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TENNIS
LONDON (AP) Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Stan Wawrinka is skipping hard-court events in the United States to rest his injured left knee.
Wawrinka says in a statement he will miss the Masters-level Indian Wells and Miami events to prepare for the European clay-court season.
The 2015 French Open champion says ''coming back from a big surgery is complicated'' and his body needs more time to heal.
Wawrinka, who will turn 33 during the Miami Open this month, ended his 2017 season with knee surgery in August.
He lost in the Australian Open second round in January, then the first round at the Rotterdam indoor tournament, before retiring from his second-round match last week in Marseille, France.
Wawrinka's ranking has dropped to No. 12.
FOOTBALL
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly has once again been diagnosed with oral cancer.
Kelly released a statement Thursday through his publicist saying he is ''shocked and deeply saddened'' by the news, and vows to once again to fight to overcome the disease. He did not go into specifics on the diagnoses except to say the cancer was discovered following a test.
''As our family has faced many trials and triumphs throughout the years, you have blessed us with your prayers. We are asking for those prayers once again,'' Kelly said. ''With all of you by my side, we will fight and win this battle together.''
Kelly then closed his statement by saying: ''Staying `Kelly Tough' and trusting God will carry us through this difficult time.''
The diagnosis comes a few weeks after Kelly celebrated his 58th birthday.
Kelly had been cancer-free since September 2014, but had been required to undergo follow-up testing every six months.
TELEVISION
The Sun Belt Conference has signed a new eight-year contract with ESPN that gives the network exclusive multimedia rights to all of the league's sports.
Terms were not disclosed, but the Sun Belt announced Thursday that the new agreement included enhancements to the current contract with ESPN that runs through the 2019-20 academic year. The new deal runs through 2027-28.
The enhancements guarantee the new Sun Belt football championship will be broadcast starting this season on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. All Sun Belt home football games will continue to be available on either an ESPN television or digital platform, including the soon-to-be unveiled ESPN Plus subscription streaming service. Over the next two seasons, the number of Sun Belt men and women's basketball games shown on ESPN platforms will increase to a minimum of 100 in 2018-19 and a minimum of 150 in 2019-20.
TRACK AND FIELD
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) - Danil Lysenko reversed his world outdoors result with Mutaz Essa Barshim by winning their world indoors high jump duel on his last leap on Thursday.
In contrast, Mariya Lasitskene blew away the field in the women's event.
Lysenko, an authorized neutral athlete, and Barshim of Qatar cleared three heights on their first attempts and were the only two to attempt 2.36 meters.
Barshim, the IAAF male athlete of 2017, and Lysenko failed at their first two attempts. Barshim let out a roar before his third attempt but again failed. Lysenko asked for quiet from the Arena Birmingham crowd and - after a tense wait - soared over.
Lysenko lost to Barshima at the world championships in London last year.
Mateusz Przybylko of Germany was third, after failing to clear 2.33, along with Erik Kynard of the United States. Przybylko promised ''a big party'' after winning his first ever medal.
