FRENCH OPEN
Novak Djokovic has won his men’s-record 23rd Grand Slam title with a 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5 victory over Casper Ruud in the French Open final. Djokovic broke a tie with Rafael Nadal for the most major singles trophies in the history of men’s tennis. Nadal is a 14-time champion at Roland Garros who missed the tournament because he is injured. Djokovic adds to the French Open titles he earned in 2016 and 2021. He is the only man with at least three titles from each major. He also won 10 trophies at the Australian Open, seven at Wimbledon and three at the U.S. Open.
A popular question posed to tennis players after they begin accumulating Grand Slam titles is some form of: What’s next? What are your aims now? What do want to accomplish? How many of these major championships can you collect? When it comes to Iga Swiatek, there's not much point in asking, although there were attempts Saturday night after she beat Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the French Open final. That victory made Swiatek the owner of four Slam trophies, including three at Roland Garros. Just making it to the last match of the tournament assured her of maintaining her grip on the No. 1 ranking, where she’s been since April 2022.
MLB
Kiké Hernández hit a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 3-2 with the help of a late error by second baseman Gleyber Torres. Justin Turner homered and Brayan Bello allowed three hits in seven efficient innings for the Red Sox, matching his career high. Last-place Boston took two of three low-scoring games at Yankee Stadium in the first series this season between the longtime rivals. Jose Trevino’s early two-run single that took a lucky bounce off second base was one of only three hits for the Yankees and all the offense they could muster. Chris Martin worked a hitless inning for his 10th career save and first for the Red Sox.
Rookie Bobby Miller won for the third time in four starts, J.D. Martinez hit a three-run homer and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Philadelphia 9-0 after the ejection of Phillies manager Rob Thomson in a pitch clock flap. David Peralta homered, doubled and drove in a run for the Dodgers, who won for just the second time in seven games. Mookie Betts added a pair of hits and two RBIs. Miller (3-0) allowed three hits in six innings, struck out seven and walked three, lowering his ERA to 0.78.
Andrew McCutchen collected his 2,000th career hit, Jack Suwinski hit his 12th home run and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the New York Mets 2-1. McCutchen became the 291st player and fifth active player to reach 2,000 hits when he turned on a slider from Carlos Carrasco (2-3) leading off the bottom of the first and laced it to left field. Mitch Keller allowed just two hits in seven innings for the Pirates, who went 6-3 during a season-long nine-game homestand. Jeff McNeil hit his third homer of the season for New York. The Mets have dropped eight of nine.
NBA FINALS
Everything from the history books to the way they’ve played through most of the postseason suggests the Denver Nuggets are on the verge of capturing their first NBA title in 47 years in the league. The goal now for Denver is to avoid a letdown against the Miami Heat in what will be the first title-clinching opportunity in franchise history. The Nuggets are trying to keep their minds on hoops, not that trophy, and the mission could be helped by the fact that Miami’s only win in this series came a week ago in Denver. Also, the Heat have won seven road games during the postseason. Game 5 is tonight at 8:30 in Denver. Denver has a 3-1 lead.
NHL
The Vegas Golden Knights left Florida on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup. The trophy will be in the building the next time they play. (Game 5 is Tuesday night at 8 in Sunrise, Florida and Las Vegas has a 3-1 lead.) That's back at home in Game 5 of the final on Tuesday night at 8 against the Panthers. But the immediate task at hand for players and coaches is not to dwell on how close they are to the franchise’s first title. The Golden Knights have shown all playoffs and throughout this series that they are championship-worthy.
The status of leading scorer Matthew Tkachuk is the biggest question facing the Florida Panthers down 3-1 to Vegas in the Stanley Cup Final. Tkachuk left for a stretch during the third period of Game 4 because of an undisclosed injury. Coach Paul Maurice said any of his injured players would be treated before and after flying to Las Vegas for Game 5. Florida would make history by becoming the first team in 81 years to erase a 3-1 deficit in the final.
WNBA
Breanna Stewart scored 32 points and Sabrina Ionescu added 22 to help the New York Liberty beat the Dallas Wings 102-93. The game was tied at 60 midway through the third quarter before New York scored 19 of the next 24 points to break it open. Stewart had six points and two assists during the burst. New York (6-2) was up 79-68 heading into the fourth quarter. Dallas (5-4) got within single digits midway through the period, but Stewart hit a tough turnaround jumper on the baseline and then Ionescu hit a 3-pointer from the wing to make it 93-79 with 4:03 left. Dallas never threatened after that. Arike Ogunbowale finished with 25 points to lead Dallas. Satou Sabally added 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Brionna Jones scored 18 points, Alyssa Thomas had 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and the Connecticut Sun defeated the Atlanta Dream 89-77. The Sun scored the last five points of the third quarter to lead 65-60 entering the fourth. Jones and Tyasha Harris then scored the first eight points of the period and Connecticut led by at least nine points the rest of the way. Allisha Gray scored to get the Dream within 84-75 near the one-minute mark, but Thomas made a driving layup and DeWanna Bonner added a technical free throw to put the Sun ahead by double digits again. Bonner and Harris scored 15 points each for the Sun.
For more than two hours, Sue Bird was back commanding the middle of the court. At times funny, at times emotional, Bird’s 21-year career received a ceremony that matched the longevity of her basketball exploits when the Seattle Storm retired the No. 10 she wore during her WNBA career. The event pushed nearly three hours in total length with Bird’s speech taking up more than half that amount. But it was the comprehensive closure that never materialized after Bird’s career ended in the 2022 WNBA playoffs. It was a chance for Bird to share her thanks to former coaches, teammates, family, friends and fans who watched her win four WNBA titles and five Olympic gold medals.
Phoenix Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard says the WNBA team will adjust its travel plans following Saturday's incident in the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Nygaard would not say what changes will be made, citing league policy and safety concerns about the team's future road trips. Brittney Griner's teammates say they were startled when a “social media figure” confronted Griner at the airport. Airport officials eventually escorted the team's players to a different room with more privacy. The league says it approved charter flights to all road games this season for the All-Star after she returned from detainment in Russia.
CANADIAN OPEN
Nick Taylor became the first Canadian in 69 years to win his national open, holing a 72-foot eagle putt on the fourth playoff hole to beat Tommy Fleetwood in the RBC Canadian Open. Taylor tossed his putter into the air and jumped into the arms of his caddie after the longest made putt of his PGA Tour career. Fellow Canadian players Mike Weir, Corey Conners and Adam Hadwin were among those who ran out to the green to congratulate him. Hadwin was tackled on the green by a security guard. The last player from Canada to win the Canadian Open was Pat Fletcher in 1954 at Point Grey in Vancouver.
NASCAR
Martin Truex Jr. has won at Sonoma Raceway for the fourth time. He passed Chase Elliott for the lead after a late restart and held off Kyle Busch for his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. Truex confidently drove his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to another victory on the hilly road course at the base of Northern California wine country, where he also won in 2013, 2018 and 2019. Only Jeff Gordon with five has more victories at Sonoma than Truex, who earned the 33rd win of his Cup career and his second in the last six races.
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
Oral Roberts will continue its surprising NCAA baseball tournament run in the men’s College World Series after beating Oregon 11-6 in the deciding game of their super regional. No. 1 national seed Wake Forest, No. 5 LSU and No. 7 Virginia also won super regionals to advance. No. 2 Florida and TCU clinched CWS bids Saturday. Winners from the Texas-Stanford and Tennessee-Southern Mississippi super regionals will earn the other two CWS spots. Oral Roberts is the lowest-seeded team to reach the CWS in Omaha, Nebraska, since Stony Brook in 2012.
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