LONDON, July 11: Rafael Nadal kept getting pushed to the brink of defeat. He kept resisting. He dropped the first two sets, then won the next two. He erased two match points in the riveting fifth set's 10th game, then another two in its 20th game. Only when his fourth-round match against 16th-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg stretched past 4½ hours, the sunlight fading, did Nadal blink.

LONDON, July 6: Madison Brengle knew, of course, that her opponent, Petra Kvitova, was a two-time Wimbledon champion and a popular pick to win the title again this year.

PARIS, June 7: Novak Djokovic’s French Open title defense ended with a surprisingly lopsided 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-0 quarterfinal loss to sixth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, July 26: The International Canoe Federation has barred five Russian canoeists from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics including Olympic champion Alexander Dyachenko after they were named in a report alleging a state-sponsored doping cover-up.

KATHMANDU, July 15: Nabita Shrestha, one of the five nominees of the People's Choice Award category of Pulsar Sports Award 2072, is at her career best. The tennis queen has ruled the board at domestic level since last seven years remaining unbeaten.