Venus, Nadal cruise to wins at Wimbledon
Tennis: Back on one of tennis’ top stages, Venus Williams cut a familiar figure Monday at Wimbledon, from her latest original, somewhat-see-through outfit to her trademark booming serves and aggressive groundstrokes.
Williams smacked seven aces at up to 118 mph, totaled 23 winners to only five unforced errors, and overwhelmed 97th-ranked Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-3, 6-1 in the first round at the All England Club.
The seven-time major champion recently was off the tour for about five months with a bum hip, including missing the French Open, and this is only her fourth tournament in nearly a year.
Others reaching the second round included 10-time major champion Rafael Nadal, whose parents sat in the Royal Box during his 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over 90th-ranked Michael Russell of Houston; No. 4 Andy Murray, and No. 10 Mardy Fish.
It was Nadal’s first chance to play the tournament’s opening match on Centre Court, an honor given to the defending men’s champion, and something he called a “big emotion.” Bad knees forced Nadal to withdraw in 2009, a year after he won Wimbledon for the first time.
Lidstrom coming back for 20th season
NHL: Nicklas Lidstrom will return to play for the Detroit Red Wings.
The 41-year-old Swede, who will return for a 20th season, had considered retiring.
Lidstrom is a Norris Trophy finalist for the 11th time in 13 seasons. If he wins the award for being the NHL’s top defenseman – it would be his seventh – he will match Doug Harvey’s total and trail Bobby Orr’s record by only one.
Kuchar, Johnson lead at Caremark Charity
Golf: After dealing with the pressure that comes with playing in the U.S. Open, Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson were able to relax at the CVS Caremark Charity Classic at Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, R.I.
Kuchar rolled in a 12-foot putt on the 18th hole to give his team a record-tying 13-under 58 and a one-stroke lead over defending champions J.B. Holmes and Rickey Barnes in the best-ball format.
The concept of “having fun” for Kuchar and Johnson equated to sinking a total of 12 birdies, including on each of the last three holes.
Bahamas drops Wittels rape charges
Miscellany: A court in the Bahamas dismissed a rape case against a Florida International baseball star and two friends who were accused of sexually assaulting two American teens after a night of drinking at an island resort.
Judge Derrence Rolle-Davis dropped the charges against Garrett Wittels and two friends from New York at the request of prosecutors who said they had no case against the men.
Outside court, Wittels, who had a 56-game hitting streak end earlier this year, shook hands with police and his lawyers. He and his two friends, Robert Rothschild and Jonathan Oberti, declined to speak to reporters.
• Three conference commissioners paid $1 million or more: An Associated Press analysis of tax records shows that three of college football’s six powerhouse conferences paid their top executives $1 million or more.
In 2009, the most recent for which records are available, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany is the highest paid at $1.6 million. Next iin line is Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford ($1.1 million) and Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive ($1 million). Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe was paid $997,000.
• Swiss doctors waking Soler from induced coma: Doctors treating Juan Mauricio Soler said they are slowly waking the Colombian cyclist up from his induced coma.
The 28-year-old rider is in stable condition and his recovery is proceeding as expected, but there are concerns about the extent of his brain injuries and whether he will suffer any lasting damage from his crash during the Tour of Switzerland last week.
• Experts: Helmets avoid injuries, not concussions: Helmets in football and hockey are extremely effective at preventing catastrophic head injuries but their track record for avoiding concussions is spottier, according to sports science professors at the National Athletic Trainers Association convention.
Helmets “certainly help to mitigate forces that are distributed by impact to the skull and the intracranial cavity and the brain,” said Kevin Guskiewicz, a professor of sports science at North Carolina. “But the brain is still going to move inside that cranial cavity regardless of whether there’s a helmet on or not.”
Guskiewicz believes “behavior modification” such as not “leading with the head” when tackling in football can prevent concussions as much as improved helmet design.