BASKETBALL
Durant leaves team
Kevin Durant withdrew Thursday from the U.S. national team, the biggest loss yet for a weakening American squad. The NBA's MVP took part in the Americans' training camp in Las Vegas last week, but then informed team officials that he wasn't going to continue. "Kevin reached out to Coach K and myself this afternoon and expressed that he is just physically and mentally drained from the NBA season and his attention to his many responsibilities," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said in a statement. "He tried to give it a go at our recent Las Vegas training camp but felt coming out of camp that he was not prepared to fulfill the commitment he made to the team." Durant was the MVP of the world championship in 2010, leading the Americans to that title for the first time since 1994. The Oklahoma City star also started on their gold medal-winning team in the 2012 Olympics. His withdrawal comes less than a week after Indiana's Paul George was lost to a broken right leg and follows previous withdrawals by All-Stars Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge, and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard.
• The Detroit Pistons have hired former NBA star Tim Hardaway as an assistant coach. Pistons coach and team president Stan Van Gundy announced the hiring Thursday. Hardaway, a five-time All-Star, averaged 17.7 points during an NBA career that lasted from 1989-2003. Detroit also hired Malik Allen as an assistant coach, Jeff Nix as an assistant general manager and Quentin Richardson as director of player development. Mike Abdenour will serve in a newly created administrative role as director of team operations.
• The U.S. women's national basketball team will play an exhibition showcase in Delaware on Sept. 11 as part of its training for the upcoming world championship. The game will be an intrasquad scrimmage of national team players, who begin training Sept. 8 in Maryland. The U.S. will then play a game against Canada on Sept. 15 in Bridgeport, Conn. The Americans will also head overseas for four exhibition games in France and the Czech Republic. The world championship runs from Sept. 27-Oct. 5 in Istanbul.
m Metta World Peace wants to change his name again. China Daily initially reported that the former NBA star's new name will be Panda Friend, but World Peace revealed Thursday afternoon that he has another name in mind. Tweeted World Peace: "Guys my Chinese name is not 'Panda Friend', its 'The Pandas Friend.' " World Peace has announced that he has agreed to play overseas in China. He signed a one-year deal worth $1.43 million with the Sichuan Blue Whales, according to the newspaper. He recently tweeted: "New Chinese name coming soon. You guys are going to love it!!!!" World Peace, who played for the Lakers from 2009-2010 through 2012-2013, changed his name during his tenure with the team. Formerly known as Ron Artest, he became World Peace after filing a legal petition in September 2011.
GOLF
Gal leads Classic
Sandra Gal made six consecutive birdies on her back nine Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Mich., while Michelle Wie withdrew because of a wrist injury. Gal, the 29-year-old German who won her lone LPGA Tour title in 2011, birdied Nos. 3-8 and finished with a par on No. 9 for a 6-under 65 at Blythefield Country Club. Wie was 5 over after nine holes when she pulled out. South Korea's Inbee Park was a stroke behind Gal. Australia's Katherine Kirk opened with a 67, and Azahara Munoz was another stroke back along with IIhee Lee, Katy Harris, Gerina Piller, Amy Young and Line Vedel. Second-ranked Lydia Ko, the 17-year-old star coming off a victory in the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio, matched Paula Creamer with a 69, and top-ranked Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot 70. Lewis, who has three victories and 13 top-10 finishes this year, said she played better than she scored. "I've been working on a few things with my golf swing and was pretty happy actually with the way I hit it -- just had a bunch of putts right over the edge," Lewis said. "Overall, pretty happy with it even though the score is not quite what I was looking for."
• Cameron Percy had nine birdies and one bogey through 17 holes Thursday evening after play was suspended because of rain to lead the Price Cutter Championship at Highland Springs Country Club in Springfield, Mo. Martin Piller was second with a 7-under 65. Sam Saunders and Zac Blair were one stroke back at 6-under 66. Glen Day (Little Rock) had two birdies after 13 holes. Sebastian Cappelen (Arkansas Razorbacks) had five birdies and four bogeys through 16 holes.
TENNIS
Tsonga upsets Djokovic
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic was upset by 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-2 in only 63 minutes in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Thursday. Djokovic came in with 11 consecutive wins over Tsonga but was nowhere near adding a 12th. Tsonga's serve gave Djokovic plenty of trouble. The Frenchman had only eight aces, but Djokovic continually struggled to keep his returns in play. Serving on match point, Tsonga clinched the win when Djokovic's return went wide. Tsonga did some shadow boxing and jumped up and down before waving to a receptive crowd. Djokovic never looked comfortable in Toronto, his first tournament since winning Wimbledon last month. Four days later, he married his longtime girlfriend. Tsonga will play eighth-seeded Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. Murray advanced when third-round opponent Richard Gasquet withdrew because of an abdominal strain. Djokovic's defeat was the second big upset of the day. Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka lost 7-6 (8), 7-5 to Kevin Anderson. Anderson will next play seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Tommy Robredo 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. Fifth-seeded David Ferrer was also pushed to three sets in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ivan Dodig.
• Maria Sharapova was upset by Carla Suarez Navarro in a match interrupted twice by rain Thursday at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Suarez Navarro won 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals. The 16th-ranked Spaniard returned from the second delay to break Sharapova's serve and then fought off a break point in the next game thanks to a lucky net cord. She broke again in the final game. The 25-year-old Suarez Navarro won her first WTA tournament this year at the Portugal Open in May. The fourth-seeded Sharapova had struggled to a three-set win in her opening match Wednesday against Garbine Muguruza. Earlier, Caroline Wozniacki routed Shelby Rogers 6-1, 6-0 to extend her run of one-sided victories. Rogers had upset local favorite Eugenie Bouchard on Tuesday.
Sports on 08/08/2014