Sports

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner now take their terrific rivalry from the French Open to Wimbledon

The takeaways from Carlos Alcaraz’s fifth-set tiebreaker victory over Jannik Sinner in the French Open men’s final are multiple and significant. Let’s start with this: Anyone worried about how men’s tennis would survive in the post-Big Three era can rest easy. Alcaraz and Sinner produced 5 1/2 hours of evidence Sunday that the game is in good hands — and that their rivalry will be, and perhaps already is, a transcendent one. They have combined to win the past six Grand Slam titles and eight of the last 11. Now they’ll head to Wimbledon, where play begins June 30.

Pacers, back home in Indiana, have some things to figure out before Game 3 vs. Thunder in NBA Finals

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers simply couldn’t wait to get home early Monday. There’s a slew of possible reasons for that. Maybe they just wanted to get out of Oklahoma City with their split of the first two games in the NBA Finals. Maybe they couldn’t wait to see what finals fever will look like in Indianapolis after a 25-year wait to get back to the title round. Or maybe they just wanted to get back to work. It’s probably a little of everything — especially the last part.

Stanley Cup Final shifts to South Florida for Game 3 after the Panthers and Oilers split in Edmonton

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Stanley Cup Final shifts to Sunrise for Game 3 on Monday night between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers. The last time the Oilers were here, they experienced a gut-wrenching Game 7 defeat in the final a little under a year ago. They were back in the same visiting locker room for practice Sunday that they were in last June 24, listening to the Panthers celebrate with the Stanley Cup. This series is tied at a game apiece after the teams split in Edmonton.

Wander Franco’s attorney to ask court to exonerate his client in sexual abuse case

PUERTO LA PLATA, Dominican Republic (AP) — The attorney for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco says he will ask the court to exonerate his client of all charges in a sexual abuse case involving a girl who was 14 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. Franco, who was charged in July 2024 and is on supervised release, could face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty. The prosecutors say the witnesses’ testimony has been vital in proving that Franco sexually abused a minor and paid her mother money for her consent. The mother of the minor has been charged with money laundering and is under house arrest.

World Cup host city organizers acknowledge immigration crackdown may impact next year’s tournament

NEW YORK (AP) — Philadelphia’s host city executive for the 2026 World Cup says organizers accept that an immigration crackdown by the U.S. federal government may be among the outside events that impact next year’s tournament. At a gathering of the 11 U.S. host city leaders on Monday, Meg Kane said, “We do not play a role necessarily in what is happening in terms of the decisions that are made.” The World Cup will be played at 16 stadiums in the U.S., Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 next year, a tournament expanded to 48 nations and 104 games.

Snake eyes: D-backs’ $425 million investment in starting pitching hasn’t gone as planned

PHOENIX (AP) — The normally budget-conscious Arizona Diamondbacks have been willing to spend big money over the past several years, taking chances on the notoriously volatile market of free agent starting pitching. So far, it’s come up snake eyes. Over the past 5 1/2 years, Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick has committed roughly $425 million to four pitchers — Corbin Burnes, Jordan Montgomery, Eduardo Rodríguez and Madison Bumgarner. The combined return on that investment has been a 30-48 record, 5.25 ERA, minus-0.4 WAR and two Tommy John surgeries.

Matt Vogt once chose dentistry over golf. Back home at the US Open, he’s learned he didn’t have to

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Matt Vogt is trading a drill for a driver at the U.S. Open. The 34-year-old Vogt, who runs a dental practice near Indianapolis, qualified as an amateur for the 156-man field. Vogt grew up north of Pittsburgh and caddied for a few years at Oakmont, which is hosting the national championship for the 10th time. Vogt played briefly in college before focusing on dentistry. He returned to the game in 2018 and qualified for this year’s Open two months after losing his father to colon cancer. Vogt says he’s going to try to enjoy the moment and plans to be back in his office next week.

Dick Vitale has an extension with ESPN — and a college basketball event in his honor

Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Vitale is sticking around college basketball with a new contract extension and a new event named in his honor. ESPN announced Monday that Vitale has signed a contract through the 2027-28 season. In addition, ESPN Events is launching the Dick Vitale Invitational. The first matchup is a game between Duke and Texas on Nov. 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the opening days of the college basketball season. The announcement comes on Vitale’s 86th birthday and months after he returned to the airwaves after being gone for two years amid a fourth cancer battle.

College sports commissioners laud $2.8B antitrust settlement, call for Congress to act

Conference commissioners lauded a judge’s approval of a $2.8 billion antitrust lawsuit settlement as a means for bringing stability and fairness to an out-of-control college athletics industry. They also acknowledged there would be growing pains. Commissioners of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC renewed their call for congressional action to codify the settlement and emphasized that cooperation at every level of college sports would be necessary to make it work.

Caitlin Clark will miss 5th game with quad strain but could soon start ‘ramping back up’

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark will sit out a fifth consecutive game with a quadriceps strain when Indiana visits Atlanta on Tuesday. The focus now shifts to whether the Fever star will return against the WNBA champion New York Liberty. Indiana coach Stephanie White stopped short of saying Clark had been cleared for basketball activities. White says the club was ready for the reigning Rookie of the Year to start “ramping back up.” The Fever initially said Clark would miss at least two weeks. It has been 16 days since Clark was injured in a 90-88 loss to the Liberty.