TENNIS
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Tennis star Serena Williams talked about her fashion business, not tennis fouls during an appearance before a business convention in Las Vegas.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion said not a word Friday about gender equality in sports or an argument she had last weekend with the chair umpire at her U.S. Open finals match in New York.
Williams said previously she was treated more harshly than a male player would have been after smashing her racket and arguing with match official Carlos Ramos during her finals loss to Naomi Osaka in New York.
She received three code violations and was penalized one game. She was later fined $17,000.
Williams spent 25 minutes talking onstage with Sarah Robb O’Hagan, chief executive of Flywheel Sports, at the National Retail Federation trade show.
ZADAR, Croatia (AP) – The chair umpire who penalized Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final is back at work.
Carlos Ramos is working the best-of-five Davis Cup semifinal series between Croatia and the United States.
“I’m just focusing on this tie and working again. That’s all I can say,” Ramos told The Associated Press on Friday.
Ramos officiated the second singles match between Marin Cilic and Frances Tiafoe, which was completed without incident.
Ramos calmed the raucous crowd on several occasions and came down from his chair to check a few ball marks in the clay but otherwise had no impact on the match, which Cilic won in straight sets to give Croatia a 2-0 lead.
MLB
NEW YORK (AP) – Yankees star Aaron Judge took another step in his return from a broken right wrist when he played right field for a couple of innings Friday night.
The Yankees activated him from the disabled list before the game against Toronto. The team said he is limited for now to defense and pinch running – still no hitting for the slugger.
Judge got a big ovation when he trotted to the outfield for the top of the eighth inning. He had not played since July 26, when he was hit by a pitch from Kansas City’s Jakob Junis.
The Yankees initially expected Judge to return in about three weeks.
NFL
RENTON, Wash. (AP) – The Seattle Seahawks are hoping Mychal Kendricks can provide a short-term boost on the field that overshadows the issues of signing a player with a pending jail sentencing in his future.
The Seahawks announced the signing of Kendricks on Friday to a one-year deal despite his recent guilty plea on insider trading charges. It’s an odd situation for all parties involved, but fills a need for Seattle even if it’s just for a short time. Kendricks could make his Seattle debut on Monday night when it plays at Chicago, and the finalization of his deal came after visiting the team on Thursday.
Kendricks was not made available to speak with the media on Friday. Seattle coach Pete Carroll is scheduled to address the media on Saturday before the team leaves for Chicago.
Kendricks pleaded guilty last week to insider trading charges in Philadelphia. His sentencing is expected in January.
NEW YORK (AP) – Former New York Jets linebacker Dylan Donahue has been suspended 14 weeks by the NFL for violating its substance abuse policy.
The 26-year-old Donahue pleaded guilty last month to charges in two separate incidents in which he was arrested for driving while intoxicated.
Police said he caused a wrong-way crash in February that injured four people in New Jersey. He also received a three-month suspended sentence and was fined $1,000 for a DUI crash in his hometown of Billings, Montana, in May 2017.
Donahue was among the Jets’ final roster cuts two weeks ago and is currently a free agent.
NBA
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Prosecutors are reviewing allegations that Houston Rockets star James Harden took a woman’s cellphone outside a Scottsdale nightclub last month.
Police told The Arizona Republic that a city prosecutor is looking at their investigation.
The 42-year-old woman reported that she was recording a fight Aug. 11 when Harden grabbed her by the wrist.
She says he then grabbed her cellphone and threw it onto the roof.
According to the police report, Harden and someone in his entourage gave her $500 to pay for a replacement.
The woman was treated at a hospital for a wrist injury.
MILWAUKEE (AP) – A Milwaukee officer involved in the stun gun arrest of Bucks’ player Sterling Brown has been fired because of social media posts mocking the incident, the city’s police chief said Thursday.
Police Chief Alfonso Morales said the firing decision was not tied to anything Erik Andrade did when Brown was arrested, but explained that the social media posts compromised the officer’s ability to testify in other cases. Morales spoke about the case at a Marquette University event.
Brown sued the police department in June and accused officers of using excessive force and targeting him because he’s black. A group of officers swarmed on him at a Walgreens parking lot because he didn’t immediately remove his hands from his pockets. Brown was standing with the officers waiting for a citation for parking in a disabled spot early on Jan. 26, but never appeared to threaten police before or during his arrest, according to police body camera videos.
Andrade later mocked Brown on Facebook for his arrest.
AUTO RACING
SINGAPORE (AP) – Ferrari’s decision not to keep Kimi Raikkonen next season was based on the team’s long-term future rather than the driver’s current form.
The 38-year-old Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula One champion, is being replaced next season by 20-year-old Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc came through the Ferrari academy program but is racing in his first F1 season with the Sauber team. Raikkonen has 20 grand prix wins among his 100 career podiums.
“It’s very important to look at the team perspective, in two or three years. In my opinion that justifies our choice enough,” Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene said Friday.
“It’s not a decision looking at the (current) situation or only next year. My job is to look at the future of the team. … How you’re going to grow a young talent and what you’re going to expect from him in the future.”
Raikkonen will replace Leclerc at Sauber next year.
MEDIA
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) – Outspoken ESPN personality Jemele Hill announced Friday that she is leaving the company after 12 years as a commentator, anchor, reporter and writer.
Hill attracted attention last year and was briefly suspended for opinionated messages on social media, including a tweet that referenced President Donald Trump as a “white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.”
She also targeted Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after he stated that players who disrespect the flag would not play for his team. Her suspension came after she tweeted that fans who disagree with Jones should target the team’s advertisers and not buy the team’s merchandise.
Hill posted on social media that Friday would be her last day at ESPN.
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.