American Ben Shelton heads to the Australian Open after losing in the Auckland quarterfinals

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Eighth-ranked Ben Shelton was knocked out of the ATP 250 tournament in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday in a quarterfinal spread over two days because of rain.

The top-seeded Shelton lost 7-5, 6-3 to Sebastian Baez of Argentina, who is unseeded and ranked 39th.

Shelton led 1-0 in the second set on Thursday night when torrential rain caused the match to be suspended. When it resumed Friday, Baez served to level the match, then broke the American to lead 2-1.

Third-seeded Jakub Mensic will play Fabian Marozsan and Baez will play American Marcos Giron in the Auckland semifinals later Friday.

The 23-year-old Shelton, the top-ranked American on tour ahead of No. 9 Taylor Fritz, now heads to the Australian Open in which he will play Ugo Humbert of France in the first round.

At a news conference in Auckland, Shelton said he believes there are young players capable of bridging the gap to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have won the last eight Grand Slam singles titles between them.

He hopes to be one of them.

“They’ve certainly been ahead of the pack the last couple years,” Shelton said. “But in my mind there’s definitely guys who can come up there and challenge, young guys who are playing great, better and better every year.

Alcaraz is 22 and Sinner 24.

“To be doing what Alcaraz and Sinner are doing at such a young age is not normal but there’s so many young guys who haven’t fully developed or we haven’t seen their best tennis yet.”

Shelton said the 2025 season “was a great stepping stone for me . . . there’s so many things I improved on in 2025 versus 2024."

“And, for me, it’s not all about the results. It’s more what I find in my game, the things that I figure out,” Shelton added. "So there is a lot to be able to build off of this year.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

FILE - Ben Shelton of the U.S. plays a forehand return to Jannik Sinner of Italy during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama returned to the court after limping off with a right leg injury in the opening minutes of the San Antonio Spurs' game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night.

Wembanyama returned to the bench at the close of the first quarter and was on the court to start the second quarter.

Wembanyama dropped to the court after making knee-to-knee contact with the left leg of Milwaukee center Giannis Antetokounmpo under the Bucks basket with 9:18 remaining in the first quarter. Antetokounmpo was driving to the rim when the two made contact.

Wembanyama remained on the court for a few seconds before rising and hobbling unassisted in a half sprint toward the locker room.

Wembanyama suffered a hyperextended knee on Dec. 31 in the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks in a similar play. He returned to the bench but missed the next two games.

San Antonio enters Thursday's game on a two-game skid, including a 119-98 loss at Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama reveals a freshly shaved head as he warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks in San Antonio, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)