Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. American politicians, athletes offer support to women's World Cup team

As the U.S. women's national team prepared to kick off their World Cup title defense, prominent figures from American politics, sports and even outer space flocked to social media on Tuesday to lend their support. The U.S. face Thailand on Tuesday, before playing Chile and Sweden in their remaining Group F fixtures. Raptors forced to regroup after letting NBA title slip from their grasp

Canadian basketball fans did not wake up on Tuesday nursing hangovers from a championship celebration but rather with a mild sense of panic after the Toronto Raptors missed a chance to clinch a maiden NBA title. The Raptors, with an entire nation hanging on their every shot, had gone into Game Five with a 3-1 advantage and had led the defending champion Golden State Warriors by six points with under three minutes to play on Monday but came away empty-handed as their shooters went cold. Woods takes stroll down Pebble memory lane before work

Much has changed since Tiger Woods romped to a record 15-stroke victory at the 2000 U.S. Open at scenic Pebble Beach. In the ensuing 19 years, Woods' body has been battered and surgically repaired, equipment has improved and his hairline is receding. However, the Pebble Beach Golf Links has remained pretty much unchanged and so has Woods' strategy as the U.S. Open returns to the breath-taking coastal California course. Semenya wins in Montreuil, intends to defend 800m world title

Caster Semenya, who is battling the sport's governing IAAF over rules that prevent her from running her preferred distance races unless she takes testosterone-suppressant medication, won a 2,000 meters at the Montreuil athletics meeting on Tuesday. The double Olympic champion has appealed a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision that supported the IAAF's rule that XY chromosome athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs), like Semenya, can only race in distances from 400m to a mile if they take medication to lower their testosterone levels. Morgan scores five as U.S. beat Thailand with record 13-0 win

Striker Alex Morgan scored five times as holders the United States began their World Cup campaign with a record 13-0 win over Thailand on Tuesday. The Group F result was the largest margin of victory in either the men's or women's World Cup. Dodgers OF Bellinger leads majors in All-Star voting

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger leads all major league players in voting for next month's All-Star Game with nearly 1.2 million votes. The 23-year-old Bellinger, who led the majors with a .353 batting average with 20 home runs entering Tuesday, has 1,189,380 votes. Second among all players is Milwaukee Brewers slugging outfielder Christian Yelich (1,057,855). Baseball star David Ortiz awake in Boston after surgery for Dominican shooting

David Ortiz, the retired baseball star who played for the Boston Red Sox, was awake and stable after undergoing surgery in Boston on Monday night for wounds suffered when he was shot in the Dominican Republic, his wife said on Tuesday. "He is stable, awake, and resting comfortably this morning," Tiffany Ortiz said in a statement released by the Red Sox. He was expected to remain in the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital for the next few days, she said. Soccer: Late strikes spare Sweden's blushes in 2-0 win over Chile

Kosovare Asllani and Madelen Janogy scored late on as fancied Sweden labored to a 2-0 victory over women’s World Cup debutants Chile in their Group F encounter at Roazhon Park in Rennes on Tuesday. The match was interrupted for 45 minutes by lightning and torrential rain in the second half, but Chile had to weather a storm of a different sort on the pitch as Sweden enjoyed the majority of possession and chances. Drivers will be used only sparingly at Pebble Beach

Hitting a driver long and straight is one of golf's special skills, but not one that will be on display very often at this week's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where the biggest club in a player's arsenal will likely be used only sparingly. The famous coastal California course presents a starkly different test than Bethpage Black, the site of last month's PGA Championship, a long course where hitting driver was an absolute necessity on all but a few holes. Report: Davis wants deal to Lakers or Knicks

Klutch Sports and Anthony Davis envision the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks as the only fitting destinations for the All-Star center. According to The Athletic, Davis narrowed his official preferred list of four teams submitted to the Pelicans at the 2019 All-Star break to only two. Still, Davis has no say in the matter based on his existing contract. He could choose to instruct Rich Paul and Klutch Sports to inform suitors he will not sign beyond next season, but the same message of uncertainty didn't halt the Toronto Raptors' 2018 pursuit of Kawhi Leonard.