TENNIS
Bouchard ousts Sharapova
Motivated more than usual, Eugenie Bouchard used her game to send a message to Maria Sharapova by defeating the Russian 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in a thrilling second-round match at the Madrid Open on Monday. Bouchard, one of the most outspoken players against Sharapova’s return to tennis following a doping ban, jumped up and down after converting her second match point in just under three hours. It was their first meeting since Bouchard called Sharapova a cheater and said she should have been banned for life from the sport after testing positive for meldonium at last year’s Australian Open. “I definitely had some extra motivation going into today,” Bouchard said. The Madrid Open is only the second tournament for Sharapova since serving a 15-month suspension. The five-time Grand Slam champion reached the Stuttgart semifinals last month. Also, top-seeded Angelique Kerber defeated Katerina Siniakova of 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 to advance and regain the world No. 1 ranking. Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova lost to Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-3, ending her hopes of reaching No. 1 this week. On the men’s side, Tomas Berdych defeated Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-4, while Grigor Dimitrov beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (7), 6-4. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga knocked off Andrey Kuznetsov 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5. Nick Kyrgios, Gilles Simon, and David Ferrer also advanced.
BASKETBALL
Season over for Nene
Houston Rockets backup center Nene suffered a season-ending muscle tear in his left thigh. Nene was injured in the first quarter of Houston’s 125-104 victory over San Antonio in the NBA Western Conference semifinals Sunday night and didn’t return. Team officials said Monday they are reviewing treatment options for the torn adductor muscle. Nene, a 15-year veteran in his first season with the Rockets, averaged 10 points and 4.7 rebounds in nine postseason games this year.
Lowry to opt out
Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry will opt out of the final year of his contract and test free agency this summer. The three-time All-Star has one year and $12 million remaining on the four-year, $48 million deal he signed in July 2014. Lowry averaged career bests of 22.4 points, 7.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game this season but was limited to 60 games because of a right wrist injury that required surgery in February. Sidelined by a sprained left ankle, Lowry was not active Sunday when Toronto was swept in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals by Cleveland. Lowry was injured in the third quarter of Game 2. He aggravated the injury while trying to warm up for Friday’s Game 3.
FOOTBALL
Jets WR arrested
Authorities said New York Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson has been charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of justice after sparring with officials who asked him to leave a Miami music festival. A Miami Police Department arrest report said the 23-year-old refused an order by a police lieutenant to sit on the ground and pushed the officer and other officials at the Rolling Loud festival Sunday evening. A hearing is scheduled for May 15. A phone number wasn’t available for Anderson, who is from South Florida. An undrafted rookie from Temple, Anderson caught 42 passes for 587 yards last season. In a statement, the Jets said they’re “aware of the situation” but had no comment.
Raiders’ home done in 2020
A preliminary timeline for the proposed stadium that would be home to the Raiders in Las Vegas showed construction would be finished only three months before the 2020 regular season begins. The draft of the timeline made public Monday by the Las Vegas Stadium Authority showed construction on the proposed 65,000-seat stadium would begin in January and last 30 months, giving the team three months to move in. Members of the board overseeing the $1.9 billion project are expected to discuss the preliminary timeline during their regularly scheduled meeting Thursday. The Raiders did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Australian great Richards dies
Lou Richards, one of the first standouts in Australian rules football, has died, his former club said Monday. He was 94. Richards played for Collingwood from 1941-1955. He was inducted into the sport’s hall of fame in 1996, and was among the inaugural inductees into the club’s hall of fame in 2004. “As a footballer, Lou was quite good, he’d score two or three goals every week. But as a leader, he was one of the greatest in my lifetime,” said Murray Weideman, a former Collingwood teammate and another of the sport’s greats.
HOCKEY
U.S. battles back, wins
Johnny Gaudreau scored twice and J.T. Compher scored the game-winning goal as the United States came back to beat Sweden 4-3 at the ice hockey world championships Monday at Cologne, Germany. Jimmy Howard had 39 saves as the Americans notched their second victory after losing to Germany on Friday. Sweden led 3-2 until Gaudreau’s score tied it at 3-3. Compher would then score the eventual game-winner with 8:13 left to play after redirecting Connor Murphy’s shot. Also, Russia and two-time champion Canada remained unbeaten after convincing victories over Germany and Belarus. Vadim Shipachyov and Nikita Kucherov scored twice each as Russia defeated Germany 6-3 in Cologne, while Nathan MacKinnon notched two more goals and an assist as Canada shut out Belarus 6-0 in Paris to extend its winning streak to 10 games. Also, the Czech Republic came back from a three-goal deficit to beat Finland 4-3 in a shootout. Finland raced into a 3-0 lead before the Czech Republic’s Roman Horak, Radko Gudas and Jan Kovar tied the game at 3-3 with 1:51 to play. Robin Hanzl eventually won it for the Czech Republic after scoring in the shootout.
BASEBALL
Pirates’ Taillon undergoes cancer surgery
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon underwent surgery for suspected testicular cancer at Allegheny General Hospital on Monday morning.
After alerting the
team’s medical staff of an abnormality, Taillon, 26, consulted with Dr. John C. Lyne during the weekend before agreeing to the surgery.
The recommended treatment plan for Taillon is pending further testing, but he remains on the 10-day disabled list.
“Today I lost a piece of my ‘manhood,’” Taillon said in a statement posted to his Twitter account . “But today I’m feeling like more of a man than I ever have. My journey hasn’t been the smoothest. But it is my journey and I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
The surgery is the latest setback for Taillon, a first-round pick by the Pirates who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014 and had surgery to address a sports hernia in 2015. He reached the majors in 2016, where he went 5-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 18 starts, and is 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA in six starts this season.
“Jameson has again proven to us what a strong person he is by the way in which he has reacted to this development. We are appreciative of Dr. Lyne and the staff at Allegheny General Hospital for their invaluable expertise and efforts in caring for Jameson,” Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington said. “We have told Jameson that our only priority is his health and well-being. His teammates, our coaches, baseball staff and entire organization will support him in his recovery in every possible way, and we will keep him in our thoughts and prayers.”