Former champion Sharapova gets U.S. Open invitation
Maria Sharapova was granted a wild-card invitation for the U.S. Open’s main draw on Tuesday and will take part in a Grand Slam event for the first time in more than 1½ years.
Sharapova is among eight women given entry into the 128-player field by the U.S. Tennis Association — and by far the most noteworthy. The former No. 1 player and owner of five major titles, including the 2006 U.S. Open, has not entered a major tournament since the Australian Open in January 2016, when she tested positive for the newly banned drug meldonium. That led to a 15-month doping ban, which expired in April.
She returned to the tour, but her ranking — currently 148th — was too low to allow entry into major tournaments, and the French Open denied her a wild card.
Sharapova planned to try to qualify for Wimbledon, but the 30-year-old Russian wound up skipping the grass-court portion of the season because of an injured left thigh.
The USTA didn’t consider her suspension in awarding the wild card, saying it was following past practice of granting them to former U.S. Open champions who needed them, such as Martina Hingis, Lleyton Hewitt, Kim Cljisters and Juan Martin del Potro.
Golf
WOODS’ DUI REPORT RELEASED >> Tiger Woods had the active ingredient for marijuana, two painkillers and two sleep drugs in his system when he was arrested on a DUI charge earlier this year, a report released Tuesday by police said.
Police in Jupiter, Florida released the report less than a week after the golf superstar agreed to enter a diversion program to settle his driving while intoxicated charges. The report’s contents were first reported Monday by ESPN.
The report, prepared by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, says Woods, 41, had THC, the active ingredient for marijuana; as well as the painkillers Vicodin and Dilaudid; the anxiety and sleep drug Xanax; and the anti-insomnia drug Ambien in his system when he was arrested at 2 a.m. May 29 about 15 miles from his home in Jupiter. Officers had found him unconscious in his Mercedes-Benz, which was parked awkwardly on the side of the road and had damage to the driver’s side. It’s not clear how he damaged the car. Officers checked the area but didn’t find that he had hit anything.
Woods issued a statement Tuesday saying he had been trying on his own to treat his insomnia and pain from his fourth back surgery, which he underwent in April.
Woods is scheduled to plead guilty to reckless driving Oct. 25 and enter the county’s diversion program.
Under the plea deal, prosecutors would drop the DUI charge, which is a more severe charge than reckless driving.
If Woods completes the program, he can ask a judge to expunge the reckless driving conviction.
Football
ELLIOTT SUSPENSION APPEALED >> The NFL Players Association has appealed Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott’s sixgame suspension over the league’s conclusion that its 2016 rushing leader injured his former girlfriend in three separate incidents last summer.
The union said Tuesday it will represent Elliott “to ensure that the NFL is held to its obligation of adhering to principles of industrial due process under the collective bargaining agreement.”
The NFL suspended Elliott last week after a yearlong investigation into an Ohio domestic violence case that prosecutors declined to pursue. Elliott’s attorneys blasted Commissioner Roger Goodell’s ruling, saying the league “cherry-picked” evidence to reach its conclusion.
A hearing with Goodell or an arbitrator will be scheduled within 10 days with a decision “as soon as practicable” after the appeal is heard, according to the labor agreement.
The Cowboys open the regular season Sept. 10 at home against the New York Giants.