Sports News Roundup: Tennis-Peng's safety comes ahead of business, assures former-WTA CEO; Tennis-Djokovic's year-end No.1 record unlikely to be matched, says Sampras and more

As the WTA and ATP Tour seasons draw to a close this week with finals in Mexico and Italy, the tennis spotlight has focused on China with the women's governing body on Sunday calling on the Chinese government to investigate allegations of sexual assault made by Peng against a former vice premier. Tennis-Djokovic's year-end No.1 record unlikely to be matched, says Sampras American great Pete Sampras said he does not expect any player to match Novak Djokovic's feat of winning the men's year-end world number one ranking seven times.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tennis-Peng's safety comes ahead of business, assures former-WTA CEO

Stacey Allaster, the former CEO of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) who negotiated millions of dollars of rights deals with China, told Reuters on Monday the tennis world has put Peng Shuai's health and safety ahead of business. As the WTA and ATP Tour seasons draw to a close this week with finals in Mexico and Italy, the tennis spotlight has focused on China with the women's governing body on Sunday calling on the Chinese government to investigate allegations of sexual assault made by Peng against a former vice-premier.

Tennis-Djokovic's year-end No.1 record unlikely to be matched, says Sampras

American great Pete Sampras said he does not expect any player to match Novak Djokovic's feat of winning the men's year-end world number one ranking seven times. Earlier this month the 34-year-old Serbian broke a tie with his childhood idol Sampras by clinching the year-end ranking for a record seventh time during his title-winning run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris.

Tennis-Tsitsipas vows to step it up after defeat in ATP Finals opener

Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered a straight-sets defeat in his opening match at the ATP Finals but the world number four promised to turn things around and stay in the hunt for a semi-final spot at the season-ending tournament. Tsitsipas, who won the tournament in 2019, got off to a shaky start in Turin as he lost 6-4 6-4 to Russian Andrey Rublev on Monday.

Family: Longtime INF Julio Lugo dies at 45

Former major league infielder Julio Lugo has died at the age of 45, his family told ESPN on Monday. He is believed to have died from a heart attack, per the report. He was one day short of his 46th birthday.

Tennis-Swiatek finishes season with win over Badosa

Poland's Iga Swiatek was all smiles after defeating Paula Badosa 7-5 6-4 in her final match of the round-robin stage of the season-ending WTA Finals in Guadalajara on Monday, despite already being eliminated from the tournament. Swiatek dug herself out of a 0-30 hole in the final game and rifled a forehand return winner on match point to beat the Spaniard, who had already booked a spot in the semi-finals.

Washington DE Chase Young to miss rest of season

Washington Football Team defensive end Chase Young will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a leg injury in Sunday's 29-19 victory over Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coach Ron Rivera confirmed. Rivera initially said Sunday it was "potentially his ACL," however the coach labeled it a leg injury during his Monday video conference.

Tennis-Scrap the Australian Open 'for the people', says Kyrgios

Tennis maverick Nick Kyrgios has called for the Australian Open to be cancelled out of solidarity for the people of Melbourne, but said that if it goes ahead, unvaccinated players should be welcome at his home Grand Slam. The 26-year-old noted on his podcast "No Boundaries" how tournament host Melbourne had endured the longest cumulative lockdown for any city since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Motor racing-The gloves are truly off between Mercedes and Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen shook hands after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix but the gloves are now well and truly off between Formula One rivals Mercedes and Red Bull as the championship enters the final straight. As Hamilton celebrated his 101st win, and possibly the greatest race of his F1 career to revive his hopes of a record eighth world title, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff vented his feelings.

Soccer-U.S. look to keep momentum rolling for Jamaica World Cup qualifier

The United States are flying high after an emotional win over Mexico put them top of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying table and they have promised to bring the same level of competitiveness into their next match against Jamaica. The U.S. forward line received a timely boost with the return of attacking midfielder Christian Pulisic for last week's 2-0 victory over Mexico but the Americans do not want that result to affect their mindset for Tuesday's match in Kingston.

Reports: NHL postpones next 3 Ottawa games due to outbreak

The NHL has approved a three-game postponement for the COVID-strapped Ottawa Senators, beginning with their Tuesday night game at New Jersey, multiple outlets reported. The Senators currently have nine players -- and an associate coach -- in the league's COVID-19 protocol.

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