■ Football
McNair in car wreck
Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair was involved in a car accident but not injured a week after having an operation on his sternum. Police said a woman pulled in front of McNair's pickup truck as he was traveling down a street in the Music Row area near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. "McNair had no contributing factor to the crash," Metro Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Thursday. Jennifer Conrad, 24, of Cedar Hill told police she was unfamiliar with the area and was trying to make a U-turn on the one-way street. Aaron said no injuries were officially reported. Conrad was cited for causing the accident and for driving without insurance.
■ Soccer
Blackburn gets Nelsen
DC United captain Ryan Nelsen moved to Premier League club Blackburn on a free transfer Thursday. The 27-year-old New Zealand international signed an 18-month contract with Rovers. He plays as a center-half but can also switch to midfield. Nelsen was voted to Major League Soccer's All-Star team twice during his stint in the US. Nelsen, who played with 15-year-old American soccer star Freddy Adu at DC United, was left unprotected in November for the MLS expansion draft.
■ Hockey
League bars Theo Fleury
Suspended NHL star Theo Fleury has been barred from playing for the Horse Lake Thunder in Canada's North Peace Hockey League. Fleury, suspended by the NHL for substance abuse violations, is ineligible to play because of a Hockey Canada ruling last month that NHL players under contract last season can not play for the Allan Cup, the top prize for senior hockey in Canada. "His registration has been turned down," said Brad Robbins, Hockey Alberta's manager of operations. "He was under an NHL contract in 2003-2004." Fleury, who was to have made his senior league debut Thursday in northern Alberta against the Grande Prairie Athletics, could not immediately be reached for comment. The 36-year-old forward has 455 goals in 1,084 NHL games.
■ Soccer
Reading secures player
Former England international Les Ferdinand signed with Reading on a free transfer Thursday. Ferdinand, 38, left Premier League team Bolton last week. Reading coach Steve Coppell jumped at signing the veteran striker, who is still an effective goal scorer and could have a big impact in the League Championship, or former first division. "Les Ferdinand is a tremendous player, and I hope he will help boost our goalscoring capabilities and act as a catalyst for the whole team at this crucial time of the season," Coppell said on the club's Web site. Ferdinand has also played for Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham, Newcastle, West Ham and Leicester. "I am highly delighted to welcome Les Ferdinand as a Reading player," chairman John Madejski said. "He is without doubt one of the greatest English strikers of the last decade and his goalscoring record speaks for itself."
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday led the way into the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, with Carlos Alcaraz hot on their heels after a straight-sets victory of his own. Sinner shrugged off a mid-match weather delay lasting nearly three hours as he advanced 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) over Adrian Mannarino. Alcaraz, the second seed who has reached the final in his past six tournaments, hammered Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4. After sweeping the opening set in 28 minutes, Alcaraz hit a speed bump, dropping his serve to trail 2-4. He promptly regained the break, then fought through a marathon ninth game
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
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