SKIING

Shiffrin’s win streak ends one shy of matching mark

Mikaela Shiffrin’s seven-race winning streak in women’s World Cup slaloms came to end Tuesday, leaving her one short of the record for most consecutive victories in the discipline.

Shiffrin’s rare early exit in the first run at Zagreb, Croatia, allowed Veronika Velez Zuzulova to claim her fifth career win.

With a win Tuesday, Shiffrin would have matched the best mark of eight straight victories set by Swiss great Vreni Schneider in 1988-89 and Croatian skier Janica Kostelic in 2000-01.

TENNIS

QATAR OPEN: Top-ranked Andy Murray extended his winning streak to a career-best 25 matches by defeating Jeremy Chardy of France 6-0, 7-6 (2) in his first match of the year at Doha, Qatar.

ASB CLASSIC: Serena Williams ended four months on the sideline with flashes of form and occasional bouts of frustration in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Pauline Parmentier in the first round at Auckland, New Zealand.

Williams, who rested various injuries after her semifinal exit at the U.S. Open, waited an extra day to make her first appearance of 2017 because rain on Monday forced the postponement of her match.

BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL: Garbine Muguruza, Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina, who all had career-highlight victories over Serena Williams last season, are already through to the quarterfinals at Brisbane, Australia.

Also, Australian qualifier Destanee Aiava became the first player born in the 2000s to win a main draw match in an elite WTA event when she beat 31-year-old Bethanie Mattek-Sands 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a first-round match.

SHENZHEN OPEN: Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska reached the quarterfinals at Shenzhen, China, with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Sorana Cirstea.

WRESTLING

CASE DISMISSED: A Pennsylvania judge in Allentown dismissed the murder case against former pro wrestling star Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka in his girlfriend’s 1983 death.

The decision filed in Lehigh County says Snuka, 73, is not competent to stand trial on counts including third-degree murder.

Snuka’s attorney told a judge in December that his client is in hospice care in Florida and has six months to live.

SOCCER

U.S. EXHIBITION: The U.S. men will play Jamaica in an exhibition on Feb. 3 at Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The match is the second under Coach Bruce Arena. The game will be the first for the U.S. in Chattanooga.

Arena, the U.S. coach from 1998-2006, replaced Jurgen Klinsmann in November following losses to Mexico and Costa Rica in the first two games of the final round of World Cup qualifying.

PREMIER LEAGUE: Hull parted company with Coach Mike Phelan after a dismal run of form left the club bottom of the league.

Hull is bottom of the standings with just 13 points from 20 games, three points from safety.

n Paul Clement took his place on the sideline hours after being appointed Swansea manager to see his new team win 2-1 at Crystal Palace and climb off the bottom of the Premier League.

Clement made an instant impact as Bob Bradley’s successor. Clement was appointed Swansea manager earlier in the day, leaving his role as assistant coach at German champion Bayern Munich for a relegation scrap.

– From news reports

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