5:53 AM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — This, essentially, was where Sofia Kenin was going to win or lose the Australian Open final: She was down love-40 while serving at 2-all in the third set against two-time major champion Garbine Muguruza. Kenin came through in spectacular fashion. She won the next five points, each
4:17 AM ET Brad Gilbert Close Former player-turned coach and author Brad Gilbert is an analyst on ESPN’s extensive schedule of tennis programming, including, since 2009, all four majors – the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. He joined ESPN in 2004 and serves as a studio analyst, match analyst and sideline
1:58 AM ET LOS ANGELES — There has never been an NBA game like the one that took place Friday at Staples Center between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. It has been five days since Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people died in a helicopter crash in
11:57 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Just over 25 minutes before a game unlike any other ever played at Staples Center tipped off, a celebration of Kobe Bryant began. There were two moving and powerful video tributes, R&B artists Usher and Boyz II Men and cellist Ben Hong performed, an emotional LeBron James addressed the
Jan 31, 2020 Associated Press DENVER — The Colorado Rockies and All-Star shortstop Trevor Story finalized a $27.5 million, two-year deal Friday, avoiding arbitration. His agreement leaves 18 players still headed to arbitration hearings, which run from Tuesday through Feb. 21. Story remains eligible to become a free agent following the 2021 World Series. The
11:14 PM ET ESPN News Services Alex Ovechkin not only led the Washington Capitals to a win Friday night, he made a significant jump up the NHL career goals list. Ovechkin scored two goals in the Capitals’ 5-3 win in Ottawa to pass Mark Messier for No. 8 on the list with 695 career goals.
9:25 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tony Stewart, the throwback, blue-collar “People’s Champion” of NASCAR, is once again the headline act. Stewart was one of five inductees Friday night into the 11th class of NASCAR’s Hall of Fame — a group that is essentially a celebration of Joe Gibbs Racing. The three-time NASCAR
9:05 PM ET Associated Press SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — J.B. Holmes roared through the fan-packed closing stretch at TPC Scottsdale on his opening nine Friday, then grabbed the lead on the mellower side of golf’s biggest party. Six months after a final-round collapse and slow-play controversy at the British Open, Holmes took a 1-stroke lead into
5:28 PM ET Two-belt bantamweight world titleholder Naoya Inoue announced at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday that his unification bout with John Riel Casimero is set for April 25 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The fight will be broadcast on ESPN platforms as part of the deal between the network and Top
11:17 PM GMT A bristling Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey insisted he has the squad to win the Big Bash League for the first time in the club’s nine attempts, and declared his team would be more decisive and entertaining in their second and final chance at getting to the decider after an abject batting
5:13 PM ET Big Ten Conference athletic directors are supporting a one-time transfer exemption for all sports, which would allow college athletes to move from one Division I school to another without sitting out a year, Oho State AD Gene Smith told ESPN. The league last year formally introduced a proposal for a one-time transfer
7:53 AM ET Heavyweight champion Jim Jeffries’ face looked like it had been run over by a herd of buffalo. He had a broken nose, cuts on both cheeks, gashes over both eyes and a torn ear. Today the fight would probably be stopped due to the champ’s horrific injuries, but it was 1902 and
4:15 PM ET UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili, who is scheduled to defend her title at UFC 248 on March 7 in Las Vegas, is working on getting out of her home country as soon as possible. Weili, who trains out of Beijing, originally planned to finish her entire fight camp in China, but is
4:44 PM ET Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal is the fight the UFC wants. Now there is a targeted date for that potential clash as well. UFC president Dana White said Friday on “The Jim Rome Show” that the promotion is targeting Usman to defend his welterweight title against Masvidal in July. The bout has
3:24 PM ET A pair of UFC veterans — Diego Sanchez and Ovince Saint Preux — were given retroactive three-month suspensions by USADA on Friday for anti-doping violations. Sanchez tested positive for the banned substances ostarine and S-23, while Saint Preux failed for ostarine, di-hydroxy-LGD-4033 (a metabolite of LGD-4033), as well as GW1516 sulfone and
3:29 PM ET MIAMI — Barring some sort of setback or incident over the next two days, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will have their full complement of players available Sunday for Super Bowl LIV. Both teams unveiled their final practice reports for the week on Friday afternoon, and neither team had
6:50 AM ET Dan Graziano Close ESPN Staff Writer Joined ESPN in 2011 New Jersey native and author of two published novels Jeremy Fowler Close ESPN Staff Writer ESPN staff writer Previously a college football reporter for CBSSports.com University of Florida graduate MIAMI — After seven Uber rides, four parties, countless trips through radio row,
3:37 PM ET Graeme McDowell faces a possible one-stroke penalty over the weekend at the Saudi International due to a slow-play violation during Friday’s second round — a violation that was caused in part because he agreed to do an on-course television interview. McDowell, who tied for the first-round lead at the European Tour event,