D6 TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS
An MRI exam performed
Monday showed Carlos Vela
has a minor injury to his
right hamstring. The LAFC
captain will continue receiv-
ing treatment with his stat-
us for Sunday’s MLS game
with Minnesota United to be
determined later in the
week.
The diagnosis was good
news for LAFC (a league-
best 19-3-5) since missing
Vela, who leads MLS with 27
goals, for any length of time
could be devastating. Vela
came out of Sunday’s 3-3
draw with the Galaxy early
in the second half, minutes
after scoring the tying goal.
Vela was clearly frus-
trated at being subbed out of
a tie game, ripping off his
captain’s armband and
throwing it to the ground,
then leaving the field
shouting a pair of profanities
at coach Bob Bradley.
“He’s a huge competitor
so he’s not too happy when
he comes off,” Bradley said.
“But we’re not gonna take a
bigger risk and leave him out
there.”
Vela also is tied for sec-
ond in the league with 15 as-
sists, giving him a hand in 42
of his team’s 74 goals. He has
started 26 of LAFC’s 27
games and is second on the
team in minutes played.
LAFC already has clinched a
playoff berth and could win
the Western Conference title
Sunday with a victory.
— Kevin BaxterBASKETBALLHoward signs
Dwight Howard signed
his one-year, nonguaran-
teed contract with the Lak-ers after clearing the waiver
wire. Financial terms were
not announced.
To make room, the Lak-
ers waived Aric Holman.
— Tania GanguliBrooklyn signed guard
Caris LeVertto a contract
extension, reportedly worth
$52.5 million over three
years. ... After losing for the
first time in nearly 13 years
two days earlier, the United
States rebounded to out-
class Canada 84-68 in a pre-
World Cup exhibition game.ETC.Ex-team doctor
sues Penn State
A former Penn State
team doctor filed a lawsuit
alleging that football coach
James Franklin improperlytried to influence his deci-
sion-making on injured ath-
letes and pressured him to
return them to the field.
Dr. Scott A. Lynch, who
was removed in March as the
team’s orthopedic physician
and the university’s director
of athletic medicine, filed
suit in Dauphin County
Court in Harrisburg, Pa.,
listing several defendants,
including the university,
Franklin, vice president of
athletics Sandy Barbour,
Penn State Health and the
Milton S. Hershey Medical
Center, his employer.
Lynch said in the suit
that the defendants “crafted
a false narrative” in explain-
ing the decision to remove
him, claiming it wanted an
orthopedic surgeon who re-
sided in State College rather
than one in Hershey, which
is about 100 miles from State
College, and where the Mil-
ton S. Hershey Medical Cen-ter is located and where
Lynch is based.
In a statement, Penn
State Health said it rejected
Lynch’s claims “and will vig-
orously defend our program
and its representatives.”North Carolina named
freshman Sam Howellits
quarterback, Indiana chose
redshirt freshman Michael
Penix Jr.and Maryland se-
lected ex-Virginia Tech
starter Josh Jackson. ... Ten-
nessee suspended corner-
back Bryce Thompsonafter
his arrest on suspicion of do-
mestic assault.New England Patriots
center David Andrewshas
been hospitalized with a
blood clot in his lungs, ac-
cording to reports, and his
season is in jeopardy. ... Kan-
sas City lost backup
quarterback Chad Henne to
a broken ankle that will re-quire surgery and signed
veteran Matt Moore. ... New
York Giants rookie quarter-
back Daniel Joneswill make
his first start in Thursday’s
exhibition finale at New
England. ... Cleveland re-
ceiver Odell Beckham Jr.,
slowed by a hip injury, re-
turned to team drills for the
first time in nearly three
weeks. ... New Orleans defen-
sive tackleSheldon Rankins
returned to practice for the
first time since tearing his
Achilles tendon in the play-
offs. ... Houston put running
back Lamar Milleron in-
jured reserve after he tore a
knee ligament.Captain Juli Inkster
used her two Solheim Cup
captain’s picks on Stacy
Lewisand Morgan Pressel.Vince Naimoli, the origi-
nal owner of the Tampa Bay
Rays, has died. He was 81.THE DAY IN SPORTSVela nursing minor hamstring injury
staff and wire reports
U.S. OPEN | At New York
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Purse: $57,238,700
Surface: Hardcourt outdoor
MEN’S SINGLES (first round)—Novak Djokovic
(1), Serbia, def. Roberto Carballes Baena, Spain, 6-4, 6-1,
6-4.
Juan Ignacio Londero, Argentina, def. Sam Querrey, United
States, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), 7-5.
Denis Kudla, United States, def. Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia,
3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5), 6-1.
Dusan Lajovic (27), Serbia, def. Steve Darcis, Belgium,
7-5, 6-3, 6-3.
Stan Wawrinka (23), Switzerland, def. Jannik Sinner, Italy,
6-3, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3. Jeremy Chardy, France, def. Hubert
Hurkacz, Poland, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4.
Miomir Kecmanovic, Serbia, def. Laslo Djere, Serbia, 6-2,
6-1, 7-5.
Paolo Lorenzi, Italy, def. Zachary Svajda, United States,
3-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Reilly Opelka, United States, def. Fabio Fognini (11), Italy,
6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
Dominik Koepfer, Germany, def. Jaume Antoni Munar Clar,
Spain, 6-4, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 7-5.
Jenson Brooksby, United States, def. Tomas Berdych,
Czech Republic, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Nikoloz Basilashvili (17), Georgia, def. Marton Fucsovics,
Hungary, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Feliciano Lopez Diaz-Guerra, Spain, def. Taylor Fritz (26),
United States, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Yoshihito Nishioka, Japan, def. Marcos Giron, United
States, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Hugo Dellien, Bolivia, def. Soon Woo Kwon, Republic of
Korea, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 2-3, ret.
Daniil Medvedev (5), Russia, def. Prajnesh Gunneswaran,
India, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
Roger Federer (3), Switzerland, def. Sumit Nagal, India,
4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
Damir Dzumhur, Bosnia-Herzegovina, def. Elliot Benchetrit,
France, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-0.
Daniel Evans, Britain, def. Adrian Mannarino, France, 6-4,
6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Lucas Pouille (25), France, def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Ger-
many, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Pablo Carreno-Busta, Spain, def. Guido Pella (19), Argen-
tina, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Ricardas Berankis, Lithuania, def. Jiri Vesely, Czech Repub-
lic, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Gregoire Barrere, France, def. Cameron Norrie, Britain, 7-6
(4), 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2).
David Goffin (15), Belgium, def. Corentin Moutet, France,
6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Borna Coric (12), Croatia, def. Evgeny Donskoy, Russia, 7-6
(7), 6-3, 6-0.
Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria, def. Andreas Seppi, Italy, 6-1, 6-7
(2), 6-4, 6-3.
Pablo Cuevas, Uruguay, def. Jack Sock, United States, 6-4,
7-5, 7-6 (5).
Kamil Majchrzak, Poland, def. Nicolas Jarry, Chile, 6-7 (2),
7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-4.
Cristian Garin (31), Chile, def. Christopher Eubanks, United
States, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
Alex de Minaur, Australia, def. Pierre-Hugues Herbert,
France, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 7-5.
Bradley Klahn, United States, def. Thiago Moura Monteiro,
Brazil, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Kei Nishikori (7), Japan, def. Marco Trungelliti, Argentina,
6-1, 4-1, ret.
WOMEN’S SINGLES (first round)—Elina Svi-
tolina (5), Ukraine, def. Whitney Osuigwe, United States, 6-1,
7-5.
Venus Williams, United States, def. Saisai Zheng, China,
6-1, 6-0.
Rebecca Peterson, Sweden, def. Monica Puig, Puerto Rico,
6-3, 6-3.
Dayana Yastremska (32), Ukraine, def. Monica Niculescu,
Romania, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
Sofia Kenin (20), United States, def. Coco Vandeweghe,
United States, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Laura Siegemund, Germany, def. Magdalena Frech, Po-
land, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Lin Zhu, China, def. Xinyu Wang, China, 6-3, 6-4. Madison
Keys (10), United States, def. Misaki Doi, Japan, 7-5, 6-0.
Johanna Konta (16), Britain, def. Daria Kasatkina, Russia,
6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
Margarita Gasparyan, Russia, def. Priscilla Hon, Australia,
7-6 (4), 6-4.
Ekaterina Alexandrova, Russia, def. Samantha Stosur, Aus-
tralia, 6-1, 6-3.
Shuai Zhang (33), China, def. Viktorija Golubic, Switzer-
land, 6-2, 6-1.
Ons Jabeur, Tunisia, def. Caroline Garcia (27), France, 7-6
(8), 6-2.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belarus, def. Jennifer Brady, United
States, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0. M
ariam Bolkvadze, Georgia, def. Bernarda Pera, United
States, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Karolina Pliskova (3), Czech Republic, def. Tereza Martin-
cova, Czech Republic, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3).
Serena Williams (8), United States, def. Maria Sharapova,
Russia, 6-1, 6-1.
Caty McNally, United States, def. Timea Bacsinszky, Switz-
erland, 6-4, 6-1.
Karolina Muchova, Czech Republic, def. Elena Rybakina,
Kazakhstan, 6-4, 6-4.
Su-Wei Hsieh (29), Chinese Taipei, def. Jana Cepelova,
Slovakia, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
Petra Martic (22), Croatia, def. Tamara Zidansek, Slovenia,
6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
Ana Bogdan, Romania, def. Harriet Dart, Britain, 6-3, 6-1.
Iga Swiatek, Poland, def. Ivana Jorovic, Serbia, 6-0, 6-1.
Anastasija Sevastova (12), Latvia, def. Eugenie Bouchard,
Canada, 6-3, 6-3.
Kristina Mladenovic, France, def. Angelique Kerber (14),
Germany, 7-5, 0-6, 6-4.
Fiona Ferro, France, def. Daria Gavrilova, Australia, 6-3,
6-4.
Alison van Uytvanck, Belgium, def. Viktoria Kuzmova, Slo-
vakia, 6-4, 6-4.
Qiang Wang (18), China, def. Caroline Dolehide, United
States, 6-4, 6-4.
Maria Sakkari (30), Greece, def. Camila Giorgi, Italy, 6-1,
6-0.
Shuai Peng, China, def. Varvara Lepchenko, United States,
6-2, 7-6 (5).
Lauren Davis, United States, def. Johanna Larsson, Swe-
den, 7-5, 6-2.
Ashleigh Barty (2), Australia, def. Zarina Diyas, Kaza-
khstan, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.RESULTS
to come out and play your
best, even though it’s kind
of what you live for, you
dream about, playing on
the big stage. I think he did
that very well.”
Federer said he tried to
put the first set aside and
recalibrate after serving too
long several times.
“Maybe it’s not a bad
thing to go through a match
like this,” he said, recalling
he lost the first set of his
first-round match at Wim-
bledon but righted himself
and reached the final,
where he lost to Novak
Djokovic in an epic five-set
match. “At the end you look
at the last three sets and
they were good. That’s
encouraging.”
Williams moved aggres-
sively and well, showing no
aftereffects of the back
spasms that led her to
retire from a final in To-
ronto and pull out of a
tournament in Cincinnati
this month.
“I’ve always been really
mentally strong. I’ve always
been really physically
strong,” she said. “I think
just putting those two
together at an event would
be the biggest obstacle for
me.”
Williams won the first
set in 24 minutes, breaking
Sharapova’s serve for a 3-1
lead and again for 5-1. She
broke for a 1-0 lead in the
second set and faced two
break points in the fourth
game but escaped both, a
sequence highlighted by a
nasty backhand that
whizzed past Sharapova.
“I think I was able to
zone in, especially down
break points, not letting her
in the match because she’s
the kind of player that
keeps going. Even towards
the end, she just wants to
keep fighting,” Williams
said. “One point here or
there, she could have won
at least another game. I
wanted to make sure I
stayed focused.”
Tossed a softball ques-
tion afterward about the
match having seemed
tighter than the score indi-
cated, Sharapova had the
grace to be honest.
“I don’t think it felt that
much closer, no,” said the
five-time Grand Slam event
winner whose ranking has
fallen to 87th in part be-
cause of her persistent
shoulder problems. “I
thought she served really
well. Found her spots really
well. Didn’t feel like we got
into too many long rallies.”
Williams on Wednesday
will face wild-card entrant
Caty McNally of Cincinnati,
who opened with a 6-4, 6-1
triumph over Timea Bac-
sinszky. McNally was born
Nov. 20, 2001. By then,
Williams had played in four
U.S. Open singles tourna-
ments and had won once, in
- She was ranked No. 6
in the world the week Mc-
Nally was born. That’s
happening more often now
to Williams, who will be 38
in a few weeks. On Monday,
at least, her game was as
sharp as her memory.
Legends
prevail
in first
round
of Open
[Elliott,from D1]
NEW YORK — Before the
U.S. Open began, top seed
Novak Djokovic said win-
ning more Grand Slam
event titles is his main focus
at this stage of his career. He
moved toward a 17th cham-
pionship by dismissing
Roberto Carballes Baenaof
Spain 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 in a first-
round match Monday at
Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“They matter the most in
the history of our sport. And
certainly motivate me the
most,” Djokovic, 32, said of
the titles. “Of course, I do
value every tournament that
I play in, especially the big
ATP 1000 Masters events, try
my best. These are the
events where I want to per-
form my best.”
Djokovic, the defending
champion, said it was “a sol-
id performance” for an
opener. “I’m hoping that I
can build from here,” he said.
On Wednesday, he will face
Juan Ignacio Londero of Ar-
gentina, who defeated
American Sam Querrey3-6,
6-1, 7-6 (3), 7-5. Djokovic and
Londero have never faced
each other.Barty comes back
Unhappy over a slow
start, No. 2 women’s seed
Ashleigh Barty of Australia
fought back for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
victory overZarina Diyasof
Kazakhstan.
“I think I just didn’t give
myself a chance in that first
set. Sort of appalling, prob-
ably made a set’s worth of er-
rors,” Barty said of her 19 un-forced errors and erratic
serving. “I think it was just
nice to kind of lock down a
little bit. It took some time
but kind of broke her down
in the end.”
Her next opponent will
be Floridian Lauren Davis, a
7-5, 6-2 winner over Johanna
Larsson of Sweden.Gibson honored
A statue of Althea Gib-
son, who in 1956 became the
first African American to
win a Grand Slam event title
and in 1957 became the first
African American winner at
Wimbledon and at the U.S
championships, was un-
veiled Monday near Arthur
Ashe Stadium. It features an
interactive component that
details her history.
“I think it’s very impor-
tant for people to knowabout Althea Gibson,” said
Billie Jean King, a longtime
advocate of the honor. “Not
only who she is but what she
represented to all of us, be-
ing the first African Ameri-
can to break the color line
here at the U.S. nationals, as
it was called then. ... People
have to understand how she
persevered and what she
means to our sport, but not
just to our sport — to society,
to everyone.”
Venus Williams, who de-
feated Zheng Saisai of
China 6-1, 6-0, applauded the
addition of the statue.
“It wasn’t easy to be Afri-
can American in the ’50s. It
was actually, I wouldn’t even
say easy, it was impossible to
do that, and she did it and
was a champion. I can’t even
imagine what she went
through,” said Williams, atwo-time champion here
who tied Martina Navrati-
lova’s Open era record by
making her 21st U.S. Open
singles appearance. “She
went through it so I didn’t
have to. What she achieved,
her story hasn’t been told, so
that statue is the beginning
of what we should be doing
for Althea.”Etc.
American Reilly Opelka
upset No. 1 1 Fabio Fognini of
Italy 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in
men’s first-round action. ...
Taylor Fritz of Palos Verdes
took the first set against Fe-
liciano Lopez of Spain, but
Lopez prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 6-3,
6-4. ... Sixteen-year-old
Zachary Svajda of San Di-
ego won the first two sets
against 37-year-old Paolo
Lorenzi of Italy but became
hobbled by cramps. Lorenzi
outlasted him 3-6, 6-7 (5),
6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2. ... Qualifier
Jenson Brooksby, an 18-
year-old from Sacramento
who is ranked 394th in the
world, defeated former
world No. 4 Tomas Berdych
of the Czech Republic 6-1,
2-6, 6-4, 6-4 for his first win in
a Grand Slam tournament.
No. 3 women’s seed Kar-
olina Pliskova was broken
six times and committed 32
unforced errors but got past
fellow Czech Tereza Mart-
incova 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3). ...
No. 14 Angelique Kerber of
Germany, the 2016 winner
here and a three-time Slam
singles champion, was upset
by unseeded Kristina
Mladenovic of France, who
prevailed 7-5, 0-6, 6-4 on the
Grandstand court.NOVAK DJOKOVIChits a return during his 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 first-round victory over Roberto Carballes Baena.
Djokovic, the top seed and defending champion, is seeking to capture a 17th Grand Slam championship.Clive BrunskillGetty ImagesU.S. OPEN REPORTDjokovic cruises in opener,
aims for another major title
A STATUEof trailblazing tennis great Althea Gibson
was unveiled Monday near Arthur Ashe Stadium.Frank Franklin IIAssociated PressBy Helene ElliottTuesday’s
featured matchesMEN
8 Rafael Nadal (2) vs. John
Millman
8 Dominic Thiem (4) vs.
Thomas Fabbiano
8 Alexander Zverev (6) vs.
Radu Albot
8 Stefanos Tsitsipas (8) vs.
Andrey Rublev
8 Roberto Bautista Agut
(10) vs. Mikhail KukushkinWOMEN
8 Naomi Osaka (1) vs.
Anna Blinkova
8 Simona Halep (4) vs.
Nicole Gibbs
8 Petra Kvitova (6) vs.
Denisa Allertova
8 Kiki Bertens (7) vs. Paula
Badosa
8 Aryna Sabalenka (9) vs.
Victoria Azarenka
8 Sloane Stephens (11) vs.
Anna Kalinskaya