Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
Rafael Nadal will skip Wimbledon to prepare for the Olympics
Rafael Nadal is going to skip Wimbledon, as expected, and instead prepare for the Paris Olympics by entering a clay-court tournament in Bastad, Sweden, he hasn’t been to in 19 years.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who turned 38 on June 3, said Thursday he wants to just remain on clay, rather than switching over to grass for the All England Club, then needing to go back to clay for the Summer Games.
“We believe that the best for my body is not to change surface,” Nadal said in a statement.
He has been dealing with hip and abdominal injuries over the past 1 1/2 years, including having surgery in 2023, and has been forced to play a limited schedule. Nadal was defeated in the first round of the French Open late last month by eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev — marking the first time in Nadal’s career he has lost consecutive matches on clay.
The Summer Games will hold the tennis competition at Roland Garros starting on July 27. That is the site of the French Open, where Nadal has won a record 14 titles.
Nadal will play doubles — with Carlos Alcaraz — and singles at the OIympics, Spanish men’s tennis captain David Ferrer said Wednesday. Alcaraz, 21, won the French Open on Sunday for his third Grand Slam title. He is the youngest man to own major championships on all three surfaces.
After his exit against Zverev in Paris, Nadal was asked about participating at Wimbledon, which runs from July 1-14.
“Looks difficult, honestly. For me, now, I can’t confirm what’s going on, but it looks difficult to make a transition to grass, having the Olympics again on clay,” he said.
“But I don’t think it’s going to be smart, after all the things that happened to my body,” Nadal continued, “(to) now make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back immediately to clay.”
He won two titles at Wimbledon, beating Roger Federer in the 2008 final and Tomas Berdych in the 2010 final. Nadal also was the runner-up there three times and exited after reaching the semifinals in each of his past three appearances, including his last trip to the All England Club, in 2022, when he withdrew from the final four because of a torn abdominal muscle.
“I will miss playing at the Championships this year at Wimbledon. I am saddened not to be able to live this year the great atmosphere of that amazing event that will always be in my heart,” Nadal said Thursday, “and be with all the British fans that always gave me great support. I will miss you all.”
This will be his fourth appearance at Bastad — a clay-court tournament that starts July 15 — and first since 2005. Nadal won the trophy there that year, beating Berdych in the final.
Dan Hurley says rejecting the Lakers’ offer wasn’t
a ‘leverage play’
STORRS, Conn. | Dan Hurley said in a radio appearance Thursday that his rejection of a six-year, $70 million offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers wasn’t a “leverage play” because he had already agreed to new contract with UConn.
During an appearance on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,” the Huskies coach said it was a difficult choice between leading the Lakers or returning to Storrs to pursue a third consecutive NCAA championship.
“I don’t need leverage here,” the coach said. “We’ve won back-to-back national championships at this place. This was never a leverage situation for me.
“I’ve got a contract in place here for a couple of weeks and the financial part in terms of salary has been done for a while. There’s some other parts, like NIL and staff salaries and some different things that I needed or that I want adjusted. … But the sense or the idea that this was some conspiracy to get me a sweeter deal at UConn is just, it’s lazy.”
Hurley was scheduled to speak with reporters later Thursday. Kentucky also pursued him for its coaching vacancy following the departure of Hall of Famer John Calipari for Arkansas after 15 years with the Wildcats.
Hurley added that it would have been a thrill to coach LeBron James with the Lakers, though he did not speak with James during last week’s interview process. He acknowledged that Los Angeles could have made him an offer that he couldn’t have refused but added that he has a deal in place at UConn that will make him the nation’s highest-paid college coach.
Euro 2024: English FA to help police clamp down on social media abuse
DUSSELDORF, Germany | England’s Football Association says it is providing funding to help police clamp down on online abuse at Euro 2024.
At the last European Championship, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were subjected to racial abuse on social media after missing penalties in England’s shootout defeat to Italy in the 2021 final.
The FA has stepped up efforts to ensure abusers are brought to justice and said it is providing around 25,000 pounds ($32,000) to help police.
“Now we are doing things differently,” FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said. “In the past what we did was put together all the data, effectively an evidence pack, to give to the police to prosecute, but this time we have gone a stage further where we are actually funding within the British police a unit that will then prosecute.”
Measures are also being taken to avoid or clamp down on trouble from England supporters in other areas at the monthlong tournament in Germany, which kicks off on Friday.
“Officers from the U.K. are continuing to work closely with German police to support a safe and trouble-free Euro 2024 tournament,” the U.K. Football Policing Unit told The Associated Press on Thursday.
There have been numerous incidents of trouble involving English fans in the past. While security concerns at the European Championship are not limited to England supporters, potential problem areas involving those following the Three Lions have been identified.
Fans have been urged by police to be “good guests” and respect German culture. And ahead of England’s opening game against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, UEFA said only low alcohol beer will be served at Veltins-Arena.
There have been concerns that English fans could repeat an often-sung chant about World War II in Germany.
While it has not been specifically referenced by police, supporters have been urged to be respectful.
“We would urge any fans travelling to be mindful and aware of the local culture and be good guests,” the U.K. Football Policing Unit said. “Wilfully acting in a way to cause offense could result in a heightened risk to your personal safety, and German police will take action against those breaking the law. This action can include heavy fines and custodial sentences.”
The England-Serbia game has been deemed high risk by UEFA.
It is, so far, the only group game slated to serve low alcohol beer.
“The local organisers and police decided to only allow the sale of beer with reduced alcohol percentage (light beers),” UEFA told The AP. “The police in Gelsenkirchen also do not want to allow fans to bring their cups to their seats for matches in that venue. There is no such restriction in any of the other venues.”
Cavaliers still meeting with coaching candidates
CLEVELAND | It’s been almost a month since J.B. Bickerstaff coached his last game for Cleveland and the Cavaliers are still looking for his successor.
The team has interviewed five candidates, including former NBA coaches James Borrego, Kenny Atkinson and Dave Joerger, two people with knowledge of the team’s search process told the Associated Press on Thursday. One of the people said the search remains “fluid and ongoing.”
The Cavs have also interviewed Minnesota assistant Micah Nori and New York Knicks assistant Johnnie Bryant. They could meet with other candidates in the coming days, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team is not commenting during the process.
It’s possible the search could extend into next week, one of the people said.
The team also received permission to speak with Denver assistant David Adelman.
Bickerstaff was fired on May 23, a week after the Cavs were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics, who are up 3-0 on Dallas in the NBA Finals.
It was an agonizing decision for the Cavs as Bickerstaff helped oversee a rebuild that began in 2018 after LeBron James left for the second time as a free agent.
Bickerstaff went 170-159 in four-plus seasons — 6-11 in the playoffs — and led the Cavs to back-to-back playoff appearances the last two years. Cleveland beat Orlando in the first round this year, the franchise’s first series win without James since 1993.
While Bickerstaff had success, and navigated around numerous injuries this season, the Cavs’ decision makers felt the team should be further along with a strong, young nucleus of players led by All-Star Donovan Mitchell.
On May 24, president of basketball operations Koby Altman said the team needed “a new approach, someone with a different voice, a fresh set of eyes to help us move forward.”
Sharks hire Ryan Warsofsky as new head coach
SAN JOSE, Calif. | The San Jose Sharks have promoted Ryan Warsofsky to become the team’s new head coach after two years as an assistant under the recently fired David Quinn.
General manager Mike Grier announced Thursday that Warsofsky will become the 11th head coach in franchise history. He will be formally introduced at a news conference Monday.
“His track record of success at nearly every level of hockey as a head and assistant coach speaks for itself,” Grier said in a statement. “Ryan knows our existing group well, has the respect of the players who he will be working with, and will be a great teacher for the young players who will be joining our organization.”
Warsofsky takes over a team that had struggled mightily since reaching the Western Conference Final in 2019. The Sharks went 41-98-25 in Quinn’s two seasons for the worst mark in the NHL in that span, including a league-worst 47 points this past season. San Jose’s 19 wins this season were the fewest in a full season since the franchise’s second year as an expansion team in 1992-93.
But after years of trading away high-priced stars like Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier, the Sharks are now in position for a revival. They won the draft lottery and are expected to take Hobey Baker winner Macklin Celebrini later this month as a major piece of the rebuild.
“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement to be named as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks,” Warsofsky said in a statement. “This is an organization that has a rich history of winning, and I can’t wait to get to work on coaching a team that our fans can be proud of.”
The 36-year-old Warsofsky was an assistant the past two seasons for San Jose with the primary responsibilities of overseeing the team’s defense and penalty kill. Working with one of the younger rosters in the NHL, the Sharks penalty kill ranked 18th in the NHL at 78.8% the past two seasons.
Warsofsky previously had been head coach of the Chicago Wolves for two seasons in the AHL. He led the Wolves to the AHL’s best regular-season record with a 50-16-5-5 record in 2021-22 and captured the 2022 Calder Cup.
He also spent one season as head coach of Charlotte in the AHL and two seasons as a head coach in the ECHL.
—From AP reports
