Williams to play 33rd WTA season at age 45
US star given wildcard for January’s ASB Classic
Former champ joins Osaka in Auckland field
Tennis great Venus Williams plans to play for a 33rd straight season on the WTA Tour, starting in Auckland in January.
Organizers of the ASB Classic in New Zealand said Wednesday that the 45-year-old Williams would feature at their 5-11 January event.
Continue reading...Governing body says go-ahead shouldn’t set precedent
Barcelona poised to play in US and Milan in Australia
Uefa has given its “reluctant” approval to Serie A and La Liga each playing a domestic game abroad this season. The decision clears a path for Barcelona and Villarreal to meet in Miami in December and for Milan and Como to play in Perth, Australia, in February.
Uefa said in a statement that it had “reiterated its clear opposition to domestic league matches being played outside their home country” but that because “the relevant Fifa regulatory framework – currently under review – is not clear and detailed enough, the Uefa Executive Committee has reluctantly taken the decision to approve, on an exceptional basis, the two requests referred to it”.
The move comes after the Italian and Spanish football federations applied for those matches to be played abroad. Uefa said its national associations had agreed to engage with it before submitting any future requests.
Continue reading...Don Rea Jr writes letter to organization’s members
European players and wives were verbally abused
The president of the PGA of America, who had initially dismissed abuse directed at Europe’s players during this year’s Ryder Cup as no worse than at “a youth soccer game”, has issued an apology.
“Let me begin with what we must own. While the competition was spirited – especially with the US team’s rally on Sunday afternoon – some fan behavior clearly crossed the line,” Don Rea Jr wrote in an email to PGA of America members. “It was disrespectful, inappropriate, and not representative of who we are as the PGA of America or as PGA of America golf professionals. We condemn that behavior unequivocally.”
Continue reading...Eubank Jr makes allegations against Matchroom at press conference
Hearn rejects claims and threatens legal action unless boxer apologises
Eddie Hearn has threatened to sue Chris Eubank Jr, after the boxer fired the first shots during a press conference ahead of his rematch with Conor Benn by accusing his opponent’s team of dirty tricks and “sabotage”.
Eubank Jr, who won their first bout by unanimous decision in April, claimed an ambulance taking him to hospital afterwards was stopped – and appeared to point the finger at Benn’s promoters, Matchroom Boxing.
Continue reading...Rapper risks six figures on world No 1 at Flushing
Drake Curse looms after past tennis losses mount
Sinner in quarters, faces Italian rival Musetti
Drake is betting big on Jannik Sinner, wagering $300,000 on the world No 1 to win the US Open.
The rapper known for placing big bets on sporting events – and often losing them – posted on social media the screenshot of a betting slip from Tuesday afternoon. The six-figure gamble pays $507,000 if Sinner captures his fifth major championship and second at the US Open.
Continue reading...16-year-old also hit ace at 2024 PNC Championship
Woods has had impressive junior season so far
Charlie Woods carded his second recorded hole-in-one after firing an ace on Sunday during the third and final round of the Junior Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Starting the round on the back nine, Woods was even-par through 11 holes on Sunday before he covered the par-three third with one shot from 177 yards out at TPC Sawgrass.
Continue reading...Australian Open champion beaten by Renata Zarazúa
World No 6 suffers string of errors in loss
One of the main home hopes at the US Open has suffered an early exit from the tournament after Madison Keys lost in the first round on Monday.
There were early signs the world No 6, who won the Australian Open in January, faced a tough match against Mexico’s Renata Zarazúa. The American won the first set, but only after taking a marathon tiebreak 12-10. Zarazúa won the second set on another tiebreak (7-3) before closing out the match by taking the final set 7-5.
Simpson played 62 Tests over more than two decades
Australia’s first full-time coach helped guide team’s re-emergence
The former Australia cricket captain and coach Bob Simpson has died in Sydney aged 89. He was an influential figure in Australian cricket for more than four decades as a player, captain and coach. He also made his mark on the game as a law-maker, referee and commentator.
Simpson first pulled on the baggy green cap of the Australian Test cricket team in 1957, and made a comeback to captain Australia aged 41 after the game was thrown into crisis by World Series Cricket in 1977.
Continue reading...British No 1 beaten 6-2, 6-1 in Montreal third round
Anisimova lines up meeting with Elina Svitolina
Emma Raducanu has crashed out of the Canadian Open in straight sets, going down 6-2, 6-1 to the American fifth seed Amanda Anisimova in the third round.
Raducanu had won both of their previous meetings but rarely looked like extending that run as she held her serve just once in either set in Montreal.
Continue reading...Gastroenteritis affecting American swimmers
Outbreak traced to pre-meet camp in Thailand
Ledecky unaffected, leads 400m freestyle field
The United States swim team is battling an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis that has affected several athletes at the start of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Team officials confirmed the illness originated during a pre-meet training camp in Phuket, Thailand, and has compromised multiple performances as competition got under way on Sunday.
Continue reading...McIntosh breaks 400m IM world record in 4:23.65 time
Third record broken in five days for Canadian teenager
18-year-old matches Phelps’ 2008 mark for single meet
Summer McIntosh broke her third swimming world record in five days on Wednesday night, clocking 4:23.65 in the women’s 400m individual medley at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, British Columbia.
The 18-year-old from Toronto lowered her own world record of 4:24.38, set earlier this year, and became the first swimmer to break world records in three different individual events at one long course meet since Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Continue reading...Governing body bars athletes tied to Enhanced Games
Vegas event allows PED use, offers $1m record bonuses
Critics call it a ‘dangerous clown show’, not real sport
Swimmers, coaches and officials who compete in or support a controversial new sports event allowing performance-enhancing drugs will be barred from elite competition, World Aquatics announced on Tuesday.
The move targets the Enhanced Games, a privately funded, Olympics-style event set to debut in Las Vegas next May, which explicitly permits – and encourages – the use of substances banned under global anti-doping rules. Athletes will not be drug-tested and may follow personalized pharmaceutical regimens, provided they disclose their use to organizers.
Continue reading...Gauff: Women deserve French Open night session slots
No women’s matches yet in Roland Garros prime time
22 Americans through to second round, most since 1994
Coco Gauff insists that women’s matches deserve to be given the night sessions at the French Open.
The world No 2 said she agreed with fellow WTA star Ons Jabeur, who reopened the debate earlier this week.
Continue reading...Saudi Arabia’s extension of its soft power through sport reached into the heart of New York City on Friday night with a grandiose boxing card for a select audience backed by Turki al-Sheikh, the chairman of the Kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority
Continue reading...Giannis Antetokounmpo has criticized Tyrese Haliburton’s father as the aftermath of Bucks-Pacers playoff series descended into a heated confrontation.
Haliburton sealed the Pacers’ 4-1 series victory with a lay-up in overtime that gave them a 119-118 victory on Tuesday night. In the ensuing celebrations, Antetokounmpo says Haliburton’s father, John, approached him and waved a towel while shouting “this is what we fucking do.”
“I believe in being humble in victory,” Antetokounmpo said after the game. “A lot of people out there that are like, no, when you win the game, you talk shit and it’s a green light for you to be disrespectful towards somebody else. I disagree.”
Haliburton was unhappy with his father too.
“I don’t agree with what transpired there from him,” Haliburton said. “Basketball is basketball and let’s keep it on the court. I think he just got excited, saw his son make a game winner and came on the court, but we had a conversation.
“He needs to just allow me to play basketball and stay over there and I’ll come to him to celebrate. But the emotions of the game got excited there. I talked with him. I’ll talk with Giannis. I don’t think my pops was in the right at all there.”
Antetokounmpo had a 30-point, 20-rebound and 13-assist triple-double as the Bucks lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third year in a row, and for a second time in succession against the Pacers.
John Haliburton, who has been a basketball referee, later apologized on social media for the incident.
“I sincerely apologize to Giannis, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Pacers organization for my actions following tonight’s game,” he wrote. “This was not a good reflection on our sport or my son and I will not make that mistake again.”
Antetokounmpo was also involved in a fracas with the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin after the game. The two initially embraced before Antetokounmpo put his hand on Mathurin’s neck and the two started shoving each other.
In Tuesday night’s other games, Jamal Murray erupted for 43 points and Russell Westbrook chipped in 21 in his return from injury, sparking the Nuggets’ 131-115 win over the Los Angeles Clippers that gave Denver a 3-2 lead in their series. The Nuggets also got 23 from Game 4 hero Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokić’s 21st career playoff triple-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Elsewhere, Cade Cunningham had 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Detroit stayed alive in their first postseason appearance since 2019 by beating New York in Game 5 of their first-round series. Ausar Thompson added 22 points and Tobias Harris had 17 for the Pistons, who will have a chance to even things up Thursday night at home in Game 6. If they win that, the deciding game would be back at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum had 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and Boston pulled away after Magic star Paolo Banchero went to the bench with five fouls, beating Orlando in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals. The defending NBA champions will play either the Knicks or Pistons in the second round. Franz Wagner scored 25 points, Banchero had 19 and Wendell Carter Jr. had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who have not won a playoff series since Dwight Howard, Vince Carter and coach Stan Van Gundy led them to the Eastern Conference finals in 2010.