Fresh from revealing a potential investment in Leeds United, Rickie Fowler kicked off his bid for a first major title in impressive fashion in the 123rd US Open.

Fowler was among the early starters on day one at Los Angeles Country Club and covered his first 10 holes in four under par to set the early pace ahead of a four-strong group which included Olympic champion Xander Schauffele.

Starting on the back nine of the North Course, Fowler carded five birdies, two bogeys and just two pars to reach the turn in 32, before picking up another shot on the par-five first.

The world number 45 admitted on Wednesday that he and Ryder Cup team-mates Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas were considering investing in Leeds as part of the imminent takeover by 49ers Enterprises.

The American investment group are set to take charge of the Championship club after agreeing a deal to buy out chairman Andrea Radrizzani’s controlling stake.

Fowler told Sky Sports News: “It’s cool to have these opportunities. I know we’re looking into it, and it would be fun if we get to be a part of it, if not we’ll continue to root for Leeds.

“Obviously they got relegated but to get to go to a Premier League game, a Champions League game, any of that (would be great). It’s a massive sport and I feel like it is continuing to get bigger in the (United) States.

“Since I haven’t been to a game, I don’t have the true appreciation until (I get to) be there and feel that energy.”

Fowler was playing alongside former US Open champion Justin Rose in the first two rounds, but Rose was enduring a miserable round on the 10th anniversary of his victory at Merion.

After starting the day with five straight pars, Rose bogeyed the 15th, 16th and 17th before running up a double bogey on the 18th to reach the turn in 40.

Former champion Jon Rahm expects a combination of “fun and kicks in the teeth” as the Los Angeles Country Club prepares to host the 123rd US Open.

Rahm experienced the North Course in a prestigious college event 10 years ago, when world number seven Max Homa set the course record of 61, but most of the field have never tackled it before this week.

The restored 7,423-yard, par-70 layout on Wilshire Boulevard includes a 623-yard par five and two of its five par threes measure almost 300 yards, while even the par-three 15th – which can play as short as 80 yards – poses its own challenges.

“It is a US Open. Fairways and greens, hopefully two-putt and move on,” Rahm, who won his first major at Torrey Pines in 2021, said of his gameplan.

“I think it’s deceptively wide. Those fairways look bigger than they play. You still need to strike it really well tee to green to be able to give yourself some looks at birdie.

“It’s a design that I like. It makes you think. It’s very intricate green complexes. You’ve got to play the angles a little bit, and especially if you miss the greens, you’re going to find yourself in some interesting spots to get up and down.

“It’s got everything. It’s got all the ingredients to be a great week.

“Max Homa shot nine under on this golf course (in 2013). That’s not happening right now. It’s just clearly a much different golf course. The rough wasn’t as high as it is right now.

“You could actually afford to miss a fairway and have confidence that the ball was going to be around the green area, not always on the green.

“The only thing I can say is that I have really good memories about it and I enjoyed the challenge back then. I think I’m going to as well this week.”

Remarkably, the 284-yard seventh hole and 290-yard 11th are not even the longest par threes in US Open history, with the eighth hole at Oakmont playing to 300 yards in 2007 and 299 yards in 2016.

But even Rahm, one of the longest hitters in the game, needed to hit a three wood to the seventh on Monday and described the hole as “somewhat fair”.

“I think there’s a bit of a give and take,” the Masters champion added. “There’s got to be a balance. I don’t think we’re going to play every hole tipped out [at maximum yardage] every day, either.

“There’s a bit of everything. If you hit perfect drives, let’s say on one, two and three, you’re pretty much looking at birdie options.

“And then you get kicked in the teeth with four and five and most likely seven, and possibly nine depending on pin location. There is a certain flow to the golf course in a US Open that I haven’t seen before.

“You have par fours where you’re going to hit driver, wedge every day if you hit the fairway, no matter the wind. And then you have holes like 11, 16 and 18 that are going to play very long no matter what.

“I think it’s a bit different, and it’s fun. You’ll see a lot of birdies and I think you also will see some high numbers come out of nowhere.”

Rahm was due to get his bid for a third major title under way from the 10th tee at 0824 local time (1624 BST) on Thursday alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Viktor Hovland and Olympic champion Xander Schauffele.

World number one Scottie Scheffler was set to tee off 11 minutes earlier from the first tee along with Homa and Collin Morikawa, but Rory McIlroy and US PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka had to wait until 1354 local time (2154 BST) to start round one.

Phil Mickelson expects the four majors to find a way to include the cream of LIV Golf talent even if ranking system chiefs refuse to award points to the breakaway series.

LIV bosses are pushing for the official world golf rankings (OWGR) to award points for its events, but that has yet to come about.

There is no guarantee the situation will change, but Mickelson cannot see how it is in anyone's interest for the majors, golf's pinnacle events, to exclude some of the sport's biggest stars.

His LIV Golf colleague Bryson DeChambeau labelled the rankings "almost obsolete" when he spoke this week in Singapore. He has slipped from inside the top 30 to 178th since committing to LIV, where lucrative sign-up fees and prize money have drawn a host of golf's elite players.

Mickelson and Brooks Koepka, who both defected from the PGA Tour to LIV, finished tied for second at the recent Masters.

Sharp dips in ranking status could mean LIV stars are frozen out from the majors, but there seems likely to be an arrangement reached.

Reflecting on the sport's showpiece occasions and future prospects for LIV players, Mickelson said: "It's going to all iron itself out because if you're one of the majors, if you're the Masters, you're not looking at we should keep these guys out.

"You're saying to yourself, we want to have the best field, we want to have the best players, and these guys added a lot to the tournament this year at the Masters. How do we get them included?

"We have to come up with a qualifying mechanism that is inclusive, and if the world golf ranking isn't going to be inclusive, then they have to find another way.

"Maybe they take the top five or top 10 or winners of LIV, but they're going to have to find a way to get the best LIV players in their field if they want to have the best field in golf and be really what major championship is about. So they're already looking at that.

"If the world golf rankings doesn't find a way to be inclusive, then the majors will just find another way to include LIV because it's no longer a credible way.

"So it will all iron itself out for the simple reason that it's in the best interest of everybody, especially the tournaments, the majors, to have the best players."

The US PGA Championship is coming up in May, followed by the U.S. Open in June and the Open Championship in July.

Meanwhile, the Singapore leg of the controversial, Saudi-backed LIV series begins on Friday.

DeChambeau, a former winner of the U.S. Open, has little time for the ranking system as it stands.

"You should realise that the OWGR is not accurate, one," he said. "Two, I think that they need to come to a resolution, or it will become obsolete. It's pretty much almost obsolete as of right now.

"But again, if the majors and everything continue to have that as their ranking system, then they are biting it quite heavily."

Novak Djokovic looks set to appear at the 2023 US Open after the United States Senate passed a bill to end COVID-19 restrictions.

The 22-time grand slam champion last competed in the tournament two years ago, losing to Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-4 6-4 in the final.

He missed the 2022 edition because he had not been vaccinated against coronavirus, with the USA making vaccines a requirement for international travellers arriving in the country from November 8, 2021.

Djokovic was also absent for the 2022 Australian Open as he was deported from the country after immigration officials cancelled his visa because of the Serbian's unvaccinated status.

He returned to Melbourne Park at the start of this year and won a 10th Australian Open title – he will be hoping for a similar impact at Flushing Meadows after his return moved a step closer to reality.

On Wednesday, the US Senate voted in favour of ending the COVID-19 national emergency declared in March 2020, meaning the bill is now set to be considered by President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign.

As such, Djokovic will – assuming he is not ruled out for other reasons – be able to compete at this year's tournament, which is due to begin on August 28.

The news will surely come as major boost to Djokovic, who has already been prevented from entering US-based tournaments in 2023.

The 35-year-old was denied clearance to enter the US earlier in March ahead of Indian Wells and the Miami Open, with his application for special permission turned down by officials.

Novak Djokovic does not regret his decision not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, despite losing the world number one ranking.

Djokovic has spent a record 380 weeks at the top of the rankings but was unable to compete in the first two ATP 1000 events of the season – the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open – after his request for special permission to travel to the United States was declined.

The US currently bars unvaccinated travellers from entering the country, although that policy is set to be scrapped in May. 

With the 22-time grand slam champion unable to feature, Carlos Alcaraz returned to the top of the rankings with victory at Indian Wells.

"I have no regrets," Djokovic told CNN.

"It's a pity that I wasn't able to play in Indian Wells [and] Miami. I love those tournaments. I had plenty of success there. But at the same time, it is the conscious decision I made and I knew that there was always a possibility that I wouldn't go. 

"It is the current state or current situation that I hope will change later this year for the US Open. That is the most important tournament for me on American soil.

"I've learned through life that regrets only hold you back and basically make you live in the past and I don't want to do that. 

"I also don't want to live too much in the future. I want to be as much as in the present moment, but of course, think about the future and create a better future."

Alcaraz, who won the US Open in 2022, romped to last week's title at Indian Wells with a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 victory against Daniil Medvedev in the final.

"I congratulate Alcaraz," Djokovic said. "He absolutely deserves to come back to number one."

Djokovic's attention will now turn to the clay season in Europe as he gears up to try and win a third French Open title.

"I'm as enthusiastic as ever, as motivated as ever for the sport, my family, my foundation, all the projects and everything I'm doing off the court," he added.

"The dignity, and integrity, and staying true to myself, and my beliefs and my rights are above everything."

Coco Gauff celebrated her 19th birthday by releasing a newly discovered video of herself singing and dancing at the US Open 11 years ago.

Gauff could not let loose quite the same this week, as she battled through to the Indian Wells Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, coming back in the decisive set to beat Rebecca Peterson 6-3 1-6 6-4.

The world number six will be hoping to remain unbeaten as a 19-year-old when she faces second seed Aryna Sabalenka in California, where a win for the home favourite would have everyone jumping for joy like in 2012, when Gauff was filmed singing and dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen's hit single Call Me Maybe at Flushing Meadows.

"I think that was the only Kids' Day," Gauff recalled.

"But I remembered it because Call Me Maybe was trending, and I knew that video existed.

"I thought that my mom would have it because she keeps track of everything, but it was really my dad who has it, so that's why we never found the video because I never thought to ask him."

An eight-year-old Gauff at the Arthur Ashe Stadium would have had no idea that she would reach the competition's quarter-finals just a decade later, and she is now ranked seventh in the world.

Her rise has continued at Indian Wells, with a last-eight appearance already her best-ever run in the event.

Gauff added: "I just love that video and just the whole full-circle moment.

"Call Me Maybe was the song at that time. Even now I still love when they play it.

"I don't know whose number I was trying to get, I think I was eight years old. But I'm going to use that pickup line now!"

Emma Raducanu recognises her young career has been dogged by "back luck", but it is all worthwhile having experienced the "good fortune" of her US Open title win.

Raducanu, who is still only 20, won at Flushing Meadows as a qualifier in 2021 – a grand slam first in the Open Era.

However, the British number one has not been past the second round of a major since, with that victory over Leylah Fernandez in New York remaining her only final appearance at any WTA Tour event.

A succession of injuries have hampered Raducanu, who played only 34 matches in 2022 and had been restricted to just four this year ahead of the Indian Wells Open.

Raducanu has beaten Danka Kovinic and Magda Linette in straight sets in California, however, for her first back-to-back wins since the Korea Open in September – the last of those also coming against Linette.

Even in winning on Saturday, Raducanu required treatment for an apparent wrist injury, although she described the problem as "manageable".

It was put to the luckless Raducanu afterwards that she might be well served employing "somebody to sweep the whole area around you for black cats and stray ladders", yet she has come to terms with her misfortune.

She said with a smile: "Sometimes you wonder, like, how is this possible? But then very quickly I think you create your own luck.

"It works both ways. I won the US Open as well, and I think I also have to take the bad luck sometimes, because also good fortune has also come upon me.

"I think that I wouldn't trade that title for the world. I'm just prepared to take whatever it takes, knowing that I have that in the bank."

Asked about her mood after winning consecutive matches, Raducanu said: "I just feel good with the way I'm working with my team, not getting too overly pleased or too down.

"I'm just plodding away. I feel pretty good about how things are going."

Raducanu faces Beatriz Haddad Maia, the 13th seed, in round three.

Former world number six Gael Monfils' return to the ATP Tour ended with a straight-sets first-round defeat to Jordan Thompson at the Indian Wells Open on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old Frenchman has not played competitively since August last year due to injury but was eliminated by Thompson 6-3 6-1 in one hour and five minutes.

The Australian was ruthless, converting four of six break points generated, while he did not offer up any to Monfils.

Monfils was rusty, committing 17 unforced errors to Thompson's five, but the veteran hit 14 winners.

Thompson's victory earns him a second-round meeting with second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Brandon Nakashima won the battle of the Americans, getting past John Isner 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 in one hour and 39 minutes. Nakashima progresses to face fifth seed Daniil Medvedev.

China's Wu Yibing produced some thrilling tennis, including an astonishing volley, in his 6-7 (6-8) 6-0 7-6 (7-3) victory over Jaume Munar.

World number 38 Diego Schwartzman won 6-1 6-2 over fellow Argentinian Federico Coria, while 47th-ranked Jiri Lehecka got past Arthur Rinderknech 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.

Australia's Jason Kubler toppled Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in almost two hours, while 42nd-ranked Bernabe Zapata Miralles was beaten 6-2 7-6 (8-6) by Ugo Humbert.

Finland's Emil Ruusovuori triumphed with Constant Lestienne retiring down 6-4 4-1 and world number 46 Alexander Bublik was a shock casualty, going down 6-4 6-4 to Wu Ting-Lin.

Novak Djokovic will not feature at the Indian Wells Open.

It was confirmed by tournament organisers on Sunday that the world number one would miss the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season.

As he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, Djokovic had applied for special permission to enter the United States, but that has seemingly been denied.

Until at least April 10, international visitors to the US must have proof of vaccination.

Djokovic, a five-time winner at Indian Wells, is also set to miss the Miami Open later in March, while his participation in the US Open could be in doubt.

The 22-time grand slam champion – who reached the semi-finals at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week – missed last year's major at Flushing Meadows due to his vaccination status. He was, however, allowed to play in this season's Australian Open.

Nikoloz Basilashvili moved into the main field following Djokovic's withdrawal.

Emma Raducanu will win more grand slams according to Monica Puig, but the ex-Olympic champion warns she must be given time to figure out what her game is going forward.

The Briton shot to tennis stardom with victory at the 2021 US Open, setting a record for the fewest majors played (two) before winning a title.

But a frustrating run of injuries and poor form across 2022, which also included numerous coaching changes, has seen her plummet to number 80 in the WTA rankings and fail to reach the third round of a slam since her famous triumph.

Puig, who won women's singles gold at Rio 2016, believes Raducanu still has the skill to reach the top again, but needs to focus on court matters first and foremost.

"I saw her many times courtside during the US Open when she did win that title and she is a very talented player," Puig told Sky Sports.

"Physically, she's still very young.

"She still needs time to develop and time to find out who she is as a tennis player, who she is as a person.

"I can sympathise with her because when I won the Olympics, it came out of nowhere. I can only imagine [what it was like] coming from the UK where something like that is so big."

Puig added: "Absolutely [she can still win grand slams]. She's still young. It's a matter of time.

"We're always seeing generational changes with players like myself and Serena Williams having now stepped away.

"She is going to be in that circle of names that are going to be a force to be reckoned with.

"She just needs to settle, find her ground and take the pressure and expectation off.

"Remember the reason why you started playing tennis in the first place. It's because of the love of the sport."

The Professional Tennis Players Association is committed to equal pay for men and women at grand slam level, according to the man who teamed up with Novak Djokovic to launch the organisation.

Vasek Pospisil, whose on-court doubles efforts helped Canada win the Davis Cup for the first time in November, said the PTPA would "fight for both sides" in its efforts to improve players' prospects throughout the sport.

The breakaway union has caused controversy, with the ATP and WTA, which run the men's and women's tours, adamant they already have significant player representation when it comes to making decisions in the best interests of tennis.

Djokovic quit as president of the ATP player council to become the figurehead of the PTPA, which was launched at the height of the pandemic during the 2020 US Open.

There was initial criticism of the PTPA when no women appeared to be involved.

However, Pospisil said at the time discussions were ongoing, and ahead of the upcoming Australian Open, its first executive committee was unveiled, consisting of four men and four women.

Joining Djokovic and Pospisil are Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner, plus WTA players Paula Badosa, Ons Jabeur, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Zheng Saisai.

Pay has been equal at all the grand slams since 2007, when Wimbledon announced it would reward women the same amount it pays men.

Asked about equal pay at the four majors and the PTPA's position, Pospisil told Stats Perform: "From day one, we always knew that this would only be successful with the women, and that has always been our goal. And so we're really happy that we're gaining a lot of traction now on the women's side.

"Currently, there is equal pay at the grand slam level, I believe, so that's obviously amazing.

"It is a joint organisation, both men and women, and we'll do everything to fight for both sides.

"Obviously, they're separate tours. The WTA, ATP, and grand slams are joined, of course. So, the staff will have their hands full with trying to advocate for both sides.

"It's a unified player association for both men and women, and we're really proud of that and where we're going."

Those already involved, and those the PTPA will hope to attract, are being advised the union is aiming to bolster the rights – and at the bottom line, the earning potential – of all involved.

There is currently significantly more money on offer on the ATP tour than on the WTA circuit, which points to issues of inequality remaining in the sport.

It has been known in recent times for some high-profile tournaments, where tours converge, to pay its men's champion more than its title-winning woman. This is despite events on both tours being best-of-three-set matches, whereas in the slams women play best-of-three and men play best-of-five, a matter that has long been a trigger for equal-pay debate.

Pospisil believes the WTA has a "smart and passionate" group of eight on its ExCo and said the "energy was amazing" when the group met for dinner on Thursday in Melbourne.

"I just have such a good feeling after a few years of working on this," Pospisil said. "To finally be at the stage where we're ready to go, are launching, got everything we need, and we have amazing player board reps that honestly we couldn't be happier with."

Djokovic, a 21-time singles grand slam winner, is at the forefront, and Pospisil said the 35-year-old Serbian's role has been crucial.

"I feel like you need somebody that is at the top of the sport," Pospisil said. "So, I just think all the players and our organisation, we're very lucky that he's so supportive and that he's stuck his neck out and is fighting for what he believes in and what he believes is right."

Sloane Stephens has confirmed Francis Roig as her new coach, less than a week after the Spaniard departed Rafael Nadal's team.

The 54-year-old, who had worked with his fellow countryman since 2005, parted ways with the 22-time grand slam winner earlier this month.

At the time, Nadal confirmed Roig was leaving his set-up for "a new project," which has now been confirmed as a role with Stephens.

The 2017 US Open winner announced the news in a post to her social media accounts, welcoming him aboard ahead of the 2023 season.

"Happy to have Francis Roig join my team as my new coach!" she wrote. "Here's to a successful journey together. Let's get to work."

Stephens, who achieved a career-high WTA ranking of third in 2018, has returned to the top 50 over the past year following a series of struggles with form.

She claimed her first title in four years at the Abierto Zapopan in Mexico in February, and reached a first grand slam quarter-final since 2019 at the French Open.

Nadal, meanwhile, announced Gustavo Marcaccio would replace Roig earlier this week, adding the Argentine to a team that contains Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez.

The Spaniard was effusive in his tribute to his outgoing coach last week, stating: "I only have words of gratitude and I wish him all the luck in the world."

Serena Williams says the chances of her returning to the court are "very high", despite declaring her intention to step away from tennis before the US Open last month.

Though she deliberately avoided saying she would retire prior to the tournament, instead saying she planned to "evolve" away from the sport, many believed Williams' third-round exit at Flushing Meadows last month was the last time she would be seen playing competitive tennis.

Her defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic was met with the kind of fanfare that suggested she was calling it a day on an illustrious career that included 23 grand slam titles, the second most in history behind Margaret Court.

But Williams implied she could yet step on the court again when speaking at a TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco on Wednesday.

In quotes collected by the San Francisco Standard, Williams said: "I am not retired.

"The chances [of me returning] are very high. You can come to my house and [see] I have a court."

Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Transylvania Open with a wrist injury, compounding a miserable 2022 for the British number one.

The teenager became an overnight star on the WTA Tour last year when she won the US Open women's singles title in her first appearance at Flushing Meadows.

However, her attempts to follow up that success have been hamstrung by a succession of niggles, with Raducanu currently down at 67th in the world rankings.

Her withdrawal from next week's event in Romania – the country from which her father hails – is just the latest injury problem, with Raducanu having been forced to quit during the semi-finals of last month's Korea Open with a glute problem.

This followed a first-round retirement at the Nottingham Open before Wimbledon, though Raducanu ultimately recovered to reach the second round of the grass-court major.

A first-round exit at the Ostrava Open this week, followed by the latest setback, means Raducanu's season appears effectively over, with the 19-year-old likely to set her focus on regaining full fitness ahead of 2023.

Iga Swiatek could reach double figures for grand slam titles but Wimbledon may be a stumbling block, according to Marion Bartoli.

Speaking to Stats Perform, Bartoli said she did not expect any player on the WTA Tour to match the "greatness" of Serena or Venus Williams.

The Frenchwoman, who won the 2013 Wimbledon women's singles title, also claimed the level of competition is currently not as strong as it was for the previous generation.

She is sold on Swiatek, though, who added to her 2020 and 2022 French Open titles by winning the US Open earlier in September.

The 21-year-old Polish player has emerged as the clear world number one since Ash Barty retired in March, stringing together 37 consecutive wins at one point until Alize Cornet beat her in round three at Wimbledon.

A lull in her performances followed that exit on the grass, but Swiatek fought her way through the field to triumph in New York.

"I was very impressed by how Iga this time with the US Open came with absolutely zero confidence and still found a way to win, and that is really a champion's mind," Bartoli said.

""She played really not great tennis in Toronto, not good tennis in Cincinnati, didn't play that well before the US Open. Whatever she worked on with her coach, she went on and plugged in for seven matches and to win the title, which is very impressive.

"So I think the level it's not at the highest, but I think the way she has been able to handle the pressure and go for it and win was absolutely very, very impressive.

"And she will win more. For sure she will win more on clay, she will win more on normal, slower hardcourts. Maybe not grass, but slow hard court is really a good surface for her as well. So easily between five and 10 for Iga, easily."

With Serena Williams saying a fond farewell to competitive tennis at the US Open, the women's tour has lost a 23-slam giant. In Bartoli's mind, there may be nobody of the great American's prowess to emerge for many years to come.

She said: "I think it's unfair to ask any of the current women's players to be as dominating as Serena was, or you know Venus as well.

"You just can't ask them to be at that level of greatness. You get that one out of a century or even two centuries. So I think we will have to wait a while before we get the next Serena Williams.

"And even Coco [Gauff] has talked about it, [saying] 'I'm not Serena, I will probably not get 23 grand slams like Serena you know, so stop putting pressure on me'.

"I think they're just trying their hardest, they're just trying their best, but obviously as Maria Sharapova said and I agree with her, the level of competition we used to have when all of us were playing was I think higher than what it is now."

Bartoli pointed to the example of Emma Raducanu, as a near-unknown, winning the US Open last year. She said that triumph for the British teenager was "out of any rational thoughts".

"This year she lost first round [to Cornet] and she dropped to 80 in the world," Bartoli added.

"You know that someone at 80 and someone at five, there is not so much of a difference in terms of level. And that's why you see those sort of upsets and constant change."