Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tennis-Switzerland set up Billie Jean King Cup final with Russia

Belinda Bencic overwhelmed Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3 6-2 on Friday to help lead Switzerland into a Billie Jean King Cup final showdown with four-time champions Russia. Switzerland reached the final for the first time since 1998 after Jil Teichmann romped to a 6-0 6-3 victory over Storm Sanders before Bencic handed the Swiss an unbeatable 2-0 lead by dispatching Tomljanovic in front of American great Billie Jean King, who watched on from the stands.

Tennis-Osaka hints at return with photos of her back on court

Naomi Osaka hinted she had resumed training after posting photos of herself standing on a tennis court and holding a racket. The Japanese former world number one said she was taking a break from the sport to focus on her mental health following her shock third-round exit at the U.S. Open in September.

Former USC athletic official pleads guilty ahead of U.S. college scam trial

A former senior associate athletic director at the University of Southern California pleaded guilty on Friday to participating in a vast fraud and bribery scheme that allowed wealthy parents’ children to gain admission to colleges as fake sports recruits. Donna Heinel, 60, had been set to go before a federal jury in Boston later this month in the second trial to arise from the U.S. college admissions scandal. She instead pleaded guilty to committing honest services wire fraud.

Baseball-Baker to return as Astros manager in 2022

Dusty Baker will manage the Houston Astros again next year after the veteran skipper and the World Series runners-up agreed to a one-year contract, the team announced on Friday. Baker led the team to the American League Championship Series in 2020 and the World Series this season before falling to the Atlanta Braves in the Fall Classic on Tuesday.

Motor racing-Horner indicates Red Bull could dash Perez’s home win hopes

Red Bull boss Christian Horner emphasised on Friday that team orders were a part of Formula One and refused to rule out telling Mexican Sergio Perez to give up a home victory this weekend. No Mexican driver has ever won a home grand prix but Perez has a winning car and has been on the podium in his last two races.

Motor racing-Hamilton and Raikkonen reprimanded for bollard error

Formula One world champions Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen collected reprimands on Friday for going off track and then failing to return correctly in first practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Three reprimands in the course of a season trigger a 10-place grid penalty but Friday’s was a first of 2021 for both drivers.

Olympics-PETA urges IOC to modernise and drop equine events from Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) must recognise that immediate change is needed and should drop equine competitions from future Olympic Games, animal advocacy group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said on Friday. PETA, which made a similar request in August during the Tokyo Games after acts of cruelty to horses, said it would step up its pressure by asking supporters to contact the IOC directly and urge it to “modernise.”

Athletics-Runners cheer return of New York City Marathon

With sports stadiums packed full of fans and the bright lights of Broadway shining bright again, another ‘Big Apple’ institution returns from a COVID-19 hiatus on Sunday with the 50th running of the New York City Marathon. Last year’s marathon was cancelled due to the pandemic and while this year’s race will take place under an array of health and safety protocols competitors see its return as a sign of life getting back to normal.

NFL-Packers QB Rodgers denies he lied about his COVID-19 vaccine status

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who tested positive for COVID-19 this week, insisted he did not lie when he told reporters in August that he was “immunized” in response to a question about whether he had taken the COVID-19 vaccine. The Packers placed Rodgers on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday and as a result he will miss Sunday’s game against the defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Tennis-Djokovic, Medvedev and Zverev reach Paris semis

Novak Djokovic stayed on course for a sixth Paris Masters title with 6-4 6-3 win over American Taylor Fritz while world number two Daniil Medvedev tamed home crowd favourite Hugo Gaston 7-6(7) 6-4 to reach the semi-finals on Friday. Alexander Zverev made sure three of the world’s top four will compete in the last four after he toppled Casper Ruud 7-5 6-4 while Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz dug deep to beat Australian James Duckworth 6-2 6-7(4) 7-5.

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