Sports News Roundup: Montreal beat Tampa Bay to keep alive Stanley Cup hopes; Sabalenka outguns Jabeur to reach Wimbledon semis and more

Rookie Anthony Bender tossed a scoreless ninth, earning his first career save. Tennis-Sabalenka outguns Jabeur to reach Wimbledon semis Power trumped panache as second seed Aryna Sabalenka blasted past Tunisian Ons Jabeur into the Wimbledon semi-finals with a 6-4 6-3 victory under the Centre Court roof on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tennis-Former champion Kerber eases past Muchova into semi-finals

Former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber of Germany put in a strong show to beat an error-prone Karolina Muchova 6-2 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals of the grasscourt Grand Slam. The 2018 champion, seeded 25th at the All England Club this year, arrived for the contest having defeated Czech Muchova both times in their two meetings in two weeks in 2019 and never lost control of the match under the closed roof of Court One.

Draft Roundup: Kansas' Ochai Agbaji, Miami's Isaiah Wong back to school

Guard Ochai Agbaji is withdrawing from the 2021 NBA Draft and returning to Kansas. Agbaji averaged 14.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game as a junior last season in 33.7 minutes per game for the Jayhawks.

NHL-Montreal beat Tampa Bay to keep alive Stanley Cup hopes

Montreal netminder Carey Price kept alive his team's slim hopes of winning the Stanley Cup as the Canadiens emerged with a 3-2 overtime victory over the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Four on Monday. Price made 32 saves, including several key stops in overtime, before Josh Anderson's second goal of the game sealed victory for the Canadiens, who now trail Tampa Bay 3-1 in the NHL's best-of-seven championship series.

Cycling-Cavendish closes on Merckx's Tour stage win record

Mark Cavendish edged closer to Eddy Merckx's all-time Tour de France stage wins record on Tuesday when he claimed his third victory in this year's race. The Briton won a bunch sprint to take the 10th stage, a 190.7km ride from Albertville, to rack up his 33rd career win on the Tour, one fewer than Belgian great Merckx.

Tennis-Murray jumps to Raducanu's defence as critics blame pressure for withdrawal

Andy Murray has defended British teenager Emma Raducanu after John McEnroe and several others said the 18-year-old wildcard pulled out of her Wimbledon last-16 match on Monday because she could not handle the pressure. Raducanu's remarkable Wimbledon debut ended in distressing circumstances as she was forced to retire against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic after suffering breathing difficulties in the second set.

Tennis-Czech Pliskova finally reaches Wimbledon semi-finals

It took Karolina Pliskova almost a decade of trying before she finally reached the Wimbledon semi-finals with a rapid-fire 6-2 6-2 win over little-known Swiss Viktorija Golubic on Tuesday. Neither player had even made it to the last eight of the grasscourt major before this week but it was Czech Pliskova, a former world number one, who made her greater big-stage experience count on a floodlit Court One.

Olympics-Tokyo Games at risk of more spectator curbs and downgrades

Japan is considering barring all but VIP spectators from the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, a newspaper said on Tuesday, another downgrade for the Games that have had their pomp and spectacle tarnished by the novel coronavirus. Once promoted as an extravaganza to showcase Japan to the world, the Games appear in danger of taking place largely without spectators in a country closed to visitors from abroad because of the pandemic and with areas around Tokyo still under restrictions.

MLB roundup: Marlins end Dodgers' winning streak

Jorge Alfaro slugged a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning as the host Miami Marlins beat the Dodgers 5-4 on Monday, snapping Los Angeles' nine-game win streak. David Hess (1-0) earned the win in his Marlins and 2021 major league debut, though he blew a lead in the top of the ninth. He pitched one scoreless inning. Rookie Anthony Bender tossed a scoreless ninth, earning his first career save.

Tennis-Sabalenka outguns Jabeur to reach Wimbledon semis

Power trumped panache as second seed Aryna Sabalenka blasted past Tunisian Ons Jabeur into the Wimbledon semi-finals with a 6-4 6-3 victory under the Centre Court roof on Tuesday. In a classic clash of styles the 23-year-old Belarusian had too many destructive weapons for Jabeur as she set up a clash with fellow big-hitter Czech Karolina Pliskova.

Soccer-UEFA invites Eriksen and medics who saved him to Euros final

European football governing body UEFA has invited Denmark international Christian Eriksen and the paramedics who helped save his life during an on-field cardiac arrest to attend the Euro 2020 final at Wembley on Sunday. The brilliant Danish midfielder was resuscitated in front of shocked fans and a massive global TV audience during his nation's first match of the tournament.