Sports News Roundup: Serena battles through second-round test at U.S. Open; Grizzlies' Morant named NBA Rookie of Year and more

Isles Philadelphia's Ivan Provorov scored at 15:03 of the second overtime Thursday night, and the Flyers forced a seventh game in the Eastern Conference semifinals by beating the New York Islanders 5-4 in Toronto. Before the start of the match, the 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime had said he would look to be aggressive against his three-time Grand Slam winning opponent.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

England's men's and women's teams receive equal pay, says FA

England's men's and women's national soccer teams are being paid the same appearance fee to represent their country, the Football Association said on Thursday. In a statement released to British media, the FA revealed parity on match fees had been in place since January.

Flyers' Provorov scores in double-overtime, forces Game 7 vs. Isles

Philadelphia's Ivan Provorov scored at 15:03 of the second overtime Thursday night, and the Flyers forced a seventh game in the Eastern Conference semifinals by beating the New York Islanders 5-4 in Toronto. The winning goal was set up when Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield broke his stick as he tried firing a puck from the Flyers' blue line.

Exclusive: U.S. threat to pull WADA funding could leave Americans out of Olympics

America's top athletes could be banned from the Olympics and other major international sporting events if the United States follows through on its threat to withdraw funding from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), anti-doping leaders told Reuters. The U.S. threat has sent shockwaves through the anti-doping community and prompted several governments to urge WADA to introduce legislation that would find the U.S. non-compliant with the WADA Code, effectively barring American athletes from international competition.

Kazakhstan's Lutsenko wins Tour de France stage six

Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko won the sixth stage of the Tour de France, a 191-km trek from Le Teil on Thursday. The Astana rider prevailed from an eight-man breakaway at the top of the Mont Aigoual.

Highlights: U.S. Open day four

Highlights of the fourth day at the U.S. Open in New York on Thursday. The Grand Slam is being played without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Medvedev missing the cheers and jeers at Flushing Meadows

Daniil Medvedev's feisty interaction with the boisterous New York crowd at Flushing Meadows was one of the highlights of his thrilling run to the U.S. Open final last year but the rangy Russian is missing the "adrenaline" of the fans this year. Third seed Medvedev motored into the third round with a 6-3 6-2 6-4 win over Australia's Christopher O'Connell on Thursday in front of empty stands under a closed roof at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Serena battles through second-round test at U.S. Open

Serena Williams battled her way through to a 6-2 6-4 victory over Russia's Margarita Gasparyan in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday, as she continued her bid for a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam title. A dominant Williams sailed through the first set at Arthur Ashe Stadium, closing out the first game with one of seven aces in the match before breaking her unseeded opponent's serve on the second game to take an early 2-0 lead.

Grizzlies' Morant named NBA Rookie of Year

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant earned 99 of 100 first-place votes Thursday to take home NBA Rookie of the Year honors. The 21-year-old Morant, a Murray State product who was the No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft, averaged 17.8 points, 7.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 67 games. He shot 47.7 percent from the field and 33.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Flawless Auger-Aliassime knocks out Murray in straight sets

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime proved too strong for former champion Andy Murray, cutting short the Briton's Grand Slam comeback at the U.S. Open with a breezy 6-2 6-3 6-4 victory in the second round on Thursday. Before the start of the match, the 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime had said he would look to be aggressive against his three-time Grand Slam winning opponent.

Raptors' Anunoby sinks buzzer-beater to stun Celtics

OG Anunoby beat the final buzzer with a 3-pointer off an inbound pass from Kyle Lowry with 0.5 seconds remaining as the Toronto Raptors stunned the Boston Celtics 104-103 in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Thursday night near Orlando. Lowry led all scorers with 31 points, Fred VanVleet added 25 and Anunoby had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors bounced back from losing the first two games of the best-of-seven series.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)