The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Midnight at Australian Open still in play despite extra day
The extra-day experiment for the first round finished on time on the Australian Open’s two main courts, with Jessica Pegula converting her second match point just before midnight to conclude the program on Tuesday.
In a bid to reduce the number of late finishes, organizers extended the Australian Open to 15 days — one more than usual. It started on a Sunday for the first time, and spread the first round over three days.
It didn’t prevent Days 1 or 2 going well past midnight.
But Elena Rybakina and Carlos Alcaraz advanced in straight sets in night matches on Rod Laver Arena on Day 3, and Pegula finished off the Margaret Court Arena program to make show-court deadline by 10 minutes.
Wimbledon champion Alcaraz’s 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-2 win over 37-year-old Richard Gasquet and Olympic champion Alexander Zverev ’s 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over Dominik Koepfer meant a record 30 seeds advanced to the men’s second round.
Sumit Nagal prevented it from being 31. He became the first Indian male to beat a seeded player at a Grand Slam event since 1989 with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (5) triumph over No. 31 Alexander Bublik.
“The tour has great players, a lot of them that can beat anyone,” the 20-yearold Alcaraz said. “So I think it’s really, really open. But, 30 from 32, I think they deserve it.”
His opinion on the threeday first-round format?
“It’s better for the players ... better for everyone,” Alcaraz said. “For the crowd to have more days to have matches, for the tournament as well.”
BASEBALL Braves pay top bonus to teen shortstop
Atlanta agreed to a $5 million bonus with Jose Perdomo, 17-year-old shortstop rated as the No. 3 eligible prospect, the largest amount on the first day of the 2024 international signing period and the highest for a Venezuelan-born international amateur.
Leo De Vries, rated the top prospect, agreed to $4.2 million with the Padres.
De Vries turned 17 on Oct. 11.
Vladi Miguel Guerrero, an outfielder/infielder who is a son of Hall of Fame slugger Vladimir Guerrero and a half-brother of Toronto star Vladimir Guerrero Jr., agreed with the New York Mets on a minor league contract Monday.
A left-handed hitter from the Dominican Republic, the 17-year-old Guerrero was among the players the Mets reached deals with as the 2024 international signing period opened. The Mets signed the No. 6 prospect, catcher Yovanny Rodriguez, at $2.85 million
• Houston reliever Kendall Graveman will miss the 2024 season after having surgery on his right shoulder, Astros general manager Dana Brown announced Tuesday. Graveman, 33, had surgery last week, Brown said.
SOCCER USWNT forward inks historic contract
The Chicago Red Stars have signed U.S. team forward Mallory Swanson to a historic four-year contract with an option for a fifth year, a record for the National Women’s Soccer League.
Financial terms of the deal announced Tuesday were not made public, although the team called it the “most lucrative agreement” in league history. CBS Sports reported it was worth some $400,000 per year for nearly $2 million over the length of the contract.
Swanson, who was a free agent this season, has been with the Red Stars since 2021. She has scored 18 goals with 10 assists in 51 games with the team.
SKIING Shiffrin rallies to emotional slalom win
Mikaela Shiffrin celebrated an emotional win in a women’s World Cup night race Tuesday, edging out Slovakian skier Petra Vlhova in another gripping duel of their ongoing slalom rivalry.
The American ski star trailed Vlhova by 0.07 seconds after the first run but posted the second-fastest time in the final run to win the race by 0.27 at Flachau, Austria.
Olympic giant slalom champion Sara Hector was 1.11 behind in third for the Swede’s first-ever podium in slalom.
It was Shiffrin’s 94th career win and came nine days after she didn’t finish the previous slalom while battling a cold, and two days after she visited her partner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde in a hospital in Switzerland following the Norwegian skier’s crash in a downhill.
“I’m really proud of this evening and very thankful for my whole team,” said Shiffrin, who was in tears after the race that was attended by her brother Taylor and sister-in-law Kristi.
“The last days have been challenging and (my team has) been so supportive and helped me to see Alex.”
NBA Nuggets stranded eight hours on a plane
The Nuggets were stuck on a plane for more than eight hours because of cold weather that froze the engines in Denver ahead of a flight to Philadelphia.he Nuggets’ flight was scheduled to leave around noon Mountain time on Monday and land in Philadelphia around 5:15 EST. The Nuggets instead left Denver around 5 p.m. local time and landed in Philadelphia around 10 p.m.
The Nuggets and 76ers were set for a 7:30 p.m. tip on Tuesday night.
“We sung some songs, held hands,” coach Michael Malone joked. “We made the most of the moment.”
The Nuggets play at Boston, Washington, Indiana and New York on the rest of their trip.
“Most important thing is we made it, got here safely,” Malone said.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL USC'S Watkins earns AP Player of the Week
USC’S Juju Watkins was named The Associated Press national player of the week in women’s basketball on Tuesday.
Watkins, a 6-foot-2 freshman wing from Los Angeles, scored 32 points, including going 16 for 16 from the free-throw line, to help the Trojans hand rival UCLA its first loss of the season. She also had 10 rebounds while crossing the 30-point mark for the sixth time this season. Watkins has won the Pac-12 freshman of the week award a record nine times already.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Brennan leaves SJSU to be Arizona's coach
Arizona has agreed to a five-year contract with San Jose State’s Brent Brennan to be the Wildcats’ next coach, a person with direct knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the school was preparing an official announcement. ESPN was first to report Arizona had an agreement in place with Brennan.
Brennan replaces Jedd Fisch, who left for Washington on Sunday, and is the latest domino to fall since Nick Saban announced his retirement at Alabama.
Washington’s Kalen Deboer was hired to replace Saban on Friday, Fisch replaced Deboer two days later and Arizona hired Brennan two days after that.
Brennan was 34-48 in seven seasons at San Jose State. He led the Spartans to three bowl games in the last four seasons.