BASKETBALL

Jules Bernard scored 27 points to lead seven players in double figures as the Capital City Go-Go added to the Maine Celtics’ slump with a 131-126 NBA G League win Wednesday night at Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.

Maine has lost three straight with just one win in the last seven games.

Kris Dunn had 19, Jordan Goodwin 18, Quenton Jackson 15, Trevion Williams 14, Theo John 11 and Johnny Davis 10 for the Go-Go.

Mfiondu Kabengele led Maine with 31 points. Marial Shayok and JD Davison added 24.

TENNIS

AUSTRALIAN OPEN:  Tournament director Craig Tiley said Novak Djokovic played at the Grand Slam event with a muscle tear of 3 centimeters – a little more than an inch – in his left hamstring along the way to winning the championship.

Djokovic won the trophy at Melbourne Park on Sunday by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets for a record-extending 10th title there and record-tying 22nd Grand Slam trophy overall. Rafael Nadal is the only other man who has won that many majors.

The triumph also allowed Djokovic to return to No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday.

Djokovic, 35, hurt his hamstring during a tune-up tournament in Adelaide ahead of the Australian Open. He wore a heavy bandage on his left thigh and was visited by trainers during matches in Week 1 in Melbourne.

He said he took “a lot” of painkiller pills and did various treatments to help the leg.

SOCCER

TOTTENHAM: Manager Antonio Conte said surgery to remove his gallbladder had “gone well.”.

Conte, 53, had been diagnosed as having cholecystitis after recently experiencing “severe abdominal pain,” the Premier League club said in a statement.

Conte is set for a period away from work to recuperate.

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Co-hosts Australia and New Zealand urged FIFA not to sign a sponsor deal with the tourism authority of Saudi Arabia where “rights of women remain severely restricted.”

Leaders of the two national soccer federations warned in a letter to FIFA, including president Gianni Infantino, that unilaterally sealing the “Visit Saudi” sponsorship could “severely tarnish the reputation” of the 32-nation tournament that starts in July.

That is despite the tourism brand being endorsed by men’s World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi, who was announced last year as a paid pitchman.

OLYMPICS

LATVIA: Latvia has threatened to boycott next year’s Paris Olympics if Russian athletes are allowed to take part during the war in Ukraine and is calling on other countries to form a coalition to pressure international sports bodies.

The Latvian Olympic Committee is the first national Olympic body other than Ukraine that has threatened to boycott rather than compete against Russia.