US OPEN
Carlos Alcaraz has defeated Alexander Zverev in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the U.S. Open semifinals. Alcaraz is trying to become the first man to win consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows since Roger Federer claimed five in a row from 2004 to 2008. Alcaraz is a 20-year-old from Spain who has won 24 of his past 25 Grand Slam matches. That includes a trophy at Wimbledon in July. Alcaraz will try to get back to the final in New York by beating 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev in Friday's semifinals. The other matchup in the men's final four is Novak Djokovic against unseeded American Ben Shelton.
Alexander Zverev felt he had to react when he heard a fan use language from Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime during his U.S. Open match. The man was thrown out, as was another later Tuesday during Novak Djokovic's victory. Those ejections highlighted a challenge players and the event face as the U.S. Open draws the biggest crowds in its history. They want to make sure those fans are engaged, but not enough to disrupt the tennis — and how to handle it when they do.
Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev has reached his fourth U.S. Open semifinal as the heat and humidity continue to rise at the Grand Slam tennis tournament. He looked into a courtside TV camera in the final set of with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Andrey Rublev on Wednesday and warned that a player is ‘gonna die’ in the nearly 95-degree Fahrenheit (35-Celsius) conditions. Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, will face defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz next. Alcaraz beat Alexander Zverev
On the women’s side, Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys will meet in the women's semifinals today. Both won in straight sets Wednesday. PUT MATCH SCORES HERE
MLB
Jasson Domínguez broke a third-inning tie with his first Yankee Stadium home run, and New York got back over .500 for the first time in three weeks with a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. Domínguez homered for the third time in five games since his big-league debut on Friday, a 110.2 mph line drive off Beau Brieske. The 20-year-old switch-hitter in batting .333 average, five RBIs and a 1.1143 OPS. New York matched its longest winning streak this year at five and has won eight of nine since falling to 62-68.
Rookie Jacob Young grounded a game-ending single through a drawn-in infield, and the Washington Nationals rallied past the New York Mets 3-2 to end a six-game skid. Carter Kieboom opened the ninth with a four-pitch walk against Phil Bickford, who then hit Jake Alu with an 0-2 pitch. Ildemaro Vargas laid down a sacrifice bunt to set up Young’s walk-off hit. Kyle Finnegan retired the side in the ninth for the last-place Nationals, who moved within 1 1/2 games of the underachieving Mets in the NL East. New York led 2-0 through six innings behind José Butto, whose fourth major league start was by far his best.
Tyler Glasnow tied a career high with 14 strikeouts and the Tampa Bay Rays continued their home dominance of the Boston Red Sox with a 3-1 victory last night. Glasgow (8-5) allowed one run and three hits over six innings in a season-high, 103-pitch outing. Boston was 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against the 6-foot-8 right-hander. After Robert Stephenson and Colin Poche went an inning each, Pete Fairbanks worked the ninth to get his 20th save and complete a four-hitter. Brandon Lowe and Isaac Paredes hit solo home runs off Boston starter Nick Pivetta (9-8). Tampa Bay took two of three in the series, and have won 14 of 15 at home against the Red Sox.
Kyle Schwarber hit another eye-popping home run at Petco Park — this one a 465-foot leadoff shot almost halfway up the batter’s eye beyond the center field wall — and Zack Wheeler and three relievers combined to three-hit San Diego’s high-priced offense as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Padres 5-1. The Phillies took two of three to win the season series 5-2. It was a rematch of the NL Championship series, which Philadelphia won in five games. The Phillies won for the 10th time in 15 games and hold the NL’s top wild card spot. The Padres have lost 8 of 13.
Julio Urías was placed on administrative leave indefinitely by Major League Baseball, three days after the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher was arrested on suspicion of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant. The leave was imposed under baseball’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy adopted by MLB and the players’ union in 2015 and can be the first step toward a suspension. Players are paid but cannot play while on leave. Urías was arrested late Sunday night by Department of Public Safety officers in Exposition Park, south of downtown Los Angeles.
NFL
After six months without football, the NFL returns with the Superbowl defending Kansas City Chiefs facing the Detroit Lions in the opener tonight at 8:20 on NBC. The Chiefs will have Patrick Mahomes under center after they raise their championship banner and embark on a quest to become the first team to repeat in nearly two decades. Travis Kelce and Chris Jones may not be there. Kelce, the All-Pro tight end, is dealing with a knee injury. Jones, the All-Pro edge rusher, has been holding out for a new contract. Mahomes should be enough to squeak past the upstart Detroit Lions. Jared Goff is coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Lions, who have plenty of playmakers around him on offense. Stopping opponents from scoring was Detroit’s problem last season and a revamped defense has to deal with Mahomes right away.
Nick Bosa’s lengthy contract holdout ended four days before the start of the season for the San Francisco 49ers when he agreed to a contract extension that will make him the NFL’s richest defensive player ever. Coach Kyle Shanahan said the two sides agreed to the contract and that Bosa is on his way to the team facility. Shanahan said he expects Bosa to be able to play in the season opener on Sunday at Pittsburgh despite missing all of training camp. ESPN first reported the extension and said it was worth $170 million over five seasons with $122.5 million guaranteed.
SOCCER
Spanish state prosecutors say soccer player Jenni Hermoso has accused Luis Rubiales of sexual assault for kissing her on the lips without her consent after the Women’s World Cup final. Rubiales is the suspended president of the Spanish soccer federation. He kissed Hermoso on the lips during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia. Rubiales has insisted the kiss was consensual. Hermoso has denied that. Rubiales has since been suspended from his post by FIFA.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Since splitting up 11 years ago, No. 11 Texas and No. 23 Texas A&M have traveled similarly underwhelming paths. They will be reunited next year when Texas joins the SEC so this is the last season where the rivalry plays out vicariously. This weekend is another opportunity for both to make a statement. Texas visits No. 3 Alabama for the return match of last season’s one-point victory for the Crimson Tide. Texas A&M has a road game against Miami.
OLYMPICS
A wide-ranging survey into the state of the U.S. Olympic system leveled criticism at the U.S. Center for SafeSport, with a draft analysis concluding that feedback collected about the 6-year-old agency “paints a picture of a center in potential crisis.” SafeSport Center CEO Ju’Riese Colon was among the Olympic leaders who testified at a hearing in Washington held by the Congressionally appointed Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics. Colon painted an overall positive picture of the center that Congress formed in 2017 to deal with abuse allegations in Olympic sports. But the commission survey of more than 3,000 people said 50.6% of respondents were neutral, disagreed, or strongly disagreed with the question of whether SafeSport was meeting its goals.
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