Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Dimitrov bets on coach Agassi for Grand Slam breakthrough

Roping in former world number one Andre Agassi was an obvious decision for Grigor Dimitrov as he chases his maiden grand slam and the Bulgarian says he can already feel the benefits of the partnership. Since winning the junior Wimbledon title in 2008, Dimitrov has been identified as the successor to Roger Federer due to some similarity in his playing style with the Swiss master.

Sharapova doles out dreaded double bagel to Dart

Former champion Maria Sharapova gave hapless Harriet Dart a 6-0 6-0 shellacking to fly into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday and had no words of comfort to offer the British qualifier after leaving her in tears. In the opening match on Rod Laver Arena, the 30th seeded Russian was all over the 131st-ranked Dart from the first point and wrapped up the match in little more than an hour after a ruthless barrage of power hitting.

Federer serves up dominant first-round win against Istomin

Defending champion Roger Federer served straight through Denis Istomin to win their first-round encounter at the Australian Open on Monday, securing a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory. Istomin, of Uzbekistan, has twice reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam and proved to be a worthy combatant from the back of the court with his heavy, aggressive, baseline game.

NBA roundup: Ibaka lifts Raptors over Wizards in 2OT

Serge Ibaka's 3-pointer with 15.2 seconds remaining lifted the visiting Toronto Raptors to a 140-138 double-overtime win against the stubborn Washington Wizards on Sunday. Washington rallied from 19 points down in the third quarter to force overtime and took a 138-136 lead on Thomas Bryant's short jumper with 31.8 seconds left in the second overtime.

NHL roundup: Islanders jump on Lightning early in win

The New York Islanders scored three times in the first five minutes, the fourth line scored twice, and Thomas Greiss made 38 saves in a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sunday. Brock Nelson, Cal Clutterbuck, Devon Toews, Casey Cizikas and Josh Bailey scored for the Islanders, who won for the 11th time in 14 games, moved to 17-7-4 against the Eastern Conference and became the first Metropolitan Division team to beat Tampa Bay in 13 games this season.

American number one Isner toppled by taller Opelka

United States number one John Isner was sent crashing out of the first round of the Australian Open on Monday by compatriot Reilly Opelka 7-6(4) 7-6(6) 6-7(4) 7-6(5) in a battle of two of the game's tallest players. Wimbledon semi-finalist Isner fell at the first hurdle at Melbourne Park for the second year in a row, having been beaten by unseeded Australian Matthew Ebden in a major shock last year.

Tennis: Halep faces tricky test against Kanepi in Melbourne opener

Simona Halep begins her Australian Open campaign against Kaia Kanepi on Tuesday in a rematch of their U.S. Open meeting which the world number one lost in straights sets. The Romanian has struggled for form and fitness since that first-round defeat at Flushing Meadows last year and comes into the year's first Grand Slam short of preparation after a back injury ended her 2018 season prematurely.

Seamless Nadal drubs Australian Duckworth in Melbourne opener

Former champion Rafa Nadal showed no signs of discomfort from his thigh strain as he sailed through to the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-3 7-5 win over local hope James Duckworth on Monday. The second-seeded Spaniard had pulled out of the Brisbane warmup with a thigh strain to raise doubts about his campaign but he allayed those fears on Rod Laver Arena against an error-prone opponent.

Champion Wozniacki through to second round with comfortable win

Caroline Wozniacki launched her title defense at the Australian Open with a comfortable 6-3 6-4 win against Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round on Monday. The third-seeded Dane broke Van Uytvanck once in each set and kept her unforced errors down to win the baseline battle in an hour and 33 minutes in the first match of the evening session at the Rod Laver Arena.

Brave Murray bows out of Australian Open after epic comeback

An emotional and drained Andy Murray left open the door to a return to Melbourne Park after falling to Roberto Bautista Agut in a gut-wrenching, five-set epic in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday. Having said the tournament could be his last as a professional due to his painful hip, Murray played as if it was indeed his swansong, rallying from two sets down before being denied 6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(4) 6-2 under the lights at a heaving Melbourne Arena.