Author: Shekari Philemon

Karolina Muchova ended Coco Gauff’s most successful Wimbledon campaign with a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 victory on Thursday in a semifinal whose final-set tiebreaker produced the kind of swings and moments that made the outcome feel uncertain until the very last shot landed in the net. Gauff held a match point at 9-8 in the tiebreaker and failed to convert, sending a forehand into the net on what she later described as a momentary loss of composure. Muchova then produced a lob winner to create her own match point, only to lose it when she slipped on the grass and a…

NFL players die from neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s at four times the rate of the general population, according to a major study released Wednesday by researchers at Mass General Brigham, Boston University, and the Concussion and CTE Foundation, representing the most comprehensive population-level evidence yet linking professional football careers to elevated brain disease mortality. The study examined 19,824 athletes who played in the NFL between 1960 and 2019, including the 1,994 who have died, making it the largest retrospective cohort study of this kind conducted to date. The researchers described the findings as tragic but not surprising…

AJ Dybantsa scored 27 points and pulled down seven rebounds in 26 minutes to lead the Washington Wizards to a 92-88 summer league victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night in Las Vegas, winning the first professional meeting between the top two picks of the 2026 NBA draft in a game that drew a notable courtside audience of established NBA stars who had come specifically to watch. Darryn Peterson finished with 24 points for Utah in a competitive duel that featured both players missing shots at a higher rate than either is accustomed to, combining for just two made…

Stephen Curry described the prospect of playing alongside LeBron James in the twilight of both players’ extraordinary careers as a story without precedent in basketball history, speaking with media Thursday at a celebrity golf event in Nevada while acknowledging that the Warriors’ pursuit is real and the outcome is entirely in James’s hands. The Warriors have been actively working to recruit James since the opening of free agency, maintaining communication at multiple levels while the superstar takes his time evaluating destinations that reportedly include Cleveland, Miami, and Philadelphia alongside Golden State. Curry, heading into his 18th season, and James, entering…

Ayyoub Bouaddi insisted he harbors no regret about his decision to commit his international career to Morocco rather than France after the Atlas Lions were eliminated from the World Cup in a 2-0 quarterfinal defeat to the country of his birth on Thursday, with goals from two of France’s most prominent forwards ending Morocco’s tournament run in a rematch of the 2022 semifinal they also lost. The 18-year-old Lille midfielder, born and raised in northern France, formally committed to Morocco in May after representing France at various youth levels and as recently as March captaining the under-21 squad. His decision…

Adrian Newey, who departed Red Bull in 2024 after 19 years at the head of the team’s technical department to take on a leadership role at rival Aston Martin, will make a brief return to his former team this weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to drive the RB17 hypercar, the final major project he completed before leaving. The RB17 will make its first public appearance on the famous Goodwood hill climb, where Newey will share driving duties with a current Red Bull Formula 1 driver and the team’s test driver. The event represents the culmination of a project…

Arthur Fery, a British wild card ranked 114th in the world who grew up approximately a mile from the All England Club, reached the Wimbledon semifinals on Wednesday with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-0 victory over ninth-seeded Flavio Cobolli on Centre Court, delivering one of the most improbable runs in the tournament’s recent history with Queen Camilla watching from the royal box. The 23-year-old former Stanford All-American becomes only the fourth wild card to reach the semifinals at any Grand Slam in the open era, joining three men whose names appear in tennis history for similarly unlikely achievements. He is the…

Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst addressed the trade of Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat on a conference call with reporters Wednesday, describing the decision as genuinely difficult while defending it as the right outcome for both the franchise and for Antetokounmpo given the circumstances each was navigating. Horst was candid about what the trade does and does not represent. He acknowledged that no one inside the organization is claiming Milwaukee is a better basketball team today than it was with Antetokounmpo on the roster. At the same time, he expressed optimism about the opportunity the trade creates and…

Lamine Yamal, the 18-year-old Spain winger who inherited Lionel Messi’s iconic Barcelona shirt number last season, described Messi’s performances at this World Cup as incredible and said he is genuinely happy for his childhood idol before adding, without hesitation, that he hopes to meet Argentina in the final and wants to win it. Yamal was asked about Messi in the days following Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback against Egypt, a match in which the 39-year-old provided an assist and scored in the closing stages to send the defending champions into the quarterfinals. Messi leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals…

Morocco will be without Ismael Saibari for their World Cup quarterfinal against France on Thursday, head coach Mohamed Ouahbi confirmed at a pre-match news conference on Wednesday, with the forward’s hamstring injury sustained in the round-of-16 victory over Canada ruling him out of what will be a rematch of one of the 2022 World Cup’s most historic matches. Saibari left the Canada game in the 22nd minute after showing signs of discomfort, and subsequent medical examination including an MRI conducted on Monday in Boston indicated the strain was not severe enough to end his tournament entirely. He is expected to…