TENNIS
Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam tournament canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, is back on the schedule for 2021, the All England Club announced Friday.
“Staging The Championships in 2021 is our number one priority and we are actively engaged in scenario planning in order to deliver on that priority,” All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said.
The tournament, canceled this year for the first time since 1945, is scheduled to run from June 28-July 11. It could be held at full capacity, reduced capacity or without fans, the club said. All of the options are dependent on the status of government and public health guidelines, the club said.
The U.S. Open and French Open were held with strict protocols to reduce the possibility of spreading the virus. No fans were allowed at the U.S. Open, while the French Open was limited to 1,000 fans per day.
“Our overriding priority will continue to be the health and safety of all of our stakeholders, in particular our guests, our staff, and our competitors,” the All England Club said. “We are working closely with the relevant government and public health authorities, alongside the rest of the sports industry, to understand the varying challenges and opportunities presented by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.”
ST. PETERSBURG OPEN: Andrey Rublev eased into the semifinals by defeating Cameron Norrie, 6-2, 6-1, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The third-seeded Russian will play No. 2 seed Denis Shapovalov, who beat Stan Wawrinka, 6-4, 7-5.
No. 7 seed Borna Coric won 7-6 (3), 6-3 against hard-serving American Reilly Opelka, and next faces 2015 champion Milos Raonic, who overcame fourth-seeded Karen Khachanov, 6-1, 7-6 (1).
COLOGNE INDOORS: Top-seeded Alexander Zverev advanced to the semifinals by beating Lloyd Harris, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, in Cologne, Germany.
The seventh-ranked Zverev next faces Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who defeated Dennis Novak, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
No. 2 seed Roberto Bautista Agut will meet No. 3 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the other semifinal.
HOCKEY
NHL: The Toronto Maple Leafs signed 41-year-old forward Joe Thornton to a one-year, $700,000 contract.
Thornton, with 420 goals and 1,089 assists in 1,636 regular-season games for the Bruins and Sharks, ranks 14th on the NHL’s career scoring list and seventh all-time in assists. In 70 games last season for San Jose, he had seven goals and 24 assists.
• The Los Angeles Kings signed No. 2 overall draft pick Quinton Byfield to a three-year contract.
The 18-year-old Byfield, a 6-foot-5 center, is likely to play another year of junior hockey before he moves to the NHL, but the Kings haven’t ruled out anything with their top prospect before he attends his first training camp.
SOCCER
FRANCE: Star striker Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain won at 10-man Nimes, 4-0, to move to the top of the French league for the first time this season.
PSG’s fifth straight win took it above Rennes on goal difference, with both teams at 15 points after Rennes played to a 1-1 draw at last-place Dijon.
SKIING
WORLD CUP: No fans, no race ceremonies and no promotional villages are planned at races in Switzerland this season.
The Swiss ski federation said it is working with local organizers to have competitions without the public, as coronavirus cases peak in the Alpine nation ahead of the winter sports season. Crowds of about 30,000 typically attend Switzerland’s signature races on back-to-back Saturdays in January – the men’s giant slalom in Adelboden and the men’s downhill in Wengen.
The 2020-21 season also includes women’s race weekends in St. Moritz and Crans-Montana, the World Cup finals week for men and women in Lenzerheide, and a ski jumping event in Engelberg.
CYCLING
GIRO D’ITALIA: Diego Ulissi sprinted to victory at the end of the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Friday, and João Almeida held onto the overall leader’s pink jersey.
Ulissi, an Italian rider with UAE Team Emirates, launched his sprint with about 600 yards to go and edged Almeida and Patrick Konrad at the end of the mainly flat 192-kilometer (119-mile) leg from Cervia to Monselice.
There were two categorized climbs toward the end of the route.
It was Ulissi’s second win in this year’s Giro and eighth overall. He beat Peter Sagan to win Stage 2. Almeida, a Portuguese rider with the Deceuninck-Quick Step team, moved 40 seconds ahead of Wilco Kelderman and 49 seconds ahead of Pello Bilbao.
Saturday’s 14th stage is a 21.2-mile individual time trial from Conegliano to Valdobbiadene.
SAILING
AMERICA’S CUP: America’s Cup challenger American Magic has launched its second racing yacht in Auckland, revealing significant design developments compared with its predecessor. The 75-foot Patriot was publicly revealed by the New York Yacht Club-backed team at its launching ceremony Friday.
Patriot more closely approaches the design features of boats developed by defender Team New Zealand and Italian challenger of record Luna Rossa, which had a head start in the design process because they collaborated in forming the class rule.
American Magic appears to have moved away from the flat-bottomed design of its experimental first-generation sailboat, Defiant, to a deeper skiff-style design apparently favored by the New Zealand and Italian teams. The striking, deep blue Patriot also features flared decks at the bow, with the helm and grinding stations more deeply inset into the deck for aerodynamic reasons. The helm has also been moved forward.
Patriot’s debut precedes a flurry of launches. British syndicate INEOS Team UK will launch its new boat Saturday and Luna Rossa will do so on Tuesday.
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