Changes coming in Grand Slam tennis

Grand Slam tournaments are planning to return to seeding only 16 players, instead of 32, as of 2019, and now will give a late withdrawal because of an injury 50 percent of the first-round prize money. The Grand Slam board also announced:

A player who retires from a first-round match or “performs below professional standards” could face a fine as high as the entire prize money due a loser in that round.

A 25-second serve clock will be tried at the Australian Open in January, but not during maindraw matches.

Players could be fined up to $20,000 for violating “strictly enforced” pre-match timing, which will give them one minute to meet at the net after walking on the court, five minutes for warming up, followed by one minute to be ready for play.

Figure skating: World champion Evgenia Medvedeva might miss the Grand Prix Final next month because of a broken foot.

Obituary: Hank Lucente, an accomplished Bay Area amateur golfer, died Monday night. He was 95. Mr. Lucente was runner-up in the 1954 S.F. City Championship and won the ’72 Santa Clara County title.

Jurisprudence: An Associated Press source says a former USA Gymnastics doctor will plead guilty to multiple charges of sexual assault and face at least 25 years in prison. Dr. Larry Nassar is charged with molesting seven girls at his home and a campus clinic.

Meanwhile, Gabby Douglas became the latest Olympic gymnast to say she was sexually abused by Nassar, making the revelation in an Instagram post.