Aryna Sabalenka relishes ‘much-needed’ tennis rivalry with Iga Swiatek

Aryna Sabalenka relishes ‘much-needed’ tennis rivalry with Iga Swiatek
Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka spent eight weeks at the summit of the rankings last season and says reclaiming the world number one spot is one of her biggest goals. (AFP)
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Updated 09 October 2024
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Aryna Sabalenka relishes ‘much-needed’ tennis rivalry with Iga Swiatek

Aryna Sabalenka relishes ‘much-needed’ tennis rivalry with Iga Swiatek
  • Top-ranked Iga Swiatek is absent from the field in Wuhan and withdrew from the China swing after splitting with her coach
  • Sabalenka has a chance to close the gap on the Polish world number one with a strong run in Wuhan

WUHA, China: World number two Aryna Sabalenka said Wednesday that she believes her rivalry with top-ranked Iga Swiatek is “much-needed” in women’s tennis.

The Belarusian advanced to the Wuhan Open third round with her 50th victory of the season, 6-4, 6-4 against Katerina Siniakova.

Swiatek is absent from the field in Wuhan and withdrew from the China swing after splitting with her coach of three years Tomasz Wiktorowski.

Sabalenka has a chance to close the gap on the Polish world number one with a strong run in Wuhan, with the battle for the top spot likely to come down to the wire at the season-ending championships in Riyadh next month.

“Having this rivalry with Iga is something big for tennis and something much-needed, I would say, in women’s tennis.

“To keep this competition going would be really good for tennis,” said Sabalenka, who will next face Yulia Putintseva in the last 16.

Sabalenka, 26, spent eight weeks at the summit of the rankings last season and says reclaiming the world number one spot is one of her biggest goals.

“I hope she’ll figure out the coach situation and she’ll be back in the finals in her best shape.

“Hopefully we can play against each other there in... a fight for world number one.”

Coco Gauff followed up her China Open title in Beijing on Sunday with a smooth 6-1, 6-2 win over Viktoriya Tomova.

Gauff has a seven-match win streak and faces 13th seed Marta Kostyuk in the last 16.

Kostyuk received a walkover after her opponent Amanda Anisimova withdrew with a left hip injury.

“Both mentally and physically I’m a little tired, if I’m being honest,” said Gauff. “But when I got on the court, I felt fine.

“How I approached Beijing, I was like, I want to approach this how I would play tennis as a kid.

“Sometimes I try to go back into that mindset and realize at the end of the day this is my dream now, and it was my dream as a kid.

“If I don’t want to do it for myself now, I can definitely do it for myself then.”

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova crashed out to American qualifier and world number 102 Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5 in just 94 minutes.

Seventh seed Krejcikova let a 3-1 lead slip in the opening set, as well as a 5-3 advantage in the second.

The 22-year-old Baptiste will next take on Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova for a place in the quarter-finals.


Britain’s Rowland takes Formula E title with two races to spare

Britain’s Rowland takes Formula E title with two races to spare
Updated 47 min 7 sec ago
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Britain’s Rowland takes Formula E title with two races to spare

Britain’s Rowland takes Formula E title with two races to spare
  • Rowland had needed to lead Pascal Wehrlein by 59 points after the second of two races in Berlin

BERLIN: Nissan’s Oliver Rowland won the Formula E title for the first time and with two races to spare on Sunday, the Briton becoming the all-electric series’ 10th different champion in the space of 11 seasons.

Rowland had needed to lead Pascal Wehrlein by 59 points after the second of two races in Berlin, the championship’s penultimate weekend, and he did it by finishing fourth with his Porsche rival only 16th despite starting on pole.

The Briton now has 184 points with Wehrlein on 125.

Sunday’s race at Berlin’s old Tempelhof airport was won by Jaguar’s Nick Cassidy, completing a weekend sweep after teammate Mitch Evans won on Saturday, with Andretti’s Jake Dennis second and Jean-Eric Vergne third for DS Penske.

The final two races of the season are in London on July 26-27.

It was the first time a Japanese manufacturer had won the championship. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Christian Radnedge)


Jannik Sinner faces Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in a rematch of their epic French Open final

Jannik Sinner faces Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in a rematch of their epic French Open final
Updated 13 July 2025
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Jannik Sinner faces Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in a rematch of their epic French Open final

Jannik Sinner faces Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in a rematch of their epic French Open final
  • Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are meeting to decide the Wimbledon championship just five weeks after they played each other in an epic French Open final
  • Alcaraz won in five sets spread over 5 hours, 29 minutes in Paris, coming back from a two-set deficit and saving three match points along the way

LONDON: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are meeting to decide the Wimbledon championship just five weeks after they played each other in an epic French Open final.

Sunday’s matchup at Center Court between the No. 1-ranked Sinner and No. 2 Alcaraz marks the first time the same two men faced off in the title matches on the clay at Roland-Garros and the grass at the All England Club in the same year since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal did it in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain, defeated Sinner, a 22-year-old from Italy, in five sets spread over 5 hours, 29 minutes in Paris on June 8, coming back from a two-set deficit and saving three match points along the way.

That made Alcaraz 5-0 in Grand Slam finals, including victories in 2023 and 2024 at Wimbledon.

He also carries a career-best 24-match winning streak into Sunday and has beaten Sinner five times in a row.

Sinner owns three major trophies and will be playing in his fourth consecutive Slam final — but first at the All England Club.

He won the US Open last September and the Australian Open this January.

Sinner has been wearing tape and an arm sleeve to protect his right elbow since falling in the opening game of his fourth-round win on Monday. After eliminating 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, Sinner said he doesn’t think his elbow will be an issue on Sunday.

Play is scheduled to begin Sunday at 4 p.m. local time, which is 11 a.m. ET.

Sinner was listed Saturday as the slight money-line favorite at -110 by BetMGM Sportsbook, with Alcaraz at -105.


Trump the football fan: US president to attend FIFA club final

Trump the football fan: US president to attend FIFA club final
Updated 13 July 2025
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Trump the football fan: US president to attend FIFA club final

Trump the football fan: US president to attend FIFA club final
  • The US president is attending the final of the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday

BEDMINSTER, United States: Donald Trump will on Sunday showcase his unexpected attachment to a sport in which “America First” remains a dream, for now.

The US president is attending the final of the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup in his latest use of the beautiful game as a soft power political weapon.

His appearance at the MetLife stadium in New Jersey, where Paris Saint-Germain face Chelsea, is very much a trial run for the World Cup final, which will take place in the same stadium next year.

Trump has made it clear he sees both tournaments, as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, as showpieces for what he calls the “Golden Age of America” during his second term.

The billionaire Republican’s close friendship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a frequent visitor to the White House, is also a factor in his appearance.

Trump has kept the Club World Cup trophy next to his desk in the Oval Office since Infantino dropped by in March.

But Trump’s embrace of football, or soccer as he would say, is also personal.

The president’s 19-year-old son Barron is a fan, as Infantino pointed out in a press conference at FIFA’s new office in Trump Tower in New York on Saturday.

Asked if Trump liked the game, Infantino replied: “Well I think he does. In his first term as president of the United States there was a soccer goal in the garden of the White House.

“He then explained to me that his son loved football, and that he loved the game. And of course when you are a parent, you love what your children love, so I think that he loves it.”

As a student at the New York Military Academy, Trump himself also reportedly played the game for a season.

Trump’s apparent fondness for football may seem unusual for a country where, despite growing popularity, the sport still lags behind American football, basketball and baseball.

The former reality TV star has, however, always had an eye for popularity, power and influence. And football in its own way brings all three.

Trump pointed out when Infantino visited the White House in March that the United States won the right to host the 2026 World Cup in 2018, during his first term as president.

He said he was “so sad” because he assumed he would not be president when the tournament came around — but his 2020 election loss meant that he would after all.

The FIFA Club World Cup has meanwhile proved more successful than its critics predicted, with around 2.5 million people attending games across the country and some gripping games.

Infantino, who is no stranger to dealing with hard-nosed leaders around the world, thanked Trump for his support on Saturday.

He said Trump “embraced immediately the importance of the FIFA Club World Cup, and of course of the World Cup next year.”

Infantino also joked that Trump “certainly loves as well the trophy” — whose gold-plated curves match the gilded makeover that the president has given the Oval Office.

But in typical form Trump has also mixed political controversy with his football fandom.

Hosting Italian side Juventus in the Oval Office in June, he delivered a diatribe on transgender people in sports before asking the players: “Could a woman make your team, fellas?“

Most of the players looked bemused before Juventus general manager Damien Comolli replied: “We have a very good women’s team.”

“He’s being very diplomatic,” said Trump.

Trump’s hard-line immigration crackdown — part of his “America First” policy — has meanwhile sparked fears that football fans will be discouraged from coming to the United States.

In May, Vice President JD Vance said that 2026 World Cup fans were “welcome to come... but when the time is up they will have to go home.”


Messi at the double again to lift Miami to MLS win over Nashville

Messi at the double again to lift Miami to MLS win over Nashville
Updated 13 July 2025
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Messi at the double again to lift Miami to MLS win over Nashville

Messi at the double again to lift Miami to MLS win over Nashville
  • Lionel Messi continued his historic Major League Soccer scoring run Saturday, netting two goals for the fifth game in a row to lift Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over Nashville

MIAMI: Lionel Messi continued his historic Major League Soccer scoring run Saturday, netting two goals for the fifth game in a row to lift Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over Nashville.

Just days after he became the first player to score multiple goals in four straight MLS matches, Messi did it again as Miami continued their climb up the Eastern Conference standings after their league hiatus for the Club World Cup.

Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a trademark left-foot free-kick, which found the only gap in Nashville’s defensive wall to go past goalkeeper Joe Willis.

Miami dominated in the first half but, just four minutes after half-time, Hany Mukhtar’s header pulled Nashville level.

Messi grabbed the winner in the 62nd minute when he capitalized on a bad mistake from Willis, who misjudged a pass to tee up the Argentine for the strike.

The two goals — on the heels of his two in a 2-1 win over New England on Wednesday — took Messi’s total to 16 in 16 appearances this season, tied with Nashville’s Sam Surridge, who was unable to add to his tally of 16 on Saturday.

“There are not many words. It’s incredible what he keeps doing, breaking records now every three days, not even every weekend,” Miami coach Javier Mascherano said.

“He is the standard-bearer of our team that shows us the way to compete. He is the leader.

“It’s a blessing for me to accompany this stage of his career.”

Miami were playing their third match since returning to MLS action in the wake of a month-long Club World Cup campaign that ended when they were eliminated in the last 16 by Paris Saint-Germain.

With 38 points from 19 matches, they are in fifth place in the East, five points behind leaders Philadelphia with three games in hand.

Philadelphia went top with a 2-0 victory over New York Red Bulls, Indiana Vassilev and Bruno Damiani delivering the goals.

Cincinnati slipped to second in the East on 42 points after falling 4-2 to Columbus. Nashville and Columbus both have 41 points.

Miami’s jam-packed schedule continues Wednesday against Cincinnati, with the New York Red Bulls coming up next weekend.

Mascherano knows he will have to find time to give the 38-year-old Messi some rest.

“At some point we are going to have to find a space to give him some rest, we are going to talk about it day by day,” he said.

“He is feeling good and when we think it is time to give him some rest, we will do it.”


Hamzah Sheeraz stops Berlanga, Shakur Stevenson defends lightweight title at home of US Open tennis

Hamzah Sheeraz stops Berlanga, Shakur Stevenson defends lightweight title at home of US Open tennis
Updated 13 July 2025
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Hamzah Sheeraz stops Berlanga, Shakur Stevenson defends lightweight title at home of US Open tennis

Hamzah Sheeraz stops Berlanga, Shakur Stevenson defends lightweight title at home of US Open tennis
  • The English fighter moved up in weight to make his debut at super middleweight and showed he has plenty of power for it
  • In the co-main event, Shakur Stevenson remained undefeated and defended his WBC lightweight title with a dominant performance, beating William Zepeda

NEW YORK: Hamzah Sheeraz punctuated the first boxing card held on the grounds of the US Open tennis tournament by stopping Edgar Berlanga in the fifth round Saturday night.

The English fighter moved up in weight to make his debut at super middleweight and showed he has plenty of power for it, dropping Berlanga twice in the fourth round and then pouncing quickly to start the fifth before referee David Fields stopped the fight.

Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) has been touted as a potential opponent for 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez and would not only deserve it but have a chance to win if if he looked as good as he did against Berlanga (23-2), who had boasted that he would have an easy night.

In the co-main event, Shakur Stevenson remained undefeated and defended his WBC lightweight title with a dominant performance, beating William Zepeda by unanimous decision.

One judge favored Stevenson 119-109, while the other two had it 118-110 for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist.

Stevenson (24-0) won just before Berlanga and Sheeraz fought in the final bout of the night in Louis Armstrong Stadium, the No. 2 venue at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

But it was a main event-level performance from Stevenson and the first wide victory of the night after the previous two bouts were close right to the finish.

Zepeda (33-1) landed a left hand shortly after the opening bell that drew a smile from the champion, and he was able to get inside a number of times to unload a series of shots at Stevenson. But he was often powerless to stop the flurries that were coming back at him from Stevenson’s hand speed that is up at the top of boxing.

The Ring Magazine held its second fight card in New York after staging one in Times Square in May. Tickets weren’t sold then and just a few hundred people were able to see it, creating an atmosphere where the scene was impressive but the sounds were almost non-existent, leaving fighters to say it felt like a sparring session.

This time, seats were sold and many were occupied well into the second deck of the 14,000-seat stadium, which had its retractable roof closed to create comfortable conditions on a humid day.

And the fans saw good action early in a brilliant performance from Stevenson, who has been criticized at times for a style that that seems too dependent on avoiding pain and not dishing it out.

But he seemed happy to trade Saturday and most times came out ahead when he did.

Zepeda did trap Stevenson in a corner to score with some shots in the third round, bringing his Mexican fans out of their seats, but many other times Stevenson’s quick head movement allowed him to dodge potential trouble. By the middle of the fight, Stevenson was firing off two, three, sometimes four unreturned shots

There was a title change in the previous fight, when Subriel Matias (23-2) edged Alberto Puello (24-1) by majority decision to take the WBC’s 140-pound belt.

Before that, Cuban David Morrell (12-1) got up from a fifth-round knockdown to rally late and edge Imam Khataev (10-1) by split decision in a light heavyweight bout.