Reuters Sports News Summary
Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.
ATP tour chief not ruling out 2020 return
Despite the growing possibility of a total wipeout of professional tennis this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, ATP Tour chief Andrea Gaudenzi is refusing to give up on 2020 just yet. The tennis season was suspended in early March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the hiatus will continue at least until mid-July with many countries in lockdown to contain the virus.
NCAA president: Sports won't return until campuses reopen
College sports will not resume until all students are back on campus, NCAA president Mark Emmert said Friday. Speaking on the NCAA's Twitter feed regarding the start of college athletics amid the coronavirus pandemic, Emmert dismissed any notion of sports restarting before classrooms reopen.
PGA of Australia extends tour season into new year
The PGA of Australia tour will be extended from this season with tournaments staged well into the new year, the governing body of professional golf in the country announced on Sunday. The move was triggered by the social distancing restrictions put in place to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which threaten to heavily disrupt the early part of a season that would usually be wrapped up by the end of the year.
Gymnastics: Italian Lodadio cultivates his garden to stay fit
Gymnasts around the world have been trying to stay fit amid tough restrictions during the COVID-19 crisis, and Italy is no exception. With the country's gym clubs and training facilities closed for more than two months as part of government measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, gymnast Marco Lodadio, a silver medallist in the rings event at the 2019 world championships, turned his garden into a fitness studio. Without the sophisticated facilities top-level athletes usually use, Lodadio worked on a swing structure to make it suitable for rings training. "Before the start of the quarantine, I managed to set up a small structure in my garden so I can train for a couple of hours a day to stay in shape," the 28-year-old said.
Report: Bulls leaning toward removing coach Boylen
The Chicago Bulls' new leaders have gotten enough negative reviews of coach Jim Boylen that they are leaning toward moving on without him, according to a report. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday that Arturas Karnisovas, the new head of basketball operations, and new general manager Marc Eversley have talked to people throughout the organization, including players, and the "mixed feedback" is leading them to think the team should make a change.
U.S. women's soccer team file to appeal equal pay ruling
The U.S. women's soccer team have filed to appeal a district court decision handed down last week that dismissed their claims for equal pay, a spokesperson for the team said on Friday. The team suffered an unexpected blow to their high-profile case against their federation when the court threw out the players' claims that they were under paid in comparison with the men's national team.
Vanessa Bryant files claim over crash-site photos
Vanessa Bryant filed a claim against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, contending deputies shared unauthorized photos of the site where her husband and daughter died in a helicopter crash in January. The claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, was filed Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported. Retired Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant and the couple's 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were killed along with seven others in the Jan. 26 crash.
Golf: Memorial to use high-tech badges to track spectators
The Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, will use high-tech radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in tournament badges to ensure social distancing is maintained at the July 16-19 PGA Tour event, Golf Digest reported on Saturday. The tracking system was just one of several measures that will be put in place to deal with the coronavirus outbreak that has wreaked havoc with world sport and forced a reworking of the of the PGA Tour calendar.
Alex Morgan becomes U.S. national team's newest soccer mom
Alex Morgan, who helped the United States women's soccer team to World Cup and Olympic titles, has become the newest mom in the national squad after giving birth to her first child. Morgan, who is married to former Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Servando Carrasco, announced on Twitter on Saturday that their daughter Charlie Elena Carrasco was born on Thursday.
Players feel compensation is key when taking risk
As the possibility of a season start date increases, Major League Baseball Players Association board members Chris Iannetta and Andrew Miller are concerned about pay and health. Iannetta, a catcher with the New York Yankees, and Miller, a reliever with the St. Louis Cardinals, feel there is a lot of risk on the players' end to play games without fans in the stands. That is especially true with the coronavirus outbreak not under control and still a major threat.
