■TENNIS
Serena to fund more schools
Serena Williams said on Wednesday she planned to help to build one new school every year in parts of Africa where education is beyond the reach of most children. The women’s world No. 1 has helped in the construction of schools in Kenya, Senegal and South Africa, as well as providing student grants and has joined in the fight against the killer disease, malaria, in Ghana. “It is my goal to open many schools for thousands of children who do not have the opportunity to get good education. I plan to do one every year,” said Serena, at the end of her whirlwind three-day tour of Kenya where she opened a school in Makueni, some 150km southeast of Nairobi. During her first trip to Kenya in November 2008, Serena commissioned her first school in the same region where, according to the national census statistics, 63.2 percent of the local population live below the poverty line and most of the households are dependent on relief food due to severe drought conditions. “Without education, life is going to be very difficult. My parents always stressed the importance of getting an education and I hope I am bringing to fruition their word by opening this school to the community of Wee,” Serena said.
■BASEBALL
More McGwire revelations
Mark McGwire’s estranged younger brother says he injected the slugger with a variety of steroids and he thinks the home run king gained obvious strength from the drugs. Jay McGwire’s book, Mark and Me, is scheduled for publication on Monday. In an interview, Jay McGwire said his brother “knew that he was going to get the strength and endurance and size.” When he finally admitted last month that he used steroids, Mark McGwire said it was only for healing. His brother said that was the initial purpose but it’s obvious the slugger also gained strength. The McGwire brothers have not spoken in eight years because of a family dispute.
■TENNIS
Blake wins in 40 seconds
Seventh-seeded James Blake needed only 40 seconds to close out a rain-delayed 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 first-round victory over fellow American Taylor Dent at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships on Wednesday. The match started on Tuesday night and dragged past midnight before being suspended by rain with Blake leading 6-1, 3-6, 5-3, 40-40. Blake secured his fourth match point with a backhand passing shot and then hit a service winner to end the match in less than one minute of play. Blake, a two-time Delray Beach finalist, will face 364th-ranked Robin Haase of the Netherlands in the second round. Rain continued to pour on Wednesday, and another eight other matches were postponed until yesterday.
■SOCCER
Anderson out for season
Manchester United midfielder Anderson has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and will also miss the World Cup. The Brazilian, who has struggled to keep a regular place in the starting lineup this season and is only on the fringe of Brazil’s national squad, was injured in the first half of United’s 3-0 victory over West Ham on Tuesday. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said yesterday that Anderson had ruptured his cruciate ligament and would be out of action for six months. Anderson has played eight times for his country.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite