Sports

2:18 AM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has tested positive for COVID-19, casting doubt on her place in the Australian Open beginning Jan. 17. The 30-year-old Russian confirmed she has the coronavirus and is isolating after arriving in Australia on Tuesday. “I was fully vaccinated and was preparing for

8:00 AM ET NBA Insiders When the 2021-22 season began in October, it kicked off the first normal NBA schedule since the COVID-19 pandemic paused the league in March 2020. The 2021 playoffs were played in NBA arenas again after the 2020 postseason was held in the NBA’s Orlando, Florida, bubble. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the

7:01 AM ET Editor’s note: The list of professional athletes and team personnel entering COVID-19 protocols has increased in recent weeks, causing games to be rescheduled across multiple sports. Some unvaccinated NFL players have had to miss a game while being quarantined for 10 days, while others who have been vaccinated have had to produce

12:43 PM ET Jordan Davis knows what he’s supposed to say now — that the SEC championship game was weeks ago, that Georgia‘s loss was a setback but hardly the end of the journey, that the Bulldogs’ date with Michigan in the College Football Playoff (Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App) has nothing at all

7:40 AM ET ESPN staff Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images The NHL returns to action Tuesday after the league took an extended holiday break due to increased COVID-19 cases. There haven’t been any games played since Dec. 21. The ESPN+ exclusive schedule continues on Tuesday with the Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Montreal Canadiens and

7:00 AM ET Indie rocker Faye Webster has spent a lot of time thinking — and singing — about Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. While off the road from touring her 2019 album Atlanta Millionaires Club, Webster — a native of Atlanta — found herself with a lot of free time. She spent much

7:05 PM ET Associated Press KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Martha Earnhardt, the matriarch of one of NASCAR’s best-known families, has died. She was 91. Grandchildren Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller said in a statement that she died Saturday night. “As we grieve her loss and begin to imagine life without our beloved ‘Mamaw,’ we

3:21 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Man City’s attacking power is no surprise, but their brief collapse vs. Leicester showed the weaknesses that give the chasing pack hope. James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images MANCHESTER, England — For the first 25 minutes at the Etihad Stadium on Boxing Day, Manchester City showed why they’re favourites to win the

7:17 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The boxing industry came to a screeching halt in 2020. Without the possibility of capacity crowds, the biggest fights were tossed to the side, along with the millions in gate revenue that would have accompanied them. But beginning in May with Canelo Alvarez’s victory over Billy Joe Saunders in Arlington,

9:09 AM ET Former world No. 1 Andy Murray has been handed a wildcard into the main draw of next month’s Australian Open, the tournament organisers said on Thursday. 1 Related The Briton, down at 134th in the world rankings after long injury lay-offs due to hip surgery, has reached the final five times at

3:59 PM ET The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are near an agreement to reduce the 10-day quarantine periods for COVID-positive players, sources told ESPN on Thursday. The arrangement — expected to soon be shared with teams — could return some players to active play in six days, based on testing procedures, sources said.

5:40 PM ET Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A deal for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to police drugs in horse racing cratered Thursday after months of negotiations that the agency’s CEO said did not give it “a reasonable chance to put in place a credible and effective program.” The USADA was set to become

9:00 PM ET NFL NationESPN The rosters for the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl have been leaking out since Monday with the full reveal coming Wednesday evening. The Indianapolis Colts had the most selections with seven. The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers were next with six selections each. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady

7:00 AM ET THE JOURNEY BEGAN, like so many frustrating and ultimately fruitless quests, with the 2019 Florida State Seminoles. Florida State had opened that season by blowing a 31-13 lead to Boise State, and in the aftermath, offensive coordinator Kendal Briles pinned at least a portion of the blame on one of the most

9:00 AM ET This has been one of my annual columns for ESPN for a while now, and it’s always fun to look back at the previous year’s list to see which prospective fights, if any, came to fruition. So, before getting into the MMA fights I want to see in 2022, let’s take a

4:00 PM ET New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is an avid collector of art, his collection of Picasso and Doig and others reportedly worth many hundreds of millions of dollars. But one of his favorite pieces is round: the baseball that rolled between the legs of Bill Buckner to end Game 6 of the