Sports News Roundup: America's Cup; 2034 World Cup bid; Kyrgios the hottest ticket in town and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

NBA notebook: Durant opts out, will hit free agency

NBA superstar Kevin Durant has declined his $31.5 million player option with the Golden State Warriors and will become an unrestricted free agent, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday. The 30-year-old forward and his business manager Rich Kleiman are in New York evaluating free agency options, according to the report. Free agency begins Sunday.

U.S. beat Panama to set up Curacao tie in last eight

Jozy Altidore scored a memorable second-half goal to help the United States to a 1-0 win over Panama on Wednesday and set them up for a quarter-final match against Curacao. Altidore's 42nd strike for the national side with an overhead kick just four meters from goal broke the deadlock 19 minutes into the second period and guaranteed the United States first place in Group D.

Former Olympic kayaker Ferguson to defend America's Cup

Former Olympic swimmer and kayaker Steven Ferguson has become the latest top-class athlete to join Team New Zealand as they confirmed their squad for the defense of the America's Cup in 2021 in Auckland. The 39-year-old, who is the son of four-time Olympic gold medal-winning kayaker Ian Ferguson, was selected as a grinder on the new 75-foot foiling monohull, Team New Zealand said on Thursday.

ATP roundup: Fritz upsets top seed in Eastbourne

Taylor Fritz upended top-seeded Guido Pella of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne, England. The 21-year-old American fired five of his 13 aces in the deciding set. Pella survived three match points before Fritz finished the upset in one hour, 58 minutes. Fritz will face Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, a 6-3, 7-6 (6) winner over American Steve Johnson.

Australia, Indonesia held talks for joint 2034 World Cup bid

Australia has held discussions with Indonesia about making a joint bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, Football Federation Australia (FFA) said on Thursday. "Football Federation Australia confirms it has held discussions with the Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) about the possibility to jointly bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup," the FFA said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

Trump signs order to allow military academy graduates to play pro sports

President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Wednesday to allow graduates of the U.S. military academies to play professional sports before fulfilling their two-year active-duty military requirement. Trump's memo to the secretary of defense reverses a Pentagon requirement that prevented sports stars at the U.S. Military Academy, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy from joining professional teams immediately after graduation and hurt recruiting of top athletes at the schools.

Trump criticizes Rapinoe for spurning potential White House invite

United States President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to criticize U.S women's soccer team co-captain Megan Rapinoe for saying she would not visit the White House if the team won the World Cup. Defending champions the United States face hosts France in the quarter-finals on Friday.

MLB notebook: Stanton on IL, to miss London trip

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is returning to the 10-day injured list with a strained right posterior cruciate ligament and will miss this weekend's trip to London, manager Aaron Boone told reporters Wednesday. Boone told reporters that Stanton would be re-evaluated in 10 days.

Don't care: Kyrgios the hottest ticket in town

Perhaps, in years to come, tennis fans will yearn for the days of "characters like Nick Kyrgios", just as they do for John McEnroe, the one-time Superbrat everyone loved to hate who is now embraced as a lovable rogue from the golden age. Maybe the Australian will publish an autobiography titled "Bothered" (as in not), just as McEnroe did with "Serious" (as in "you cannot be", his most famous outburst of all).

Angels' Ohtani back on mound ahead of 2020 return

Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani was finally back on the mound Wednesday -- but don't expect his actual pitching comeback to begin until 2020. Ohtani threw 40 pitches off a mound at an estimated 50-per cent intensity, 10 of which were delivered to a catcher in a squatting position, Wednesday at Angel Stadium. But he will not be back as a pitcher during 2019, according to Angels manager Brad Ausmus.