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Venus Williams Loses at Indian Wells. Naomi Osaka Advances

Venus Williams of the US leaves the court after losing to Nao Hibino of Japan during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 07, 2024 in Indian Wells, California. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP
Venus Williams of the US leaves the court after losing to Nao Hibino of Japan during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 07, 2024 in Indian Wells, California. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP
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Venus Williams Loses at Indian Wells. Naomi Osaka Advances

Venus Williams of the US leaves the court after losing to Nao Hibino of Japan during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 07, 2024 in Indian Wells, California. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP
Venus Williams of the US leaves the court after losing to Nao Hibino of Japan during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 07, 2024 in Indian Wells, California. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP

Venus Williams played a match on tour for the first time in about six months on Thursday, and the 43-year-old owner of seven Grand Slam titles gave away the lead and the last 10 games in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 loss to qualifier Nao Hibino at the BNP Paribas Open.
Williams hadn't competed anywhere since a first-round exit at the US Open on Aug. 29. That 6-1, 6-1 defeat against Greet Minnen was the American's most lopsided loss in 100 career matches at the major tournament she won in 2000 and 2001.
When Thursday's defeat ended with Williams getting broken for the seventh time in 12 service games, she walked to the net to congratulate Hibino, then left the court with a smile and a wave as much of the sparse crowd stood to applaud, The Associated Press reported.
Williams, once ranked No. 1 and now outside the top 450, won her most recent Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2008 and has played sparingly in recent years, in part because of injuries. Her most recent appearance at Indian Wells came in 2019.
She still can offer stinging serves and big backhands, but her performance this time was filled with mistakes, including 10 double-faults.
The match was interrupted by heavy rain after they completed just two games in windy and chilly conditions Wednesday night. When play resumed about 14 hours after the suspension, the sun was out, the temperature rose above 70 degrees (20 Celsius) and Williams no longer needed the long-sleeved white top and black leggings she used the night before.
The 80th-ranked Hibino, who came into this match with an 0-3 career record at Indian Wells, will meet No. 17 seed Veronika Kudermetova in the second round.
On Day 2 in the desert, with a packed scheduled because of the previous night's weather, winners included four-time Grand Slam title winner Naomi Osaka, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, 2018 Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki and 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins. Next for Collins is a matchup with No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who edged her in three sets at the Australian Open in January, while Osaka's 6-3, 6-1 victory over qualifier Sara Errani allowed her to move on to face No. 14 Liudmila Samsononva.
Among the men, three-time major champ Stan Wawrinka was edged 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2 by 63rd-ranked Tomas Machac, and Gael Monfils, qualifier Lucas Pouille, Borna Coric and 19-year-old American Alex Michelsen won.
There was rain at night again, halting play for about 2 1/2 hours, before resuming a little past 9:30 p.m. local time.
Rafael Nadal was supposed to play in his first tour match since January on Thursday night, but he withdrew from the tournament on Wednesday.

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US Men's Basketball Team Builds Gig Lead then Holds off Australia for 98-92 win in Olympics Tuneup

Jock Landale scored 20 for Australia, which got 17 from Josh Giddey and 14 from Dyson Daniels, The AP reported. The AP
Jock Landale scored 20 for Australia, which got 17 from Josh Giddey and 14 from Dyson Daniels, The AP reported. The AP
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US Men's Basketball Team Builds Gig Lead then Holds off Australia for 98-92 win in Olympics Tuneup

Jock Landale scored 20 for Australia, which got 17 from Josh Giddey and 14 from Dyson Daniels, The AP reported. The AP
Jock Landale scored 20 for Australia, which got 17 from Josh Giddey and 14 from Dyson Daniels, The AP reported. The AP

There was a lot for the US Olympic team to like on Monday. And a lot not to like.

Anthony Davis scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Tyrese Haliburton came up with a pair of late 3-pointers that helped stop a freefall by the Americans, and the US beat Australia 98-92 on Monday to improve to 2-0 in its five-game slate of exhibitions leading into the Paris Olympics.

Devin Booker scored 16 for the US, Anthony Edwards scored 14 and three players — LeBron James, Bam Adebayo and Joel Embiid — finished with 10 for the Americans, who are playing host to a pair of exhibitions at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, this week. They'll play Serbia there on Wednesday.

Jock Landale scored 20 for Australia, which got 17 from Josh Giddey and 14 from Dyson Daniels, The AP reported.

The US led by 24 midway through the third quarter, yet saw that lead cut to six with 5:05 left after Australia went on a 39-21 run. But Haliburton had the next six points on his 3s, pushing the lead back to 92-80.

Australia cut it to four on two separate occasions, but Booker went 4-for-4 from the line in the final 8 seconds to ensure the US would escape.

“Third quarter, we started turning the ball over," US coach Steve Kerr said. "We gave up a ton of points at the basket. Back cuts, offensive boards and so, the game shifted. It's a good lesson for us. Better to learn that lesson now than later. And this will be a good tape for us to watch. But I give Australia a ton of credit. They were great. They fought. They were really physical. Took it to us in the last quarter and a half and really made it a game.”

Second unit, again Just like in the Canada game, the so-called second unit — Haliburton, Jrue Holiday, Adebayo, Davis and Booker — changed the game.

That was the group on the floor when the Americans took a game that was tied at 19-19 with 3:15 left in the first and turned it into a 39-23 lead — a 20-4 run in a span of just over 5 minutes.

Kerr used that group as his starting five to open the second half. But it’s become a clear trend already: when the US goes to its bench and can replace All-Stars with other All-Stars, it’s just going to be a massive problem for opponents who don’t have anywhere near that same level of depth.

“The strength of our team is our depth and we have to utilize our depth,” Kerr said.

It’s been something the Americans have used to their advantage in the past. Dwyane Wade led the gold-medalist 2008 US Olympic team in points, even though he was sixth in minutes on that team and came off the bench in all eight games.

Turnovers Here’s the big trouble sign right now for the US: turnovers.

FIBA games are shorter than NBA games, 40 minutes instead of 48 minutes. That means there are fewer possessions and makes it even more imperative to not give the ball away.

Which the Americans did. A lot.

After committing 15 turnovers in last week's exhibition win over Canada, the US had 18 giveaways on Monday and Australia used them to fuel the comeback effort — getting 25 points off turnovers in the second half alone.

“Our turnovers, it's all about focus and execution,” Davis said.

Injury watch Kevin Durant missed his second consecutive game because of a calf strain, and with only one practice between games it wouldn’t seem likely that he plays Wednesday against Serbia either.

Derrick White, who arrived in Abu Dhabi over the weekend and got into his first practice with the team on Sunday, also didn’t play. White replaced Kawhi Leonard — who deals with knee issues — on the US roster after the Americans determined last week that it wasn’t in Leonard’s best interest to play this summer.