Sparks rookie Brink suffers ACL tear

Sparks rookie Cameron Brink tore the ACL in her left knee, the team announced Wednesday. The former Stanford star had to be helped off the court after suffering the injury in the first quarter of the Sparks’ 79-70 road loss to the Sun on Tuesday night. Brink appeared to slip while driving to the basket at Mohegan Sun Arena in the first quarter. She had to be helped off the court after sustaining the injury. Once over to the sideline, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft hobbled toward the locker room, but was forced to stop as a result of the pain. A pair of Sparks personnel lifted Brink off her feet and carried her to the locker room. The 22-year-old Brink has started every game this season and entered Tuesday averaging 8.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. Her blocks average is tied for second most in the WNBA with Aces star A’ja Wilson. Brink, who won a national championship with the Cardinal in 2021, is on the four-member U.S. women’s 3x3 team for the Paris Olympics. The Sparks (4-11) head to New York to play two games against the Liberty on Thursday and Saturday.

Royal VIPs to take in Euro ’24 games

Two kings and a prince are set to watch the soccer aristocrats playing on the field at European Championship games on Thursday. King Frederik X of Denmark and the first in line to the British throne, Prince William, will be together in the VVIP seats when their national teams meet in Frankfurt, Germany, in the early evening game. “It’s a big honor. I’m a big fan of the Danish royal family,” Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel said Wednesday. Schmeichel previously met Prince William, above, at the FA Cup final in May 2021, when the future king also presented him with the trophy as captain of the winning Leicester team against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium. King Felipe VI of Spain is due to attend the later game Thursday when his national team plays Italy in Gelsenkirchen. Prince William is the longtime president of the English Football Association and a fan of Premier League team Aston Villa, which has two players in the England squad at Euro 2024. King Frederik, who became monarch in January, is a former member of the International Olympic Committee.

Osaka gets wild card for Wimbledon

Former Grand Slam champs Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Emma Raducanu have all been awarded wild cards for Wimbledon. The grass-court tournament starts on July 1. Osaka — a four-time major champ and former No. 1 — and three-time Grand Slam winner Kerber returned from maternity leave at the start of this season. Currently ranked 113th, the 26-year-old Osaka was the only player to take a set from No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the French Open. Ex-U.S. Open champ Raducanu, 21, made her breakthrough at Wimbledon by advancing to the fourth round in 2021. She will be playing there for the first time in two years after undergoing wrist and ankle surgery in 2023. Kerber won the 2018 Wimbledon title and was runner-up at the All England Club in 2016. The 36-year-old is also a former top-ranked player. Wozniacki, 33, returned from maternity leave in August. She’s never got past the fourth round at Wimbledon, where she will be playing for the first time since 2019. Wozniacki was ranked world No. 1 for a 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. —AP