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Sofia Kenin knocked out 10th-seeded Xinyu Wang of China 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Kenin saved the only break point she faced in the 78-minute win and advanced to face Denmark's Clara Tauson, a 6-2, 6-3 winner against Japan's Nao Hibino.
No. 9 Katie Boulter of England, the only other seeded player in action, converted all five break points in a 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Australia's Priscilla Hon. Japan's Moyuka Uchijima outlasted Britain's Mika Stojsavljevic 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (6) in nearly three hours. McCartney Kessler and Japan's Kyoka Okamura and Sayaka Ishii also advanced.
Guangzhou Open
No. 1 seed Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic crushed Croatia's Petra Martic 6-2, 6-1 in 63 minutes in first-round action in China.
Siniakova's countrywoman and No. 2 seed Marie Bouzkova also cruised with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands. No. 3 seed Yue Yuan of China, No. 5 Diane Parry of France and No. 7 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain also advanced in straight sets, as did unseeded Americans Caroline Dolehide, Alycia Parks and Bernarda Pera.
Two seeded players were eliminated, as Italy's Lucia Bronzetti defeated No. 4 Elina Avanesyan of Armenia 6-1, 6-4 and China's Shuai Zhang ousted No. 8 Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia 6-2, 6-1 in 58 minutes. China's Xiyu Wang and Han Shi and Thailand's Mananchaya Sawangkaew were also winners.
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Lakers Trade Pitch Brings Back Beloved Former 3-&-D Wing
The Lakers came out of the very eventful 2024-25 NBA season with a bit of a mixed bag, as the team reset its future with the trade for Luka Doncic and, at the same time, was left bitterly disappointed with the five-game elimination at the hands of the Timberwolves in the Western Conference playoffs' opening round. They've tried to retool the roster with low-risk gambles on point guard Marcus Smart, center Deandre Ayton and wing Jake LaRavia, but fans who hoped for a star-caliber swing on the trade market have been disappointed. Ah, but there is time. And the estimable Jacob Rude of the SB Nation site, "Silver Screen and Roll," sees some potential deals that could yet bolster the Lakers. One is particularly interesting: Bringing back top 3-and-D wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is now with his fourth team (Memphis) since the Lakers traded him in the disastrous Russell Westbrook deal four years ago. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Trade Would Be Welcome Rude proposes trading away Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber to bring back KCP to the Lakers, a sentimental move, given that he never should have been forced to leave in the first place. Caldwell-Pope was a big factor in the Lakers winning the 2020 NBA "Bubble" championship during the Covid-19 pandemic. He writes: "Lakers fans have seen how well KCP plays next to stars firsthand. Even if his game has dropped off, he’s still a 3 D wing and you can never have too many of those. It’s a far more useful way for the Lakers to spend their money than on Vincent and Kleber. "With KCP having a player option for next season, the Lakers could save the Grizzlies some long-term money by sending them two expiring contracts. Gabe Vincent is a lot more expendable with the arrival of Marcus Smart while Maxi Kleber is the third center on the roster." Lakers Likely Done Trading (For Now) Still, the feeling around the Lakers is that the team is pretty much set as it is, and that no major trades are forthcoming until the season gets rolling. The Lakers have had opportunities to include the likes of Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt in trade packages already, but have declined to do so. 'They have not been attacking the trade market by any stretch of the imagination," one Western Conference executive said. "Most teams now are in a sort-of wait-and-see mode, and I would include the Lakers in that. They want to give it some time before they make a trade." Vincent averaged only 6.4 points per game last season, but the Lakers like him as a reliable veteran off the bench, with just one year at $11.5 million remaining on his contract. With the addition of Marcus Smart, though, Vincent could be more expendable as the year goes on. Vanderbilt has shown flashes, but he has not been able to stay on the floor--he has played only 91 games in two-plus seasons with the Lakers.
Kevin Durant Takes Subtle Shot At Stephen Curry; Reveals Why Warriors Fans Hate Him: 'They Will Never Recover'
Kevin Durant typically has no filter when interacting with fans online. But this time, while answering fan questions on X, Durant inadvertently ended up taking a shot at Stephen Curry. When a fan asked him why he thinks Warriors fans hate him, he seemingly pointed at Curry's fans. "Them finals MVPs, they will never recover," said Durant in response. One of the biggest debates for Stephen Curry's legacy had been that until 2022, he hadn't won a Finals MVP award despite winning three NBA championships before that. In 2015, Andre Iguodala received the Finals MVP award instead of Curry, and in 2017 and 2018, Kevin Durant was awarded the Finals MVP, and not Curry. Therefore, Durant seems to believe that since he won two Finals MVPs over Curry, loyal Warriors fans who love Curry started criticizing Durant. This planted the seed that developed into Warriors fans disliking Durant, despite him winning two titles with them. Let's take a look at Durant and Curry's performance in 2017 and 2018 to see if Durant was really better than Curry in those two seasons' Finals runs against the Cavaliers. In the 2017 NBA Finals, Durant averaged 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in five games played. He shot 55.6% from the floor and 47.4% from beyond the three-point line. In the same year, Curry averaged 26.8 points, 9.4 assists, and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 44% from the field and 38.8% from beyond the arc. In the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant averaged 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists as the Warriors swept the Cavaliers. He shot 52.6% from the field and 40.9% from beyond the three-point arc. Meanwhile, Curry averaged 27.5 points, 6.8 assists, and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 40.2% from the field and 41.5% from beyond the three-point line. In both seasons, it is evidently clear that Durant contributed a lot more than Curry in almost every aspect and hence was justified in being awarded the two Finals MVP awards. However, since Curry ended up not winning the Finals MVP award in four consecutive visits to the NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018, his fans unfairly blamed Kevin Durant for stealing the award from him. Curry and Durant have a lot of mutual respect, but his fans evidently drove Durant out of the Warriors. According to NBA Insider Marc Spears, the Warriors fans regularly gave Curry MVP chants, and that did not sit right with Durant until very late with the Warriors. Spears hinted that these chants made Durant feel like Warriors fans did not fully embrace him. If Warriors fans did not criticize Durant as much as they did, maybe Durant could have made a return to the Warriors now instead of joining the Rockets? The world of possibilities and "what-ifs" here is endless.
Insider Reveals Massive Bulls-Josh Giddey Contract Gap
In the NBA, restricted free agency is a difficult thing--players have almost no leverage and are, essentially, reliant on the good nature of their employers to give them fair contracts. That's a rough spot for Bulls guard Josh Giddey, who is an RFA for Chicago after averaging 14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists for the Bulls this summer. The Bulls brought in Giddey from the Thunder, in the deal that sent Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City. It's clear they value Giddey's ability to fill a box score, but questions remain around the holes in Giddey's game--his poor defense and subpar 3-point shooting--that make him a questionable long-term investment. Thus, as things stand, the Bulls and Giddey remain locked in a restricted free-agent battle, unable to find numbers they can agree upon. Bulls, Josh Giddey $10 Million Per Year Apart Now, thanks to insider Jake Fischer of The Stein Line substack, we have an idea of just how far apart the sides are: $10 million per year. Yes, Giddey's camp sees the player as a $30 million AAV type. The Bulls see him as a $20 million type, with an offer on the table worth $80 million over four years. Both sides are dug in, Fischer reports, though there is outside interest in Giddey, too. "League sources say that the Bulls made an offer of $80 million over four years to restricted free agent Josh Giddey when the offseason commenced on June 30. Giddey, of course, is seeking an annual salary in the $30 million range. Chicago has been anchored in the $20 million range in annual value ever since its original offer." Expect the Bulls to hold firm here, as they did with Lauri Markkanen back in 2021. Markkanen was traded to Cleveland, and ultimately, the Bulls would prefer not to trade Giddey. But the Markkanen situation was not resolved until Aug. 28 of that year, and the Giddey contract could easily drag out that long, too.
Quinn Ewers' growing pains and surprising growth in key phase of the game headline five things we learned from Dolphins' 24-24 preseason tie with Chicago
The Miami Dolphins ended their trip to Chicago with a preseason tie with the Bears. Miami and Chicago finished regulation with a 24-24 score — although both teams tried their best to try to win (or lose) the game in the final moments of what was a chaotic fourth quarter at Solider Field. The Dolphins allowed the vast majority of their starters to play throughout the first quarter — and it looked like it. Miami had firm control of the first portion of the game. Things devolved from there as both teams tapped into the deeper portions of their rosters, prompting three lead changes and an additional tie in the final 16 minutes of regulation. Games like this are always a bit challenging to take concrete assessments away from, but what did we learn from Miami's tie in Chicago this afterno0n? Five things we learned from the Miami Dolphins' 24-24 tie to Bears in Chicago Rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers still has a long way to go after reports of flashing at practice over the past week It isn't fair to point at the box score to fully indicate what kind of day Ewers had, just as it isn't fair to make assessments from the television copy on how Ewers read the field. Those assessments will come, but what was abundantly clear is that there were plenty of little things that Ewers did not do well enough on his own — no matter what kind of help he got from his supporting cast. Ewers' first possession was one backed up inside his own territory; his first pass was one that sailed on a basic out route that nearly got his receiver's head taken off. On his next possession, Ewers scrambled right on third down and got caught poorly protecting the ball — he was sacked from behind and fumbled to set the Bears up on a short field. It wasn't Ewers' only turnover. His misfires were frustratingly tied to timing at times, as Ewers tried to balance moving off his spot and throwing accurately to receivers coming out of the break. It often didn't work. Ewers finished the day 5/18 passing for 91 yards and the two lost fumbles on sacks. The Dolphins might have life on special teams in 2025 after a coordinator change this offseason Miami hired Craig Aukerman as the team's new special teams coordinator this offseason after several underwhelming years under Danny Crossman. The early returns appear wonderful. The Dolphins grossly out-performed the Bears on special teams and it helped them overcome 10 penalties and two turnovers. Miami finishes Week 1 of the 2025 preseason ranked: - 6th in net yards per punt (45.5 yards) - 2nd in yards per kickoff return (38.7 yards per return on three returns) - T-5th in yards per punt return (17.5 yards per return on two returns) - 2nd in average starting field position after a return (their own 41.8 yard line) - 8th in opponent yards per kickoff return (21.7 yards per return) - 3rd in Special Teams Expected Points Added (EPA): 5.61 EPA - 10th in opponent average starting field position after a kick return (the -26.2 yard line) Ollie Gordon II is here to eat your body blows and is ready to bang in traffic Gordon II finished his preseason debut with 8 carries for 33 yards (4.1 yards per attempt), plus an additional reception for 20 yards (and 19 more receiving yards on a lateral on the game's final play). Gordon's first carry was a 21-yard spinning explosive play through contact. His best was an up-and-over leap over the pile to convert a low-red zone opportunity into a touchdown. Miami's first possession of the day was ended with several failed attempts inside the five-yard line — a familiar issue from prior years. Could Gordon II, along with veteran Alexander Mattison, be a legitimate solution? It's too early to say. But Gordon II ran to his stature on Sunday and that's a great start. Tahj Washington is going to be hard to not keep on the roster Washington was a bit of a mystery for Dolphins fans coming into this summer because the former seventh-round draft choice missed all of last season. The Dolphins carried him on injured reserve last year after a summer injury and now he's squarely in the mix for a roster spot. Play like this every week and you'll not only have a roster spot, you'll get targets in the passing game, Tahj. Washington was dynamic and twitchy, showcasing shifty ability to make defenders miss both on his routes and with the ball. Washington finished Sunday as Miami's leading receiver, splitting his three receptions for 53 yards between Tua Tagovailoa and backup Zach Wilson. The Matt Dickerson intrigue has legitimate upside for a deep interior defensive line Matt Dickerson was a player who caught on with the Dolphins last season and has been given the opportunity to come back and be in the mix again this year. He's had firm buzz as a potential early-down rotational piece and the disruption he brought on Sunday only affirmed that this isn't coach-speak. The former undrafted defensive lineman out of UCLA is 29 years old and has never logged 200 defensive snaps in a single season. So his legitimate game experience is limited. But he's got the eye of defensive line coach Austin Clark and Sunday's performance featured several splash plays that should further bolster his film resume in a bid to be the fifth or sixth interior defender on the roster. Dickerson was disruptive and illustrated good anchor and motor alike against the Bears.
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