Associated PressPHOENIX ó The death of Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter in a terrible accident while playing at her home adds an awful chapter to the boxer’s troubled life.
Exodus Tyson died at a hospital Tuesday after being on life support since she was injured Monday at her Phoenix home, police said. She either slipped or put her head in the loop of a cord hanging under a treadmill’s console and was suffocated.
“There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Exodus,” the family said in a statement. “We ask you now to please respect our need at this very difficult time for privacy to grieve and try to help each other heal.”
Tyson, who has been living in Las Vegas, flew to Phoenix after his daughter was hurt and was seen entering the hospital.
During just two years at the height of his career, he earned $140 million ó but he filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in 2003.
FRENCH OPEN
PARIS ó On a day of adieus at the French Open, Maria Sharapova managed to stick around.Trailing through most of the third set in her toughest test since shoulder surgery, Sharapova pulled out a 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 victory over 11th-seeded Nadia Petrova on Wednesday to reach the third round at Roland Garros, her return to Grand Slam tennis.
– Rafael Nadal’s French Open winning streak reached a record 30 consecutive matches Wednesday.
Trying to become the first player with five championships in a row at Roland Garros, Nadal moved into the third round by beating 72nd-ranked Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
Nadal already had bettered Bjorn Borg’s mark of 28 straight victories at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament; now the Spaniard topped Chris Evert’s overall record of 29, too.
* Other winners included No. 3 Andy Murray, No. 7 Gilles Simon ó who eliminated Robert Kendrick, making Andy Roddick the only U.S. man left ó No. 8 Fernando Verdasco and Lleyton Hewitt, who faces Nadal next.
NASCAR
CHARLOTTE ó Robby Gordon was docked 50 points by NASCAR on Wednesday for failing inspection after his best finish in almost four years.
Crew chief Kirk Almquist was also fined $50,000 and placed on probation until the end of the season for the infraction discovered Monday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
NASCAR called the race after a two-hour delay, and inspected the top three finishing cars. The rear housing of Gordon’s No. 7 Toyota did not meet NASCAR specifications. Had Gordon not gambled on the rain to finish third, his car would likely not have been inspected.
Gordon’s latest penalty does not knock him outside the important top-35 mark in points. He is 34th in owner standings, and after the deduction still has a 131-point advantage over 36th-place driver Scott Speed.
– CHARLOTTE ó NASCAR has suspended a crew member for Truck Series driver Chad McCumbee for failing a random drug test.
Andrew Crnkovic failed a random drug test conducted at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 15.
COLLEGE HOOPS
LEXINGTON, Ky. ó Former Kentucky men’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie sued the school Wednesday, seeking at least $6 million he says he is owed on his deal for being fired without cause.
– LEXINGTON, Ky. ó Kentucky announced Tuesday that three players from last year’s squad are leaving the program, bringing the Wildcats closer to their roster limit of 13 scholarship players.
Sophomore forward A.J. Stewart plans to transfer, as does 6-foot-3 freshman Donald Williams. Senior Jared Carter will not seek a fifth year of eligibility. Kentucky is now down to 15 scholarship players ó including coach John Calipari’s incoming freshman class.
That number could be 14 should top scorer Jodie Meeks leave for the NBA draft.
– DAVIDSON ó Davidson basketball star Stephen Curry has been named Southern Conference’s male athlete of the year for a second straight season.
Curry became the SoCon’s all-time leading scorer this season, finishing with 2,635 points. He has chosen to give up his final season at Davidson to enter next month’s NBA draft.
NHL
DETROIT ó Darren Helm scored 3:58 into overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night in the Western Conference finals and set up a Stanley Cup finals rematch with Pittsburgh.
Detroit’s Dan Cleary opened the scoring 6:08 into the third period, and Chicago’s Patrick Kane tied it with 7:07 left in regulation with his first goal of the series.
Cristobal Huet, playing for the injured Nikolai Khabibulin, made 44 saves for the Blackhawks. He forced overtime with a spectacular stop from his stomach, lifting his right leg to knock away Johan Franzen’s shot in the closing seconds.
Detroit’s Chris Osgood stopped 30 shots.
– DENVER ó Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy turned down an offer to coach the Colorado Avalanche, which he led to two Stanley Cup titles but is reeling from its worst finish since moving to Denver in 1995.