Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Red Bull secure Verstappen for the next four years

Max Verstappen has signed to stay at Red Bull until the end of 2023 in a clear vote of confidence in the former world champions' Formula One title potential and their Honda partnership. The announcement on Tuesday leaves two of the top three teams with young driver talent secure for the long-term, with Ferrari announcing in December that Charles Leclerc was staying to 2024. Swiss climate activists appear in court over Credit Suisse 'tennis' protest

A dozen Swiss climate activists appeared in court on Tuesday after refusing to pay a fine for playing tennis inside branches of Credit Suisse bank last year in a stunt intended to highlight the bank's fossil fuel investments and "stop people acting like nothing is happening." The young activists, mostly students, were fined 21,600 Swiss francs ($22,254) for trespassing at Credit Suisse branches in November 2018. Lawyers for the students who are appealing the fine said on Tuesday they were acting as whistleblowers for the climate emergency. Panthers set to name Rhule head coach

Matt Rhule is expected to be named head coach of the Carolina Panthers. According to multiple reports Tuesday, Rhule agreed to take the job and will be introduced this week. NBA roundup: Spurs hand Bucks worst loss of season

DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points, and Patty Mills had 21 off the bench as the San Antonio Spurs routed the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 126-104 on Monday night to snap a two-game losing streak. The Spurs led by 10 points after three quarters and ran their advantage to 16 points early in the final period. Milwaukee closed to within 100-89 with 8:12 to play but never made a serious run down the stretch. Kyrgios keeps calm to outlast Tsitsipas at ATP Cup

Australian Nick Kyrgios outlasted world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(7) 6-7(3) 7-6(5) after an intense duel to seal the tie for the hosts against Greece at the inaugural ATP Cup team event in Brisbane on Tuesday. Kyrgios slammed a backhand winner on matchpoint and fell on his back to celebrate his second win in as many meetings against the ATP Finals champion as the partisan crowd at the Pat Rafter Arena roared on. Predators fire coach Laviolette, associate McCarthy

The Nashville Predators fired head coach Peter Laviolette after five-plus seasons behind the bench, the team announced Monday. Associate coach Kevin McCarthy was also dismissed by the Predators, who sport a 19-15-7 record this season and reside in sixth place in the Central Division. NHL roundup: McDavid nets 4 points, Oilers snap Leafs' streak

Connor McDavid had a dazzling goal and three assists, and the visiting Edmonton Oilers snapped the Toronto Maple Leafs' 10-game point streak with a 6-4 win on Monday night. McDavid's goal put the game away at 11:26 of the third. He entered the zone one-on-one with defenseman Morgan Rielly looking as if he intended to pass, then sharply juked left, scooted by Rielly and finished in the top left corner. Federer record is huge motivation for Nadal, says Corretja

Matching Roger Federer's record Grand Slam haul will act as huge motivation for Rafael Nadal going into this month's Australian Open, according to his fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja. Nadal added two Grand Slam titles to his total last year to move to 19, one behind his Swiss rival, and at the age of 33 looks as hungry as ever to add to his tally. Australian Open matches to be confined to indoor courts if conditions turn hazardous

Action at the Australian Open will be confined to the three stadiums with retractable roofs and eight indoor courts if conditions become hazardous due to the bushfire crisis, organizers of the Grand Slam event said on Tuesday. Huge bushfires in New South Wales and Victoria have burnt through more than 25.5 million acres of land, killed 25 people and left thousands homeless. Serena breezes into second round in Auckland

Top seed Serena Williams kick-started her Auckland Classic singles campaign with an easy 6-3 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi on Tuesday. Playing her first singles match since losing last year's U.S. Open final to Bianca Andreescu, the 38-year-old Williams fired eight aces and was hardly troubled by Giorgi.