BIRMINGHAM, England- - Australia's Steve Smith struck a superb 144 on his return to the side as they recovered from 122-8 to reach 284 all out against England in the first innings of the first Ashes test before the hosts saw out two overs unscathed at Edgbaston on Thursday.
DENVER--Will Smith and Kristopher Negron homered in the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 5-1 in Denver on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON-- Top seed and former champion Sloane Stephens crashed out of the Citi Open in Washington as she suffered a stunning 6-2 7-5 first-round loss to Swede Rebecca Peterson on Tuesday while teenager Cori 'Coco' Gauff also fell in straight sets.
Stephens, whose best result this year was a run to the Madrid semi-finals in May, was misfiring from the start and never managed to settle into much of a groove in her first meeting with the Swedish world number 70.
BELGRADE- - Red Star Belgrade reached the Champions League third qualifying round with a 3-2 aggregate win over HJK Helsinki despite a tepid 2-1 defeat at the Finnish champions which infuriated coach Vladan Milojevic on Wednesday.
CAPE TOWN- - Double Olympic champion Caster Semenya will not defend her 800-metres title at the World Championships in September after the Swiss Federal Tribunal reversed a ruling that temporarily lifted the IAAF’s testosterone regulations imposed on her, a spokesman for the athlete said on Tuesday.
