Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tennis-Australian Open tiptoes around vaccination minefield

Torn between a love of sport, public health fears and Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam record bid, Australia is suffering a bout of hesitancy as it considers whether unvaccinated players should be allowed to compete at the Australian Open. For officials tasked with making such decisions, the ball seems to be in everyone’s court but their own.

Tennis-Raducanu battles past Hercog to secure first WTA Tour victory

U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu had to work hard for her first win on the WTA Tour after her fairytale New York triumph as she recovered from a set down to beat world number 124 Polona Hercog 4-6 7-5 6-1 in the Transylvania Open in Romania on Tuesday. Raducanu announced herself on the grandest stage when she claimed the Flushing Meadows title as a qualifier last month, but the 18-year-old Briton lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in straight sets at Indian Wells.

NFL-League says 94.1% of players have received COVID-19 vaccine

The National Football League (NFL) said on Tuesday that 94.1% of its players had received the COVID-19 vaccine, a slight uptick since the regular season kicked off last month. The league and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) were at odds over COVID-19 protocols at the start of the season, with the NFLPA rebuffing the league’s calls for a vaccine mandate and instead advocating for daily testing.

NBA roundup: Jayson Tatum (41) powers Celts to OT win over Hornets

Jayson Tatum poured in 41 points, Jaylen Brown added 30 and the Boston Celtics rallied to end the host Charlotte Hornets’ perfect start with a 140-129 overtime win on Monday night. After Dennis Schroder tied it at 129 on a 3-pointer with 2:41 left in overtime, Brown added a trey of his own and followed it with an emphatic dunk at the 1:21 mark. Schroder added four consecutive free throws and Tatum made two to put the game away.

Olympics-Britain expects fully vaccinated team for Beijing

Britain expects to take a fully vaccinated team of 57 athletes to February’s Beijing Winter Olympics, chef de mission Georgie Harland said as the countdown reached 100 days to go on Wednesday. Vaccination is not mandatory for participants but athletes and officials who are not jabbed for COVID-19 must spend 21 days in quarantine, with some case-by-case exceptions for medical reasons.

Olympics-Lululemon on a mission as company kits out Canadian athletes

Lululemon (LULU.O) staged a splashy unveiling of the team kit Canadian Olympic athletes will wear at the Beijing Winter Games on Tuesday, while citing a mission statement that appears at odds with China’s alleged treatment of minorities. Following Roots (ROOT.TO) and the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC.TO), Lululemon is the latest iconic Canadian brand to fit out the country’s Olympic athletes but does so as human rights activists and consumer groups turn up the pressure on sponsors and governments to boycott the Feb. 4-20 Beijing Games.

Sailing-Para sailors set sights on Los Angeles Games return

Sailing is charting a course to be reinstated at the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028, with a focus on improving diversity, inclusion, affordability and development. World Sailing, the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said on Tuesday it would also include a #BacktheBid social media drive.

ATP roundup: Stefanos Tsitsipas survives opener in Vienna

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece saved three set points in the first set to take down Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (6), 6-4 in a first-round match Tuesday at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria. Tsitsipas withstood 10 aces from Dmitrov and saved all four break points he faced in the one-hour, 42-minute win. He next faces Frances Tiafoe, who defeated Tsitsipas earlier this year in straight sets at Wimbledon. Tiafoe reached the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

Tennis-Unvaccinated players allowed into Australia for Open – PM

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said unvaccinated tennis players would be allowed to enter the country to play at the Australian Open in February if they underwent a mandatory two-week COVID-19 quarantine. Morrison’s comments contradicted those of his immigration minister Alex Hawke, who said last week that tennis players and other athletes would have to be double vaccinated to enter the country.

Doping-‘Operation Hercules’ finds Ukraine warned athletes of tests

Ukraine’s National Anti-Doping Centre (NADC) had athletes make appointments for unannounced tests and warned others of when they would be tested, according to a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) independent investigation released on Tuesday. The investigation code named ‘Operation Hercules’ and launched in 2019 uncovered evidence the NADC had given advance warning to athletes of tests going as far back as 2012.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)