Sports briefs
PIAA pairings
Two local baseball and one softball team will be in the PIAA playoffs that begin Monday.
Sites for first-round games were released Friday.
In Class 5A baseball, WPIAL runner-up Peters Township (21-2) will play at District 3 runner-up Ephrata (17-7) with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.
In Class 2A, Burgettstown (14-5), the fourth-place team from the WPIAL, will play District 9 champion Johnsonsburg (16-3) at Berwind Park in St. Mary’s. First pitch is 4 p.m.
In Class A softball, WPIAL runner-up West Greene (14-4) will play at District 6 winner Conemaugh Valley (18-3) in Johnstown, also at 4 p.m.
In tennis
Rafael Nadal was locked in a tight, compelling and lengthy French Open semifinal Friday when his opponent, third-seeded Alexander Zverev, ran to to chase a shot and twisted his right ankle. Zverev crumpled to the ground, wailing in agony and clutching at his lower leg.
His black outfit, arms and legs caked with rust-colored clay, Zverev was helped up by a trainer, then taken away from the court in a wheelchair. Minutes later, after Nadal saw him crying in a small room in the stadium, Zverev came back out onto Court Philippe Chatrier on crutches, his right shoe removed, and conceded the match, unable to continue.
The sudden end to a contest that was 3 hours old but not even through two full sets allowed Nadal to become, on his 36th birthday, the second-oldest men’s finalist in French Open history.
Now he will try to become the oldest champion at a tournament he’s already won a record 13 times, facing first-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud on Sunday.
Ruud became the first man from Norway to reach a major final, eliminating 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in a match interrupted for more than 10 minutes in the third set by a climate activist who attached herself to the net and knelt on the court.
- Serena and Venus Williams did not appear on the women’s singles entry list released by Wimbledon.
It is possible that either player could request a wild-card invitation to the Grand Slam tournament, which begins June 27.
Serena Williams has won seven of her Open era record 23 major singles championships at the All England Club, most recently in 2016.
In the NFL
Seven-time Pro Bowl center Alex Mack is retiring after 13 years in the NFL, leaving a major hole in the middle of the offensive line for the San Francisco 49ers.
The 36-year-old Mack announced his retirement Friday.
Mack was one of the most consistent performers since being drafted 21st overall out of California by the Browns in 2009.
- Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is retiring, ending a career that spanned 17 seasons and nine teams and made him one of the NFL’s most colorful and beloved journeymen.
The seventh-round draft pick out of Harvard overcame his physical limitations and modest college roots to become the NFL’s first player to throw four touchdown passes in a single game with five different teams.
- The Buffalo Bills signed veteran receiver Tavon Austin.
Austin was an unrestricted free agent after appearing in seven games last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, with whom he had 24 catches for 213 yards and a touchdown. He missed the start of last season because of a groin injury.