Sports News Roundup: Serena ready for Svitolina challenge; MLB roundup: Dodgers break NL homer record

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Australia win Olympic berth as United States crush Japan

Australia continued their impressive form in the basketball World Cup with an 87-82 win over Lithuania and secured a berth in the 2020 Olympic Games while holders United States cruised to a 98-45 rout of Japan on Thursday. The Czech Republic stunned Turkey 91-76 to secure a last-16 berth in the 32-nation tournament in China and Greece joined them after overcoming a strong challenge from New Zealand in a 103-97 victory over the Tall Blacks.

Russia's Yandex signs multi-year agreement to stream NHL games

Russian internet firm Yandex and the National Hockey League (NHL) have reached a multi-year agreement for the streaming of all NHL games in Russia, they said on Thursday. Several prominent Russian national team players, including Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Evgeny Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, are highly popular in their native country.

Report: Leslie to be honored with Staples Center statue

Los Angeles Sparks legend Lisa Leslie will become the first female athlete honored with a statue outside the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. No date has been set for the unveiling, according to the report.

Exclusive: Aaron Rodgers has new MVP 'Mahomie' in State Farm ads

Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers on the same team? State Farm will release a new series of commercials -- three, 30-second spots -- two of which bring reigning NFL MVP Mahomes into the player-agent spat between Rodgers and his make-believe player rep Gabe Gabriel. The spots are a continuation of the plotline established in the 2018 ads which also includes a State Farm agent Rodgers won't leave home without.

Rugby: World Cup host city hoping for the best, prepared for the worst

Japan is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis and organizers of next month's Rugby World Cup hope their best-laid plans are not thrown into disarray by a natural disaster. "We are planning right through from what happens if a team hotel is lost, what happens if a training venue is lost, through to what happens if one or more match venues are lost," said Alan Gilpin, the tournament director of the event, in which 20 national teams battle for the title of world champion.

NFL notebook: Elliott lands 6-year, $90 million deal

Running back Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys agreed to a six-year, $90 million contracts on Wednesday, ending his five-week holdout and making him the highest-paid running back in NFL history. Elliott is in line to receive $50 million in guarantees, trumping the $45 million Todd Gurley received from the Los Angeles Rams, according to ESPN. Gurley's deal averages $14.4 million annually, compared to $15 million for Elliott.

Nadal into semis after big fight from Schwartzman

Diego Schwartzman may have been the smallest player in 25 years to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals but gave Rafa Nadal a big fight and forced the Spaniard to grind out a 6-4 7-5 6-2 win on Wednesday to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows. With Roger Federer and 2018 champion Novak Djokovic having already made exits, Nadal's path to a fourth U.S. Open trophy has been cleared of familiar hurdles.

Pasta-loving Berrettini hungry for U.S. Open success

There has been no shortage of talk at the U.S. Open about where the challenge to the domination of the Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer might come from and none of it included a burly 23-year-old pasta-loving Roman. But big-hitting Matteo Berrettini put himself into that conversation on Wednesday with a gritty, workmanlike effort that no doubt earned the approval of his Italian countrymen, battling past 13th seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils 3-6 6-3 6-2 3-6 7-6(5) to reach a first Grand Slam semi-final.

MLB roundup: Dodgers break NL homer record

Joc Pederson hit two more home runs Wednesday, and the Los Angeles Dodgers set a National League record for homers in a season during a 7-3 victory that gave them a three-game sweep over the visiting Colorado Rockies. The Rockies saw their losing streak reach a season-high nine games, during which they have allowed 82 runs.

Serena ready for Svitolina challenge; Bencic eyes final berth

Serena Williams has a record-tying 24th career Grand Slam title in reach but will face perhaps her toughest test so far at this year's U.S. Open when she meets Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals on Thursday. Williams needed just 44 minutes to complete her rout of China's Wang Qiang, who was making her Grand Slam quarter-final debut, but she knows a much tougher test awaits if she is to book a spot in Saturday's final.

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