Early exit for No. 1 seed Pliskova at US Open

Under normal circumstances, Karolina Pliskova wouldn’t have been seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open and so, while a second-round loss certainly would have been disappointing to her, and noticed by others, it wouldn’t have been as newsworthy.

But what’s normal in 2020? With the women who are 1-2 in the rankings choosing to skip the trip to Flushing Meadows in New York because of the coronavirus pandemic, No. 3 Pliskova ascended to the top spot in the draw — and by Day 3, she was gone.

Pliskova, the 2016 U.S. Open runner-up, suffered a 6-1, 7-6 (2) loss to No. 50 Caroline Garcia on Tuesday.

In other upsets, Shelby Rogers, ranked 93rd, beat 11th-seeded Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-1, and Ann Li, who’s ranked 128th, beat 13th-seeded Alison Riske 6-0, 6-3. No. 12 Marketa Vondrousova, No. 30 Kristina Mladenovic and No. 31 Anastasija Sevastova also lost.

Two seeded men exited, too: No. 13 Cristian Garin and No. 24 Hubert Hurkacz.

College football: Georgia QB Jamie Newman announced that he will opt out of the season due to concerns over COVID-19 and will begin preparing for the 2021 draft. Newman, a graduate transfer from Wake Forest who hadn’t yet played a game for Georgia, was expected to be the Bulldogs’ starting QB. USC transfer JT Daniels, who received a waiver to play right away, now is the favorite to start.

Cycling: Julian Alaphilippe of France was stripped of the yellow jersey by a Tour de France jury after being handed a time penalty for illegally receiving provisions near the end of Stage 5. TV footage showed Alaphilippe grabbing a bottle from a staff member of his Deceuninck-Quick Step squad about 11 miles from the finish. Under racing rules, riders aren’t allowed to receive provisions — either drinks or food — during the final 12.5 miles of a stage. British rider Adam Yates was moved up to first place in the revised general standings after Alaphilippe was docked 20 seconds. Alaphilippe dropped to 16th, just 16 seconds back of the lead. Belgian Wout van Aert won the stage.

Golf: The International Federation of PGA Tours canceled the HSBC Champions WGC event in China due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament was scheduled for Oct. 29-Nov. 1 at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai. The Chinese government announced in July that due to the pandemic, the country wouldn’t host international sports events the rest of 2020.

NHL: The Blues traded goaltender Jake Allen to the Canadiens. The Blues received a third- and a seventhround pick in this year’s draft in exchange for Allen, 30, and a 2022 seventh-rounder. Getting Allen’s $4.35 million salary cap hit off the books increases the Blues’ chances of re-signing pending 30-year-old free agent defenseman Alex Pietrangelo . ... Elias Petterson scored the go-ahead goal early in the third, Thatcher Demko made 42 saves in his first playoff start and the fifth-seeded Canucks staved off elimination by beating the top-seeded Golden Knights 2-1 on Tuesday in Game 5 of their Western Conference secondround series in Edmonton, Alberta.