Sports News Roundup: Kyrgios loses temper, match at Murray River Open; Wimbledon eyeing reduced-capacity crowd and more

The league statement includes comments from commissioner Gary Bettman, who said, of the 100 players on the COVID list since the season began Jan. 13, "fewer than half have done so because of confirmed positive tests -- and, among that group, many have not been symptomatic." Barty downs Rogers to reach semi-finals of Yarra Valley Classic Ash Barty dominated the decisive super tiebreaker to beat American Shelby Rogers 7-5 2-6 (10-4) and reach the semi-finals of the Yarra Valley Classic as the Australian Open warmup tournaments resumed on Friday following a COVID-19 scare.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Kyrgios loses temper, match at Murray River Open

Nick Kyrgios was warned for bad language and docked a point for unsportsmanlike conduct after the Australian threw his racquet into the stands during Friday's 6-3 6-4 defeat by Borna Coric in the Murray River Open at Melbourne Park. Kyrgios' problems began early on Friday as he struggled with a left knee issue and needed treatment midway through the match at the Australian Open warm-up event.

Wimbledon eyeing reduced-capacity crowd

Wimbledon organizers have started planning to host the Grand Slam event with a reduced-capacity crowd, though other options are being discussed, The All England Club said Thursday. Other options for the tournament, which was canceled last year for the first time since 1945 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are holding it without any spectators or conducting the event with a maximum number of fans in attendance.

NFL: Hometown routine critical in Bucs' Super Bowl bid, says Arians

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are making the most of their hometown advantage in the run-up to Sunday's Super Bowl, settling into a routine after a chaotic National Football League (NFL) season where virtually nothing felt like business as usual. After numerous delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but no outright cancellations, the NFL is barreling toward its season finale with the Bucs taking on the Kansas City Chiefs at home - the first time in the Super Bowl's 55-year history that a team has competed in the championship in their own stadium.

NHL announces enhanced COVID-19 protocols

The NHL had a difficult Wednesday, with 40 players landing on the list of absences caused by COVID-19. On Thursday, the league announced a series of additional coronavirus protocols. The league statement includes comments from commissioner Gary Bettman, who said, of the 100 players on the COVID list since the season began Jan. 13, "fewer than half have done so because of confirmed positive tests -- and, among that group, many have not been symptomatic."

Barty downs Rogers to reach semi-finals of Yarra Valley Classic

Ash Barty dominated the decisive super tiebreaker to beat American Shelby Rogers 7-5 2-6 (10-4) and reach the semi-finals of the Yarra Valley Classic as the Australian Open warmup tournaments resumed on Friday following a COVID-19 scare. The warmup events were suspended on Thursday as more than 500 players and officials were tested for COVID-19 after a worker at one of the quarantine hotels in Melbourne contracted the novel coronavirus.

Djokovic keeps Serbia alive as Spain reach ATP Cup semis Novak Djokovic rallied to overhaul Alexander Zverev 6-7(3) 6-2 7-5 in a high quality ATP Cup clash and help defending champions Serbia level their knockout tie against Germany after Spain qualified for the semi-finals in Melbourne on Friday. A year after crashing out of the inaugural ATP Cup with a huge tally of double-faults, Alexander Zverev's serving demons returned under pressure at Rod Laver Arena when he was broken twice late in the deciding set.

NFL: More work to be done on head coach diversity, says Goodell NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he was not satisfied with this year's head coaching hiring cycle, a year after he pledged to increase diversity in the role. Just one of the league's vacant head coaching positions went to a diverse candidate this year, with the New York Jets hiring former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. The league unveiled a plan in November to boost diversity among head coaches and executive staff.

Tyreek Hill, Patrick Mahomes look to connect the dots in SB LV As quarterback Patrick Mahomes' favorite target, Tyreek Hill has seen him throw plenty of passes this season, but the All-Pro receiver has never seen Mahomes throw the football likes he's been doing in practice lately. "What's crazy is, Pat, he's been on a roll," Hill said Thursday. "I haven't seen Pat throw dots like this at practice. Like he's been throwing crazy dots. Like, he throws dots. But the dots he's been throwing in practice lately have been crazy.... So I'm pretty fired up. Just gotta wait and see. I've gotta rub my hands together -- I'm excited about that."

Tokyo governor says Olympics facing 'major issue' after Mori's sexist remarks Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Friday the Olympic Games were facing a "major issue" after the head of the organising committee made sexist remarks and as criticism of his comments showed no sign of abating. Yoshiro Mori, 83, set off a firestorm on social media both at home and abroad this week with comments that women talked too much, remarks made in a meeting with the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) that he later retracted and apologised for but refused to resign over.

NFL: Chiefs' Duvernay-Tardif watching Super Bowl from COVID-19 frontline Laurent Duvernay-Tardif built an NFL career around protecting others but a deeper passion for healthcare convinced him to give up a shot at defending a Super Bowl championship with the Kansas City Chiefs to join the frontline battle against COVID-19. Less than three months after helping the Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory last February, Duvernay-Tardif put his medical degree to use by working as an orderly in a Montreal long-term care facility amid the COVID-19 pandemic.