Relations within the Philippine Olympic Committee had another twist when top leadership decided to make sweeping changes in the organization early this week.

Considering the ease with which Serena Williams claimed the second and third sets of her campaign-opening match in the French Open the other day, it’s clear that she still possesses the power, precision, and, perhaps most importantly, passion to stamp her class in the sport’s grandest stages. That she succumbed to unseeded Vitalia Diatchenko in the first set after claiming only two games, however, likewise underscores her increasing vulnerability at this stage in her career. She had been ousted in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament just once in 70 previous appearances, but, for a while there, she looked legitimately out of sorts and in danger of early elimination anew.

WINNING teams find ways to win and it could not be truer in the case of defending Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup champions Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings.

PARIS -- Roger Federer made a stylish comeback to the French Open after a three-year hiatus as the revamped, widely-acclaimed Roland Garros burst into life on Sunday.

LOS ANGELES -- The Golden State Warriors are favored in the NBA Finals for the fifth consecutive year, as they opened as heavy favorites against the Toronto Raptors late Saturday night.

THE JAPANESE pair of Satono Ishitsubo and Asami Shiba emerged as the women’s champion in the just-concluded FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open.

THE 2019 edition of PRURide PH drew to a successful conclusion on Sunday with Marcelo Felipe being declared as the overall winner.

LOS ANGELES -- Mike Trout homered, doubled, scored twice, drove in two and walked once to help lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-6 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.

Before we go to our main topic I’d like to point out the name of IM Vincent Keymer, the last-placer. You might be wondering what a mere IM with a rating of 2516 is doing in the company of such elite chessplayers. The answer is that he had qualified for it. Alongside the Chess Classic there was the GRENKE Chess Open. Keymer won it in a great upset last year and qualified to play in the main event. This year the winner of the Open was the German #3 Daniel Fridman who took the top honors. There were seven other grandmasters who tied for first: Anton Korobov, Andreas Heimann, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, Gukesh, Matthias Bluebaum, Alexander Donchenko and Tamas Banusz.

Rafael Nadal began his quest for a third straight -- and record-extending 12^th -- title at Roland Garros yesterday, and he couldn’t have done so under more favorable circumstances. He’s lumped in a relatively easier bracket that has him going up against qualifiers in his first two rounds and then, assuming things fall into place, against longtime nemesis but on-the-wane Roger Federer in the semifinals. And, what’s more, he has momentum, too, fresh off a triumphant run at the Italian Open; with a podium finish at stake, he wound up handing World Number One Novak Djokovic a first-ever bagel en route to a three-set victory.

THE Blackwater Elite stayed undefeated in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup, winning their third game in a row by topping the Columbian Dyip, 118-110, on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

TORONTO -- Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and added seven assists, and the Toronto Raptors rallied past the Milwaukee Bucks 100-94 to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.