Williams makes

her return

LONDON (AP) — After nearly four years away from professional tennis, Serena Williams has made a winning return at Queen’s Club. The 44-year-old Williams showed she still has plenty of her trademark power, hitting service winners of up to 120 mph as she teamed up with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko to win their opening doubles match at the grass-court tournament.

Williams and Mboko beat third-seeded duo Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (2), 6-2 in Williams’ first professional match since the 2022 U.S. Open.

The American last week announced her return to doubles, but has yet to decide whether to target a comeback in singles as well.

White House

denies jinx

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump seems to bring bad luck to home teams when he attends big games. The New York Knicks lost Game 3 of the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday with Trump in attendance despite winning the last two games on the road.

He similarly may have had a jinxing role for the Washington Nationals in the World Series during his first term. There are some exceptions, including when the New York Yankees won with Trump watching last September. Some Knicks fans blame Trump for their recent loss.

The White House counters that Trump is “the greatest champion for sports of any president in American history.”

Older hitters

struggling

HOENIX (AP) — It’s a tough time to be a veteran MLB hitter these days. Only a handful of players who have hit the age of 35 are having success in the big leagues this season, including Nolan Arenado, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Christian Walker. The share of production from MLB players age 35 or over has had a steep drop over the past 25 years.

There are several reasons for the move, including an trend toward younger players that’s driven by analytics and increased fastball velocity.

Arenado and other are thriving thanks to the ability to adapt to their older bodies, changing habits that might have been ingrained early in their careers.

Tickets

revoked

(AP) — The Iranian soccer federation claims FIFA has revoked its ticket allocation for fans at the team’s three World Cup games in the United States. Each federation for the 48 teams taking part is entitled to receive and distribute 8% of stadium capacity for each of its games at the World Cup. That’s several thousands of tickets. Iran opens its World Cup on June 15 in Inglewood, near Los Angeles, against New Zealand. The federation claims in reports by semi-official state media it’s now unable to provide any tickets to its supporters. It adds to turmoil between Iranian soccer, FIFA and tournament co-host the United States.

US Open

field shrinks

(AP) — The U.S. Open likes to boast that it’s the most democratic of all major championships because roughly half of the field has to qualify. It’s not like that anymore. The U.S. Open has been doling out exemptions to the PGA Tour, European tour and LIV Golf. The result is only 62 spots were offered in 36-hole qualifying to be part of the 156-man field. That number will go up slightly. But it’s getting further away from the 50-50 split the U.S. Open once preferred. Ten years ago, 80 players in the U.S. Open had to qualify.

World Cup

kicks off

(AP) — The biggest World Cup ever is about to kick off with 48 teams playing 104 matches across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, transforming North America into the center of the soccer world for nearly six weeks. The tournament arrives amid concerns over soaring ticket prices, political tensions and the logistical challenges of staging a three-country mega-event on a unprecedented scale.