The Kansas City Royals placed left-handed reliever Amir Garrett on the 15-day injured list on Friday.

Garrett, 31, has valgus extension overload in his left elbow. His IL designation is retroactive to Monday.

Garrett has no decisions and a 3.00 ERA in 23 relief appearances this season.

The Royals recalled right-hander Jackson Kowar from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding transaction.

Kowar, 26, made one appearance for Kansas City earlier this season. He pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings against the Chicago White Sox on May 19.

Novak Djokovic successfully navigated a tricky encounter with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to continue his quest for a record 23rd men's Grand Slam singles title at the French Open.

He will face Polish 13th seed Hubert Hurkacz or Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas in the fourth round.

"I knew it was going to be a difficult match, a physical match," 36-year-old Djokovic said.

He is through to the fourth round at Roland Garros for the 14th successive year.

Earlier, seventh seed Andrey Rublev was knocked out after letting slip a two-set lead against Lorenzo Sonego.

Italian Sonego won a five-set thriller 5-7 0-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 on the Roland Garros clay.

Djokovic is yet to drop a set at Roland Garros this year but came closer than he would have liked against Davidovich Fokina - a player he lost to on the Monte Carlo clay last year - with the first two sets going to tie-breaks and lasting more than three hours combined.

It is in Paris that Davidovich Fokina, ranked 34th in the world, has enjoyed his best success at a Grand Slam, reaching the quarter-finals in 2021, and he came out swinging against Djokovic with big hits and sublime drop shots causing all sorts of trouble for the former world number one.

After edging a first set in which he was twice a break down, made four double faults and received a time violation, Djokovic saved set point in the second before squeezing past his opponent in a second tie-break and then celebrating wildly.

Before the start of the third set, he received medical attention to his left leg but, geed up, dominated the remainder of the match to end Davidovich Fokina's hopes of an upset.

"He competed very well, he's an amazing fighter and an amazing player," Djokovic said of his opponent. "There are not many weaknesses in his game and he played a great match.

"A win is a win. I thought if I lost the second set we would probably play five hours today.

"You have to be ready, that is what Grand Slam tennis is all about. It takes a lot of effort but you have to believe in yourself. I am proud of the performance today for sure.

"Three hours for two sets is obviously a lot. It required a lot of energy and my priority now is to recover. Tomorrow I will have a day off and I'll be ready to play again."

Rublev exits in Sonego's 'most difficult win'

It was a shock defeat for Russia's world number seven Rublev, who has reached the quarter-finals in his last three Grand Slam appearances.

World number 48 Sonego will play 11th seed Karen Khachanov next.

After losing the first two sets, Sonego started playing more aggressively and pulled back the third set before winning a tie-break in the fourth to force a decider.

He broke Rublev's serve to go 5-4 up and serve for the match, sealing it when the Russian volleyed into the net on Sonego's first match point.

The victory is Sonego's first against a top-10 player at a Grand Slam, while it is the first time Rublev has been defeated after being 2-0 up.

"I think I played my best tennis this year," Sonego said. "There was a lot of things in my mind, but I tried to stay focused every point and enjoy the moment.

"I think this is the most difficult win of my career, for sure."

Earlier on Friday, Russia's Khachanov came through his third-round match in four sets, beating Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-5).

Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka says she did not do an open news conference after her French Open third-round match for her own "mental health and wellbeing".

She says she did not "feel safe" during Wednesday's news conference.

On Friday, she said: "I should be able to feel safe when I do interviews with the journalists after my matches."

Sabalenka, seeded second, won 6-2 6-2 against Russia's Kamilla Rakhimova on Friday.

Afterwards, instead of doing the usual news conference which is open to all journalists at Roland Garros, she spoke to a small group of reporters who were hand-picked by tournament organisers.

The BBC was not among the selected reporters.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka told the reporters: "For my own mental health and wellbeing, I have decided to take myself out of this situation today, and the tournament has supported me in this decision."

Belarus is an ally of Russia and allowed troops to use its territory to launch last year's invasion of Ukraine.

Sabalenka has met Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, one of Russian president Vladimir Putin's key allies, on a number of occasions and has also trained in Russia in the past year.

Earlier this week, she said "nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, support the war" when asked by the Ukrainian journalist to answer if she supported or condemned the war.

After her second-round match, Sabalenka was again pressed by the same reporter on whether she supported Lukashenko.

"I know they still expect some questions that are more about the politics and not so much about my tennis," said Sabalenka, who could become the new women's world number one at the end of the tournament.

"For many months now I have answered these questions at tournaments and been very clear in my feelings and my thoughts.

"These questions do not bother me after my matches. I know that I have to provide answers to the media on things not related to my tennis or my matches, but on Wednesday I did not feel safe in the press conference."

In 2021, Japan's Naomi Osaka was fined by French Open bosses for not doing a post-match news conference and the next day withdrew from the clay-court Grand Slam to protect her mental health. The four Grand Slams later said they wanted to "create meaningful improvements" in supporting players and that they empathised with the pressures players may face.

A Roland Garros spokeswoman said the tournament supported Sabalenka's request not to do an open news conference, adding she expected her to do them again in the future.

Cameron Norrie's bid to crack the French Open last 16 came undone once again as Italy's Lorenzo Musetti outclassed the British number one.

Norrie, who was seeded 14th, is ranked higher than Musetti, but produced an error-strewn display against the Italian 17th seed on the Paris clay.

Norrie's exit means there are no British players left in the singles.

It ended the possibility of Norrie facing top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round, with Musetti advancing to play either the 20-year-old Spaniard or Canadian 26th seed Denis Shapovalov.

The pair are playing their third-round match in Friday's night session on Court Philippe Chatrier.

When Norrie decided to go to South America after this year's Australian Open, the purpose of the trip was to spend more time on the clay with the ultimate goal of peaking for the French Open.

The immediate benefits were clear. The left-hander reached the final in Buenos Aires, where he lost to then world number two Alcaraz, then avenged that defeat by beating the Spaniard a week later to win the Rio de Janeiro title.

However, Norrie has not been able to replicate the same level of success on the European clay-court swing.

Now it has ended with one of the heaviest Grand Slam defeats of his career.

Six wins in 11 matches - including a defeat by 21-year-old Musetti in Barcelona - meant he entered Roland Garros in far from peak form and he needed to dig deep in his opening match against France's Benoit Paire.

A similarly partisan atmosphere awaited the Briton in the second round, but he stifled home hope Lucas Pouille - and the French fans - with a dominant start.

Before playing Musetti, Norrie spoke about the importance of getting on top early again.

Instead, he lost his opening service game of the match, and was broken again in the sixth game, as Musetti wrapped up the first set in 34 minutes.

Pushed back by Musetti's groundstrokes and disrupted by his variety, errors continued to flow from Norrie's racquet in the second set and he was broken twice more as he lost the final five games.

After losing serve in the opening game of the third set, Norrie's level improved and led to the conversion of his first break point for 3-3.

Two more break points came his way in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead, but he could not take them and lost serve again in the following game when Musetti took the sixth of his 18 break points in the match.

From that point, there was only going to be one outcome and Musetti served out a victory which demonstrated his quality.

Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta signed a two-year, $1.625 million contract extension on Friday that spans through the 2024-25 season.

Pezzetta, 25, was set to be a restricted free agent on July 1.

He recorded 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) and a team-high 239 hits in 63 games this season.

Pezzetta has totaled 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists) in 114 career games since being selected by the Canadiens in the sixth round of the 2016 NHL Draft.

Rose Zhang for the U.S. Solheim Cup team!

Rallying around Zhang's inclusion in this year’s edition of the biennial competition hasn't reached a fever pitch yet, but before it does, note this:

The only way for her to be eligible is to win.

According to LPGA rules, a player must be a tour member to compete for the U.S. in the Solheim Cup. And the only way for Zhang to become an official LPGA member before the matches is to win a tour event and accept immediate membership.

Zhang, who is making her professional debut at this week’s Mizuho Americas Open following an epic amateur career, is currently slated for eight LPGA starts. Those events include the remaining four majors on the calendar as well as four regular events (including this week at Liberty National).

This year’s Solheim Cup is at Finca Cortesin in Spain, Sept. 22-24.

Even if Zhang doesn’t win and compete for Team USA, she can earn her 2024 LPGA card without having to go through Q-Series.

If Zhang earns an equal or greater amount of CME points – in official tournaments with a cut – to that of the 40^th-place finisher on the season-ending list, she will fall into Category 10 on the LPGA’s priority list next year.

For reference, Ally Ewing was 40^th on last year’s Race to the CME Globe points list with just under 950 points. Here’s a broad overview of how points break down:

• LPGA major: Runner-up, 416 points; 10^th place, 97.5 points
• LPGA official event: Runner-up, 320 points; 10^th place, 75 points

Zhang began her pro career with a 2-under 70 at the Mizuho and was five off the 18-hole lead.

Note: Information provided by the Golf Channel research department.

Daniel Berger’s return to competition is on hold. The USGA confirmed on Friday that Berger has withdrawn from U.S. Open final qualifying.

Berger was originally on the tee sheet for Monday’s 36-hole qualifier in Boynton Beach, Florida. He hasn’t competed in an event since last year’s U.S. Open, where he missed the cut.

The 30-year-old has been battling a back injury, as detailed last month by the Associated Press. He has fallen from 25^th in the world rankings, following last year’s major at Brookline, to 146^th.

“It doesn’t feel perfect,” Berger told the AP’s Doug Ferguson, “but I know it's not career-ending.”

DUBLIN, Ohio – Given his track record at Muirfield Village, a resume that includes a victory in 2014 and top-10 finishes in ’15 and ’19, it should be no surprise to see Hideki Matsuyama’s name atop the Memorial leaderboard. But following his second-round 65, there was a sense of cautious optimism after an injury-plagued year.

“It's been a tough spell. I had an injury on my neck. Distance is down from where it was. But I'm working through it and hopefully we'll have a good summer,” said Matsuyama, who led by one shot following his early Friday round.

The lingering neck issue dates back to the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational and has limited his schedule this season. He withdrew from the WGC-Match Play in March and skipped the RBC Heritage and Wells Fargo Championship, which are both designated events.

“On Wells Fargo, after the Masters I went back home to Japan, didn't practice at all, didn't pick up a club, just tried to rest. I really wasn't prepared to play Wells Fargo, so I had to withdraw,” he said.

He didn’t appear to have any issues in Round 2 at Muirfield Village where he was fifth in the field in strokes gained: approach the green and posted the only bogey-free round in the morning wave.

His flawless Friday put him in the hunt for his first victory since the '22 Sony Open, but after a difficult, and painful, year this is where the cautious optimism applies. “I feel great. You never know, though, tomorrow morning,” he shrugged.

DUBLIN, Ohio – Rory McIlroy isn’t there and he probably won’t get there for a minute.

That was the message from the Northern Irishman following a second-round 68 at the Memorial that left him tied for fourth place and three shots off the lead. The swing was good Friday. In fact, he lobbied that the swing was good Thursday – when he stumbled with a triple bogey-7 at the last hole that he called “one bad break" – but not great. It was a startling revelation from the world’s third-ranked player and likely something he’s going to revisit for the foreseeable future.

“If you've let your swing get to a certain place over the course of, say, six months, there's no way that you're going to work for two weeks and all of a sudden it's going to be where you want it to be,” McIlroy reasoned. “I think it's the smart way to do it, to just let it bed in over time. I'm not saying it will take six months to get it to where I want to, but it will certainly take longer than a week or two.”

Despite a solid start to the year that included a victory out of the gates at the Dubai Desert Classic in January, a runner-up showing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and a third-place showing at the WGC-Match Play in March, McIlroy said the issues with his swing started “creeping in at the end of 2022.”

McIlroy knew then he needed a swing adjustment but he was also aware of how long that process can take, and with the Masters and plenty of big events looming it wasn’t a detour he was willing to tackle.

“My reluctancy to work on it, like I know it's been creeping in, but reluctancy to work on it was more to do with the fact of how much golf we had coming up and just not really wanting to be thinking about my golf swing a ton,” he said.

Although he didn’t point to a single moment that sent him down the path to something new there’s a good chance his missed cut at the Masters, which still looms as the only missing piece to his Grand Slam puzzle, followed by an equally flat performance at the Wells Fargo Championship (T-47), prompted him to embrace change, even change that would likely take valuable time during the heart of the PGA Tour season.

A glimpse of his issues surfaced at the Masters, where he hit just 20 of 36 greens in regulation at the game’s ultimate second-shot golf course, and he continued to “fight the club face” at Quail Hollow, where he lost 3.25 shots to the field in strokes gained: approach the green (a statistic he’s ranked among the top 20 on Tour the last five years).

But it was at the PGA Championship two weeks ago when the “process” became truly troubling.

“I can't remember a time where I felt so uncomfortable over the ball for four days,” he said of his swing at Oak Hill, where he tied for seventh.

By comparison, his play at Muirfield Village – another exacting second-shot course – has been, at the least, a statistical step in the right direction. He’s seventh in the field in strokes gained: off the tee and is at least gaining shots on the field (1.38) with his approach play.

That progress, however, didn’t stop the 34-year-old from marching to the range after each of his rounds this week at Muirfield Village, searching for consistency and comfort.

“This is a process, the swings that I make on the range compared to the swings I make out [on the course], they're not the same. They won't match up for a while,” he said. “It's just a matter of working little by little, sort of trying to do it every day that the feels become more and more comfortable so that over time it just sort of beds in itself.”

For McIlroy this is very much an aspirational journey that’s been filled with equal parts trial and error, but he remains encouraged by a simple belief – it isn’t there yet, but in time it will be.

UEFA on Friday condemned the harassment of Europa League final referee Anthony Taylor and his family by Roma fans, while the Serie A club's manager Jose Mourinho was charged with using abusive language against a match official.

Taylor came under scrutiny following Roma's penalty shootout loss to Sevilla in Wednesday's final.

The match was tetchy with Taylor dishing out 14 yellow cards, the most ever in a Europa League game, and playing almost 30 minutes of stoppage time in total.

The day after the match, videos circulated on social media showing English referee Taylor and his family being harassed by Roma fans at Budapest Airport.

In the video, Roma fans could be seen abusing the 44-year-old Taylor and his family, who required protection from airport security as they sought refuge in a safe area.

"UEFA vehemently condemns violent behaviour directed towards its referee Anthony Taylor and his family. Such actions are unacceptable and undermine the spirit of fair play and respect that UEFA upholds," UEFA said in a statement.

"UEFA maintains a close collaboration with local police and airport security starting from the referees' arrival in host cities.

"However, we are constantly striving to enhance the security measures for officials in coordination with local authorities. We will carefully assess the incidents and incorporate valuable insights into our future event planning processes."

As part of disciplinary proceedings following the final, the European footballing governing body on Friday charged Mourinho, who was filmed yelling expletives at the officials outside the Puskas Arena.

The Portuguese manager was critical of the refereeing in comments after the game, saying, "it was an intense, masculine, vibrant game with a referee who seemed Spanish. It was yellow, yellow, yellow all the time."

Both teams' supporters have also been charged with setting off fireworks and throwing objects, while Roma's fans were alleged to have committed acts of damage along with other crowd disturbances.

Sevilla have additionally been charged over a pitch invasion by their supporters, who raced out onto the field after Gonzalo Montiel fired home the winning spot kick.