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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: England’s Marcus Willis pulls off huge upset at Wimbledon

Britain's Marcus Willis, ranked 772, wins his Wimbledon opener. (Adam Davy / Associated Press)

TENNIS: Marcus Willis originally was scheduled to spend Monday teaching tennis to a group of 5-to-10-year-old kids, among others, at Warwick Boat Club in central England.

Instead, Willis wound up with grander, and more lucrative, plans: playing – and winning! – a match at Wimbledon.

And on Wednesday, Willis’ students will need to find a substitute yet again, because he will be busy at the All England Club, standing across the net from none other than Roger Federer in the second round.

Quite surreal, to choose the pitch-perfect word Willis used more than once to describe the series of events that brought him to this point. He is, after all, a 25-year-old with admittedly something of a beer gut who resides with his parents – “Living the dream,” Willis joked – makes about $40 an hour for giving tennis lessons when he’s not competing at local club tournaments, is ranked 772nd and never had played a tour-level match until Monday.

His 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over 54th-ranked Ricardo Berankis before a wildly supportive and singing crowd of fellow Brits at tiny Court 17 was by far the most intriguing development on Day 1 of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. There were ho-hum straight-set victories for past champions Federer, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams, for example, and a half-dozen exits by lower-seeded players.

Willis truly made news, becoming the worst-ranked qualifier to reach the second round at any major since No. 923 Jared Palmer at the 1988 U.S. Open.

“One of the best stories in a long time in our sport,” said Federer, who beat Guido Pella 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3 in his return to Grand Slam tennis after missing the French Open with a bad back.

Ledecky heading to Rio, wins 400 free

SWIMMING: Katie Ledecky is heading back to the Olympics.

Getting that formality out of the way in her first event of the U.S. swimming trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Ledecky held off a persistent challenge from Leah Smith to win the 400-meter freestyle.

Dana Vollmer locked up another trip to the Olympics less than 16 months after giving birth to her first child.

She finished second in the 100 butterfly behind Olympic rookie Kelsi Worrell, one of several young swimmers already signaling a changing of the guard in the first two days of the meet.

Smith will be heading to her first Olympics. Ditto for the top two in the 100 breaststroke, Kevin Cordes and Cody Miller.

That means seven Olympic first-timers have already made the powerful American team.

Arizona’s Cloney shuts down Chanticleers

CWS: JC Cloney pitched a four-hitter and Ryan Aguilar drove in two runs, leading Arizona to a 3-0 victory over Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the College World Series finals in Omaha, Nebraska.

Cloney extended his scoreless innings streak at the CWS to 16.

Cloney allowed four singles, walked three and struck out six in the second complete game of his career.

The Wildcats scored in the first when Aguilar singled in Cody Ramer, who led off with a double. Aguilar added another RBI single in the seventh to make it 3-0.

Ex-UFC fighter Jimmo killed in hit and run

MISCELLANY: UFC fighter Ryan Jimmo was fatally injured early Sunday morning following an altercation in a parking lot in Edmonton, Alberta, police said.

They believe Jimmo, 34, had approached the driver of a vehicle and was walking back to his own car when he was struck by a vehicle, which then fled the scene.

Jimmo, a Canadian, was pronounced dead in hospital. Police were still looking for the suspect vehicle, described as a dark colored, customized older model pickup truck.

Known as “The Big Deal” during his mixed martial arts career, Jimmo went 19-5 in his MMA career, with a 3-4 record in seven UFC fights.

Hawks coach not guilty: Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer has been found not guilty of DUI charges.

Pacers complete staff: Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan has added Bill Bayno and David McClure to his coaching staff.

Timberwolves add Chinese owner: A person with knowledge of the situation tells The AP that Minnesota owner Glen Taylor is bringing in two new minority partners, including the NBA’s first Chinese owner.

Shanghai investor Lizhang Jiang and New Jersey real estate mogul Meyer Orbach are joining the Timberwolves’ ownership group.

Kane complaints revealed: Buffalo police have released a pair of complaints against Sabres forward Evander Kane in which two women accuse him of grabbing them at a bar.

The accusers’ names are blacked out in the harassment reports. The incidents allegedly occurred shortly after 3 a.m. EDT on Friday.

Police say they are investigating and no charges have been filed.

Big deal for Forsberg: The Predators have signed forward Filip Forsberg, 21, to a six-year, $36 million contract, locking up one of their brightest young stars.

Coyotes sign goalie: The Coyotes have signed goalie Louis Domingue to a two-year contract.

The 24-year-old Domingue was solid as Arizona’s goalie after Mike Smith went out with a core injury early last season, going 15-18-5 with a 2.75 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.

Wings keep Miller: The Detroit Red Wings have re-signed forward Drew Miller, 32, to a one-year deal.