PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger says he went too far in using his weekly radio show to criticize former Steelers teammate Antonio Brown during the 2018 season.

In a sit-down interview with KDKA-TV Pittsburgh that will run Monday evening, Roethlisberger addressed a historic connection gone wrong with Brown, who demanded a trade in the offseason and took exception to Roethlisberger calling out his route running after a Week 12 loss in Denver. The team dealt Brown to the Oakland Raiders in March.

"I took some heat, and deservedly so, for some of the comments on that show and especially toward him," Roethlisberger told the outlet. "I genuinely feel bad about that and I'm sorry. Did I go too far after that Denver game? Probably ..."

Roethlisberger is making his first public comments of the offseason in the aftermath of the Brown trade, ex-teammates criticizing the quarterback's leadership, and his new three-year contract that includes $68 million in new money.

Roethlisberger is expected to address the local media after Tuesday's session of organized team activities.

Roethlisberger expressed contrition for his post-Week 12 comments on 93.7 The Fan, including his observation that Brown should have run a flatter route on a late-game interception and that he wished he had thrown the ball to JuJu Smith-Schuster at the goal line instead.

Last season, Roethlisberger led the league in passing, but the Steelers lost three December games by three points apiece, failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

"That's the thing about media and social media, as soon as you say 'sorry' it only goes so far. You can't take it back," Roethlisberger said about his comments. "And I wish I could, because if that's what ruined our friendship and relationship, I'm truly, genuinely sorry about that."

That might not be enough for Brown, who on Monday, after Roethlisberger's comments had circulated online, tweeted the words "Two face."

Earlier in the offseason, Brown also labeled Roethlisberger as having an "owner mentality," or feeling more important than teammates.

In the interview, Roethlisberger also discusses where things might have gone wrong with Brown, his new contract and motivation for 2019.

TAMPA, Fla. -- After unsuccessful attempts to trade him, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have "mutually parted ways" with defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, the team said in a statement.

A six-time Pro Bowler and arguably the Bucs' most visible player over the past nine seasons on and off the field, McCoy has been a no-show for the Bucs' offseason program that began last month. Although attendance for the offseason program has always been optional, McCoy, who was the third-overall draft pick in 2010 and has always been a fixture at these workouts.

McCoy's departure was first reported by the Tampa Bay Times.

The source of contention was McCoy's $13 million salary in 2019, none of which was guaranteed. He had three years currently remaining on his deal, which would have kept him with the team through 2021.

"These decisions are very difficult, personally and professionally," Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said. "Over the past nine years, Gerald has been a cornerstone of this franchise and a leader in our community. Parting ways with a player and person such as Gerald is one of the toughest responsibilities of this job. We wish Gerald, along with his wife, Ebony, and the entire McCoy family continued success and thank them for everything they have meant to our organization and community."

The move was financially motivated. The Bucs had less than $2 million in salary-cap space and still needed to sign first-round draft pick Devin White.

"I know Gerald has done a lot of good things on and off the football field in Tampa during his time here," Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said. "You hate to see good football players go, but this is a decision that we felt needed to be made in order to allow us, and Gerald, the ability to move forward. Gerald is a class-act and I wish him the best."

McCoy had grown frustrated with his status in limbo and the fact that the team would not commit to him this offseason, while the Bucs didn't believe his level of production was worth the cost.

Coach Bruce Arians said at NFL owners meetings, "He's not as disruptive as he was four years ago, but he's still a good player."

McCoy let out some of that frustration in an Instagram post earlier this month when he said, "All-Pro on and off the field. Wanna question me? The heck? Is he gonna be ready? Do he love football? What?! Y'all crazy. Lost y'all mind. I work. Don't you ever question me!"

ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins linebacker Reuben Foster suffered a season-ending tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Monday, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

He was injured on the third snap of the team's first organized team activity session and was carted off the field. He later underwent an MRI. A source said that Foster will see a specialist to see if his knee suffered more damage than just the ACL tear.

Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Foster stepped on the foot of offensive lineman Tyler Catalina as he rushed a gap at three-quarters speed.

When Foster was on the ground, he was surrounded by multiple team officials, including president Bruce Allen and Gruden. Former Alabama teammate Landon Collins also joined them and Malcolm Bracken, the director of player development, kneeled and patted Foster on the chest. At one point Foster turned to his right and pounded the turf with his fists. He could be heard crying, putting his hands to his helmet as his head bobbed. As he was carted off, Allen ran back to the facility to be with Foster.

It was Foster's first rep in full-team work with Washington, and it occurred during a session Gruden called a "jog-through."

It's the latest injury for a team besieged by them the past two years. The Redskins have had a combined 52 players on injured reserve the past two seasons, though a handful of them were hurt in camp and might not have made the roster. Last season they lost key players such as quarterback Alex Smith, running backs Derrius Guice and Chris Thompson, and tight end Jordan Reed. The Redskins have gone 7-9 each of those seasons.

"I don't know how to process it," Gruden said. "We've had some bad luck over here for the last couple years, but this one here takes the cake because this was a non-contract drill and there was no contact involved in it. He just landed funny. But we have to move on. We have to get guys ready to play that are here. We've got to do the best we can to get Reuben healthy again and move on.

"Sometimes I wish we'd do just all walk-throughs and then go play on Sundays, but we've got to practice."

Gruden was in favor of drafting Foster two years ago, but the Redskins opted for Jonathan Allen instead. But Gruden always liked what Foster could add. The Redskins cut starting linebacker Zach Brown earlier this offseason, but they likely would have done that even if Foster wasn't around.

"I love the energy he brings to this team," Gruden said of Foster. "... I was excited to see him, for sure. He's devastated; he felt something happen in his leg. We've got to get all the tests back, but he's very upset about it. He was pretty hurt."

The Redskins claimed Foster off waivers from San Francisco in November, three days after he was arrested for a domestic violence charge. The charges were later dropped and the NFL decided last month not to suspend Foster.

The Redskins had planned to start him as one of their two inside linebackers, probably alongside former Alabama teammate Shaun Dion Hamilton. Washington loves Foster's speed and athleticism inside.

It's uncertain how the Redskins will replace Foster. Former starter Mason Foster, often criticized for his lack of speed, said he lost 15 pounds this offseason in an attempt to get faster. The Redskins drafted a linebacker, Cole Holcomb, in the fifth round last month and they also have veteran Josh Harvey-Clemons, considered more of a nickel linebacker. They could look to add a veteran.

Foster suffered an ankle injury as a rookie with the 49ers, causing him to miss five games. He was suspended for the first two weeks of 2018 for a weapons offense and a misdemeanor drug offense. Another domestic violence charge, involving the same woman from November, was dropped.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Despite Magic Johnson airing his grievances with Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and a coaching search that took very public twists and turns before ending up on Frank Vogel, L.A.'s top basketball executive projected confidence as the franchise looks ahead to a crucial summer of free agency.

"I think if people take a look at where this franchise is right now, again we have a great coach, we have a high draft pick. We have a great young core, maybe one of the best in the league. We have a superstar on our team, and an open slot," Pelinka said Monday during Vogel's introductory news conference.

"So I think people can look at this as an opportunity to win a championship possibly next year."

The Lakers, who had luck on their side at the NBA draft lottery last week when they landed the No. 4 pick and have enough cap space to offer a max-level contract to a free agent this summer to come join LeBron James and their group of emerging talent, hope their coach is part of their resurgence next season.

"We know the characteristics and qualities we stand for," added Pelinka, who refuted Johnson's claims that he undermined him. "And we know as a staff and feel very strongly that if people judge and evaluate us for who we are as an organization and the vision and path we have going forward, we feel there will be a very, very strong appeal for the great players to come here."

TORONTO -- After the Toronto Raptors escaped with a grueling, 118-112 double-overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Sunday night, the focus Monday was on recovery.

"After almost any game, but especially after one like last night, you're getting nothing physically from these guys," Raptors coach Nick Nurse told ESPN after limiting his team's workload to a film session Monday afternoon. "I almost considered giving them the mental part of it off today, too, after last night's deal, but we didn't.

"I think they like the rhythm of coming in and seeing the film and getting their minds working a little bit. I think that's it. We're really just trying to save every drop of energy we can, especially for the top five or six guys."

Thanks to Toronto's prior series against the Philadelphia 76ers lasting seven games, the Raptors and Bucks now find themselves in a battle in which the games will be played every other day for as long as this series goes. That makes rest paramount for any team, but especially so for a Toronto squad that is generally playing older -- and fewer -- players than its Milwaukee counterparts, who also have the advantage of having had their prior series against the Boston Celtics last only five games.

So with Monday spent watching film, and Tuesday morning's typical pregame shootaround being canceled, the goal is to try to summon as much energy as possible for Tuesday night's Game 4 -- one the Raptors need to win to even the series at two games apiece and avoid facing elimination when the series shifts back to Milwaukee for Game 5 on Thursday.

"It's not about execution," Raptors guard Danny Green told ESPN. "Everybody knows each other's plays. It's about grit and will. Guys are mentally locked in, sprinting back, talking to each other ... those are the main things that are deciding these games.

"For us, it's just a matter of will power and to have the mentality to want to win, and want it more than them."

The Raptors needed every ounce of that Sunday night -- specifically from Kawhi Leonard, who didn't look right throughout much of the game after an awkward landing in the first quarter. Leonard still played a career-high 52 minutes and finished with 36 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

Leonard didn't speak to the media Monday, but he also wasn't listed on the team's injury report. For his part, Nurse said his star was feeling all right, and he echoed Leonard's comments from after Game 3 that Leonard would be ready to go when the ball goes up Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

"Yeah, I think the consensus today is he's tired," Nurse said. "He's got two days and will be ready to go. Those are kind of the words coming out of his mouth. He's a little tired, but he'll get his rest. Got two days, and he'll be ready."

Meanwhile, Kyle Lowry -- the team's All-Star point guard who fouled out midway through the fourth quarter of Sunday's thriller -- admitted Monday that he's still dealing with the aftereffects of an injury to his left thumb during the Philadelphia series.

"I try not to think about it," he said. "I mean, it is what it is. It's going to hurt. It's going to be sore, but you've got to push through. At this time of year, you've just got to push through no matter what you're going to go through ... just got to make things happen however you can."

When asked how often he notices it, Lowry said, "When it hurts every time I do something, yeah, you notice it. You hit it, stuff like that.

"You've got to be mind over matter, man."

The same could be said for the Raptors as a team. Surviving Sunday's thriller -- and, thus, continuing to have a realistic chance to win this series -- was one thing. Now, though, the Raptors will have to find a way to summon that energy again and again -- up to as many as four more times -- if they want to make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

If they can't, they won't need recovery days like this one much longer.

"The body does its work," Pascal Siakam said. "We're athletes. We prepare ourselves to sometimes be in these type of conditions and to be tired. I know it's different, but there's not really much you can do to prepare yourself for that type of intensity.

"We'll be ready. I'm ready. My body needs a little time to recover, but when it's game time, I'm sure I'm going to be 100 percent."

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- New Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel called new assistant coach Jason Kidd "an incredible asset" and said he's not going to worry about looking over his shoulder.

Vogel said that although the Lakers' front office planted the seed of adding Kidd to his staff, he welcomed the former Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks head coach as his assistant after the two connected and had a "lengthy" discussion for the first time. Vogel and Kidd did not have a previous relationship, but the Lakers' head coach laughed off the notion that some might view Kidd as a potential successor.

"No, I am very good at blocking out noise," Vogel said with a chuckle when asked about how some in the media have already deemed Kidd as a successor. "I have been around this business a long time. I really don't give that a second thought. You can say that about every coach in the league about their assistant coaches. It happens from time to time. I believe if you treat people with the right respect and do the job at the highest level, build an environment of positivity and collaboration, you can't worry about that stuff.

"You can't worry about looking over your shoulder. You got to worry about getting good damn coaches, and that is how I feel about this hire."

Vogel, who went 304-291 (.511) in his career as head coach of the Indiana Pacers (2010-16) and Orlando Magic (2016-18), said he's had his most success with a strong assistant coach who has playing and coaching experience on his staff.

Kidd interviewed with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and senior basketball adviser Kurt Rambis for the head-coaching vacancy before the team opted to offer Ty Lue a contract. Lue walked away from negotiations when the Lakers refused to budge from its three-year, $19 million offer, sources told ESPN.

Vogel, who shares an agent with Lue, was originally presented by Lue as a potential coach to join his staff when he met with the Lakers brass. When Lue removed himself from consideration and the Lakers expressed interest in meeting with Vogel for the head coaching position, rather than as an assistant, Lue gave Vogel his blessing, sources told ESPN.

The Lakers now hope Kidd can help Vogel develop young players such as Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart. Kidd also has a relationship with LeBron James, having played alongside James on Team USA.

As a head coach, Kidd went 44-38 and reached the second round of the playoffs in his first stint as a coach, with the Nets in 2013-14, and was 138-152 in 3½ seasons in Milwaukee from 2014 to 2018.

As the Lakers focused in on Vogel as head coach, he reached out to Kidd and the two got to know each other with a long phone conversation in which each became comfortable with the other.

"I didn't know Jason very well prior to that," Vogel said. "But, obviously, great respect for his playing career and his coaching career. I think he's done a good job as a head coach. ... This has been the model that's best for me, in terms of building my coaching staff: find a respected player with coaching experience that can help strengthen my message.

"I had a great, lengthy interview process with Jason where we talked about every topic you can imagine, and came away thinking he's going to be an incredible asset to our program."

Vogel said he addressed Kidd's domestic abuse arrest in 2001, when Kidd pleaded guilty to charges of domestic abuse involving his then-wife Joumana.

"Of course it does," Vogel said when asked whether the incident gave him pause. "But this was something that was in the past, and he's sort of spoken upon it and moved on from it. I believe he's in a very different place than back then."

Vogel was also optimistic about the current state of the Lakers despite the tumult that has surrounded the organization since Magic Johnson unexpectedly stepped down as president of basketball operations in April. Vogel said there's "a positive vibe happening with our team right now," but he also stressed the need to build continuity.

"We need to build togetherness with our organization, and I don't just mean with the 15 guys or 17 guys that are going to be in uniform or in that locker room," Vogel said. "I'm talking about organizational togetherness. Starting with ownership and the front office to the coaching staff, the players, the trainers, the business side -- we are all going to be pulling in the same direction. This is something I've always preached as a head coach because you can accomplish amazing things if everybody is together. When that happens, with the way we do things from day to day, that stuff translates to the court and how we play."

Part of Vogel's optimism heading into next season stems from the belief that LeBron James will bounce back from an injury-plagued season. A groin injury limited the four-time MVP to just 55 games.

James attended the entirety of Vogel's news conference on Monday, standing in the back, away from the cameras, leaving the spotlight on the team's new coach.

Vogel said he did not have any dialogue with James before accepting the position but their discourse has been encouraging since he entered the fold.

"It was very positive," he said when asked about his communication with James. "There's an excitement about what we can be and what we can accomplish, and I'm looking forward to getting started with this."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Josh Hamilton hasn't really thought much about baseball since knee issues ended his career, though he does miss playing at times. The 2010 American League MVP's moments on the diamond these days is watching and sometimes coaching his daughters playing softball.

"I've been making up for lost time with my girls, being Dad. Got a ranch toward College Station, spending time there,'' Hamilton said Monday, after the Texas Rangers said he would be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame. "Hadn't really thought much of baseball. It's one of things where I never cared too much about watching the game, but I loved playing it more than anything.''

Hamilton, who turns 38 on Tuesday, hasn't been to a Rangers game since playing in their 2015 regular-season finale, though he went to spring training with the team the next two years after that.

Former Arlington mayor Richard Greene, who during his tenure from 1987-97 played a major role in a getting the team a new stadium then and keeping the Rangers in Arlington, will join Hamilton in being inducted into the Texas hall in ceremony before an Aug. 17 against Minnesota.

"It's a great honor. If I were to think about, 15 or 20 years ago, if I'd be in any Hall of Fame at this point in my life, I'd have said no,'' Hamilton said. "So obviously, I gotta thank the good Lord above, and the Rangers where I had the best years of my career. And all the fans. It's just very humbling. ... Thinking about good memories, good times in my life, and times where the Rangers stuck with me through some things and took a chance on me in other areas.''

After Hamilton was the first overall pick out of high school in the 1999 amateur draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, his career was nearly destroyed by cocaine and alcohol addiction. He returned to baseball with the Cincinnati Reds and made his big league debut in 2007, when he hit 19 homers in 90 games before getting traded to the Rangers. He was part of their only two World Series teams (2010 and 2011) and was an All-Star five seasons in a row.

There was that awe-inspiring display in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium in 2008, when the first-time All-Star led the American League with 130 RBIs while hitting .304 with 32 homers in his first full season.

Hamilton left the Rangers in free agency, signing a $125 million, five-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels before the 2013 season. He was recovering from shoulder surgery when the Angels traded him back to Texas in 2015 after his two injury-plagued seasons with Los Angeles. He played 50 games for Texas in 2015, but never again after surgery on his left knee at least three times after that.

"The only thing I regret is not being able to be healthy when I came back to Texas,'' he said. "If I look back and could wish something, it was that right there, if I could have been healthy in '16 and '17 and finish playing like I wanted to play.''

The former slugger said there are times if he sees a game that he gets a feeling that he could probably still play, at least as a designated hitter.

"There's a feeling still inside of me that comes boiling up,'' he said.

Hamilton hit .290 over his eight big league seasons, with 200 homers and 701 RBIs in 1,027 games.

He never officially announced his retirement, saying he wanted to "just slip off into the background'' once he was ready to get to the ranch, get on a tractor and be a dad. He said he is enjoying life.

"I'd be lying to you if I said I still didn't feel like I could get out there and play,'' he said. "Then I remember why I quit. Just to be there for my girls."

On a hectic day at Citi Field, the slumping New York Mets announced they are sticking with embattled manager Mickey Callaway "for the foreseeable future'' -- and that sidelined slugger Yoenis Cespedes broke his right ankle in an accident on his ranch.

Cespedes has not played this season after undergoing surgery to remove calcification on both of his heels last year. Those surgeries were expected to keep him sidelined for at least half of this season, but this latest setback puts Cespedes' entire season in jeopardy.

General manager Brodie Van Wagenen said Monday the team learned Saturday night that Cespedes had broken his right ankle in a fall on his ranch in Port St. Lucie, Florida, where the club's spring training complex is located, and suffered multiple fractures in the accident.

"He had a violent fall in which he stepped in a hole and put his leg and foot in a difficult position," Van Wagenen said.

Cespedes, 33, returned to New York for further evaluation at the Hospital for Special Surgery, Van Wagenen said, adding that Cespedes told the team he did not fall off a horse. Van Wagenen said it was too early to speculate how long this latest injury might keep Cespedes out.

Van Wagenen also said the team called a meeting Monday "to make clear to the coaches, make clear to Mickey ... and the players" that the front office has given Callaway its full support.

"Mickey is our manager now," Van Wagenen said. "Mickey is our manager going forward."

Callaway's job was widely speculated to be in jeopardy following a sweep over the weekend by the last-place Marlins.

"I think Mickey has the respect of the players," Van Wagenen said. "... We believe that Mickey has the pulse of the clubhouse and we believe that the support he has around him will be keys to success."

Callaway also spoke Monday and reversed course on the team's latest controversy: Robinson Cano's failure to run hard after hitting a ground ball on Sunday. It was the second time in three days Cano had failed to run out a ground ball.

After defending the second baseman on Sunday, Callaway on Monday called such behavior "unacceptable."

"He understands that it's unacceptable to not run balls out," Callaway said. "He understands that he needs to do that at all times."

Cano was out of the Mets' lineup Monday night for the opener of a series against the Nationals at Citi Field. Callaway said he had spoken with Cano several times.

Callaway declined to call it a benching, saying that Cano needs a day off. Jeff McNeil gets the start at second base. Cano, for his part, told reporters before Monday's game that he was never told he's on the bench partly for failing to run. He said it was a prearranged off-day for him.

"Things are piling up on Robbie right now," Callaway said Sunday. "Come on, let's face it -- the ball lands foul and spins into fair territory. He saw it hit foul, and by the time he looked back up the ball had spun into fair territory and the play was over. Stuff happens like that when things are going bad."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

It's definitely a time for goodbyes.

For fantasy fans, life may never be quite the same after the end of Game of Thrones.

And if you're a Manchester City supporter, there is a Vincent Kompany-shaped hole in your affections as he leaves the club after 11 years to become Anderlecht player-manager.

It's hard to imagine the Belgian centre-back in any kit other than City's sky blue, but all good things must come to an end.

With that in mind, here are the other sportspeople we definitely won't be ready to say goodbye to when the time comes.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

You're either 'House' Messi or 'House' Ronaldo, but let's cast aside the 'who's better?' debate for a minute and just imagine football without these two.

Messi, 31, has scored 602 goals in his 684 games for Barcelona, while Ronaldo, 34, has hit 600 goals in 804 games across his time at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.

That represents 0.75 goals per game for Ronaldo, and 0.88 for Messi - stats that leave the pair in a world of their own.

But what do we do after they retire?

Just sit watching reruns of Messi dropping Bayern Munich's Jerome Boateng on his backside during a Champions League semi-final? How about Ronaldo, then at Manchester United, smashing a 'knuckleball' free-kick past a despairing David James?

They may not be ready to bow out any time soon, but football won't be the same without them.

Serena Williams

With 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her name and having beaten 12 players who were ranked number one in the world - including her sister Venus, there is no doubt Williams is one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

She won the Australian Open while pregnant, then - after giving birth to daughter Alexis in September 2017 - returned to reach the Wimbledon final in 2018.

A pioneer for not only female athletes but black athletes as well, she has changed the landscape of tennis entirely.

In an article for Fortune.com she said: "Growing up, I was told I couldn't accomplish my dreams because I was a woman and, more so, because of the colour of my skin. In every stage of my life, I've had to learn to stand up for myself and speak out."

LeBron James

After scoring more than 32,500 points across 16 years, LA Lakers forward LeBron James is definitely a contender for the NBA iron throne.

Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were all worthy protectors of the basketball realm, but James has a very strong argument as to why he may be the greatest ruler of all time - the GROAT?

With 8,662 assists, 7,140 free-throws made and 4,163 turnovers in 1,198 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat and the Lakers, he has proved himself one of the most dominant athletes of his generation.

And it's not just his on-court heroics that have established him as a great. His I Promise School houses 240 at-risk third and fourth-grade students in James' hometown Akron, Ohio.

He may not have got the Lakers to the play-offs this season, but his legacy will live on well past his final game.

Marta

Brazilian striker Marta Vieira da Silva is a six-time winner of Best Fifa Women's Player.

The 33-year-old has scored 110 goals in 133 games for Brazil, and 166 goals in 257 games in her time playing at Los Angeles Sol, Santos, FC Gold Pride, Western New York Flash, Tyreso FF, Rosengard and Orlando Pride.

In an interview with BBC Newsbeat, former England manager Hope Powell said: "Her longevity in the sport and what she's done for it needs to be admired and respected.

"There are now opportunities for women to become professional footballers and earn a decent living from the game. There are lots of players that have made that pathway possible, and Marta is one of them."

The striker will play in her fifth World Cup this summer in France.

Roger Federer

The Swiss maestro has won 101 career singles titles - just the second man (after Jimmy Connors) to reach a century and the first for 36 years.

Federer's titles have come across 19 years, on all the sport's surfaces, in 30 cities and 19 countries.

And, at 37, he's still not letting up.

He pulled out of the recent Italian Open, but just six weeks earlier had told ESPN: "We're not thinking about retirement because I feel like the more I think about it, then the more they'll talk about it, the closer I am to it."

There will come a time when all six of these sporting greats will no longer be playing, and hopefully it doesn't leave a big Game of Thrones-size hole in our lives. But at least we can say we saw them at their best. After all, 'what is dead may never die'.

Great Britain's Jay Clarke and James Ward suffered defeats in the first qualifying round of the French Open.

GB number four Clarke served for the match before 19-year-old Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, ranked 26 places higher at 133, won 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.

Fifth-ranked Briton Ward, 169th in the world, lost 6-1 6-2 to German Oscar Otte, who is rated 24 places higher.

It leaves Kyle Edmund, Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans as the British men in the main competition.

Englishman Clarke, 20, made a fine start as he broke his opponent's serve in both of his first two service games to dominate the opening set.

After fighting back from 4-1 down in the second, Clarke was serving for the match with a 6-5 second-set lead, but the Spaniard broke back and then won the tie-break to take it to a deciding set.

Davidovich Fokina, a winner of the Wimbledon juniors event in 2017, broke immediately in the third set and two further breaks saw him move into the next phase, needing to win two more matches to qualify for the tournament.

Meanwhile, Jamaican-German Dustin Brown, who famously beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2015, progressed into the second qualifying round with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 victory over Denis Istomin, the second seed in the qualifying tournament.

The 34-year-old will now face Ecuadorian Emilio Gomez.

Former world number five Tommy Robredo, at 37 the second oldest player in the event and a five-time Roland Garros quarter-finalist, lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to German 18-year-old Rudolf Molleker.

A total of 128 qualifiers began on Monday battling for 16 places in the main draw.