9:38 AM ET Associated Press SHENZHEN, China — Karolina Pliskova advanced to the semifinals of the WTA Finals for the third straight year, beating Simona Halep 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 on Friday shortly after defending champion Elina Svitolina completed a near-perfect group stage. Pliskova benefited from a bit of luck on match point, hitting a forehand
9:11 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Many boxing fans would have liked to have seen middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez, boxing’s biggest star, face rival and former unified titleholder Gennadiy Golovkin for a third time after two highly entertaining but disputed bouts — a draw in 2017 and a majority decision win for Alvarez in
9:10 AM ET Steve Kim Dan Rafael Close ESPN Senior Writer 2013 BWAA Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism ESPN.com boxing writer since 2005 Five years at USA Today There’s a big fight taking place Saturday in Las Vegas that features boxing’s biggest star, middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, going up in weight
7:54 AM BST England’s Tom Curry and South Africa’s Cheslin Kolbe have been named among the nominees for the World Rugby Player of the Year award ahead of their nations’ World Cup final clash on Saturday. Curry, 21, competing in his first World Cup, has featured in all of England’s matches in Japan so far,
7:21 AM ET Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan — Mi Jung Hur shot a second consecutive 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead after Friday’s second round of the LPGA Swinging Skirts. Hur, who is looking for her third victory this season, is at 12-under 132 overall. Defending champion Nelly Korda (67) was one shot back
7:00 AM GMT Toss Australia chose to bowl v Sri Lanka Aaron Finch won the toss and Australia opted to bowl first in the third and final T20I at the MCG. Finch believed the surface wouldn’t play a big part but wanted to make first use of it with the ball. Australia made two changes.
6:15 AM ET Associated Press SHANGHAI — Already with three victories and a career-best 17 finishes in the top 10, Rory McIlroy has put himself in position to add to those totals going into the weekend at the HSBC Champions. He made a mess of the 16th hole Friday and escaped with bogey after hitting
2:21 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard came off a pick-and-roll and delivered a bounce pass to a diving Ivica Zubac for what appeared to be an open runner. The LA Clippers got a ghoulish dose of trick or treat, though, as Zubac’s shot bounced three times before softly resting on the back of
1:00 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim The night took a turn for the bizarre when Kelvin Tiller came trotting out to the PFL smart cage for the second time Thursday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. This encore was strange not simply because Tiller had lost his PFL heavyweight quarterfinal bout earlier in the
12:13 AM ET Steve KimESPN Top Rank announced on Thursday that Mexico’s Jonathan Rodriguez was unable to obtain a visa to enter the United States, which has caused the postponement of his bout against junior bantamweight world titlist Jerwin Ancajas on Saturday at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. “This is a weird