AP Sports SummaryBrief at 5:43 a.m. EST

Injured Djokovic quits mid-match and walks off to boos, putting Zverev in the Australian Open final MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) An injured Novak Djokovic has quit after dropping the first set of his Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic lost the opening set 7-6 (5) in a tiebreaker Friday and immediately walked around the net to concede the match to Zverev.

Fans booed as Djokovic walked off toward the locker room, and he responded by giving two thumbs-up.

Djokovic, who was bidding for an 11th championship at the Australian Open and record 25th Grand Slam title overall, hurt his left leg during his quarterfinal victory against Carlos Alcaraz.

The No.

2-seeded Zverev reached his third Grand Slam final and first at Melbourne Park.

The AP NFL MVP finalists are Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Saquon Barkley are finalists for The Associated Press 2024 NFL Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year awards.

Josh Allen and Jared Goff also are MVP finalists while Burrow is also in the running for Comeback Player of the Year.

Ja'Marr Chase and Derrick Henry are the other finalists for the Offensive Player award.

The winners will be announced at NFL Honors on Feb.

6.

A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the playoffs began.

Jaguars on the verge of hiring Bucs OC Liam Coen as their head coach, AP source says JACKSONVILLE, Fla.

(AP) The Jacksonville Jaguars are on the verge of hiring Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen as the eighth head coach in franchise history.

Coen left Jacksonville without a contract, but a person familiar with the search says it's expected to come together Friday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither side has confirmed the decision.

It would cap a covert operation that included owner Shad Khan moving on from general manager Trent Baalke and Coen reversing course with the Buccaneers.

Khan fired Baalke on Wednesday to clear a path for Coen to land in Jacksonville.

LeBron James picked for 21st straight All-Star Game, extending NBA record LeBron James is extending his All-Star records.

The NBA revealed the starters some of them, anyway for the revamped All-Star Game on Thursday night, and there wasnt much in the way of surprises.

James is now officially an All-Star for the 21st year.

The other starters are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Ichiro Suzuki wants to have a drink with writer who left him off Hall of Fame ballot COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.

(AP) Ichiro Suzuki wants to raise a glass with the voter who chose not to check off his name on the Hall of Fame ballot.

Speaking through a translator, Suzuki says: I would like to invite him over to my house, and well have a drink together, and well have a good chat.

Suzuki had been to the Hall seven times before attending a news conference with fellow electees CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

The trio will be inducted on July 27 along with Dave Parker and Dick Allen, voted in last month by the classic era committee.

The new Champions League format appears to be leveling the playing field.

Just ask Man City MANCHESTER, England (AP) A bold new vision for the Champions League was launched this season.

It has involved more games and more money for European soccers elite in a rebuttal to the threat of a controversial breakaway super league.

The new-look format was intended to be about more than just further enriching the sports wealthiest clubs.

It was intended to deliver more drama, more competition and more entertainment to fans than in its previous guise, which was widely deemed to have become stale as the same teams routinely advanced beyond the old group stage.

The introduction of a 36-team league phase of the competition has provided shock results and left some of Europes giants in danger of early elimination.

Nikola Jokic hits 66-foot heave to highlight his 5th straight triple-double DENVER (AP) Nikola Jokic took an inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left in the third quarter, turned and let fly with a 66-foot heave that got all net at the other end.

He casually walked over to his bench as his teammates mobbed him and the sold-out arena erupted.

It appeared to be a footnote in what looked like a Denver Nuggets blowout win Thursday night.

Denver led Sacramento 110-85 at that point but had to hold off a late rally to pull out a 132-123 victory over the Kings, its fourth straight.

Jokic finished with 35 points, 22 rebounds and a season-high 17 assists, and the shot from three-quarters court stood out among his 12 field goals.

Welcome home, Wemby: As expected, Spurs' star gets a hero's welcome in Paris PARIS (AP) The first enormous roar from the crowd came before the game even started.

All Victor Wembanyama needed to do to get the fans in Paris into a full-blown frenzy was, it turned out, say hello into a microphone.

The roar just from that lasted about 30 seconds.

Welcome home, Wemby.

For the first time as an NBA player, Wembanyama played in his homeland on Thursday the star attraction in this two-game set of games between San Antonio and Indiana, a series that concludes on Saturday night.

Ovechkin moves within 20 goals of breaking Wayne Gretzkys NHL record, Capitals beat Kraken 3-0 SEATTLE (AP) Alex Ovechkin moved within 20 goals of breaking Wayne Gretzkys NHL record with an empty-netter, helping the Washington Capitals beat the Seattle Kraken 3-0 on Thursday night for their sixth straight victory.

Ovechkin scored his 22nd goal of the season to push his career total to 875.

Gretzky scored 894 goals in the NHL.

Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves in his first start since Jan.

10 for his first shutout of the season and the NHL-leading Capitals third in five games after Logan Thompson blanked Anaheim and Ottawa in consecutive games last week.

Aliaksei Protas and Ethen Frank also scored.

Joey Daccord made 30 saves for Seattle in his fifth straight start and 100th NHL game.

Ludvig Aberg, Lanto Griffin share lead after fierce coastal wind interrupts Farmers Insurance Open SAN DIEGO (AP) Ludvig Aberg and Lanto Griffin shared the lead Thursday at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open after ferocious wind forced an 86-minute delay and prevented dozens of players from finishing the second round.

First-round leader Aberg fought to a 3-over 75, while Griffin had a 72 to sit even with Aberg at 6-under 138.

Danny Walker was 5 under, while Chris Gotterup had a 69 to match the days best round and join Hayden Springer and Sungjae Im at 4 under.

The players battled strong, inconsistent wind gusts measured at more than 35 mph on the famed coastal course better known for foggy marine layers than disruptive weather.

Some gusts moved stationary balls and ripped hats off heads before marshals suspended play..

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