FOOTBALL
Purdue coach positive for covid
Purdue Coach Jeff Brohm has tested positive for the coronavirus, the school announced Sunday. Brohm is awaiting a second test to confirm the initial result and is isolating at his home, Purdue’s athletic department said in a statement. He is expected to speak with reporters during his regularly scheduled Zoom call today. The Boilermakers are scheduled to host Iowa in their season opener Saturday when the Big Ten Conference begins its virus-delayed conference-only season.
NC State loses QB to injury
Starting quarterback Devin Leary could miss the rest of the regular season for No. 23 North Carolina State after having surgery Sunday for a leg injury suffered in a win against Duke. In a post on the program’s Twitter account, the school said Leary had surgery a day after breaking the fibula bone in his left leg. He is expected to miss four to eight weeks. N.C. State (4-1, 4-1 ACC) is halfway through its league schedule, with a nonconference game against Liberty and an open week still ahead. Entering the Duke game, Leary had won two consecutive road games since retaking his starting job lost due to missed preseason workouts from covid-19 contact tracing. But he was knocked from Saturday’s game after taking a hard hit on a keeper from Duke’s Lummie Young IV — who was ejected for targeting.
BASEBALL
Phillies coach retiring
Philadelphia Phillies pitching coach Bryan Price is retiring from a full-time coaching capacity. The 58-year-old Price spent one season with the Phillies. Under Price, the starters improved their ERA from 4.64 in 2019 to 4.08 this season. Price previously managed the Cincinnati Reds for five seasons from 2014-18. He was a pitching coach for Seattle, Arizona and Cincinnati.
TENNIS
Zverev claims Cologne title
Alexander Zverev ended his 17-month wait for a title by drawing on the pain of his U.S. Open final defeat to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 and win the Cologne (Germany) Indoors on Sunday. Zverev has had a breakthrough year in Grand Slam tournaments with his first semifinal at the Australian Open in January and first final at the U.S. Open last month, when he lost to Dominic Thiem. The German hadn’t played the final of any regular ATP Tour events in 2020 until Sunday. Zverev’s previous title was at the clay-court Geneva Open in May 2019 and he is now 12-8 in career finals. Auger-Aliassime is still waiting for his first career title after losing six finals in two seasons, all of them in straight sets. All three of the finals that the 20-year-old Canadian has played this year have been on indoor hard courts.
Rublev wins in St. Petersburg
Andrey Rublev joined Novak Djokovic as the only men to win four tour singles titles in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season as he beat Borna Coric 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Sunday in the final of the St. Petersburg (Russia) Open. Rublev came back from 5-2 down to win the first-set tiebreak with a five-point streak after the set went with serve. In the second set he broke Coric’s serve at 2-2 before holding in his next three service games to complete the win. Rublev didn’t face a single break point. The win brings Rublev closer to securing a spot at the ATP Finals next month after he moved into the top 10 of the rankings for the first time Monday. The Russian player won the Qatar and Adelaide titles in January and added the Hamburg title last month.
Serbian takes Sardegna Open
Laslo Djere of Serbia beat Italian wild card Marco Cecchinato to win the Sardegna Open on Sunday. Djere won 7-6 (3), 7-5, sealing the final with a deep backhand return. It was the 74th-ranked Djere’s second title. Both have come on clay and 11 of Djere’s 13 tour-level victories this year have been on that surface.
MOTOR SPOPTS
Rins holds on at MotoGP
Alex Rins held off a late charge by Alex Marquez to win the Aragon MotoGP on Sunday in Alcaniz, Spain. Rins, who began 10th on the grid, finished 0.263 seconds in front of Marquez, who started 11th. Marquez, brother of six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, was coming off another second-place finish at Le Mans a week ago. Joan Mir finished third to close out the all-Spanish podium and take over the points lead from Fabio Quartararo, who started from pole position but finished out of the points after gradually dropping positions throughout the race at the Motor-Land circuit.
Son defeats father in NHRA
Steve Torrence powered past father Billy Torrence on Sunday in the Top Final final on their home track in Ennis, Texas, in the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals. Points leader Steve Torrence won for the second time in three years at Texas Motorplex, finishing at 3.716 seconds at 328.78 mph in the final. The two-time defending series champion has four victories this year and 40 overall. Jack Beckman won in Funny Car, Matt Hartford in Pro Stock and Jerry Savoie in Pro Stock Motorcycle in the ninth of 11 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
CYCLING
Dutch rider best in Belgium
Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel beat Belgian rider Wout van Aert in a photo finish to win the Tour of Flanders in Oudenaarde, Belgium, for the first time on Sunday, while contender Julian Alaphilippe crashed out near the end after hitting a motorbike. Van der Poel and van Aert sprinted to the line with under 200 meters left and Van der Poel beat his former Cyclo-cross rival by less than half a wheel’s length. After finding out he’d emulated his father Adrie van der Poel, who won the race in 1986, he raised his bike over his head and shouted in delight. His maternal grandfather was the late Raymond Poulidor, who finished on the Tour de France podium eight times without ever winning. Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff was third, just like last year.
SKIING
Norwegian upsets favorites
Lucas Braathen upset the pre-race favorites to clinch his first career win at the season-opening men’s World Cup giant slalom Sunday in Soelden, Austria. The Norwegian was fifth before posting the second fastest time in the decisive leg to finish ahead of Swiss duo Marco Odermatt and Gino Caviezel. Odermatt, the fastest racer in the second run, was five hundredths behind, and Caviezel, who led after the opening run, trailed by 0.46 seconds. Last year’s winner Alexis Pinturault missed the podium by 0.03 seconds in fourth, while GS world champion Henrik Kristoffersen finished in joint fifth place with Loic Meillard, the third Swiss skier in the top five.
BOXING
Lopez earns lightweight title
Teofimo Lopez was brash enough to challenge Vasiliy Lomachenko, and good enough to beat him. Lopez dominated early and finished strong Saturday night in Las Vegas to win a unanimous 12-round decision over Lomachenko to unify the lightweight titles in a fight he demanded even though some thought he wasn’t experienced enough. Lopez took advantage of a slow start by Lomachenko to build up an early lead, then finished the fight with a big 12th round that left Lomachenko bloodied and beaten on the scorecards. The 23-year-old from Brooklyn became the unified lightweight champion and managed to do what few in boxing thought he could do — outbox perhaps the best technician in boxing. Lopez (16-0) added the three titles held by Lomachenko (15-2) to the belt he won last year to become the undisputed 135-champion. Lopez was favored 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112 on ringside scorecards in a bout held without fans at the MGM Grand conference center. The Associated Press had Lopez winning 117-111.