Sports News Roundup: A quick turnaround helped me get past U.S. Open shock; Lightning hold off Stars, tie Stanley Cup Final 1-1 and more

MLB, MLBPA commit $10 million to Players Alliance Major League Baseball and the Players Association jointly committed $10 million to The Players Alliance on Monday to help boost the participation of Black Americans in all levels of the sport.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

A quick turnaround helped me get past U.S. Open shock: Djokovic

Italian Open champion Novak Djokovic said getting back on court for a tournament so quickly after being disqualified at the U.S. Open for striking a line judge with a ball helped him move on from the incident. The world number one came in for heavy criticism at Flushing Meadows earlier this month and the Serb said he spent several days processing what had happened.

Halep taking her game to a higher plane after shutdown

Simona Halep said she had found inner calm during tennis's coronavirus shut down and that she had returned to the courts with more maturity and perspective on the game. Halep won the Dubai title before the WTA Tour's suspension in March and lifted the Prague crown on its resumption, before claiming another crown in Rome on Monday to emerge as the front runner for the French Open Grand Slam, which begins on Sunday.

Lightning hold off Stars, tie Stanley Cup Final 1-1

Tampa Bay's power-play unit finally snapped out of their slumber to help the Lightning secure a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday and tie the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup Final at one game apiece. The Lightning, who had gone 0-for-14 on the power play over their past four games, got two goals with the man advantage in Game Two of a best-of-seven championship series being held in Edmonton to limit travel and minimize COVID-19 risk.

Report: NFL fines 3 coaches for failing to wear masks

The NFL cracked down Monday on maskless head coaches, reportedly handing out more than a $1 million in fines. The San Francisco 49ers' Kyle Shanahan, the Denver Broncos' Vic Fangio and the Seattle Seahawks' Pete Carroll each were fined $100,000 for not wearing masks Sunday, and their teams were docked $250,000, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

A new era? DeChambeau's U.S. Open triumph puts field on notice

As the golf world turns its gaze from Winged Foot Golf Club to the year's final major at Augusta National in November, questions remain over just how much Bryson DeChambeau's hard-charging U.S. Open win could shift the sport's landscape. With an average drive of 325.6 yards in Mamaroneck, New York -- the furthest of any U.S. Open champion in four decades, according to data compiled https://www.usopen.com/2020/articles/10-notes-to-know-from-final-round.html by 15th Club content head Justin Ray for the United States Golf Association (USGA) -- DeChambeau showed he could win by saving his precision for the greens.

NBA great Jordan forms NASCAR team with Wallace as driver

Basketball great Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin have partnered to form a new single-car NASCAR Cup Series team that will feature Bubba Wallace as its driver, the trio said on Monday. Jordan, a six-time NBA champion, will serve as principal owner of the team with Hamlin a minority partner while he continues to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing.

MLB roundup: A's clinch division after Astros' loss

Marco Gonzales pitched eight scoreless innings and the host Seattle Mariners defeated the Houston Astros 6-1 Monday night, allowing the idle Oakland Athletics to clinch the American League West title. Mariners rookie Evan White hit a three-run homer, his seventh of the season, while Gonzales (7-2), a left-hander who was 0-5 with a 7.22 ERA in eight previous appearances against the Astros, allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out six.

MLB, MLBPA commit $10 million to Players Alliance

Major League Baseball and the Players Association jointly committed $10 million to The Players Alliance on Monday to help boost the participation of Black Americans in all levels of the sport. The Players Alliance, a nonprofit organization comprised of active and former players, will use the money to fund annual grants through 2024 to improve access to the sport from the youth level all the way to MLB front offices.

Two in custody in Tour de France doping probe - Marseille prosecutor

Two people were in custody on Monday after an investigation was opened into suspected doping by the Arkea-Samsic team at this year's Tour de France, the Marseille prosecutor said on Monday. Dominique Laurens said in a statement that the probe was targeting a "small part of the team" and that those in custody were part of the "close entourage of the main rider".

Britain could delay plans to allow sports fans back into stadiums, minister says

Britain is looking at delaying plans to allow a controlled return of fans into stadiums from Oct. 1, senior cabinet minister Michael Gove said on Tuesday as new restrictions are brought in to tackle a second wave of COVID-19 in the country. "It was the case that we were looking at a staged programme of more people returning, it wasn't going to be the case that we were going to have stadiums thronged with fans," Gove told BBC TV when he was asked if the Oct. 1 plan would go ahead.

(With inputs from agencies.)