Sports News Roundup: Tennis-Djokovic labours to victory over Machac on return to action in Dubai; Tennis-Top seed Alcaraz pulls out of Acapulco with strained hamstring and more

Djokovic missed the 2022 Australian Open and was deported from the country due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19 before returning this year to clinch a record-extending 10th title at Melbourne Park and 22nd major to reclaim the number one spot. Soccer-Player revolts plunge Women's World Cup buildup into turmoil Player protests and high-level resignations are dominating headlines amid a growing sense of reckoning in women's soccer less than five months before the World Cup kicks off.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tennis-Djokovic labours to victory over Machac on return to action in Dubai

Novak Djokovic won on his return to the ATP Tour following his Australian Open triumph but he had to work hard to beat Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 7-6(1) in his Dubai Tennis Championships opener on Tuesday. Djokovic, who surpassed Steffi Graf's record for the most weeks as world number one after starting his 378th at the top of the rankings, moved with ease and showed no lingering effects of the hamstring tear he managed at Melbourne Park last month.

Tennis-Top seed Alcaraz pulls out of Acapulco with strained hamstring

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of this week's ATP 500 event in Acapulco with a strained hamstring, the U.S. Open champion said on Tuesday. The world number two, who was scheduled to play his opening match later on Tuesday, picked up the injury during his loss to Cameron Norrie in Sunday's Rio Open final where the pain hindered both his movement and serve.

Soccer-Foden double eases Man City into FA Cup sixth round, Leicester out

Phil Foden's brace eased Manchester City to a 3-0 victory over second-tier Bristol City as they moved into the FA Cup sixth round but Leicester City's hopes of repeating their 2021 triumph were dashed on Tuesday. Foden struck in the seventh minute but it was not an entirely comfortable night for Pep Guardiola's side until the England forward's deflected effort made it 2-0 late on.

Soccer-Leicester suffer Tielemans injury blow

Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans will be sidelined for as long as six weeks, manager Brendan Rodgers said on Tuesday. The Belgium international suffered an ankle injury after coming on as a substitute in the weekend defeat by Arsenal and missed Tuesday's FA Cup loss to Blackburn Rovers.

Spring training roundup: Pirates, O’s play unneeded bottom of 9th

Even the umpires didn't stick around, but the Baltimore Orioles and host Pittsburgh Pirates decided to play the bottom of the ninth after the Pirates had locked up a 7-4 win during a spring training game Tuesday in Bradenton, Fla. Managers Derek Shelton of Pittsburgh and Brandon Hyde of Baltimore decided they wanted to get in more baseball after the umpire crew had already left the field. Orioles catcher Maverick Handley called balls and strikes thrown by teammate right-hander Ofreidy Gomez during the half inning.

Tennis-Nadal withdraws from Indian Wells and Miami due to injury

Rafa Nadal said on Tuesday he had decided to withdraw from two upcoming Masters 1000 hardcourt events in Indian Wells and Miami due to injury. The 22-times Grand Slam champion, who has not competed since his Australian Open title defence ended in a second-round loss during which he aggravated a hip problem, said he had started rehab and physiotherapy as instructed by doctors.

Golf-LIV ratings trail rival PGA Tour in first CW Network broadcasts

LIV Golf has had no issues attracting some of the sport's top talent but snaring TV audiences will be a tougher task, as viewership for its inaugural broadcasts on the CW Network trailed far behind their rivals on the PGA Tour. An average of 286,000 and 291,000 viewers tuned in Saturday and Sunday, respectively, to watch six-times major winner Phil Mickelson and former number one Dustin Johnson lead an all-star cast at LIV's season opener in Mayakoba, Mexico, according to Nielsen.

Tennis-Djokovic says return to top spot more special after tough year

Novak Djokovic said his return to the top of the world rankings felt like a big achievement after a year of turmoil where he had to skip several tournaments including two Grand Slams, but the Serbian expects a see-sawing battle for the position in 2023. Djokovic missed the 2022 Australian Open and was deported from the country due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19 before returning this year to clinch a record-extending 10th title at Melbourne Park and 22nd major to reclaim the number one spot.

Soccer-Player revolts plunge Women's World Cup buildup into turmoil

Player protests and high-level resignations are dominating headlines amid a growing sense of reckoning in women's soccer less than five months before the World Cup kicks off. Noel Le Graet, president of France's soccer federation (FFF), resigned on Tuesday, while Canada Soccer boss Nick Bontis stepped down a day earlier with those countries' players embroiled in bitter disputes with their federations.

Japan's Dentsu, others indicted over alleged Olympic contract bid rigging

Japanese prosecutors on Tuesday indicted six companies including advertising giant Dentsu Group and seven individuals over the suspected rigging of bids worth $320 million for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. The indictments follow months of investigations into alleged corruption in the planning and sponsorship of the Tokyo Games, held in 2021 after a COVID-19 postponement.