Sports News Roundup: Serena 'cannot wait' to compete; Halep says does not currently plan to play U.S. Open and more

Serena 'cannot wait' to compete in this year's U.S. Open Serena Williams confirmed on Wednesday she will compete at this year's U.S. Open in New York amid the COVID-19 outbreak, where the seven-times champion will seek a record-tying 24th career Grand Slam singles title.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Serena 'cannot wait' to compete in this year's U.S. Open

Serena Williams confirmed on Wednesday she will compete at this year's U.S. Open in New York amid the COVID-19 outbreak, where the seven-times champion will seek a record-tying 24th career Grand Slam singles title. "Ultimately, I really cannot wait to return to New York and play the U.S. Open 2020," Williams said in a video message played during a United States Tennis Association news conference to confirm that the Aug. 31-Sept. 13 tournament will proceed without fans.

Halep says does not currently plan to play U.S. Open

Simona Halep does not currently plan to play the U.S. Open with the health protocols put in place by the organizers for the Grand Slam due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Romanian women's world number two told Reuters on Wednesday. "Given the conditions outlined in the U.S. Open announcement this morning, as of today I do not currently plan to play in NYC," Halep said in an emailed statement.

Canada's Dabrowski slams decision to go ahead with U.S. Open

Canadian doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski has hit out at the decision to go ahead with this year's U.S. Open, saying that despite strict health protocols it will be "impossible" to protect players in a bio-secure bubble throughout the event. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday the United States Tennis Association would take "extraordinary precautions" to protect players from COVID-19, including robust testing, additional cleaning, extra locker room space, and dedicated accommodation.

French prosecutors request four-year jail sentence for Lamine Diack

French financial prosecutors on Wednesday asked for a four-year jail sentence for Lamine Diack, former head of world athletics, on trial for corruption, money laundering and breach of trust. Prosecutors allege that Diack solicited bribes totaling 3.45 million euros ($3.87 million) from athletes suspected of doping to cover up test results and let them continue competing.

UEFA praises players for taking political stance

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on Wednesday praised footballers for taking a political stance and said the European soccer governing body's own attempts to tackle racism in the game were "not enough." Ceferin singled out Manchester City's England forward Raheem Sterling, Real Madrid's Brazilian full back Marcelo and Bayern Munich's German defender Jerome Boateng for speaking out on racism.

Champions League to be completed with eight-team tournament in Lisbon

This season's Champions League, suspended in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be completed with an eight-team mini-tournament which will be held in Lisbon in August, European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Wednesday. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be staged over one leg, instead of the usual two, with the final to be held on Aug. 23, UEFA deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti said after an executive committee meeting held by video conference.

Rashford emerges as joint-favourite for British Sports Personality of 2020

Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford has emerged as the bookmakers' joint-favourite to win Britain's sports personality of the year award after his successful campaign for school food vouchers to be provided over the summer holidays. British ministers originally said that school food vouchers would not be available over the long holiday, prompting the 22-year-old forward to take up the cause and reveal how he had relied on such support as a boy.

French Open pushed back one week, includes qualifying draw

The re-scheduled French Open will begin a week later on Sept. 27 following a qualifying draw, organizers confirmed on Wednesday after the ATP and WTA Tours announced their revised calendars. The year's second Grand Slam should have started at the end of May but was moved originally by the French Tennis Federation (FTT) to a Sept. 20-Oct. 4 slot after the coronavirus pandemic forced a suspension of tennis.

ATP and WTA Tours announce August resumption

The men's ATP Tour and women's WTA Tour on Wednesday issued revised calendars for the resumption of professional tennis after the shutdown caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The men's Tour will resume on Aug. 14 with the Citi Open, ATP 500 event in Washington, D.C., while the first WTA event will be staged in Palermo, Italy from Aug. 3.

Sprint star Coleman facing ban after another whereabouts failure

World 100 meters champion Christian Coleman, who narrowly escaped a ban last year for missing three doping tests, was provisionally suspended on Wednesday and could miss next year's Tokyo Olympics after again breaching whereabouts rules. The American sprinter revealed the news on Twitter, but claimed that anti-doping officials had not followed the correct procedure when he missed them after going Christmas shopping on Dec. 9, 2019 at a time when he had said he would be at home.