals and Australia set a world record in the mixed 4x100 meters freestyle final at the world swimming championships in Budapest, Hungary. American star Ledecky won the 800 freestyle final for the fifth time at the worlds to seal her fourth consecutive 400/ 800/1,500 triple at the event.
Pro basketball
Charlotte agreed to terms with Steve Clifford on a multiyear deal to be the team’s 12th head coach in franchise history. Clifford returns to the place where he served as head coach from 2013-18, guiding the Hornets to a pair of playoff appearances in his tenure. He finished with a 196-214 record before he got fired in 2018 when the Hornets’ shifted things in their front office and hired Kupchak.
• Memphis announced the final pieces of its draft night trade, sending guard De’Anthony Melton to the 76ers for the draft rights to forward David Roddy and wing Danny Green.
• Sabrina Ionescu scored 21 points with 9 rebounds and 8 assists to lead the visiting New York Liberty (8-10) past the Chicago Dream (8-9), 8977, in WNBA action. Natasha Howard added 19 points 10 rebounds and 5 assists for the Liberty.
Pro football
Bears linebacker Matt Adams was charged with misdemeanor firearms possession. Chicago police said they recovered a weapon during a search of his vehicle in downtown Chicago Thursday night. He was also cited for possessing a high-capacity magazine within the city limits and metal-piercing bullets, a municipal code violation.