Williams loses tiebreaker at U.S. Open
Tennis: Venus Williams dug herself out of deficits over and over again, until she simply ran out of solutions, exiting the U.S. Open before the third round for the third year in a row.
At 33, two-time champion Williams was the oldest woman in the second round at Flushing Meadows in New York, and while she made things interesting after a poor start to the match and to the final set, she couldn’t sustain her solid play all the way through and lost to 56th-ranked Jie Zheng of China 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5).
The match lasted 3 hours, 2 minutes – making it the longest between women in the tournament so far – and the third set alone went 1 1/2 hours, closing when Williams missed a volley, then a return, on the last two points. She wound up with 44 unforced errors in all, half on forehands.
Sloane Stephens made quick work of Urszula Radwanska, beating her 6-1, 6-1.
Andy Murray wasted little time atfer a substantial rain delay, playing nearly flawlessly during a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Michael Llodra.
Rain began falling in the afternoon, jumbling the schedule, and eight women’s singles matches were postponed, including Williams’ younger sister, defending champion Serena. In all, there were more than four hours of delays.
Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 men’s champion, pulled out a grueling four-set win over 74th-ranked Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
• Blake falls, set to retire: James Blake’s career ended in a fifth-set tiebreaker at the U.S. Open after he won the first two sets. The 33-year-old American lost 6-7 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) in the first round to Ivo Karlovic. Blake announced Monday that this would be his last tournament.
Detmer, Monk get call to college hall
College football: Ty Detmer, Art Monk, Dave Casper, Charles Alexander, Art Shell and Jimmy Johnson were among 24 former players and coaches enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
The hall moved from South Bend, Ind., but the new building in downtown Atlanta is still under construction and scheduled to open in August 2014. Atlanta hosted its first enshrinement ceremony in a hotel ballroom adjacent to what will be a 94,256-square foot museum that organizers believe will host 500,000 visitors each year.
Other hall inductees included Steve Bartkowski, Jonathan Ogden, Phillip Fulmer and R.C. Slocum.
Clippers sign free agent Jamison
NBA: Free agent Antawn Jamison signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The 37-year-old forward moves down the hallway at Staples Center to join the Clippers after starting six of 76 games with the Lakers last season. He averaged 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Jamison is a two-time All-Star who enters his 16th NBA season, ninth among active players with 19,958 career points and eighth in total rebounds with 8,102.
• Rockets sign Ronnie Brewer: The Houston Rockets signed free agent swingman Ronnie Brewer.
Brewer spent last season with the Knicks and Thunder, averaging 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in just over 14 minutes a game.
The 6-foot-7 Brewer can play both shooting guard and small forward and has carved a reputation as a hard-working defender in his seven seasons in the NBA.
Labonte breaks ribs in bike accident
Auto racing: Bobby Labonte broke three ribs in a bike riding accident in Trinity, N.C., and will miss this weekend’s NASCAR race in Atlanta.
A spokesman for the driver said Labonte was taken to a hospital by ambulance and was held overnight for observation.
Labonte was scheduled to drive the No. 51 Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He’ll be replaced in the car by Mike Bliss.
• Scott Jr. to buy Phoenix Racing from James Finch: Harry Scott Jr. has reached an agreement to purchase Phoenix Racing from James Finch.
Scott will take over control of the Sprint Cup team on Sept. 10 and use Justin Allgaier behind the wheel of the No. 51 Chevrolet at Chicago. Allgaier will also drive at Charlotte and Talladega with sponsorship in all three races from Brandt.
Scott will continue as a partner with Nationwide Series team Turner Scott Motorsports. Allgaier is running for the Nationwide title driving for Turner Scott.
Phoenix Racing was established by Finch in 1989. Its lone win was at Talladega in 2009 with Brad Keselowski.
Scott has promised Finch to keep the Phoenix Racing team intact for the remainder of the season. Steve Barkdoll will stay on as general manager after Scott takes over.
U.S. loses to Brazil in round robin
Volleyball: The U.S. women’s national team lost to Brazil 25-19, 25-12, 25-10 in the opening FIVB World Grand Prix final round match in Sapporo, Japan.
Nicole Fawcett led the U.S. in scoring with seven kills, two blocks and an ace for 10 points.
Team USA will face Serbia on Friday in the round-robin tournament at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center. The U.S. qualified for the final round with an 8-1 record in finishing the preliminary phase on a six-match win streak.
Matthews wins 5th stage; Nibali in lead
Cycling: Michael Matthews of Australia won the fifth stage of the Spanish Vuelta in Lago De Sanabria, Spain, and Vincenzo Nibali of Italy kept the overall lead ahead of Christopher Horner of the U.S.
Matthews, riding for Orica-Greenedge, won in 4 hours, 28 minutes, 22 seconds. He was followed by Maximiliano Richeze of Argentina and Gianni Meersman of Belgium.
Both had the same time as the Australian for the 108-mile ride from Sober to Lago de Sanabria. The three-week race ends in Madrid on Sept. 15.