Former Browns center Mack retires

Seven-time Pro Bowl center Alex Mack is retiring after 13 years in the NFL, leaving a major hole in the middle of the offensive line for the San Francisco 49ers.

The 36-year-old Mack announced his retirement on Friday in a move the Niners had been bracing for this offseason.

“I am so grateful to the game of football and everything it has given me,” Mack said in a statement posted on his Twitter account. “From the very start it helped shape who I am and taught me life lessons. I started to play football because it was fun and that never changed.”

Mack thanked the “dedicated fan bases” in San Francisco, Atlanta and Cleveland where he spent his career, the coaches who “tolerated my stubbornness,” his teammates, his opponents and his family and friends.

Tennis

NADAL IN FRENCH FINAL » Rafael Nadal was locked in a tight, compelling and lengthy French Open semifinal Friday when his opponent, third-seeded Alexander Zverev, ran to to chase a shot and twisted his right ankle. Zverev crumpled to the ground, wailing in agony and clutching at his lower leg.

His black outfit, arms and legs caked with rust-colored clay, Zverev was helped up by a trainer, then taken away from the court in a wheelchair. Minutes later, after Nadal saw him crying in a small room in the stadium, Zverev came back out onto Court Philippe Chatrier on crutches, his right shoe removed, and conceded the match, unable to continue.

The sudden end to a contest that was 3 hours old but not even through two full sets allowed Nadal to become, on his 36th birthday, the second-oldest men’s finalist in French Open history. Now he will try to become the oldest champion at a tournament he’s already won a record 13 times, facing first-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud on Sunday.

“Only thing that I can say is I hope he’s not too bad. Hopefully it’s just the normal thing when you turn your ankle, and hopefully nothing (is broken). That’s what everybody hopes,” Nadal said.

MLB

GIRARDI FIRED » Joe Girardi was fired by the Philadelphia Phillies after his team’s terrible start, becoming the first major league manager to lose his job this season.

Philadelphia said bench coach Rob Thomson will become interim manager for the rest of the season.

Expected to contend for an NL East title, the Phillies are 22-29 and 12 games behind the first-place New York Mets.