TENNIS
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will finally meet in the U.S. Open, and they’ll do it in their very first match.
The past U.S. Open champions, two of the biggest stars in women’s tennis, were scheduled for an opening-round matchup when the draws were conducted Thursday for the final major of the year.
Williams and Sharapova have met in the finals of the other three majors and the 2012 Olympics but have never met in the U.S. Open. Williams owns a 19-2 record in their WTA Tour matchups.
The men’s draw sent No. 3 seed Roger Federer into the top half, meaning he could play top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. They met in the final at Wimbledon, won by Djokovic.
Federer and No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal have never played each other in New York and can’t meet before the final this year.
BRONX OPEN: Top-seeded Wang Qiang rallied from a dismal start to beat Anna Blinkova 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 and reach the semifinals.
GOLF
AMERICAN JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION: Topsham native Caleb Manuel shot a 71 at Sugarloaf and finished at 2 under to win the Coca-Cola Junior Championship for his first title.
Manuel, a senor at Mt. Ararat High, finished the three-round tournament six strokes ahead of second-place finisher Calen Sanderson of Newtown, Pennsylvania. Sanderson tied the course record with a 67 on Monday.
ROWING
ROWER DEATH: The governing body of rowing says para-rower Dzmitry Ryshkevich died after his boat capsized during training at the world championships in Austria.
World Rowing cites a police statement that the flotation device on the 33-year-old Belarus athlete’s boat had broken.
Although Ryshkevich freed himself from the safety belts in the boat, he sank into the water near the Danube in Linz-Ottensheim on Wednesday as rescuers approached.
AUTO RACING
XFINITY SERIES: Dale Earnhardt Jr. still plans to compete in the Xfinity event at Darlington Raceway on Aug. 31, despite a recent plane crash.
Earnhardt Jr. posted his update on Twitter late Wednesday night, saying his lower back is sore and swollen. He’s receiving daily treatment “solely to get well to race.”
COLLEGES
FOOTBALL: Mississippi State named Penn State graduate transfer Tommy Stevens its starting quarterback.
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