Tennis superstar Roger Federer will play in Boston for the first time in his career at Laver Cup 2020 on Sept. 25-27 at TD Garden, it was announced Friday. The 20-time Grand Slam champion will represent Team Europe for the fourth edition of the three-day event, which pits six of the best players from Europe, captained by Bjorn Borg, against six of their counterparts from the rest of the world, led by John McEnroe. Federer, 38, has been part of the winning Team Europe side since the inaugural Laver Cup in Prague in 2017. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m., Friday, March 6, via Ticketmaster . . . Novak Djokovic saved three consecutive match points to beat Gael Monfils, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-1, and set up a Dubai Championships final showdown against Stefanos Tsitsipas in United Arab Emirates. Djokovic will be playing for his fifth Dubai title. In the other semifinal, Tsitsipas beat Daniel Evans of Britain, 6-2, 6-3 . . . Petra Kvitova beat No. 1-ranked Ashleigh Barty to play for her second Qatar Open title in Doha. Kvitova won, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, and will face Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in Saturday’s final. Sabalenka beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4, 6-3, in their semifinal.
NHL
Rangers’ Kreider has a fractured foot
New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider could miss significant time after suffering a fractured foot in the first period against the Flyers on Friday night. He appeared to get hurt when he blocked a shot by Phillippe Myers. The Rangers later tweeted about the fracture and said Kreider wouldn’t return to the game. Kreider, 28, just signed a seven-year contract extension reportedly worth $45 million on Monday.
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BASEBALL
Latest injury upsets Yankees’ Stanton
New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is upset over his latest injury, a strained right calf that could sideline him for Opening Day. “It makes it seem like I didn’t take care of myself, which makes it more frustrating,’’ Stanton said. Stanton was hurt Tuesday during outfield drills, and an MRI revealed a Grade 1 strain, the least serious on the scale. Known for his strenous workouts, Stanton played in just 18 games last season due a number of injuries, and he hit .288 with three homers in 59 at-bats. . . . Righthander Freddy Peralta finalized a five-year deal with Milwaukee which covers club salary control and three years of arbitration eligibility for the 23-year-old righthander.
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Mets’ Nimmo returns to the lineup
Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo was cleared to play by a cardiologist, two days after undergoing a series of tests and monitoring that included 24 hours with a wearable device. Nimmo, 26, who was was removed from the lineup before Wednesday’s game against Houston, played center field and went 1 for 2 in the Mets’ 3-2 win over the Cardinals in Port St. Lucie, Fla. . . . Kansas City catcher Salvador Pérez, who underwent Tommy John surgery last March after he injured his right elbow during spring training drills, caught the first four innings of the Royals’ 3-1 loss to San Francisco in Sunrise, Fla. It marked the first time the six-time All-Star was behind the plate since Sept. 26, 2018 . . . Johnny Antonelli, a five-time All-Star who was a key pitcher on the World Series-winning New York Giants in 1954, died at age 89 in Rochester, N.Y. The lefthander won 126 games in 12 seasons, including his memorable 1954, when he had a 21-7 record and NL-leading 2.30 ERA. The Rochester native made his debut with the Boston Braves in 1948 at age 18.
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Antonelli’s best years came with the Giants, and he was part of the franchise when it made the move to San Francisco after the 1957 season. He missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons due to military service.
MISCELLANY
China’s Yang banned for eight years
Three-time Olympic champion Sun Yang was banned for eight years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, likely ending the 28-year-old’s racing days before he could defend his 200-meter freestyle title at the Tokyo Games. Yang, China’s greatest swimmer, was found guilty of refusing to cooperate with sample collectors during a visit to his home in September 2018 that turned confrontational . . . Reserves Rio Haskett (19 points) and freshman Chris Ledlum (15) combined to score 34 points as the Harvard men’s basketball team (19-7, 8-3 Ivy League) defeated Columbia, 77-69, in New York. Mike Smith had 34 points for Columbia (6-21, 1-10) . . . A University of Michigan hotline has received more than 100 “unique complaints” about a late physician accused of sexual abuse by former patients, including athletes who encountered him as a team doctor, the school announced. In a statement released with the updated total, a spokesman urged others to contact the university. The university’s president apologized last week to “anyone who was harmed” by Dr. Robert E. Anderson. His comment came a day after the school announced it was investigating abuse allegations against Anderson by five former patients.
Owners of the Los Angeles Football Club have partially bought out a stake held by Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan in a deal that values the club at more than $700 million, the most ever for a MLS team, according to people familiar with the situation. A handful of the club’s current owners, who bought half of Tan’s 20 percent stake, plans to buy the other half internally as well. The Russian Athletics Federation elected a state aircraft executive as president on Friday with the goal of getting the national team reinstated in time for the Tokyo Olympics. Yevgeny Yurchenko, who has little experience in sports management, was the only candidate in the race — three others withdrew from the election this month — and vowed to rebuild Russia’s track and field body . . . New Zealand’s Corbin Strong, 19, lapped the field early in the points race on Day Three of the track cycling worlds at the Berlin Velodrome, then maintained his lead with crucial points in the intermediate sprints to win the gold medal. In other events, Emma Hinze of Germany won the women’s sprint and Yumi Kajihara was the surprising winner of the women’s omnium after a crash took out several top contenders. Sam Ligtlee of the Netherlands took gold in the men’s 1-kilometer time trial.
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