Weekend Sports in Brief

TENNIS

NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic fell one step short in his Grand Slam bid.

Daniil Medvedev beat him 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open final to win his first major title.

Djokovic was trying to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four Grand Slam singles titles in the same year. But the No. 2 seed from Russia made clear it wasn’t going to happen Sunday when he built a 4-0 lead in the third set after winning the first two.

Djokovic will go into next year still tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 major titles, most in men’s history.

NEW YORK (AP) — Emma Raducanu completed her historic run through the U.S. Open by beating Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 for her first Grand Slam title.

Raducanu was already the first player in the professional era, dating to 1968, to come through the qualifying rounds to reach the final of a major tournament. The 18-year-old from Britain then won it, becoming the youngest Grand Slam champion since 17-year-old Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004.

In just her second Grand Slam tournament, Raducanu ended the tournament as the first player since Serena Williams in 2014 to not drop a set in the U.S. Open.

Fernandez knocked out three top-five players en route to the final but couldn’t find the energy for a comeback after playing four straight three-set matches.

BASEBALL

CLEVELAND (AP) — Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes combined with reliever Josh Hader to pitch baseball’s record ninth no-hitter this season, breaking a mark set when pitchers began throwing overhand in 1884 as the Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0 on Saturday night.

Burnes (10-4) struck out 14 with 115 pitches over eight innings, taking a perfect game into the seventh while overpowering the Indians, who were no-hit for the third time in 2021. This time is was by Burnes — who has become a Cy Young contender as the Brewers run away with the NL Central — and Hader, one of the game’s top closers.

Cleveland is the first team to be no-hit three times in the same year — all of them with starter Zach Plesac (10-5) on the mound.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Scherzer of the Los Angeles Dodgers became the 19th player in major league history with 3,000 strikeouts and nearly completed a perfect game.

The 37-year-old right-hander fanned Eric Hosmer of the San Diego Padres in the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium for the historic strikeout, which came three innings after he threw the third immaculate inning of his career.

The crowd gave the three-time Cy Young Award winner a standing ovation, and Scherzer doffed his cap. He threw the keepsake ball into the dugout. Hosmer went down on six pitches, retired on a swinging strike.

BASKETBALL

Four months after the pandemic-delayed induction of the Class of 2020, the Basketball Hall of Fame gathered to enshrine 16 more new members.

That’s its biggest class ever.

Among those inducted were Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh and Villanova coach Jay Wright.

Bill Russell went in as a coach, becoming the fifth person to be enshrined as both a player and a coach.

Three-time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson wasn’t able to attend because she was back in Australia in lockdown.

Others joining the Hall were: defensive Pistons star Ben Wallace, longtime Portland and Sacramento coach Rick Adelman, Washington and Sacramento All-Star Chris Webber and two-time Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith.

WNBA President Val Ackerman, longtime coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, scouting pioneer Howard Garfinkel were inducted as contributors. Clarence “Fats” Jenkins was picked by the Early African American Pioneers Committee, Croatia and Chicago Bulls star Toni Kukoc was tabbed by the International Committee, Bob Dandridge by the Veterans Committee and Pearl Moore from the Women’s Veterans Committee.

GOLF

VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) — Billy Horschel birdied Wentworth’s storied 18th hole after an approach shot that spun back inside 2 feet, finishing with a 7-under 65 on Sunday for a one-shot victory in the BMW PGA Championship.

He became only the second American to win what is traditionally regarded as the biggest event on the European Tour, after Arnold Palmer in 1975.

Horschel finished at 19-under 269. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (64), Laurie Canter (67) and Jamie Donaldson (66) tied for second.

A number of European players who couldn’t keep up with Horschel will be heading to Whistling Straits for the Ryder Cup. Lee Westwood, Bernd Wiesberger, Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton celebrated automatic qualifying spots in the European team. Shane Lowry, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter were captain’s picks. Jon Rahm, McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Paul Casey secured automatic spots before the event.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — David Toms beat Dicky Pride with a par on the first hole of a playoff in the PGA Tour Champions’ inaugural Ascension Charity Classic.

Toms hit his approach in the playoff on the par-4 18th to the middle of the green and two-putted from 18 feet. Pride’s approach went to the right into a greenside bunker and his 16-footer for par stopped an inch short of going in.

The 54-year-old Toms shot a 5-under 66 to finish at 10-under 203 on Norwood Hills’ West Course. Pride finished with a 67, forcing the playoff with a 20-foot birdie putt on 18.

AUTO RACING

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. assumed the lead when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch was penalized for speeding with about 50 laps to go and won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night.

The victory was the third for Truex in the last five races at Richmond. He got the lead when Busch was caught speeding entering pit road during green flag pit stops, causing him to relinquish a big lead and fall back to 10th.

Truex led a 1-2-3 finish for JGR, with Denny Hamlin finishing second and Christopher Bell. And Truex did it after being black-flagged on the first lap for beating Hamlin, the pole-sitter, to the start-finish line for the start of the race.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Alex Palou recovered from first-lap trouble at Portland International Raceway to win for the third time this season and reclaim the IndyCar points lead.

The victory put the Spaniard back on top of the standings for the ninth time in 14 races this season. The second-year IndyCar driver had lost a 42-point lead in back-to-back races and came to Portland down 10 points to Pato O’Ward.

MONZA, Italy (AP) — Championship leader Max Verstappen and defending champion Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the Italian Grand Prix, which was won by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo on Sunday.

It was McLaren’s first win in nearly nine years, since Jenson Button took the chequered flag in Brazil in 2012.

It was also Ricciardo’s first win since Monaco in 2018. He finished 1.747 seconds ahead of teammate Lando Norris and 4.921 ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who turned in a strong performance after starting from the back of the grid after a penalty for taking a new engine.

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