Off the wire

TENNIS

Wozniacki advances

Former champion Caroline Wozniacki outlasted fourth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals in Tokyo on Wednesday. Wozniacki won four of five break points in the nearly three-hour match at Ariake Coliseum. Wozniacki looked set for a comfortable victory but Suarez Navarro reeled off four consecutive games to take the second set. A sudden rain delay at the start of the third set took the momentum away from Suarez Navarro as the Spaniard double-faulted to slip a break behind. Wozniacki served out, and will meet either Yulia Putintseva or Magda Linette in the quarterfinals. Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska also faced a major challenge but prevailed over Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Radwanska will next face Monica Puig, who rallied to upset 2013 champion Petra Kvitova 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. Japanese wild card Naomi Osaka beat sixth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-1 to set up a quarterfinal with either Karolina Pliskova or Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Wawrinka moves up

Stan Wawrinka is back on court after winning the U.S. Open, and he's kept up his winning ways. The Swiss world No. 3 needed just 57 minutes to win 6-3, 6-1 against Czech player Lukas Rosol in the second round of the St. Petersburg Open on Wednesday after receiving a first-round bye. Wawrinka next plays one of two Serbians, either seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki, who beat Portugal's Gastao Elias 6-1, 6-2 in the first round earlier Wednesday, or the unseeded Dusan Lajovic. Also Wednesday, eighth-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal won 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round against Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot.

French player banned

The Tennis Integrity Unit said French player Constant Lestienne has been banned for seven months for gambling on matches, with half of the sentence suspended. Lestienne, 24, has also been fined $10,000 after admitting to the charges of betting on tennis. The TIU, which investigated Lestienne in collaboration with French online gambling regulator ARJEL, said the 164th-ranked player placed bets on 220 matches through online accounts between February 2012 and June 2015. The TIU said none of the bets were related to matches Lestienne played. Lestienne's fine will be reduced to $5,000 if he gives assistance to the TIU, which was formed in 2008 by the ATP and WTA tours, the International Tennis Federation and the Grand Slam Committee.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Pair dismissed from suit

A federal judge has dismissed former Baylor football coach Art Briles and athletic director Ian McCaw from a lawsuit brought by a woman who said they and the school ignored her claims that she was raped by a former player who was later convicted. The judge dismissed the two from the lawsuit on Wednesday. The lawsuit against Baylor still stands and the woman's attorney said she will file new lawsuits against Briles and McCaw as individuals in state court. Jasmin Hernandez sued Briles and McCaw in their official capacity in March. Briles' attorneys argued the men could not be sued as individuals under the federal gender discrimination law. The Associated Press generally doesn't identify sexual assault victims, but Hernandez has spoken publicly to draw attention to the case. Lawyers for Briles and Baylor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

MOTOR SPORTS

No penalties for two

NASCAR will not penalize Martin Truex Jr. or Jimmie Johnson for failing inspection after the opening race of the playoffs. Truex won Sunday's race at Chicagoland Speedway and Johnson finished 12th. Both cars failed the laser inspection with infractions that should have drawn 10-point penalties. Although the infractions were similar, NASCAR executive vice president Steve O'Donnell said the penalties would not have been equal. Truex advanced into the second round of the playoffs with his victory, but Johnson's chances of advancing would have been hampered by the loss of 10 points. O'Donnell said not penalizing either driver was the fair decision. All 16 teams in the Chase will go through the laser inspection after this Sunday's race at New Hampshire. Only nine were inspected at Chicagoland.

OLYMPICS

Mongolians banned

Do you remember the two Mongolian coaches who ripped off their clothes in protest at the Rio Olympics, incensed about officiating that cost their wrestler a bronze medal? If you saw the portly men stomping around the mat, nearly naked, the image is probably etched into your memory for eternity. Now, the international wrestling federation has banned Tserenbaatar Tsogbayar and Byambarenchen Bayaraa from international competition for three years, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. The Mongolian national federation has also been fined about $51,000, the report said. The protest occurred shortly after Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia appeared set to defeat Uzbekistan's Ikhtiyor Navruzov in the 143-pound class. But Mandakhnaran was penalized a point for celebrating too early. Then his coaches protested the call and lost their appeal, which cost their wrestler another point and gave Navruzov an 8-7 victory.

OLYMPICS

Rome’s mayor won’t support 2024 bid

Rome was effectively knocked out of the race to host the 2024 Summer Olympics on Wednesday when its mayor, Virginia Raggi, decided to oppose a bid by the city.

Raggi, a political newcomer facing serious issues in her first term as Rome’s mayor, expressed concern that the games would be too costly for her city.

At a news conference in Rome, Raggi said: “In light of the data we have, these Olympics are not sustainable. They will bring only debt.”

Raggi, the leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and a lawyer, has faced widespread and increasing criticism since she became Rome’s first female mayor in June. Several key city officials have resigned while being investigated for malfeasance, and this summer garbage piled up in the streets because the city’s sanitation agency is heavily in debt.

Rome’s bid had been built around the city’s historic monuments, which were the backdrop for the 1960 Games there. Events and activities were to be held at or near the Forum, the Circus Maximus, the Arch of Constantine, the Colosseum and the Vatican.

Rome’s apparent disinterest in hosting the games leaves three candidates for 2024: Los Angeles, the host in 1984 and 1932; Paris, which has hosted the Summer Olympics twice but not since 1924; and Budapest. Another candidate, Hamburg, withdrew in 2015 after a public referendum narrowly rejected a bid, 52 percent to 48 percent.

The 2024 host city is scheduled to be announced at the International Olympic Committee congress in September 2017 in Lima, Peru. Oddsmakers have installed Paris and Los Angeles as the favorites.

Enthusiasm for hosting the games has waned in recent years as it has become increasingly clear that they are almost always a losing proposition financially for the hosts. The recently concluded Rio Games were said to have lost at least $4 billion.

Sports on 09/22/2016

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