Brooks Koepka has become the latest high-profile player to trade the PGA Tour for the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
The likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia were among the early joiners of the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway competition, which started earlier in June in London.
Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed followed suit as they announced their intention to play in LIV Golf tournaments, with all participants aware they would be indefinitely suspended from the PGA Tour.
The breakaway golfers were still allowed to participate at the U.S. Open, where Koepka said he was "tired of conversations" about the new circuit and asserted LIV Golf debates were "throwing a black cloud" over the third major of 2022.
Four-time major winner Koepka, who finished 55th at Brookline, then removed all references to the PGA Tour from his social media profiles as expectations grew that he would trade allegiances.
The world number 19's move was subsequently confirmed on Wednesday and he will feature in the second event at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, Oregon, which starts on July 3.
"There's no understating the impact that Brooks Koepka has had on the game of golf in the last five years," LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman said.
"He carries a championship pedigree and record of success as one of the most elite players in the world
"The addition of Brooks is yet another example of the incredible fields LIV Golf is assembling as we build momentum in our first season and look towards the future."
Six further tournaments will follow for LIV Golf this season, with the total prize fund for the eight competitions £200million, with Charl Schwartzel collecting £3.9m when he won the opening 54-hole competition.
Uncertainty remains as to what the breakaway league means for further participation at the majors, with USGA chief executive Mike Whan admitting he could foresee a day where players may be banned.
Koepka becomes the ninth major champion to defect to LIV Golf, along with Garcia, Johnson, Mickelson, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen, Schwartzel and DeChambeau.
World ranking points remain unavailable for LIV Golf events, but Norman – himself a two-time major champion – has said an application for that to change has been submitted.
Rafael Nadal proved his fitness on his return to action ahead of Wimbledon with a routine straight-sets victory over Stan Wawrinka in Wednesday's exhibition match.
The 37-year-old has won the Australian Open and French Open titles already this year, but his bid for a grand slam sweep was halted by a troublesome foot problem.
Nadal triumphed at Roland Garros despite needing pain-killing injections before every match, leaving his fitness in doubt for Wimbledon next week.
However, the 22-time grand slam winner confirmed last week he was planning on taking part in the third major of the year after spending time training on grass in Mallorca.
And in his first match since beating Casper Ruud in the French Open final two-and-a-half weeks ago, Nadal eased past Wawrinka at the Hurlingham Club in London.
The Spaniard raced into a five-game lead in the opener and, despite losing his break of serve in the seventh game, saw out a straightforward opening set.
Playing in front of around 1,300 spectators, Nadal was pushed a little harder in the second set but still came through relatively unscathed to win 6-2 6-3 in a little over an hour.
Wawrinka, who has been handed a wild card for Wimbledon, expects Nadal to be right in the mix for a third crown at All England Club, 12 years on from his most recent triumph.
"After that I have a lot to work on," he joked. "But it's OK, it's against Rafa. We are used to losing against him. It's normal!.
"I don't know how he's feeling – it looks like normal Rafa. He has been saying he is feeling better and if he is playing he is ready to play his best and to win.
"I think Rafa any time he enters a grand slam is going to be one of the favourites, if not the favourite.
"He won the first two slams of the year without too many matches before those grand slams so he got a lot of confidence so of course he is part of the favourites."
As well as twice winning Wimbledon, Nadal has also reached the semi-finals in his past two appearances in 2018 and 2019.
After getting a first grass-court appearance in three years under his belt, he is hoping for more happy memories during his time in the English capital.
"I have spent some fantastic moments here in London," he said. "Playing of course at the World Tour Finals a lot of times but of course playing at Wimbledon since 2003.
"It was always a big goal and a dream for me to achieve important things here at Wimbledon and I was able to make that happen for the first time in 2008.
"Since that moment, I always come back with the same passion and I always feel very welcomed by the crowd here."
Nadal will be number two seed when the draw takes place on Friday, with long-time rival Novak Djokovic the top seed in the absence of Daniil Medvedev.
Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome will make his 10th appearance in the race next month after being confirmed as part of Israel-Premier Tech's squad for the second grand tour of the year.
Froome has won the Tour on four occasions, in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 – only four riders (Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain - all five) have more general classification wins.
The 37-year-old finished 133rd overall at last year's Tour, his first entry since coming third in 2018, but will bring up double figures for appearances in the race when it gets underway in Copenhagen on July 1.
Froome told his team's media channels: "It's awesome to be starting my 10th Tour de France with Israel-Premier Tech.
"I've worked exceptionally hard this year and I'm looking forward to giving it my all. We've got a great group of riders in the line-up and we can't wait for the battle to begin in Copenhagen."
Froome will ride largely in support of Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang, with the team's general manager Kjell Carlstrom insisting stage wins are their priority this year.
"In this Tour, the main priority for us is to win a stage," he said. "With Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana stage wins to our name, we would like to complete the grand tour trifecta with a Tour de France win, so it's certainly our main focus to begin with.
"We also want to keep our options open and see what may be possible in terms of fighting for a leader's jersey like we did last year, when we had Michael Woods fighting for the KOM jersey.
"However, hunting for stages is definitely the most important goal for us in this year's Tour de France."
The high school coach of heralded quarterback prospect Arch Manning says the five-star recruit is still in the process of deciding where he will play college football in 2023.
Nelson Stewart, coach of Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, told The Athletic this week that although Manning is getting closer to a decision, the highly coveted 17-year-old has yet to make a commitment as he continues to gather information from several prospective suitors.
"There's no impulsivity to him. There's no rush," Stewart said. "When he knows, he knows.
"Obviously he's been going through this for seven years. We're in the fourth quarter. It's just about attention to detail and supporting him."
Manning, the nephew of former Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning and the grandson of Ole Miss legend Archie Manning, just returned to New Orleans following a recent visit to the University of Texas. The Longhorns are considered among the favourites to land the Class of 2023's top quarterback along with Alabama and Georgia, two schools Manning also made official visits to earlier this month.
Mississippi, where both Archie and Eli Manning played, is also viewed as a potential landing spot for the younger Manning.
Stewart said Manning is not expected to take any more visits and will spend the remainder of the summer preparing for his senior year at Isidore Newman and working at his family's passing academy in Louisiana. He is unsure if Manning will have his decision finalised by the time the high school season begins.
"When he's ready, he's ready," Stewart said. "This is his private time. We're just trying to give him the distance to formulate his own thoughts."
The calendar Grand Slam remains a "realistic goal" for Rafael Nadal, but he will not lose sleep over the holy grail in tennis as he prepares for Wimbledon.
That is the message from Carlos Moya, who is a former world number one and has coached Nadal since 2016.
Nadal made an incredible comeback at the start of 2022 from a foot injury that has plagued much of his career, winning the Australian Open before claiming another French Open crown.
The 36-year-old surpassed Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the men's all-time grand slam wins list with victory in Melbourne, with Roland Garros success representing his 22nd major title.
Nadal has repeatedly played down the prospect of winning all four men's majors in a calendar year, with Rod Laver the last to do so all the way back in 1969.
While the calendar Grand Slam remains on the cards, Moya warned Nadal is only halfway to completing the illustrious haul as the Spaniard heads to Wimbledon.
"It is a realistic goal, right now he is the only one that can achieve it this year," Moya told Eurosport Spain.
"It is the first time in his career that he is in a position to achieve it, but we see it as something far away, it is only halfway.
"At the moment he doesn't lose sleep, as a team few things keep us up at night and this is not one of them.
"We have to go little by little, it is not something that we talk about, it is not a primary objective, although we are not going to give up on it."
Nadal revealed in Paris that he intended to have radiofrequency injections to boost his hopes of competing at the All England Club, and he has undergone two courses of said treatment.
Wimbledon starts on Monday, a tournament that Nadal has won in 2008 and 2010, but he has not played there since reaching the semi-finals in 2019.
Nadal ramped up his preparations with a week training on grass in Mallorca before playing an invitation event at Hurlingham Club this week, where he faced Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday.
"We had a pretty good week of training in Mallorca, although the grass there is a bit different from London, maybe that's why it's taking a little bit for him to adapt to the grass in England," Moya added.
"Right now, the important thing is that he spends time on the court and that his foot is fine, little by little he will pick up the pace, we also hope that the draw will help, especially in the first games.
"At Wimbledon there can always be more surprises. Regardless of the player you get in those first rounds, what is dangerous is the type of opponent you get, you have to be careful with the sluggers.
"Now he has two important exhibition matches, my confidence in him for Wimbledon remains the highest. He is perfectly suited to grass."
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Jaylon Ferguson has died at the age of 26, the team announced on Wednesday.
"We are profoundly saddened by the tragic passing of Jaylon Ferguson," the Ravens said in a statement.
"He was a kind, respectful young man with a big smile and infectious personality. We express our heartfelt condolences to Jaylon's family and friends as we mourn a life lost much too soon."
Ferguson’s agent, Safarrah Lawson, said the former Louisiana Tech star died in Baltimore. A cause of death is still being determined.
"It's with great sadness that we announce the passing of Baltimore Ravens LB Jaylon Ferguson," Lawson said in a statement. "The family asks for your prayers and privacy during this trying time."
Ferguson played at Louisiana Tech from 2015-18, racking up 45 sacks to set the NCAA career record and earn the nickname of 'Sack Daddy'.
The Ravens selected Ferguson in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft and he went on to appear in 38 games (including 10 starts) with Baltimore. Ferguson totalled 4.5 sacks in his NFL career.
Patrick Cantlay has expressed his concerns for the future of golf after more breakaways to join the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series.
Brooks Koepka is widely reported to be set to leave the PGA Tour and, while there's yet to be official confirmation, it was announced he had withdrawn from the Travelers Championship.
Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are among those to have signed up to the series, with further additions expected in the near future.
This has resulted in a lot of uncertainty around the future of golf and Cantlay has admitted he is concerned.
"Everyone wants to play against the best players in the world and a lot of us are hyper-competitive. That's maybe what drove us to be as good as we are," he told a news conference.
"Anytime there's a potential fracture in the sport, I don't think that's good. You don't see it in any other major sports, where all the talent is in one tour or league. It's definitely a real concern.
"Right now, there's a competition for talent that is going on, you've seen it in lots of businesses, you've seen it in other professional sports from time to time and part of the concern is not knowing what the future will be like.
"It's an uncertain time for golf. If you think about it in the larger business landscape, it's a competition for talent.
"If the PGA Tour wants to remain as the pre-eminent tour for professional golfers, it has to be the best place to play for the best players in the world."
Serena Williams doubted whether she would return to elite tennis as she stepped up her Wimbledon preparations by playing doubles with Ons Jabeur at the Eastbourne International.
Williams teamed up with Jabeur on Tuesday to record a thrilling win over Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo in her first competitive outing since last June, when she was forced to retire from her first-round Wimbledon clash with Aliaksandra Sasnovich through injury.
Having been granted a wildcard entry to the year's third grand slam, which begins next week, Williams is bidding for her first major title since winning 2017's Australian Open.
But speaking after her successful return to the court, Williams admitted her comeback had been far from certain.
"Did I ever doubt I would return? Absolutely, for sure. I would be dishonest if I said it wasn't and now my body feels great," she said.
"I definitely felt good out there and I was talking with Ons in the first set saying 'we're not playing bad' because they were just playing really good in that first set.
"But obviously winning, getting more balls and playing a little bit more made us feel a lot better. It definitely felt reassuring. It has been clicking in practice and now it seems like it is clicking. It is doubles but it still means a lot to both of us to be in it."
Williams and Jabeur will face Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao-Ching in Eastbourne's doubles quarter-finals after posting an impressive 2-6 6-3 13-11 victory in their first outing.
With Williams now ranked 1,204th in the world and aged 40, speculation has abounded as to whether her SW19 appearance will mark the beginning of a farewell tour for the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
However, Williams is not rushing to make any further decisions about her future in the game.
"You know what, I am literally taking it one day at a time. I really took my time with my hamstring injury so I am not making a ton of decisions after this," she added.
"I did a lot of non-training in the beginning obviously and after I couldn't play New York [2021's US Open] I went cold turkey of not working out.
"It felt good, but I always try to stay semi-fit because you never know when you are going to play Wimbledon.
"I love tennis and I love playing otherwise I wouldn't be here, but I also love what I do off the court."
Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has issued a blunt verdict on Charles Leclerc's title hopes and has declared those backing Ferrari this season will "get nothing".
Red Bull's defending champion Max Verstappen has won six of the nine races so far this season to establish a dominant 49-point advantage over Leclerc – who is also three points adrift of Sergio Perez – in the drivers' championship.
That deficit has come amid a huge swing in the standings, with Leclerc previously holding a 46-point advantage over Verstappen following the opening three rounds of the season as the Dutch driver was forced to retire from two of those races.
However, Leclerc's most recent victory came in Australia in April and Verstappen has won five of the six races since, with Ecclestone stating he now has it "easy".
"Errors are creeping in again. The reliability we are seeing is often reminiscent of the old days and the drivers themselves are not always confident on the track," he told Blick.
"It means Max is having an easy time in the Red Bull with six wins already."
Ecclestone added that he had wanted to see Ferrari perform better in the 2022 season but early showings have ultimately led him to write off the team's chances.
"Like many people, I had hoped that Ferrari would succeed again after more than 14 years," he said.
"Unfortunately, I have to say that anyone who continues to put their money on Ferrari or Leclerc will get nothing."
Ferrari have not won the constructors' championship since 2008 and, from 1999 to 2008, had clinched the title in eight of the ten seasons.
Kimi Raikkonen was the last Ferrari driver to win the drivers' championship with his triumph in 2007, and is the only driver to win with Ferrari since Michael Schumacher's last success in 2004.
Patrick Cantley has expressed his concerns for the future of golf after more breakaways to join the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series.
Brooks Koepka is widely reported to be set to leave the PGA Tour and, while there's yet to be official confirmation, it was announced he had withdrawn from the Travelers Championship.
Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are among those to have signed up to the series, with further additions expected in the near future.
This has resulted in a lot of uncertainty around the future of golf and Cantley has admitted he is concerned.
"Everyone wants to play against the best players in the world and a lot of us are hyper-competitive. That's maybe what drove us to be as good as we are," he told a news conference.
"Anytime there's a potential fracture in the sport, I don't think that's good. You don't see it in any other major sports, where all the talent is in one tour or league. It's definitely a real concern.
"Right now, there's a competition for talent that is going on, you've seen it in lots of businesses, you've seen it in other professional sports from time to time and part of the concern is not knowing what the future will be like.
"It's an uncertain time for golf. If you think about it in the larger business landscape, it's a competition for talent.
"If the PGA Tour wants to remain as the pre-eminent tour for professional golfers, it has to be the best place to play for the best players in the world."
Shohei Ohtani struck two home runs and hit eight RBI's for the Angels in a stellar individual performance but his side suffered a 12-11 defeat to the Royals in extra innings.
The Angels rallied from deficits of 5-0, 6-1 and 10-7 to send the game to the 11th inning, with Ohtani's career-high of eight runs in a performance that also saw him set a single-game record for a Japanese-born player in the MLB.
A 423-foot homer in the sixth was followed by a game-tying, 438-foot homer in the ninth, with his record-setting RBI coming in the 11th with a sacrifice that pulled the score back to 12-11.
However, it wouldn't be enough after Whit Merrifield and Kyle Isbel drove in runs off Jose Quijada earlier in the final innings.
For Ohtani, it was a 10th multi-HR game in MLB and his fourth of the season, and earned him praise from his opponents after the game.
Royals catcher Salvador Perez said: "Ohtani is unbelievable. He’s the best there is right now. It’s impressive what he’s doing. Thank god I have the opportunity to watch him."
Other records came close to tumbling for Ohtani, who's eight RBIs were the most by an Angels player since Garret Anderson had a franchise-record 10 RBIs against the Yankees in August 2007.
He will be starting pitcher for the final game of the series against the Royals, with the Angels looking to avoid a whitewash after back-to-back defeats.
The St Louis Cardinals are hopeful that the back issue that forced Paul Goldschmidt to miss Tuesday's 6-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers is nothing serious.
Six-time All-Star Goldschmidt has been a key part of the Cardinals' 39-31 start to the season, with Tuesday's win moving them top of the National League Central ahead of the Brewers.
The in-form Cardinals second baseman has the second-best batting average and OPS in the major leagues this season (.339 and 1.031), behind Luis Arraez (.362) and Yordan Alvarez (1.038) respectively.
Goldschmidt, who was awarded the National League Player of the Week on Tuesday, has an equal-second-best 86 hits this season, with 48 runs and 16 home runs.
The 34-year-old missed the Brewers game due to back tightness, which he had tried to play through as a designated hitter in Monday's 2-0 loss to Milwaukee.
"He'll experience it from time to time," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "Usually he takes a day, it loosens up, he'll get treatment and be back at it. That's our hope."
"He tried to play through it yesterday. It made sense to give him a day today."
The Cardinals and Brewers meet again on Wednesday, the third of their four-game series.
Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run home run and Kyle Tucker had three RBIs to give the Houston Astros an 8-2 win over the New York Mets in Tuesday's high-profile interleague matchup.
Jose Altuve and Jose Siri contributed solo home runs for Houston, who have only gone 6-4 over their past 10 games.
Altuve and Alvarez, who missed Sunday's win over the Chicago White Sox with injury, set up a 3-0 lead in the third inning, connecting off Trevor Williams. Tucker's three-run double extended the lead to 7-0, effectively securing the victory.
With the win, the Astros moved to 42-25 and only trail the New York Yankees in the American League, while the Mets lead the National League with a record of 45-25.
It was the first of nine straight games against the Mets and Yankees, with a trip to New York following this two-game stand at home.
Yaz stands up in Giants win
Mike Yastrzemski returned to form with an important two-run double, propelling the San Francisco Giants to an 8-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Claiming only one hit from his previous 16 at-bats, the 31-year-old drove Collin McHugh deep into right-field, putting the Giants up 8-7.
The Giants moved ahead of the reigning World Series champions in the Nationa League standings with the win, claiming their eighth win in the past 11 games.
Gimenez gets Guardians up over Twins
The Cleveland Guardians moved to the top of the AL Central standings, beating the Minnesota Twins 6-5 in 11 innings.
Leading the major leagues with a .362 batting average, Guardians' lead-off hitter Luis Arraez hit a three-run home run in the seventh, sending Eli Morgan over right-center field.
Andres Gimenez hit the important RBI single in the 11th, as Emmanuel Clase earned his 16th save in 18 attempts. The Guardians' 35-28 record (.556) now inches them ahead of the Twins on 38-31 (.551).
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper expects All-Star Nikita Kucherov to play in Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday despite an injury concern.
Kucherov exited Game 3 on Monday, as the Lightning won 6-2 over the Colorado Avalanche, with 6:05 remaining in the third period after a push from Devon Toews.
The Russian tangled with Toews after being slammed into the ice and boards and was involved in the ensuing power play but left hobbling for the trainers' room soon after.
"As I sit right now, I think he can play tomorrow," Cooper told reporters on Tuesday.
"But I'm not Kuch. If I know Kuch, he's sitting there saying the same thing. But we'll see what the doctors and everybody says."
Kucherov has been the Lightning's leading points scorer over this season's Stanley Cup playoffs, adding seven goals to his 19 assists.
The 29-year-old has been a creative force for the reigning Stanley Cup champions in important moments this post-season, namely his extraordinary game-winning backhand assist for Ross Colton in Game 2 against the Florida Panthers to set up a 2-0 series lead.
Cooper added: "I think so. I hope so. It's always difficult when the game is 12 hours ago or whatever it was. A lot can happen over the next two days.
"Am I glad there's a day off between games? Yes. We'll see how he is tomorrow."
Cooper said that Kucherov has played through pain before, including in the 2021 playoffs when he had a cracked rib.
The Lightning, who are chasing a rare Stanley Cup three-peat, trail 2-1 in the series after losing both games in Colorado.
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has thrown his support behind Jayson Tatum despite the 2022 All-NBA First Teamer's down NBA Finals series.
Three-time NBA All-Star Tatum averaged only 21.5 points per game in the NBA Finals, shooting 50 per cent or better from the field only once in their 4-2 series loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Tatum also gave up 23 turnovers in the six games in the NBA Finals. The 24-year-old had a mixed playoffs, finishing with the most turnovers (100) by a single player in NBA postseason history.
However, Tatum was also outstanding in series wins over the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat, including a remarkable 46-point haul in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals facing elimination against the reigning champions.
"I just told him to go on vacation," Stevens told reporters during a videoconference call. "Go get some rest."
"This guy gave us everything he had. When you look at the minutes, when you look at the games played ... I've said this many times: He's a superstar that doesn't want to sit. He wants to play, he wants to play all the time.
"I thought that in the Finals, he would be the first to say that he would like to have some of those moments back, but I thought there were other contributing factors to how he played."
Tatum, who was named in the All-NBA First Team for the first time in 2022, averaged career-highs with 26.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game across the 2021-21 regular season.
The Celtics small forward shot at 45.3 per cent from the field across the regular season, dipping slightly to 42.6 per cent in the postseason.
During the playoffs, Tatum averaged 25.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.16 assists but with 4.16 turnovers per game.
"We're all subjective in every moment and react emotionally, but when you start looking at it objectively and more so historically, what Jayson and Jaylen [Brown] have done in the playoffs, historically at their ages, is rarified air," Stevens said.
"I think we're very cognisant of the fact that even though Jayson would admittedly not have played his best series, there's no chance we're there without him and without all of his great play all the way through.
"I think back to all of the times ... Game 6 in Milwaukee was one of the best games I've seen an individual play in my time, certainly in person and with the Celtics.
"Without that performance, we would have had this discussion a month and a half ago."
Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews was awarded both the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player and the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHLPA's most outstanding player at the NHL Awards on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old scored 60 goals this season to claim his second Rocket Richard Trophy, and was one of only eight players in the league to break the 100-point barrier with 106, the highest single-season total of his career.
While beating Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid and New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin for his first Hart Trophy, Matthews became the first Maple Leafs player to win the Ted Lindsay Award, a vote conducted by the NHL's players since 1971.
A Hart Trophy finalist in 2021, losing out to McDavid, the Maple Leafs centre secured 119 first-place votes and 49 second-place votes.
"Congrats to Igor, Connor on amazing seasons," Matthews said in his Hart Trophy acceptance speech. "Like I said before, so much respect for you guys, you guys are incredible at what you do."
Meanwhile, he is only the second American-born player to win the Ted Lindsay Award following Patrick Kane in 2016.
"My family, it means the world to me to have you guys here with me, thank you guys for just your unwavering support," Matthews said in his acceptance speech earlier for the Ted Lindsay Award.
"It just means a lot to be recognised by my fellow peers and the guys that I compete against every single night, battle against. It just means a lot.
"I want to thank the Toronto Maple Leafs, from top to bottom. Management, ownership, coaches, all the staff, every single one of my team-mates, this doesn't happen without you guys, so thank you."
A phone call between jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner and her wife Cherelle is being rescheduled after a failed attempt to connect on their anniversary, due to an "unfortunate" mistake.
The couple had not spoken since Griner's drug-related arrest in February, but attempts to connect through the United States Embassy in Russia were hindered since the phone line at the embassy was not staffed.
On Monday, it was discovered Griner tried to call 11 times over a period of several hours, dialling a number she had been given to patch the call through to her wife in Phoenix, but each call was left unanswered due to the unstaffed desk on Saturday.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price apologised for the "logistical error", confirming a rescheduled call will take place.
"We deeply regret that Brittney Griner was unable to speak with her wife over the weekend because of a logistical error," he told reporters.
"It was a mistake, it is a mistake that we have worked to rectify. As we said before, the call has been rescheduled and will take place in relatively short order.
"It was a logistical issue that was compounded by the fact that our embassy in Moscow is under significant restrictions in terms of its staffing, and so when we have issues with the telephone system there, for example, the technicians are not located on site. In fact, they're not even located in Russia."
Griner, the two-time Olympic gold medallist who plays for Phoenix Mercury and UMMC Ekaterinburg, was detained at a Russian airport in February after authorities there said a search of her bag revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.
The US State Department designated her as wrongfully detained in May, while last week, Russian state news agency TASS reported a pre-trial detention had been extended until July.
For Cherelle Griner, the unanswered calls have had a demoralising effect.
"I find it unacceptable, and I have zero trust in our government right now," she told the Associated Press. "If I can't trust you to catch a Saturday call outside of business hours, how can I trust you to actually be negotiating on my wife's behalf to come home? Because that's a much bigger ask than to catch a Saturday call.
"This was such a big moment because this would have been the first time where I truly could tell if she's OK. This would have been the first time for me to actually just hear her in real time and to truly know if she's OK or to know if she's seconds away from not being in existence anymore."
Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi will continue his tour of the AFC North by signing a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Ogunjobi spent his first four seasons with the Cleveland Browns before recording a career-high seven sacks, a team-high 12 tackles for loss and 49 total tackles last season for the Cincinnati Bengals.
This is the second time this offseason that Ogunjobi has agreed to a free-agent contract, signing a reported three-year, $40.5 million deal with the Chicago Bears in March before that deal fell through when he failed his physical.
Ogunjobi started 16 games last season for the Bengals but suffered a season-ending right foot injury during a Wild Card round victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Ogunjobi will replace the retired Stephon Tuitt as the third starter on the Steelers' defensive line, along with Cameron Heyward and Tyson Alualu.
He should help Pittsburgh improve a run defense that finished 32nd in the NFL last season in rushing yards allowed and 32nd in rushing yards per attempt.
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