U.S. reaches Davis Cup group stage
The United States swept its way into the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals on Saturday, getting the winning point in a 4-0 victory over Uzbekistan from the doubles team of Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
They beat Sergey Fomin and Sanjar Fayziev 6-2, 6-4, after Tommy Paul and Mackenzie McDonald had won singles matches Friday in Tashkent.
Stan Wawrinka punctuated his return to the competition he helped Switzerland win alongside
Roger Federer in 2014 by winning the deciding match against Germany. Serbia, France, Britain and Sweden also closed out victories Saturday.
Ram is No. 3 in the ATP Tour doubles rankings and partnered with Joe Salisbury to win the past two U.S. Open men’s doubles titles. But the Americans opted not to use Ram last year in the final round, when they dropped the doubles match in a 2-1 defeat against Italy in the quarterfinals.
The winners of the 12 qualifiers being held this weekend — six on FridaySaturday, six on SaturdaySunday — advance to the Davis Cup Finals group stage in September, along with reigning champion Canada, 2022 runner-up Australia and wild-card recipients Italy and Spain.
ETC.
NFL: Brian Schottenheimer has been named offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys after serving the past season as a consultant for the team. Coach
Mike McCarthy announced the move Saturday, three days after team owner Jerry Jones said McCarthy is set to call plays in 2023 after the club parted ways with offensive coordinator
Kellen Moore. Schottenheimer, 49, has 22 years of NFL coaching experience, 12 as an offensive coordinator. In his role as consultant for the Cowboys, who haven’t been past the divisional round of the playoffs since their last Super Bowl 27 years ago, he studied future opponents and assisted both the offensive and defensive units with game-planning and selfscouting
A. ... The NFL finally stopped pretending its all-star game was an actual game, and is trying to breathe life into the exhibition with Sunday’s Pro Bowl Games (3 p.m., ESPN/ABC). There will be no tackle football played for the first time — not that there was much tackling in recent years, more like two-hand touch. Flag football is now the marquee event. Rather than a winnertake-all game, a series of events — each of which accumulates three points — leads up to three flag football contests to determine the winning conference.
Four skills events took place Thursday, and the AFC will try to extend its five-game winning streak after taking a 9-3 lead by winning the precision passing competition, the three-event lightning round and the long drive. The NFC won in dodgeball. Sunday brings the end of the skills portion: the finals of the best catch, an obstacle race, a special teams game called kick-tac-toe and a strength contest. Then the two conferences will play each other in two flag football games, each worth six points.The total points from all the contests will be the score entering the third and final flag football game.
Soccer: Everton’s new manager, Sean Dyche, earned a winning debut and blew the English Premier League title race wide open when table-topping Arsenal was beaten 1-0 at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England. Dyche immediately made his presence felt and defender James Tarkowski scored. Arsenal lost for only the second time in the league and was in danger of seeing its lead cut to two points if Manchester City beat Tottenham.
Golf: South African golfer Zander Lombard finished birdie-birdie to shoot a bogey-free round of 9-under 63 and take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in United Arab Emirates. The No. 333-ranked Lombard is looking to win his first title on the European tour and is 16-under overall after shooting the lowest round of the week containing nine birdies at Al Hamra Golf Club.
AA