Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Nadal pulls out of Shanghai Masters with wrist injury

Rafa Nadal has pulled out of the Shanghai Masters due to a wrist injury that cut short his participation in last month's Laver Cup, the world number two said on Friday. The 33-year-old, who claimed his 19th Grand Slam title at this year's U.S. Open, said that he had not had enough time to practice sufficiently due to inflammation in his left wrist

Djokovic blasts past Pouille into Tokyo semi-finals

World number one Novak Djokovic continued his dominant form in Tokyo to storm past Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-1 6-2 and into the semi-finals of the Japan Open Tennis Championships on Friday. Serbian Djokovic has served with ruthless efficiency in his previous two matches and more of the same was on display as the 32-year-old fired eight aces and won 82% of points on his first serve to swat aside fifth seed Pouille in 50 minutes.

Healthy Koepka falls behind at Shriners

Brooks Koepka is healthy again but his game was ailing as he shot a mediocre one-under-par 70 in his first start of the new PGA Tour season at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas on Thursday. A day after revealing he had undergone stem cell treatment on a troublesome left knee, Koepka was far from his best at TPC Summerlin, trailing early Canadian leader Nick Taylor by seven strokes.

NFL notebook: Jets' Darnold (mono) hopes to play Sunday

New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold is preparing to return from mononucleosis to start Sunday's game in Philadelphia, but he will yield to doctors if they determine that playing would risk his safety. "I wanna make sure that I'm safe out there, and that, you know, I'm not gonna die," Darnold told reporters Thursday with a light laugh.

NHL roundup: Lightning win eighth straight home opener

Reigning NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov tallied a goal and an assist, and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded 35 saves to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a season-opening 5-2 win over the visiting Florida Panthers on Thursday night. Winners of last year's Presidents' Trophy in a 62-16-4 season, Tampa Bay never trailed and pulled away by scoring three times in the third period for their eighth straight win in a home opener.

Kubica's F1 sponsor questions Williams' actions

The Williams Formula One team defended their decision to retire Robert Kubica's car from last Sunday's Russian Grand Prix after the Polish driver's sponsors demanded an explanation on Thursday. Kubica, 34, has already announced he is leaving the struggling former world champions at the end of the season and Polish state-run oil refiner PKN Orlen are set to go with him.

Formula One plays down talk of new teams from 2021

Formula One has played down talk of new teams lining up on the starting grid in 2021, saying there were currently 'no serious discussions' about such a move. The Liberty Media-controlled sport issued a statement after some would-be entrants aired plans to enter once changes aimed at leveling the playing field and making racing more competitive and affordable come into force.

Athletics-Germany's Kaul wins thrilling decathlon battle

Germany's Niklas Kaul survived a grueling battle to win the world championship decathlon gold on Thursday after the event was blown wide open by the withdrawal of injured defending champion Kevin Mayer. Even with French world record holder Mayer out of the way with a hamstring problem, it was far from smooth sailing for Kaul on a rollercoaster day that saw a different name at the top the leaderboard after each of the five events.

WADA suspends Athens anti-doping laboratory

Greece's Doping Control Laboratory in Athens has been suspended for up to six months by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after non-conformities were found during an inspection. In a statement WADA said the Athens lab had not met the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL), including "in relation to the lack of institutional support and investment for the laboratory".

Basketball: No panic as Mystics await injured Delle Donne's WNBA Finals status

An injury to Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne could flip the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals on its head but the team are refusing to panic as they contemplate life without the game's best player. The reigning WNBA Most Valuable Player was diagnosed with a herniated disk after leaving early during a Game Two loss to the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday that tied the best-of-five series at one game apiece.