Sports News Roundup: Living through 'bubble' LeBron's biggest career challenge so far; Wilson, Aces rally past Sun, advance to WNBA Finals and more

Titans, Vikings close facilities after positive COVID-19 tests The Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings suspended team activities on Tuesday after a number of positive COVID-19 tests following their Sunday game in the third week of the NFL's 2020 season.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Living through 'bubble' LeBron's biggest career challenge so far

The Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James believes living in the NBA's bio-secure bubble has probably been the biggest challenge of his triumph-filled career. Sixteen-time All-Star James arrived in Orlando, Florida, in July along with players from 22 National Basketball Association teams, determined to pick up his fourth NBA title after the deadly coronavirus outbreak had halted professional sports in March.

Wilson, Aces rally past Sun, advance to WNBA Finals

A'ja Wilson totaled 23 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, and the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces overcame a 16-point, first-half deficit to beat the seventh-seeded Connecticut Sun 66-63 Tuesday night in the decisive Game 5 of their semifinal series at Bradenton, Fla., earning a berth in the WNBA Finals. Las Vegas will face the Seattle Storm in the best-of-five finals series beginning Friday. Seattle swept the Minnesota Lynx in its semifinal series to reach the Finals for the second time in three years.

Djokovic primed for deep run in Paris

Top seed Novak Djokovic said he was 'physically, mentally, emotionally' ready to land a second French Open title after beginning his quest in emphatic fashion on Tuesday. In his first Grand Slam match since being disqualified from the U.S. Open this month for inadvertently hitting a line judge with a ball, Djokovic was supreme in a 6-0 6-2 6-3 first-round demolition of young Swede Mikael Ymer.

More French men crash out in first round at Roland Garros

The lack of spectators did not take the pressure off the French men at their home Grand Slam as none of those playing on Tuesday advanced to the second round at Roland Garros to produce a collective failure only seen once before in the Open era. Ugo Humbert, Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon, Quentin Halys, Harold Mayot and Gregoire Barrere all exited, leaving only four compatriots in the main draw, just the second time so few French men have got that far since tennis turned professional in 1968.

Lightning to celebrate Stanley Cup win with boat parade

The Tampa Bay Lightning are not going to let the COVID-19 outbreak get in the way of celebrating their Stanley Cup triumph as the team announced plans on Tuesday for a socially-distanced boat parade and fan rally. Unlike typical Stanley Cup parades where players pile into vehicles that slowly wind through streets lined with hundreds of thousands of people, the Lightning will instead have a boat parade on the Hillsborough River on Wednesday.

Titans, Vikings close facilities after positive COVID-19 tests

The Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings suspended team activities on Tuesday after a number of positive COVID-19 tests following their Sunday game in the third week of the NFL's 2020 season. The Titans, who played at Minnesota on Sunday, had three players and five team personnel test positive for the virus, the NFL said in a statement. The Vikings have not had a positive test but suspended activities as a precautionary measure.

Heat coach says LeBron's longevity is 'testament to his greatness'

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra on Tuesday paid tribute to his former player LeBron James, who will make a 10th NBA Finals appearance this week but in a different jersey than when the duo were celebrating titles together. The Los Angeles Lakers' James spent four seasons under Spoelstra in Miami where he reached the NBA Finals each year and won two championships before going on win another with Cleveland.

MLB roundup: Giolito, White Sox down A's in opener

Lucas Giolito took a perfect game into the seventh inning and the Chicago White Sox used three home runs for a 4-1 victory over the host Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of their American League first-round playoff series on Tuesday. Making his postseason debut, Giolito retired the first 18 batters he faced until Tommy La Stella lashed a single up the middle to lead off the seventh inning and break up the perfect-game bid.

Watson concerned about future of British tennis

Heather Watson has painted a bleak picture of the future of British tennis and called on its governing body to provide more support to promising young players. Watson joined compatriots Andy Murray, Johanna Konta, Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie and Liam Broady in exiting Roland Garros after a 7-6(4) 6-4 defeat by Fiona Ferro, leaving no Britons in the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time since 2013.

Tsitsipas survives first-round scare in five-set win over Munar

World number six Stefanos Tsitsipas clawed his way back from two sets down to beat little-known Jaume Munar 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-4 6-4 and survive a French Open first round scare on Tuesday. Tsitsipas, a losing finalist in Hamburg on Sunday, looked to be cruising through the first set after breaking the Spanish clay court specialist at the start to go 3-1 up.

(With inputs from agencies.)