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

Stephens beat Olga Govortsova on Thursday to reach the third round at Flushing Meadows, where she will play compatriot and 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tiafoe feeling positive again after COVID-19 negativity

Frances Tiafoe says he would have probably laughed if someone told him he will make the third round of his home Grand Slam at the U.S. Open when he contracted the novel coronavirus in July. Tiafoe, 22, returned a positive test for the virus and was forced to withdraw from the All-American Team Cup exhibition tournament in Atlanta.

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.

Confident Shapovalov faces Fritz test in third round

Denis Shapovalov bowed out of the U.S. Open third round in his last two trips to New York and will aim to break that run when he faces local hope Taylor Fritz at the same stage on Friday. The 21-year-old dazzled fans at his U.S. Open debut three years ago as he came through qualifying and went on to beat Daniil Medvedev, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Kyle Edmund before losing to Pablo Carreno Busta in the fourth round.

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.

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.

Stephens sees success of Black women inspiring new generation

Former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens believes the current cohort of young Black women at the top of the game bodes well for the future of African-American involvement in tennis. Stephens beat Olga Govortsova on Thursday to reach the third round at Flushing Meadows, where she will play compatriot and 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

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.

Murray hopes to build physical conditioning to revive career

Building the stamina to consistently survive the rigours of playing five-set matches will top Andy Murray's agenda as the former U.S. Open champion, who has undergone two hip surgeries, plots the revival of his career. Playing his first Grand Slam singles match since the 2019 Australian Open, Murray produced an astonishing fightback from two sets down to defeat Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka in four hours and 39 minutes in his opening round.

(With inputs from agencies.)