Sports
WNBA playoffs begin with four games on Sunday
Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray (15) looks to shoot Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Fever defeated the Dream in overtime, 104-100. The Atlanta Dream claimed the WNBA’s final playoff spot on Thursday night to complete the league’s postseason field.
Eighth-seeded Atlanta will face the top-seeded New York Liberty in the best-of-three first-round series, which begins Sunday in New York.
The three other matchups also will begin Sunday. The second-seeded Minnesota Lynx drew the seventh-seeded Phoenix Mercury, the third-seeded Connecticut Sun face the sixth-seeded Indiana Fever and the fourth-seeded Las Vegas Aces battle the fifth-seeded Seattle Storm.
The higher-seeded team hosts Games 1 and 2. The lower seed would host Game 3, if necessary.
Two-time defending champion Las Vegas was in the running for the No. 3 seed on Thursday before Connecticut clinched the spot with an 87-54 rout of the Chicago Sky.
Las Vegas is looking to become the first team to win three straight titles since the Houston Comets won four in a row (1997-2000).
Atlanta secured the final spot with a 78-67 upset of the Liberty. The Dream edged out the Washington Mystics, who posted a 92-91 home win over the Indiana Fever.
“This year is special. This has definitely been the toughest year for us with everything that has gone on,” Dream coach Tanisha Wright said afterward. “I’m really proud of our athletes for continuing to fight and never giving in because I think it’s easy to give in after the season that we’ve had.”
Sunday’s game between the Caitlin Clark-led Fever and Sun will be aired on ABC. The three other games that day will be televised on ESPN.
Games 2 and 3 of the Atlanta-New York and Seattle-Las Vegas series are slated for Tuesday and Thursday, pending whether a Game 3 is necessary. The Indiana-Connecticut and Phoenix-Minnesota series are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday games, again depending on whether Game 3 is needed.
The best-of-five semifinals are slated to begin Sept. 29.
The WNBA Finals, also a five-game series, will begin Oct. 10. A Game 5 would be held Oct. 20, if necessary.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jannik Sinner survives rain-delayed Rome semifinal
Jun 8, 2025; Paris, FR; Jannik Sinner of Italy returns a shot during the men’s singles final against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain on day 15 at Roland Garros Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images Top-seeded home favorite Jannik Sinner will clash with clay-court specialist Casper Ruud of Norway in Sunday’s final at the Italian Open in Rome.
Sinner concluded his rain-delayed semifinal Saturday against No. 7 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, finishing off a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory in two hours and 37 minutes.
Sinner was leading 4-2 in the third set when rain halted play for the night on Friday. Returning to the court 18 hours later, the World No. 1 wrapped things up in just 15 minutes.
Sinner won his service game at love to take a 5-3 lead and had two match points before Medvedev held serve. Sinner served out the match and returned to the ATP 1000 tournament final, where he lost to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in 2025.
“It was a very different challenge and a tough challenge,” Sinner said. “Usually, during the night, I don’t struggle to sleep but this time it was not easy. You are in the third set, nearly done, but you still have to show up again and you never know what is happening. It is like the start of the match as there are nerves again. I am very happy with how I handled this situation and that I back in the final.”
Sinner, 24, is one win away from completing a career Golden Masters. Only Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has won all nine Masters 1000-level titles on the ATP Tour. Sinner extended his record Masters 1000 winning streak to 33 matches.
Sinner recorded seven aces, saved five of seven break points and finished with a 39-23 advantage in winners against Medvedev, who had seven double faults and 37 unforced errors to Sinner’s 30.
Sinner is bidding to become the first home champion at the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta lifted the trophy in 1976.
Sinner improved to 10-7 against Medvedev. He is 4-0 against Ruud.
Ruud, the No. 23 seed, booked his spot in the final with a 6-1, 6-1 win in 65 minutes against Italy’s Luciano Darderi on Friday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spirit, Falcons sweep into PGL Astana grand final
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Falcons and Team Spirit will meet Sunday in the grand final at the $800,000 PGL Astana tournament in Kazakhstan.
Falcons swept magic and Spirit swept MOUZ in the semifinals on Saturday. The winner of their best-of-five championship will earn $256,000.
MOUZ and magic will meet in the best-of-three third-place match.
Sixteen Counter-Strike 2 teams began the event on May 9, with eight advancing through the Swiss System group stage to the single-elimination playoffs.
Falcons defeated magic 13-7 on Ancient and 13-5 on Dust II. Russia’s Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov led the winners with 44 kills.
Spirit made swift work of MOUZ, winning 13-3 on Dust II and 13-2 on Nuke behind a team-high 36 kills from Danil “donk” Kryshkovets of Russia.
PGL Astana 2026 prize pool:
1. $256,000
2. $120,000
3. $96,000
4. $56,000
5-8. $40,000 — FURIA, 9z Team, Aurora Gaming, G2 Esports
9-11. $20,000 — The MongolZ, Monte, Gentle Mates
12-14. $12,000 — HEROIC, PARIVISION, The Huns Esports
15-16. $8,000 — K27, Fisher College
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rain wipes out Indy 500 practice, delays qualifying
Fans move through the rain Friday, May 15, 2026, before Fast Friday practice ahead of the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rain washed out morning practice and delayed Saturday’s qualifying session for the May 24 Indianapolis 500.
The IndyCar Series canceled the full-field practice session scheduled for 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. ET.
The 11 a.m. start for the time trials, scheduled to run through 5:50 p.m., was also delayed.
Scattered showers and storms are expected throughout the day and into the early evening at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
If all 33 drivers are unable to complete one qualifying run on Saturday, the whole process would be pushed back to Sunday.
“That would make for a long and busy day, considering one full round of qualifying runs takes roughly 3 hours, followed by three knockout rounds to determine the starting grid,” the Indianapolis Star reported.
The 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 is at 12:30 p.m. ET on May 24. Spain’s Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing is the defending champion.
–Field Level Media
Jannik Sinner survives rain-delayed Rome semifinal
Spirit, Falcons sweep into PGL Astana grand final
