Sports

9:45 AM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia –The world’s top-ranked men’s tennis player, Novak Djokovic, expressed gratitude that an Australian judge overturned his visa cancellation. Djokovic tweeted a photo of himself standing on a tennis court at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne saying, in part, “Despite all that has happened, I want to stay

11:03 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — As his name was introduced last in the starting lineup, Klay Thompson sat in his seat, stared ahead and soaked everything in. Chase Center delivered one of its loudest roars, 941 days in the making. After being out for nearly 31 months that have tested his physical and mental

12:00 PM ET ESPN staff Several NFL playoff spots are still in play in Week 18, along with a couple of division titles. We’re projecting the final 14 postseason teams and their seedings all day long — along with the two-team race for the NFL draft‘s top pick. Six divisions are already clinched, and the

7:00 AM ET Aaron Murray had already committed to Georgia in 2008, but he’d never been to a game at Sanford Stadium before the Bulldogs’ regular-season showdown with Alabama that year. Murray was among the top recruits in the country, and his No. 1 priority that Saturday was convincing a few other big names to

8:43 PM ET Associated Press ARCADIA, Calif. — Under the Stars won the $200,000 Santa Ynez Stakes by three-quarters of a length Saturday at Santa Anita. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Flavien Prat, Under the Stars ran seven furlongs in 1:22.51. Sent off as the 4-5 favorite in a field of six 3-year-old

7:00 AM ET Since our last NHL Awards Watch, a pesky little bug named the omicron variant has significantly impacted the 2021-22 season. Players are entering the COVID-19 protocol on a nightly basis, forcing the postponement of over 100 games. The NHL pulled its players out of the Beijing Games and scuttled the Olympic break

7:00 AM ET The Hall of Fame has been at a crossroads for more than a decade now due to uncertainty on how to consider what I call the PED Five, which sounds like an outlaw gang that used to rob stagecoaches and saloons in Dodge City: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa

8:16 AM ET SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Max Homa was sitting on a plane, flying back to Arizona from the RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia, on Nov. 19, when he started to think about how to get better. It was his 31st birthday, and earlier in the day, he missed the cut by 3 strokes.

9:30 AM ET When the elevator doors slide open on the third floor of Manchester United‘s offices in London’s exclusive Mayfair district, you’re immediately greeted by full-size replicas of the Premier League and Champions League trophies. For the past eight-and-a-half years, Ed Woodward has had to walk past them, tormented by their presence, every time

4:20 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The Belmont Stakes is moving to Fox Sports as part of an eight-year deal beginning in 2023. The deal announced Wednesday between Fox and the New York Racing Association includes NYRA Bets as the title sponsor of the third leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown series. NYRA

8:04 AM ET If 2022 has the same drama, excitement and confused chaos as 2021, I’m going to need to book an AirBnB in the mountains of Tibet to decompress. OOOOOOHHHHMMMMMM. The 12 months that was 2021 was the wildest of golf cart rides. But before I save my Tibetan trip SuperHost search preferences and

7:46 AM ET The next 12 months could be some of the most interesting in MMA history. Conor McGregor is set to return from a broken leg. Jon Jones, who hasn’t fought since February 2020, could finally get a heavyweight title shot. Kamaru Usman is closing in on Anderson Silva‘s record of 16 straight UFC

9:00 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show 2021 was another momentous year for British boxing — but what does 2022 hold? After Tyson Fury defended his WBC heavyweight title against Deontay

8:00 AM ET DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls ended 2021 with fireworks. They started 2022 with some too. The NBA’s leader in fourth-quarter scoring was at it again this past week, knocking down wild, buzzer-beating 3-pointers in back-to-back fashion to stun the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards. Thanks to DeRozan’s late-game heroics, the Bulls

10:22 PM ET Associated Press SYDNEY — Spain and Poland remained perfect at the ATP Cup, securing winning 2-0 leads in their matches Monday for their second consecutive victories in the team event. Roberto Bautista Agut clinched the match for Spain by beating Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 7-6 (4) after Pablo Carreno Busta defeated

3:35 PM ET EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Showing visible frustration, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown inexplicably left the field in the third quarter against the New York Jets on Sunday and has not returned. Teammates Mike Evans and O.J. Howard attempted to calm Brown, who took off his jersey, pads and undershirt, throwing

4:00 PM ET SALT LAKE CITY — Donna Lowe-Stern didn’t know exactly what she would say. The day before, Sept. 26, her son Aaron Lowe had been killed. Now she was looking out at a room full of his mourning Utah football teammates. Coach Kyle Whittingham had asked her whether she would like to speak

8:25 PM ET The St. Louis Blues face the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night in the Winter Classic, the NHL’s annual New Year’s Day game played outdoors. Target Field, usually the home of the Minnesota Twins, is where the two teams will play. 1 Related Per the Weather Channel website, Saturday’s high in Minneapolis is

9:47 PM ET Associated Press REDDICK, Fla. — Billy Turner, who trained Seattle Slew to a Triple Crown sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont stakes in 1977, has died. He was 81. Turner died Friday at his home here where he had been in hospice care after battling prostate cancer for two years,

6:42 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — “That’s more like it,” said the presenter as he opened MUTV’s half-time coverage of Burnley‘s visit to Old Trafford on Thursday, and you could almost hear the relief spill out of the TVs dotted around the stadium. The past 12 months have been a tough sell for

2:55 PM GMT England trio Owen Farrell, Jamie George and Manu Tuilagi are expected to be fit for selection for the Six Nations which starts on Feb. 5. Both Farrell and George were injured in England’s 32-15 win over Australia on Nov. 13, with the fly-half requiring surgery on his ankle. Tuilagi was forced off

7:15 AM ET It was, in the final quarter of the horrible 2020, when it seemed as though society had finally succumbed to its own appetites and irresponsibility, that baseball was somehow being made an example of. So much loss could not be happenstance. Six Hall of Famers — signatures to their time and instrumental

7:14 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Amanda Serrano steps off the elevator at the JW Marriott hotel in Tampa. In five hours, she’ll be next door in Amalie Arena riding another elevator up to a platform, and then she’ll begin her ring walk in front of a sold-out crowd for her 44th professional fight. But

3:34 PM GMT Premiership Rugby leaders Leicester Tigers have confirmed an investigation by the league into allegations of historical breaches of salary cap rules. The Times reported on Tuesday that the league’s salary cap director Andrew Rodgers is investigating a third-party company called Worldwide Image Management over payments made to Leicester players from the company.

8:00 AM ET Every year in every sport brings ups and downs, memorable performances, the emergence of new stars. In mixed martial arts, the leading fight promotion, the UFC, has eight weight classes for men and four for women and ran 43 fight cards in 2021, making plenty of room available onstage for athletes to

5:49 AM ET Dominic Thiem has pulled out of next month’s Australian Open to work towards regaining full fitness after a long-standing wrist injury, the former world No. 3 said on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Austrian, who has not played since suffering the injury at the Mallorca Open in June, was unable to defend his U.S.

7:05 PM ET Associated Press KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Martha Earnhardt, the matriarch of one of NASCAR’s best-known families, has died. She was 91. Grandchildren Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller said in a statement that she died Saturday night. “As we grieve her loss and begin to imagine life without our beloved ‘Mamaw,’ we

11:30 PM ET Now we’re getting somewhere. Four more NFL teams clinched playoff spots Sunday, bringing the grand total to six with 33 games remaining in the season. The Chiefs, Buccaneers, Rams and Cardinals have joined the Packers and Cowboys in the 14-team field. The Seahawks, Giants and Panthers, on the other hand, joined a

8:00 AM ET Health and safety protocols continue to be a concern around the league. Several stars sat out their teams’ Christmas Day matchups, including Trae Young, Luka Doncic and Kevin Durant, though James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to action for Saturday’s slate of games. Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks past the Boston Celtics,

6:53 AM ET The World Junior Championship is a holiday hockey tradition like no other. And it should look a little different this year. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the 2021 tournament was moved to Edmonton, Alberta, and played in “bubble” conditions with no fans allowed to watch the proceedings. This year, Edmonton and Red Deer,

9:29 AM ET Steven Gerrard is worried, and so are his players. The Aston Villa manager is taking almost hourly bulletins on how badly his squad has been affected by positive COVID-19 cases and whether he will have enough players — 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper — to meet the minimum requirement to fulfil

5:40 PM ET Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A deal for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to police drugs in horse racing cratered Thursday after months of negotiations that the agency’s CEO said did not give it “a reasonable chance to put in place a credible and effective program.” The USADA was set to become

8:00 AM ET Since it first opened its doors in 1999, Staples Center has played host to seven NBA Finals, five WNBA Finals, four UFC pay-per-view cards, two Stanley Cup Finals and countless championship boxing matches. It was the home of the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament for a decade and has seen multiple All-Star games