Reuters Sports News Summary

He equaled Yankee legend Babe Ruth's best single-season performance of 60 last week, and there was palpable relief among Yankees fans on Wednesday as he notched homer number 61 in Toronto after seven straight games and 33 plate appearances without a home run. Motor racing-I need luck to win title in Singapore, says Verstappen Max Verstappen said he would need a dose of luck to wrap up a second successive Formula One title in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix with the Red Bull racer on Thursday feeling next week's race in Japan offered him a more realistic championship shot.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

ATP roundup: Novak Djokovic returns to tour play, wins in Tel Aviv

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic looked sharp in his first ATP match in 2 1/2 months as he rolled to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Spain's Pablo Andujar on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Tel Aviv Open in Israel. The Serbian has eight aces among 29 winners and committed just eight unforced errors in his first tour match since winning Wimbledon on July 10. Djokovic broke Andujar's service four times during the 87-minute match.

MLB roundup: Aaron Judge ties AL record with 61st HR

Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run of the season to tie the American League record and the visiting New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3 on Wednesday night. Judge's blast to left came on a full count against Tim Mayza (8-1) with no outs in the seventh inning and Aaron Hicks at first after a single.

Motor racing-Chadwick says drivers have been briefed on W Series finances

W Series racers have been briefed about the all-female championship's financial difficulties amid concerns that this weekend's Singapore round could be the last, double champion Jamie Chadwick said on Thursday. The series, which was set up in 2019 with the aim of helping women get into Formula One, had net liabilities of 7.5 million pounds ($8.29 million) at the end of 2021, according to accounts filed with Companies House on Sept. 5.

Golf-PGA Tour files countersuit against LIV Golf

The PGA Tour accused LIV Golf of using antitrust laws "as a cudgel" and undermining its contracts with players in a counterclaim to a lawsuit the Saudi-backed circuit filed last month. LIV Golf has lured away some of the PGA Tour's top members, including six-times major winner Phil Mickelson, with enormous purses while those who joined the rebel circuit were suspended by the PGA Tour.

Soccer-U.S. women to embrace 'adversity' at sold-out Wembley

United States women's coach Vlatko Andonovski is hoping a sold-out Wembley Stadium will create an atmosphere to give his team a real test in next month's friendly against England, with the World Cup less than a year away. Twice world champions Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn were joined by an array of young talent in the American squad named on Thursday, with the team due to face England on Oct. 7 and Spain in Pamplona on Oct. 11.

Soccer-Albion Women change shorts colour because of period concerns

West Bromwich Albion's women's team have switched their home-kit white shorts to navy ones due to concerns about players' comfort on their periods, the English club said on Thursday. Albion Women, who compete in England's third-tier FA Women's National League North, will wear blue shorts for the remainder of the 2022-23 season and beyond.

Ex-El Salvador soccer chief sentenced to 16 months in FIFA corruption case

The former president of El Salvador's soccer federation was sentenced on Thursday to 16 months in U.S. prison after pleading guilty to a charge arising from a global soccer corruption probe involving the payment of bribes to stage and broadcast matches. Reynaldo Vasquez, 66, the former president of the Federacion Salvadorena de Futbol (FESFUT), or the Salvadoran Football Federation, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn.

Baseball-Judge poised to make history in the Bronx in home run race

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge arrives back in New York with the hopes of hometown fans on his shoulders, after equaling the American League single-season home run record on the road, with the chance to break Roger Maris' 1961 mark in the Bronx. He equaled Yankee legend Babe Ruth's best single-season performance of 60 last week, and there was palpable relief among Yankees fans on Wednesday as he notched homer number 61 in Toronto after seven straight games and 33 plate appearances without a home run.

Motor racing-I need luck to win title in Singapore, says Verstappen

Max Verstappen said he would need a dose of luck to wrap up a second successive Formula One title in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix with the Red Bull racer on Thursday feeling next week's race in Japan offered him a more realistic championship shot. The Dutchman, who turns 25 on Friday, is 116 points clear of Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc and 125 ahead of Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez.

Soccer-Qatar confirms COVID test requirements for World Cup fans

Fans attending the World Cup in Qatar must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test regardless of their vaccination status, organisers said in a statement on Thursday. All visitors aged six and over must present a negative result from a PCR test taken within 48 hours before their departure or from a rapid antigen test taken in the 24 hours before arriving, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy said.

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