Sports News Roundup: Kyrgios loses temper, match at Murray River Open; Khachanov battles past Anderson to reach Great Ocean Road quarters and more

Barty downs Rogers to set up Serena clash in Yarra Valley Ash Barty dominated the super tiebreaker to beat Shelby Rogers 7-5 2-6 (10-4) and set up a semi-final against Serena Williams in the Yarra Valley Classic on Friday as the Australian Open warmups resumed 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.

Khachanov battles past Anderson to reach Great Ocean Road quarters

Second seed Karen Khachanov battled past South African Kevin Anderson 6-3 7-6(5) to reach the quarter-finals of the Great Ocean Road Open on Friday. The 24-year-old Russian did not drop serve throughout the contest and secured the only break of the match midway through the opening set of the Australian Open warm-up event.

NBA roundup: LeBron James' triple-double leads Lakers' romp

LeBron James had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers used a second-half turnaround to defeat the visiting Denver Nuggets 114-93 on Thursday. Dennis Schroder scored 21 points as seven Lakers reached double figures. Talen Horton-Tucker contributed 17 points, Anthony Davis and Montrezl Harrell added 13 apiece and Kyle Kuzma chipped in 11. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 10 points.

NHL roundup: Jason Spezza's hat trick lifts Leafs to win

Jason Spezza had his eighth career hat trick and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting Vancouver Canucks 7-3 Thursday night in the opener of a three-game series. Auston Matthews added two goals for the Maple Leafs, Mitchell Marner had a goal and two assists and John Tavares scored his 350th career goal. William Nylander had three assists and Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Travis Boyd each had two assists.

Barty downs Rogers to set up Serena clash in Yarra Valley

Ash Barty dominated the super tiebreaker to beat Shelby Rogers 7-5 2-6 (10-4) and set up a semi-final against Serena Williams in the Yarra Valley Classic on Friday as the Australian Open warmups resumed following a COVID-19 scare. Williams also needed a super tiebreaker to get past fellow American Danielle Collins 6-2 4-6 (10-6) on Margaret Court Arena.

Germany end Serbia's ATP Cup defence to reach semis

Alexander Zverev shrugged off a tight loss to Novak Djokovic to end Serbia's ATP Cup title defence with victory in the doubles as Germany advanced to the semi-finals of the team-based event in Melbourne on Friday. Germany will meet Russia in the last four, with Spain to take on Italy.

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."

Djokovic faces Chardy, Kenin meets Inglis at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic will begin his Australian Open title defence against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while reigning women's champion Sofia Kenin meets wild card Maddison Inglis, following the draw for the year's first Grand Slam on Friday. World number one Djokovic captured a record-extending eighth title at Melbourne Park last year by beating Dominic Thiem, who is seeded third and will face Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round.

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, with criticism of his comments showing 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.