Sports News Roundup: Motor racing-Verstappen expects it to be harder to dominate at home; Tennis-Sakkari crashes out of U.S. Open with defeat by China's Wang and more

World number two Smith, whose move to LIV Golf was made official this week, earned exemption into golf's four majors for at least the next five years with his one-shot win at last month's British Open. Tennis-Williams sisters get prime time spot in U.S. Open doubles return Venus and Serena Williams will kick off Thursday's evening schedule in Arthur Ashe Stadium as they join forces in the U.S. Open doubles draw for the first time since 2014.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Motor racing-Verstappen expects it to be harder to dominate at home

Max Verstappen moves on from Belgium to his home Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort this weekend with a spring in his step, even if he expects to be less dominant than he was in Spa last Sunday. Red Bull's runaway Formula One championship leader has won the last two races from well down the starting grid -- 10th in Hungary, 14th in Belgium -- and will want to continue the run from the front of the grid this time.

Tennis-Sakkari crashes out of U.S. Open with defeat by China's Wang

Greek third seed Maria Sakkari became the biggest casualty in the women's draw at the U.S. Open when she fell to a 3-6 7-5 7-5 defeat to unseeded Chinese Wang Xiyu in an adsorbing second-round contest on Wednesday. Sakkari, a semi-finalist in New York last year, took charge in the early stages and marched into a one-set lead before being let down by a series of unforced errors as Wang claimed her first career victory over a top-10 player.

Tennis-Murray overcomes Nava to move into U.S. Open third round

Former world number one Andy Murray survived an early scare to beat American wildcard Emilio Nava 5-7 6-3 6-1 6-0 at the U.S. Open on Wednesday to move into the third round of a Grand Slam for only the second time in five years. Murray's victory also marked the first time since 2016 that he had reached the third round at Flushing Meadows, where he won his maiden Grand Slam title a decade ago.

Rugby-Argentina keep faith with history makers for second NZ test

Argentina coach Michael Cheika has largely kept faith with the side that made a historic breakthrough against the All Blacks last weekend, making four changes for Saturday's second Rugby Championship test against New Zealand in Hamilton. Last weekend's 25-18 victory in Christchurch was Argentina's first over the three-times world champions on New Zealand soil and the Pumas can expect a backlash from the wounded All Blacks at the Waikato Stadium.

Soccer-Haaland on fire for Man City, Arsenal maintain perfect start

Arsenal maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season with a fifth consecutive win but Manchester City's new signing Erling Haaland stole the limelight with his second hat-trick in 6-0 romp over Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. Newcastle United's record signing Alexander Isak scored on his debut to put his side ahead at Anfield but Liverpool snatched a 2-1 victory deep in stoppage time through Fabio Carvalho.

NFL-Flores' lawyers call out NFL's arbitration system

Attorneys for former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and two other coaches filed on Wednesday a response to the National Football League's motion to force arbitration on their racial discrimination lawsuit against the league. According to a brief submitted on behalf of Flores, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, the NFL's arbitration procedure bears no resemblance to a neutral judicial forum and fails to comport with basic principles of fairness.

Swimming-Canada's Oleksiak undergoes surgery for torn meniscus

Penny Oleksiak, Canada's all-time most decorated Olympian, said on Wednesday she has a long recovery ahead of her after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The 22-year-old Oleksiak, who won a combined seven medals at the last two Olympics, did not reveal how she sustained the tear but said she underwent surgery in a Toronto hospital within a week of suffering the injury in Orlando.

RedBird partners with Yankees owners to complete AC Milan takeover

U.S. investment firm RedBird Capital has joined forces with the owners of the New York Yankees to complete the 1.2 billion euro ($1.2 billion) acquisition of Italian soccer champions AC Milan, it said in a statement on Wednesday. Yankee Global Enterprises (YGE), owner of the New York baseball team, will take a minority equity stake in the former European champions Milan as part of the deal to acquire the club from U.S. private equity group Elliott.

Golf-Smith says 'not fair' LIV golfers are not getting ranking points

British Open champion Cameron Smith said on Wednesday he felt it was unfair that those who joined LIV Golf are not receiving world ranking points and hopes that changes before his exemption into golf's four majors expires. World number two Smith, whose move to LIV Golf was made official this week, earned an exemption into golf's four majors for at least the next five years with his one-shot win at last month's British Open.

Tennis-Williams sisters get prime time spot in U.S. Open doubles return

Venus and Serena Williams will kick off Thursday's evening schedule in Arthur Ashe Stadium as they join forces in the U.S. Open doubles draw for the first time since 2014. It marks the first time a first-round doubles match has featured at the marquee venue of the year's final major and the pair will play Czech duo Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in prime time.