Osaka ousted at French
A year ago, Naomi Osaka left the French Open of her own volition, never beaten on the court but determining that she needed to pull out before the second round to stand up for herself and protect her mind.
On Monday, Osaka departed Roland Garros in Paris against her will – via a 7-5, 6-4 loss in the first round to 20-year-old American Amanda Anisimova, who is seeded 27th and also won their contest at the Australian Open in January.
Defending women’s champion Barbora Krejcikova joined Osaka in departing in the first round.
Krejcikova was seeded No. 2, but she was coming off an injured right elbow that kept her off the tour since February, and her first match back began with a 4-0 lead before unraveling into a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 exit against Diane Parry, a 19-year-old from France.
There weren’t any other such significant results on Day 2, when the women’s winners included No. 1 Iga Swiatek, the 2020 champion; and other past major champs Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and Bianca Andrescu. In men’s matches, 13-time champion Rafael Nadal won in three sets as did top-seeded and defending champ Novak Djokovic.
MLB
Major League Baseball suspended Josh Donaldson for one game Monday after the New York Yankees slugger made multiple references to Jackie Robinson while talking to Chicago White Sox star Tim Anderson during the weekend. Donaldson also was fined an undisclosed amount.
Donaldson said he twice called Anderson “Jackie” – as in Robinson, who famously broke MLB’s color barrier in 1947 – during the Yankees’ 7-5 win on Saturday. Anderson, one of baseball’s leading Black voices and an all-star shortstop, said it was a “disrespectful comment.”
NHL
The NHL said Monday that St. Louis police are investigating threats made toward Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri, who has been the subject of racist social media posts since he was involved in a collision that knocked Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington out for the rest of the series.
The team said Sunday night it was aware of threats against Kadri and was working with local law enforcement to investigate. Kadri collided with Binnington during Game 3 of their second-round playoff series Saturday night.
The AP verified the existence of Twitter posts, some of which included death threats.
NBA
Heat guard Tyler Herro was ruled out Game 4 of Miami’s Eastern Conference finals matchup with the Boston Celtics on Monday night because of a strained left groin.
The Whitnall High School graduate and NBA sixth man of the year missed the final eight minutes of the Heat’s 109-103 victory in Game 3 after sustaining the injury.
OLYMPICS
USA Swimming has set the dates for the 2024 Olympic trials, which will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and tweaked the format. The trials for the Paris Games are set for June 15-23, ending 33 days before the Olympics start July 26.
The meet does not include the extra session that was held ahead of the 2021 trials, known as Wave 1, in which lesser-ranked swimmers competed over four days to cut the field for the main competition in order to reduce crowding on the pool deck during due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NASCAR
Ryan Blaney’s crew was already celebrating his $1 million victory in NASCAR’s All-Star Race and the driver had already lowered the window net of his No. 12 Ford after crossing the start-finish line Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. But the All-Star Race has to finish under green.
After NASCAR “prematurely” called for a caution flag when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. brushed the wall, Blaney had to try to get the net in place – whether he did is up for debate – and maintain speed and then finally stay in front through a green-white-checkered finish. Pushed by his Penske teammate Austin Cindric on the restart, Blaney was able to stay in front and hold off Denny Hamlin, who finished 0.266 seconds behind.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UW-Milwaukee added a pair of players to its roster as Justin Thomas of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Keon Edwards of Houston signed national letters of intent to join new coach Bart Lundy’s squad for next season.
Thomas, a 6-foot-7-inch, 195-pound guard, comes to Milwaukee following one season at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas. He averaged of 12.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last seasoon.
Edwards, a 6-foot-8-inch, 204-pound guard, comes to the Panthers after spending last season at Nebraska, appearing in 19 games, making five starts.
Both will be sophomores next season.