Serena Williams says she will not play at the Tokyo Olympics

WIMBLEDON, England — Serena Williams said she will not go to the Tokyo Olympics, but did not want to say why during her pre-Wimbledon video conference with reporters Sunday.

“I’m actually not on the Olympic list . ... Not that I’m aware of. If so, then I shouldn’t be on it,” Williams said.

The 39-year-old Williams has won four gold medals at past Summer Games for the United States: in both singles and doubles at the 2012 London Olympics — which held the tennis competition at the All England Club — and in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

All of her doubles golds were won with her older sister, Venus, as her partner.

At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, Serena Williams lost in the third round of singles to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and the siblings were beaten in the first round of doubles. Before that, they had been 15-0 as an Olympic doubles team.

“There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision,” Williams said Sunday, the day before the start of main-draw action at Wimbledon, where she will try to collect her 24th Grand Slam singles title. “I don’t really want to — I don’t feel

like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry.”

Asked what it will be like to sit out the Summer Games, Williams replied: “I have not thought about it. In the past, it’s been a wonderful place for me. I really haven’t thought about it, so I’m going to keep not thinking about it.”

Other top tennis players such as Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem also have said they’ll skip the trip to Japan, where the Olympics open on July 23, a year after being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Roger Federer said Saturday he hasn’t decided whether to participate in the Tokyo Games and will figure that out after he sees how things go at Wimbledon.

Britain’s Konta out of Wimbledon because of COVID-19 contact

WIMBLEDON, England — Threetime Grand Slam semifinalist Johanna Konta, the only British woman seeded in singles at Wimbledon, was dropped from the tournament Sunday because a member of her team tested positive for COVID-19.

The All England Club said the 27th-seeded Konta was determined to have been in close contact with the team member and so is required to self-isolate for 10 days.

The Grand Slam tournament begins Monday. It was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, the first time since 1945 that Wimbledon wasn’t contested.

Konta, a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 2017, is the first singles player in either the women’s or men’s bracket to be withdrawn from the field because of coronavirus protocols.

The All England Club said the team member showed COVID-19 symptoms Friday morning and took a COVID test, which came back positive for the illness.

The 30-year-old Konta also was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2016 and the French Open in 2019.

She was supposed to play Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Rebublic in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday. Konta’s spot in the draw will be taken by China’s Wang Yafan, who lost in qualifying.

MLS looks into alleged racial abuse toward Timbers player

PORTLAND, Ore. — Major League Soccer is investigating allegations of racial abuse directed at Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Chara.

Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said after Portland’s 1-0 loss to Minnesota United Friday night that a “discriminatory word” had been used by a Loons player toward Chara, who is Black and from Colombia.

“MLS has zero tolerance for abusive and offensive language, and we take these allegations very seriously. An investigation into this matter has already begun. Further information will be provided upon completion of that investigation,” the league said in a statement.

Minnesota United released a statement saying the team supports the league’s investigation. But it also said the Loons player involved, who was not identified, denied making “any derogatory remarks.”

“MNUFC is built on inclusivity and respect, and does not tolerate discrimination under any circumstance,” the statement said.

Minnesota coach Adrian Heath spoke to the media following the game, but it was before Savarese mentioned the comment directed at Chara.

“We are all in support of Diego Chara. But what happened to him today, the discriminatory word that was said to him, should not have a place anywhere,” Savarese said, visibly angry. “I’m extremely disappointed that it was not taken as serious as it should have been.”

The game was delayed several minutes on the field in the second half, and it was apparent that the Portland players were angry and appealing to game referees. But it was not clear what was said or when it occurred.

The incident marred Minnesota’s victory, which extended the team’s undefeated streak to six straight games. It was the Loons’ first win on the road this season.

The match was pushed back for an hour because of a heat wave in the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures were still above 100 degrees when the game kicked off after 8:30 p.m. The high temperature in downtown Portland on Saturday reached a record-breaking 106 degrees.

Umpire in minors ejects manager during wardrobe malfunction

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A minor league umpire who was trying to change a broken belt on his pants during a game threw out a manager who was arguing a call from a previous play.

Home plate umpire Taka Matsuda’s belt broke during Friday’s game between the Louisville Bats and the Indianapolis Indians.

After ejecting a Bats player, Matsuda was dusting off home plate and noticed that his belt had broken. Matsuda summoned the other umpires and one of them gave Matsuda his belt to use.

While in the process of putting on his new belt, Matsuda turned and ejected Louisville manager Pat Kelly, who was still arguing the previous call from the Bats dugout.

Kelly then ran onto the field to state his case, all while Matsuda was still trying to put on the belt.

Indianapolis won the game 7-6.

Hovland holds off Kaymer to win BMW International Open

MUNICH — Viktor Hovland held off a final-round charge from Martin Kaymer to become the first Norwegian winner of a European Tour event at the BMW International Open on Sunday.

Hovland (70) finished on 19 under to beat Kaymer by two shots after the German shot 8-under 64 in the final round. A bogey on the 17th left Hovland with a one-shot advantage heading into the final hole but he birdied the par-five to seal the win.