Novak Djokovic has become the first man in 71 years to win Wimbledon after facing match points in the final, coming back to beat Roger Federer in an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker Sunday. The top-seeded Serb outlasted Federer 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13-12 in a match that lasted nearly five hours to win his fifth championship at the All England Club and second in a row.
The triumph earned Djokovic his 16th Grand Slam trophy, moving him closer to the only men ahead of him in tennis history: Federer with 20, and Rafael Nadal with 18. Federer, who turns 38 next month, has won Wimbledon eight times dating to 2003, and this was his record 12th appearance in the title match. But Djokovic is now 3-0 against Federer in Wimbledon finals and 4-0 against him in five-setters. This is the first year Wimbledon has used deciding-set tiebreakers.
MLB
Masahiro Tanaka gave up two runs and four hits over six innings of the Yankees’ 4-2 win against the Blue Jays. Tanaka blanked Toronto until Randal Grichuk and Eric Sogard homered in the fifth. Gio Urshela opened the scoring with a two-run single in the second and scored on a wild pitch by Marcus Stroman. Mike Tauchman homered in the seventh to complete the scoring.
Robinson Cano homered for the second straight game while going 4-for-5 in the Mets’ 6-2 win at Miami. Jeff McNeil also homered and knocked in a pair of runs to help New York win a road series for the first time since opening April with a three-game sweep of the Marlins. Jacob deGrom gave up a run and six hits over five innings to get the win.
Max Muncy drew a bases-loaded walk to spark a three-run 12th as the Dodgers outlasted the Red Sox, 7-4 in a game that lasted more than 5 ½ hours. AJ Pollock was 3-for-6 with a three-run homer and four RBIs to help Los Angeles beat Boston for the second straight night following Friday’s 8-1 loss at Fenway Park. The Dodgers led 4-2 until Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back homers in the eighth against Pedro Báez.
The Nationals absorbed a 4-3 loss at Philadelphia on Maikel Franco’s walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth. J.T. Realmuto also went deep for the Phils, who blew a 3-1 lead in the seventh before avoiding a three-game sweep. The Nats fell for just the fifth time in their last 22 games.
Elsewhere in the majors, the Tampa Bay Rays came within three outs of becoming the first team in major league history to throw a combined perfect game. Just as important, they kept pace with the New York Yankees in the American League East. Ryne Stanek and Ryan Yarbrough retired the first 24 batters in Tampa Bay’s 4-1 victory at Baltimore. Stanek got the first six outs and Yarbrough continued the gem until Hanser Alberto beat the shift with a leadoff single leading off the ninth. The single sparked a rally for the Orioles, who collected a run and three hits in the inning before Emilio Pagan struck out Trey Mancini for his sixth save. Michael Brosseau and Austin Meadows homered for the Rays, who took three of four in the series and remain six games behind the Yanks.
The Indians wasted a 3-0 lead before Carlos Santana’s solo shot in the seventh gave Cleveland a 4-3 victory over Minnesota. Shane Bieber took a three-hit shutout into the seventh before Minnesota rallied with three runs and tied the game. The Indians avoided a three-game sweep and climbed within 6 ½ games of the AL Central-leading Twins.
José Altuve hit the Astros’ franchise-record ninth grand slam of the season in a 12-4 pounding of the Rangers. Yuli Gurriel also homered in a seven-run seventh that helped Houston maintain its six-game lead over Oakland in the AL West. Justin Verlander improved to 11-3 by allowing two runs and four hits in the first inning before pitching five no-hit frames the rest of the way.
The Athletics earned a 3-2 win over the White Sox when Chad Pinder scored from first base on a throwing error by shortstop Jose Rondón. Ramón Laureano tied the game with an eighth-inning homer and hit the grounder that Rondon threw away. Mark Canha had two hits and Matt Chapman added an RBI for Oakland, which has won 10 of 12 following its three-game sweep of Chicago.
Rookie Matt Thaiss hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning to give the Angels a 6-3 victory and a three-game sweep of the Mariners. Kole Calhoun hit his 21st homer for the Angels and Shohei Ohtani got his 100th major league RBI with a game-tying sacrifice fly for Los Angeles. Angels outfielder Mike Trout left the game before the third inning due to right calf tightness.
Jeimer Candelario hit a bases-clearing double and Gordon Beckham added a two-run homer while the Tigers exploded for seven runs in the second inning of a 12-8 win at Kansas City. Harold Castro had a pair of hits during the marathon fame, when the Tigers trotted 11 batters to the plate against fill-in starter Brian Flynn. Jorge Soler homered and had three RBIs for the Royals.
The Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Padres by getting a three-run homer by Freddie Freeman in a 4-1 victory. Mike Soroka won his 10th straight decision since April 18 by limiting San Diego to six hits over seven shutout innings of Atlanta’s seventh win in eight games. The Braves stretched their lead in the NL East to seven games over Washington.
The Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the Pirates and expanded their lead in the NL Central to 2 ½ games over Milwaukee. Jason Heyward, Albert Almora Jr. and Kyle Schwarber went deep for Chicago, which earned its first series victory since sweeping the Cardinals on June 7-9. Cubs starter Jose Quintana allowed three runs on six hits in six innings to win his third straight start.
Tyler Beede pitched effectively into the seventh inning, had two hits and drove in the go-ahead run as the Giants took the rubber match of their three-game set with the Brewers, 8-3. Beede’s RBI single sparked a six-run seventh against Milwaukee relievers Corbin Burnes and Matt Albers. Brandon Belt went deep for the Giants, while Christian Yelich belted his 32nd home run for the Brewers.
Paul Goldschmidt homered and Adam Wainwright pitched seven scoreless innings in the Cardinals’ 5-2 victory over the Diamondbacks. Wainwright allowed four hits, walked one and struck out seven. Arizona scored twice in the ninth and had the bases loaded with two outs before Carlos Martinez got Eduardo Escobar to hit a fly ball to center.
Ryan McMahon fell a homer shy of the cycle while collecting three RBIs to lead the Rockies past the Reds, 10-9. McMahon hit a two-run double as the Rockies scored four times in the first inning. He had an RBI triple in a six-run fifth that made it 10-5.
In MLB news, the Red Sox have placed knuckleballer Steven Wright on the 10-day injured list with a bruised right foot a day after he was hit with a line drive by Dodgers infielder Max Muncy. The move allowed Boston to add newly-acquired right-hander Andrew Cashner to the active roster.
The Athletics have picked up starting pitching help by getting Homer Bailey from the Royals for minor league infielder Kevin Merrell. The 33-year-old Bailey has rebounded this season with the Royals after signing a minor league deal in February. He is 7-6 with a 4.80 ERA. Merrell has been playing at Double-A Midland and will report to the Royals' affiliate at Northwest Arkansas.
Former Cleveland Indians outfielder Leonys Martin has signed a one-year deal with a Pacific League team in Japan, the Chiba Lotte Marines. Martin, who overcame a life-threatening bacterial infection last summer, was designated for assignment last month by the Indians.
PGA
Dylan Frittelli picked up his first PGA victory by taking the John Deere Classic by two strokes over Russell Henley. The South African closed with a bogey-free 7-under 64. He finished 21 under for the tournament and earned a spot in this week’s British Open. Frittelli opened with rounds of 66, 68 and 65 to begin Sunday two strokes back. Henley shot a tournament-best 61. Andrew Landry was 18 under after a 69.
Bernd Wiesberger parred the third playoff hole to beat Benjamin Hebert at the Scottish Open. Hebert shot 62 to set the clubhouse target on 22 under at The Renaissance Club, but overnight leader Wiesberger recovered from a slow start to earn his sixth European Tour title.
Retief Goosen birdied the final two holes to win the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club for his first PGA Tour Champions title. The 50-year-old Hall of Famer broke a tie for the lead with a 15-foot putt on the par-4 17th and made a 10-footer on the par-4 18th for a 2-under 68. Goosen ended up two strokes ahead of 65-year-old Jay Haas and Tim Petrovic.
LPGA
Sei Young Kim won the Marathon Classic for her second LPGA Tour victory of the season. Kim made five straight birdies in a mid-round burst that highlighted a 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Lexi Thompson. Kim began the birdie run on No. 7 and finished at 22-under 262 at Highland Meadows Golf Club.
INDYCAR
Simon Pagenaud earned his third victory of the season by taking the IndyCar race in Toronto. The win on the streets around Exhibition Place was Pagenaud’s first this year away from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Frenchman won the Indy 500 and the road course race at the speedway to save his job with Team Penske. Pagenaud had to save fuel in the waning laps to hold off reigning series champion Scott Dixon. But Penske teammate Will Power caused a caution on the final lap and Pagenaud was able to coast to the finish in his Chevrolet.
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