7:36 PM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — Australian world No. 1 Ash Barty shouldn’t have too many issues in navigating her way through the opening rounds at the Australian Open, but things could get a little dicey for the Queenslander as the tournament enters the second week. The 23-year-old begins her home Slam against Ukrainian Lesia
7:55 PM ET Associated Press LA QUINTA, Calif. — Phil Mickelson struggled off the tee Thursday in his first round of the year, shooting a 2-under 70 to fall six strokes behind leaders Zac Blair and Grayson Murray at The American Express. “I didn’t score as I probably could have or wanted to, but I
7:02 PM ET The NFL and the NFL Players Association have made progress on portions of a new collective bargaining, though significant issues need to be resolved before one can be agreed upon. That was the message NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith to his union’s membership Thursday in a letter updating the state of talks.
6:44 PM ET The 2020 Australian Open draws were unveiled Thursday in Melbourne, answering several questions surrounding the first Grand Slam of the tennis season. On the men’s side, the towering question going in was, “Which quarter of the draw would be without one of the Big Three, (Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer)?” It
7:11 PM ET ESPN News Services SAN FRANCISCO — Alyssa Nakken became the first female coach on a major league staff in baseball history Thursday when she was named an assistant under new San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler. Major League Baseball confirmed Nakken is the first full-time female coach in the majors. Nakken is
5:24 PM ET Lisa D. Mickey LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — There is more motivation for LPGA Tour players this season beyond winning tournaments and major championships. Even Inbee Park, gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, admitted that the goal of qualifying for this summer’s Tokyo Games weighs heavily on her mind. She is
6:21 PM ET FRISCO, Texas — Kellen Moore will continue as the offensive playcaller for the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, new head coach Mike McCarthy said Thursday. McCarthy called plays for most of his 13-year run with the Green Bay Packers and had some of the NFL’s more successful offenses with Brett Favre and Aaron
6:01 PM ET The XFL’s Tampa Bay Vipers added former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway via waivers, the team announced Thursday. Callaway was released by the Browns in November after he showed up late to a game and he also was suspended by the NFL for 10 games that month for violating the NFL’s
5:59 PM ET BOSTON — Red Sox All-Star Xander Bogaerts, addressing the sign-stealing scandal that cost Boston manager Alex Cora his job, said Thursday he doesn’t believe MLB’s investigation of the team’s alleged practices in 2018 taints their World Series title. “Nah, absolutely not,” Bogaerts said. “We came to the park every day, we worked
7:00 AM ET There is value in being average, in life and in baseball, too. In fact, when it comes to baseball there is a lot of value in it. Think of it like this. A .500 team in sports is exactly average. You add up the wins and losses for any league, and that’s