TENNIS

The U.S. Open lost some more star power Friday, as Rafael Nadal withdrew because of a chronic foot injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season.

His announcement further depletes the year’s last major tennis tournament, with Roger Federer already out, as well as last year’s champion, Dominic Thiem.

Nadal’s absence clears one more possible hurdle for Novak Djokovic, who now resumes his bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam without one of his longtime rivals in the men’s draw.

Federer needs knee surgery and said last weekend he would not play in New York. Thiem said this week he is ending his season after injuring his right wrist in June.

WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN: Top-ranked Ash Barty defeated Barbora Krejcikova 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semifinals in Mason, Ohio.

Barty will next face Angelique Kerber, who won her quarterfinal when Petra Kvitova retired during the second set because of a stomach problem. Kerber won the first set 6-4 and was tied 3-3 in the second.

The top four seeds in the men’s draw – Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev – all advanced to the semifinals.

SOCCER

ENGLAND: Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic has tested positive for COVID-19 less than two weeks before United States players begin reporting for camp ahead of their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Chelsea Manager Thomas Tuchel said the 22-year-old American is in self-isolation, ruling him out of Sunday’s game against Arsenal.

Pulisic scored in Chelsea’s season-opening 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace last Saturday. The Blues play at Liverpool next weekend before the international break.

“We are in communication with the Chelsea medical staff and will work together to determine Christian’s status for the World Cup qualifiers in September,” the U.S. national team wrote on Twitter.

The United States has three games crammed into a seven-day span when World Cup qualifying starts in September. United States Coach Gregg Berhalter plans to announce his roster next week. American players from European clubs and Major League Soccer teams will report to Nashville starting Aug. 29.

The team plays its opening qualifier at El Salvador on Sept. 2 and then hosts Canada on Sept. 5 before traveling to Honduras for a match on Sept. 8.

Pulisic converted a penalty in extra time to help the United States beat Mexico 3-2 in the CONCACAF Nations League final in June.

The United States ended a streak of seven straight World Cup berths when it failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

FRANCE: Paris Saint-Germain survived a scare without Neymar and Lionel Messi, beating Brest 4-2 to extend its winning start in the French league to three games.

Substitute Angel Di Maria sealed the victory on a counterattack in injury time just when it looked like Brest might score an equalizer to claim a point against the star-studded visitors.

CYCLING

SPANISH VUELTA: Michael Storer won the punishing seventh stage in Balcon de Alicante, Spain, and Primoz Roglic kept the overall lead after the race’s most serious test in the mountains so far.

Storer, an Australian rider, claimed his biggest professional win by finishing the stage in 4 hours, 10 minutes, 13 seconds. He dropped Carlos Verona over the final grueling uphill kilometer. Storer was part of a large breakaway early in the 94-mile stage starting in Gandia that took riders up and over five mountain climbs before a summit finish atop the Category 1 Balcón de Alicante.

Roglic, the defending two-time race winner, appeared to be in danger of losing the lead to one of the breakaway riders. But he managed to hang onto the red jersey despite finishing 16th, more than 3 1/2 minutes behind Storer.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Jewell Loyd scored 29 points and Breanna Stewart added 19 to help the visiting Seattle Storm rout the New York Liberty, 99-83.

The game was tied at 59 midway through the third quarter when Seattle closed the quarter on a 17-4 run. Loyd and Stewart each scored six points during the burst.

• Danielle Robinson converted a go-ahead, three-point play with 7.2 seconds left and the Indiana Fever rallied to beat the Dallas Wings, 83-81.

Indiana (5-18) won on the road for just the second time this season – in 11 attempts.