Reuters Sports News Summary

Women's game in great spot, men need new champions - Cahill Women's tennis is currently in a great place with a flurry of new champions while the men's circuit needs its younger generation to break through and win Grand Slams, Australian coach Darren Cahill has told Reuters.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Report: Irving asks NBA players to sit as protest of racism

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving reportedly opposes the NBA restart plan, and he lobbied fellow players on Friday to sit out the scheduled resumption of play as a protest against racism, multiple media outlets reported. According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, Irving told more than 80 NBA players on a conference call, "I don't support going into Orlando. I'm not with the systematic racism and the (expletive). Something smells a little fishy. ... I'm willing to give up everything I have (for social reform)." Pandemic means no podium ceremonies for Formula One

Formula One drivers can forget about podium celebrations this season under new rules to protect them from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pre-race drivers' parade will also be scrapped, but the fans won't be there anyway, and there will be no standing together for the national anthem or trophies handed over directly by local dignitaries. Google, NFL latest to call for Juneteenth commemorations

Google and the National Football League have joined a growing list of U.S. private sector organizations choosing to commemorate June 19th, the date marking the emancipation of the last remaining slaves at the end of the U.S. Civil War. Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, has instructed employees to cancel unnecessary meetings on "Juneteenth," according to a staff memo seen by Reuters. Meanwhile, the NFL has decided to recognize the date as a league holiday and will close the league office. Jankovic undecided on future after comeback at Djokovic event

Former world number one Jelena Jankovic is still unsure whether she would resume her tennis career after playing for the first time in nearly three years at fellow Serb Novak Djokovic's charity tournament on Friday. Jankovic, who ended the 2008 season at the top of the WTA rankings but had not played since her first-round defeat by Czech Petra Kvitova at the 2017 US Open, acknowledged she spent the last three years in tennis wilderness. Women's game in great spot, men need new champions - Cahill

Women's tennis is currently in a great place with a flurry of new champions while the men's circuit needs its younger generation to break through and win Grand Slams, Australian coach Darren Cahill has told Reuters. World number one Australian Ash Barty, Bianca Andreescu of Canada and American Sofia Kenin were crowned first-time major winners in women's singles in three of the last four Grand Slams to be held. Shutdown brings tennis coaches' struggles to the fore

Financial aid has slowly trickled in for tennis players in the lower echelons of the sport during the COVID-19 shutdown but the vast majority of men and women who coach them for a living have been left to fend for themselves. Some, like Simona Halep's coach Darren Cahill, continue to be paid for their work but the Australian acknowledges he is one of the lucky ones and that more help needs to be extended for those who are such a key part of a player's success. On this day: Born June 14, 1969: Steffi Graf, German tennis player

The pursuit of perfection in tennis has proved beyond all but one player in the modern era, Germany's Steffi Graf. During her 17-year career Graf collected 22 Grand Slam singles titles and spent a record 377 weeks as world number one. Golf: McIlroy makes some noise at Colonial

Rory McIlroy's seven-under-par 63 in the second round at Colonial on Friday suggests he has adjusted to golf without the galleries, though the world No. 1 says the silence that meets his birdie putts took some getting used to. The PGA Tour returned to action for the first time in three months amid the COVID-19 pandemic at the spectator-free Charles Schwab Challenge on Thursday. Golf: Flurry of birdies gives Varner early second-round lead

Harold Varner III opened with a triple bogey and closed with a flurry of five birdies over his last six holes to surge into the early second-round lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday. Playing the back nine first at the spectatorless Colonial Country Club, Varner got his day off to a horrific start with a triple at the par four 10th but hit back with birdies at 12, 13 and 16 to return to level par. Report: WNBA proposal includes full salaries for '20

An updated proposal from WNBA owners for the 2020 season includes full salaries for a 22-game regular season, ESPN reported Friday. The first WNBA proposal went to players on June 4 and offered players 60 percent of their full salaries.