NFL
The Detroit Lions rallied for a 21-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs to ruin the Super Bowl champions' celebration on the NFL's opening night. Jared Goff threw for 253 yards and a touchdown while new Lions running back David Montgomery reached the end zone for the go-ahead score late in the game. Detroit then held the Chiefs on the next possession to put it away. Kansas City had won eight straight openers while the Lions had lost their last five. The Chiefs played without injured All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce and All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who is in a holdout.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow became the highest-paid player in the NFL when he agreed to a five-year, $275 million contract extension on Thursday. That's according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because it hadn't been announced. The person says the contract includes more than $219 million guaranteed. Burrow will be paid an average of $55 million per year. The deal was finalized three days before the Bengals' season opener at Cleveland. Burrow has led the Bengals to two straight AFC North titles and a Super Bowl two seasons ago. He set franchise single-season records for completions, pass attempts and passing touchdowns last year.
Aaron Rodgers crossed an item off his sports bucket list and then made a statement with a more visible crossout. The New York Jets quarterback attended the U.S. Open on Sunday and posted a picture on a since-expired Instagram story of No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic from his seat. In the post, Rodgers used a red line to cross out a Moderna logo on an ad on a side panel. He also posted a goat emoji with the hashtag: “novaxdjokovic.” The 36-year-old Djokovic reached his record 47th Grand Slam semifinal after not being able to play in the U.S. Open last year because he wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19.
The New York Giants open the season at home against the Cowboys at 8:20 Sunday night. The Buffalo Bills and New York Jets open play at 8:15 Monday night at MetLife Stadium in Florham Park, New Jersey. The New England Patriots' season kicks off at Gilette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts at 4:25 Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia Eagles.
US OPEN
Coco Gauff has reached her first U.S. Open tennis final by defeating Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5 in a match interrupted for 50 minutes by environmental activists. One of the protesters glued his bare feet to the concrete in the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands last night. Aryna Sabalenka beat Madison Keys in a third-set tiebreaker in the other semifinal. Gauff is a 19-year-old from Florida who is the youngest American to make it to the title match in New York since Serena Williams. Gauff was up by a set and 1-0 in the second when protesters disrupted play. The victory was the 11th in a row for Gauff and the 17th in her past 18 matches.
Coco Gauff's victory over Karolina Muchova in the U.S. Open semifinals was delayed for 50 minutes early in the second set because of a disruption by four environmental activists in the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands. One protester glued his feet to the concrete floor Thursday night. Three protesters were quickly escorted out. They were wearing shirts that read, “End Fossil Fuels.” All four were taken into police custody. The players returned to the court after waiting out the delay in the locker room and the match resumed. Gauff won 6-4, 7-5.
Aryna Sabalenka reached her first U.S. Open final by edging Madison Keys 0-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (10-5). The second-seeded Sabalenka will face No. 6-seeded Coco Gauff on Saturday. The Australian Open champion had been just 1-5 in Grand Slam semifinals, including losses the last two years in that round in New York. But she won this one by taking the two tiebreakers by a combined 17-6. She had to regroup in the second one after mistakenly thinking she had won it after her seventh point, momentarily forgetting the tiebreakers in decisive sets go to 10. Sabalenka was already assured of rising to the top of the women’s rankings even if she lost.
It’s obvious when it comes to Ben Shelton and the rest of the men playing in the U.S. Open semifinals that one of these is not like the others. Shelton is unseeded and ranked 47th. Carlos Alcaraz is seeded No. 1, Novak Djokovic is No. 2 and Daniil Medvedev is No. 3, the first time since 2011 that the top three players in the men’s bracket made it to the final four in Flushing Meadows. To the final four on the men’s side where, Ben Shelton faces Novak Djokovic this afternoon at 3 and Carlos Alcaraz plays Daniil Medvedev tonight at 7. Shelton is a 20-year-old who was born in Georgia and won an NCAA singles title for the University of Florida in 2022. He is the only semifinalist who hasn't won the U.S. Open previously. He's also the only one without any major title.
MLB
Carlos Rodón allowed Spencer Torkelson’s first two-run homer two batters in and was tagged for seven runs in 3 2/3 innings as the New York Yankees dropped back to .500 with a 10-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Detroit dealt a blow to the slim playoff hopes of the Yankees (70-70) who tied a season high of five straight victories and had won eight of nine. Trying to avoid its first losing season since 1992, New York has just 22 games left and is seven games back of Toronto for the AL’s last wild card, also trailing Texas and Boston.
The Mets, Red Sox, and Phillies were off last night. New York begins a three-game set against the Twins at 8:10 tonight in Minneapolis, the Red Sox start a three-game set against the Orioles at 7:10 tonight in Boston, and the Phillies begin a three-game series against the Marlins at 7:05 tonight in Philadelphia.
Shohei Ohtani appears to be nearing a return to the Los Angeles Angels’ lineup after injuring his right oblique muscles in batting practice early in the week. Ohtani wasn’t in the Angels’ starting lineup for the fourth straight game Thursday night when they hosted the Cleveland Guardians, but Los Angeles manager Phil Nevin said the two-way superstar might be available to pinch-hit. The Angels were waiting to see how Ohtani felt after he took swings in the batting cage and did other baseball activities before Thursday’s game.
WNBA
Breanna Stewart scored 25 points and Sabrina Ionescu broke the single-season 3-point record to help New York beat the Los Angeles Sparks 96-89, giving the Liberty eight straight wins. New York moved a half-game behind Las Vegas for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Liberty close out the season on Sunday at home against Washington. The Aces have a home-and-home series with Phoenix on Friday and Sunday. The loss put the Sparks a half-game behind Chicago for the final playoff spot. The Sky own the tiebreaker between the teams. Ionescu topped Diana Taurasi’s single-season 3-point mark and has 124 this year.
FIBA BASKETBALL WORLD CUP
The U.S.’ semifinal against Germany begins at 8:40 a.m.
NCAA
A person familiar with the situation says LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey has agreed to a 10-year contract worth about $32 million. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because contract details haven't been released by LSU. The deal sets a record for the richest coaching contract in women's college basketball and comes after Mulkey coached LSU to its first women's basketball national title last season. Contract details were first reported by The Advocate of Baton Rouge. The contract still requires approval from the LSU Board of Supervisors. They are scheduled to vote on it Friday.
© 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
