Sports Briefs

High-profile departures at Queens

LONDON (AP) Top-ranked Andy Murray headed a list of high-profile departures in the first round at Queen's yesterday, with the Wimbledon champion losing to a player who found out he was competing only on the morning of the match.

Murray put in a sloppy and error-prone display in losing to 90th-ranked Jordan Thompson 7-6 (4), 6-2, joining Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic in getting eliminated on a day of shocks at the Wimbledon warmup event. They were the top three seeds.

The second-seeded Wawrinka was beaten by big-serving Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 7-5, with the Spanish player sealing victory off a net cord from a sliced backhand return.

Last year's runner-up at Queen's and Wimbledon both times to Murray Raonic lost 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) to No. 698-ranked Thanasi Kokkinakis, who was playing only his sixth singles since November 2015 because of injury problems.

Test status for Afghanistan?

LONDON, CMC - Afghanistan believe their impressive recent outing against West Indies has further emboldened their chances of achieving Test status.

The ICC Associate side were brilliant in the three-match One-Day International series in the Caribbean earlier this month, stunning the hosts by 63 runs in the opening match at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia.

West Indies were then forced to labour before overhauling a modest 136 to clinch a four-wicket in the second match while the third game was rained out.

"West Indies are one of the best teams in the shorter format of the game, and it's a Test-playing nation," Afghanistan coach Lalchand Rajput said.

The International Cricket Council meet here this week and are expected to mull over the inclusion of Afghanistan and Ireland as the 11th and 12th Test sides.

US filly Lady Aurelia wins again at Royal Ascot

ASCOT, England (AP) American filly Lady Aurelia won at Royal Ascot for the second straight year, cruising to a three-length victory in the King's Stand Stakes under replacement jockey John Velazquez yesterday.

"She's a once-in-a-lifetime horse," said trainer Wesley A. Ward after Lady Aurelia backed up her win in the Queen Mary Stakes in 2016.

Frankie Dettori was scheduled to ride Lady Aurelia, but pulled out of the entire meeting early yesterday after failing to recover from an arm injury sustained when he was thrown off a horse in a parade ring last week.

Velazquez was drafted in and settled the U.S. horse into a good early position in the third race of Day 1. Lady Aurelia took the lead with two furlongs to run and pulled clear, winning the five-furlong race in 57.45 seconds, just short of a course record.