Reuters Sports News Summary

Venus, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, was awarded a wild card into the main draw for the Aug. 6-15 National Bank Open on Wednesday. Tennis-Petition to allow Djokovic to play U.S. Open nears 12,000 signatures Almost 12,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to work with the country's government to allow Novak Djokovic to compete in the U.S. Open despite his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tennis-Venus Williams to make singles comeback in Toronto

Former world no. 1 Venus Williams will make her singles comeback after nearly a year at next month's WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto, joining her sister Serena at the event. Venus, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, was awarded a wild card into the main draw for the Aug. 6-15 National Bank Open on Wednesday.

Tennis-Petition to allow Djokovic to play U.S. Open nears 12,000 signatures

Almost 12,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to work with the country's government to allow Novak Djokovic to compete in the U.S. Open despite his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Djokovic will not be able to participate in the year's final Grand Slam due to current rules under which travellers seeking to enter the United States have to be fully vaccinated and provide proof before boarding flights.

Athletics-Ceh dethrones Sweden's Stahl to win world discus title

Young gun Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia dethroned Sweden's Daniel Stahl in the discus final at the World Championships on Tuesday, giving the performance of his life to win gold in his first major championship. Olympic champion and 2019 winner Stahl very briefly held the lead with a 66.59-metre opener but was quickly overtaken by Lithuanian duo Mykolas Alekna and Andrius Gudzius, improving to 67.10 on his fifth try but never getting himself back into medal contention.

Golf-Stenson stripped of Team Europe Ryder Cup captaincy

Sweden's Henrik Stenson was stripped of his Team Europe Ryder Cup captaincy on Wednesday amid speculation in the media that he is set to join the lucrative LIV Golf Invitational Series. The 2016 British Open champion helped Europe to victory in three of his five Ryder Cup appearances as a player, including the last home tournament at Le Golf National in 2018.

Athletics-Olympic champions Warholm, Ingebrigtsen, Stahl falter on day of upsets

Karsten Warholm's hopes of winning a third straight World Championships title were dashed while Britain's Jake Wightman felled reigning Olympic 1,500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen on a day of upsets on Tuesday. Kristjan Ceh dethroned Olympic champion and 2019 winner Daniel Stahl in the discus final and Eleanor Patterson outdid Yaroslava Mahuchikh to win women's high jump gold.

Motor racing-Hamilton seeks a big result in milestone 300th race

Lewis Hamilton's dream result in France on Sunday would be to celebrate his 300th Formula One race by ending the longest win drought of his record-breaking career, and it is not an impossible one. The seven-times world champion was once dominant at Le Castellet's Circuit Paul Ricard but new rules have left his Mercedes team struggling with a bouncing car behind pace-setters Red Bull and Ferrari.

Chess-Carlsen will not defend world title next year

Magnus Carlsen will not defend his world championship in 2023 against Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi as he is not motivated to play another match, the Norwegian five-time champion said in a podcast on Wednesday. If Carlsen does not defend his title, Nepomniachtchi is likely to face the runner up in the recent Candidates tournament, China's Ding Liren.

Tennis-Williams and Djokovic included in U.S. Open entry list

Serena Williams was included on the entry list for the U.S. Open on Wednesday along with fellow former champion Novak Djokovic, who will not be able to compete due to his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Williams, who returned to competition last month after a year-long absence, was added to the entry list for the Aug. 29-Sept. 11 Grand Slam in New York having been named in the draw for tune-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati.

Cycling-Pogacar takes Tour stage 17 as Vingegaard stays in control

Tadej Pogacar claimed victory in the 17th stage of the Tour de France but it was Jonas Vingegaard who came a step closer to the title as he finished on the defending champion's wheel to retain the overall leader's yellow jersey on Wednesday.

Pogacar's late acceleration at the top of the final climb, a 8-km effort at 7.8%, earned him his third win in this year's Tour and gave him a 10-second time bonus.

Quidditch becomes quadball as sport's bodies change name

Quidditch, the sport inspired by the wizarding game in the "Harry Potter" books, will now be known as quadball, its governing bodies said, a name change meant in part to distance themselves from author J.K. Rowling's views on transgender issues. In a statement on its website on Wednesday, the International Quidditch Association (IQA) said it was joining US Quidditch and Major League Quidditch - now rebranded as US Quadball (USQ) and Major League Quadball - in adopting the new name after all three bodies had previously announced their decision to make the change.