Dutch multi-distance star Sifan Hassan has set a race record to claim victory in the first running of the Sydney Marathon as a World Majors Series event on Sunday. She ran the 42km in two hours 18 minutes and 22 seconds. Ethiopia’s Hailemaryam Kiros produced the fastest marathon run in Australia to win the men’s event in 2:06:06, as Kenyan legend Eliud Kipchoge fell short of the podium in the men’s category
Jelena Ostapenko apologised for some of the words she used in a tense altercation with American Taylor Townsend at the U.S. Open that led to a backlash, with the Latvian stating on Saturday that English was not her native language.
The controversy ignited after Townsend, who is Black, beat 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko 7-5 6-1 in a tough second-round battle on Wednesday before being dragged into a verbal duel by her opponent following their handshake.
Townsend revealed part of the exchange in her on-court interview, saying Ostapenko accused her of having “no class” and “no education”, adding in a press conference that the Latvian would have to answer if there were “racial undertones” to the row.
Ostapenko said on Instagram that her anger stemmed from Townsend’s refusal to apologise for benefiting from a net cord — when the American’s shot clipped the net and stayed in play — and accused her of being disrespectful.
Most players tend to hold up their racket in apology after winning such a point, following age-old traditions in the sport.
The altercation prompted four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka to wade into the debate, with the Japanese player saying that using the words that Ostapenko did were the worst things to utter to criticise a Black player.
“I wanted to apologise for some of the things I said during my second-round singles match,” Ostapenko said on Saturday.
“English is not my native language, so when I said education, I was speaking only about what I believe as tennis etiquette, but I understand how the words I used could have offended many people beyond the tennis court.
“I appreciate the support as I continue to learn and grow as a person and a player.”
Townsend said later it was nice that Ostapenko apologised.
“That’s fine. That’s cool,” she added. “At the end of the day, I think that it’s a lesson for her ….you can’t push your expectations on other people. That’s what happened.
“She expected me to react a certain way, and I didn’t, and it infuriated her, which led her to say things that are hurtful, belligerent, offensive, not only to me but to the sport and a whole culture of people I try to represent the best I can.”
American Coco Gauff said that Townsend, who will take on Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round, was one of the nicest people she knew.
Townsend said a lot of people were finding out about her following the incident.
“There’s a lot of familiar faces here, but there are a lot of people who maybe didn’t have any idea who I was,” she said.
“People being able to see me now, but then being able to go back and go into my history and follow my journey and figure out how has she gotten here, I think that’s super cool.”
Published on Aug 31, 2025
Inter Miami CF’s thrilling matchup against Seattle Sounders FC in the Leagues Cup 2025 Final this Sunday, Aug 31 is just hours away. With the clock winding down ahead of the decisive matchup, which presents the Club with the opportunity to make history by clinching a second Leagues Cup title in three years, let’s review Inter Miami’s road to the Final.
Inter Miami opened its Leagues Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over Liga MX’s Atlas FC featuring a late winner from Marcelo Weigandt in the sixth minute of added time. The occasion also presented the highly anticipated debut of Argentine World Cup-winning midfielder Rodrigo De Paul in our Club’s colors.
Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul: “We’re happy. I think the team played a great game, we had a lot of scoring chances… The reception from my teammates has been great… I feel very comfortable, I’m very happy at Inter Miami. I hope it’s the first of many wins.”
The team’s second bout in Phase One presented a hard-fought a 2-2 draw against Club Necaxa, before winning the penalty shootout to claim the additional point. Midfielder Telasco Segovia opened the scoring at Chase Stadium with a screamer, prior to left-back Jordi Alba equalizing in the dying moments to send the match to penalties. In addition, De Paul played provider for both goals as he tallied his first assists for the Club.
(Reminder: Matches in Phase One that ended with the score level went straight to penalty shootouts with both teams receiving a point and the winner of the shootout receiving an additional point).
Defender Jordi Alba: “We were down a man in the 20th minute. It was practically an uphill battle throughout the entire match. The whole team put in a great effort. I think we played a good game against a very good opponent.”
Inter Miami closed out Phase One with a convincing 3-1 win over Concacaf and Liga MX powerhouse Pumas UNAM. The match presented a comeback powered by a stellar performance from legendary striker Luis Suárez with a goal and two assists, while De Paul scored his first goal for the Club, and Tadeo Allende also got his name onto the scoresheet.
The win helped the Club advance to the Knockout Rounds in second place in the MLS table in Phase One with eight points.
The Quarterfinals presented a 2-1 victory over a tough opponent in Tigres UANL. Suárez was the hero of the evening with a brace to send Inter Miami through to the Semifinals.
Forward Luis Suárez: “I’m very happy to be helping the team. Advancing today was very important.”
MIdfielder Sergio Busquets: “We now have the opportunity to fight for a place in the final and win the title. We’re very excited.”
The Semifinals presented a night for the history books at Chase Stadium. Inter Miami secured a 3-1 win over rivals Orlando City SC to advance to the tournament’s Final, while also securing a 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup berth in the process as one of the finalists. A brace by captain Lionel Messi and another strike from midfielder Telasco Segovia spurred Inter Miami to the epic comeback victory at Chase Stadium, with all three strikes coming in the final 15 minutes of the match.
Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul Previewing the Final: “I came here to win titles, to compete for everything… I’m very happy to be able to play in my first final with Inter Miami.
“In the final, there are no favorites. I think the two best teams in the Leagues Cup will face each other, because that’s what the record says. We’re the two teams that reached the final. Hopefully it can go our way… Tomorrow is a final, and I’m going to do everything in my power to win it.”
Joao Neves scored a spectacular hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain beat host Toulouse 6-3 in the French league on Saturday, and home fans at Lorient vs. Lille got a second-half shock.
PSG stayed perfect to top the league with its third straight win — and this time with plenty of goals. PSG had begun its title defense with an unconvincing 1-0 win at Nantes, followed by edging Angers 1-0 in its first home game in Ligue 1.
Neves was the standout performer Saturday with the Portugal midfielder’s hat trick including a stunning overhead kick in the seventh minute, another acrobatic strike in the 14th and a powerful shot into the top corner in the 77th.
Ousmane Dembélé scored twice from the penalty spot. Bradley Barcola also scored for PSG.
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PSG tops the league, two points ahead of second-placed Lille.
There were no goals in the first half of the match between Lorient and Lille — and eight after the interval.
Lille pressed the ballistic button to score five late goals in its 7-1 demolition of Lorient.
Host Lorient was still in contention after 76 minutes and trailing 2-1 before Matias Fernandez scored his second goal of the game to make it 3-1.
That was followed by four more goals for Lille, including a brace for Morocco forward Hamza Igamane, making his league debut for the club after falling out with Scottish side Rangers.
The three league games on Saturday produced a total of 18 goals, with Nantes beating Auxerre 1-0.
Published on Aug 31, 2025
Day eight of the US Open tennis will bring up former men’s champions Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in the round of 16 while on the women’s side top seed Aryna Sabalenka and in a match-up of Wimbledon winners, Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova, will take the court.
Alcaraz – who has yet to lose a set at this tournament – will face Arthur Rinderknech of France. Jokovic, the oldest man since Jimmy Connors in 1991 to reach the fourth round, is up against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
Both Alcaraz and Jokovic have never lost to Rinderknech and Struff.
Sabalenka will meet unseeded Cristina Bucsa. Rybakina is coming off a dominant win over Emma Raducanu and will hope to take that form against Vondrousova, the Wimbledon champion two years ago.
The two have split their previous two meetings with Rybakina getting the edge in their most recent clash two years ago.
Below are the start times for Sunday’s (31 August) matches.
Russell was the best of the rest behind McLaren in final practice but could not quite match that in Qualifying, ending the session in fifth – an outcome that the Mercedes driver felt was deserved due to not “getting things right”. Antonelli only just missed out on Q3 and blamed a “little mistake” for costing him the lap time, leaving him in P11.
George Russell, 5th, 1:09.255
“I am a bit disappointed with P5 today. That said, the field has been really tight since the beginning of the weekend, and we couldn’t take anything for granted. We didn’t put the lap together at the end of Q3 and, whilst we could have fought for the second row, it is where we deserved to be. Isack (Hadjar) did an amazing job to get ahead of us so congratulations to him.
“We will see what we can do tomorrow. Our long run pace felt good in FP3, and I am therefore hopeful that we can be in the fight for the podium, irrespective of our starting position. We know that our battle remains with the Ferraris and the Red Bull of Max (Verstappen) given the Constructors’ standings. Hopefully we can have a good Sunday and add some solid points.”
Kimi Antonelli, 11th, 1:09.493
“I am disappointed after today’s Qualifying. I missed out on Q3 by a small margin; on my final lap in Q2 I made a small mistake into the chicane and that proved the difference between getting through and being eliminated. We knew that we would have to execute well given how tight the field was; little mistakes would make a huge difference and so it proved. Losing track time in FP1 did not help with that as it cost me some learning that I could not use in Qualifying. I need to make sure I cut out these errors.
“On the positive side, I was feeling good in the car in both FP2 and FP3. That bodes well for tomorrow’s race. We did some long run work in FP3 and that was competitive, so I am looking forward to the Grand Prix. It is a difficult circuit to overtake at and starting from P11 will not make it easy. However, I will reset tonight and be ready to give it my all tomorrow.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“We have struggled to consistently unlock the pace of the car so far this weekend here in Zandvoort. The windy conditions have made it a handful for both George and Kimi and, whilst there have been flashes of performance, we knew Qualifying would be tricky. That proved to be the case with Kimi unfortunate to be eliminated in Q2. George was able to progress to Q3 but some snaps of oversteer cost him a place on the second row.
“Starting P5 and P11 at a circuit that is notoriously difficult to overtake means we will have our work cut out tomorrow. Our long run pace in FP2 with George and FP3 with Kimi did look solid though. Hopefully that can provide some opportunities for both to make up positions. The weather can also be unpredictable here in Zandvoort too and, with rain forecast for the morning, that may also add another layer of jeopardy.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“We lacked a bit of pace today and ultimately that cost both drivers places on the grid for tomorrow. We had two clean sessions in both FP3 and Qualifying so there isn’t really anything we can point to that we should have done differently. With that said, the grip hasn’t been amazing and in the windy conditions the car has been a bit of a handful. George’s final lap went towards oversteer after a snap at Turn 9. Once that happens it’s difficult to improve but realistically a second-row grid slot was the best we could have achieved.
“Kimi had four decent runs, improving each time but he missed out on Q3 by a couple of hundredths. It was therefore not a great day, but both have opportunity to move forward in the race tomorrow. Our long run pace from practice looked solid so hopefully we will finish tomorrow in a better position.”
Veteran Kiros held off compatriot Addisu Gobena down the stretch to capture the fastest marathon run on Australian soil by 10 seconds. Tebello Ramakongoana of Lesotho took third (2:06:47).
“Very tough, these were strong, strong fields,” Kiros said.
Hassan chose to run in Sydney over the World Athletics Championships next month in Tokyo, and proved her decision to be worth it.
The Dutchwoman pulled away from former world record-holder Brigid Kosgei and was on her own at 40km. The 32-year-old put 34 seconds on Kosgei in the end for her third Marathon Major title after London and Chicago.
“It’s amazing, I’m really grateful, I’m so happy to win a course record,” Hassan said. “It’s history, it’s the first major marathon and I’m the first winner.”
Last year’s winner Workenesh Edesa was third in 2:22:15.
NORTON, Mass. — Miranda Wang left the TPC Boston with a three-shot lead for the second straight day, this time having to overcome a three-shot deficit with brilliant putting that led to a 7-under 65 in the FM Championship as she goes after her first LPGA victory.
Wang took only 24 putts on the rain-softened course and might have been helped by having to play only 18 holes. Some of the Chinese player’s challengers faced much longer days because of storms that interrupted so much play the day before.
She holed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to cap off a bogey-free round that gave her a three-shot lead over Sei Young Kim (71) and Rose Zhang (67).
Wang was at 18-under 198.
“This is where all the players want to be, so it’s definitely special going into the final round being the sole leader,” Wang said. “This is what we try to do every week, so I’m just happy that I did my job really well. I hope to continue doing what I did today.”
Kim had a big scoring runs on both nines Saturday morning when she played 14 holes to complete her second round at 65 to build a three-shot lead. The afternoon wasn’t so smooth, and her lead was gone in three holes.
She didn’t get out of bunker on the par-5 second hole, leading to bogey that felt much worse. Then, she failed to get up-and-down on the par-3 third.
Wang pulled ahead for the first time with a birdie on the sixth, and she showed what kind of day it would be on the next hole. She fanned her approach on the par-5 seventh to the right and off a tree. She pulled her third shot some 60 feet long, and then made it for birdie.
Wang also made a 40-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole and ended the day on a streak of 27 consecutive holes without a bogey.
Key to the week for the former Duke player was her back nine on Thursday. Wang had eight birdies (along with a bogey) for a 29 on the front nine, an indication that she felt comfortable on the greens.
“Ever since I had really hot back nine on first round my putting has been clicking. I was getting speed and line really well and I made super long putts on No. 7 today, and that gave me even more confidence,” she said. “I know that I’m doing well on these greens so when putting I’m more confident and comfortable.”
Zhang, who won her first LPGA event as a pro two years ago, has not had a top 10 against full field all year as she tried to split time between playing and finishing up at Stanford.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in contention, so I’m very, very grateful,” Zhang said.
She had to play 32 holes — 14 in the morning when she had a 64, and then she had four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn in the afternoon as she tried to keep pace with Wang.
“Feel like I’ll I’ve been doing today is eating and drinking water and electrolytes,” Zhang said. “It’s been a while since I played 32 holes. I needed to grind it out a little bit. I needed to stay focused. But I felt like I took a lot of positives today knowing that I have resilience to play consistent golf and keep trying to be better it.”
Jeeno Thitikul (65) and Andrea Lee (66) were four shots behind.
Nelly Korda’s search for her first LPGA victory this year likely will have to wait. She was in range when she left the course Friday night, but she could only manage a 70 in the morning and a 70 in the afternoon. Korda failed to birdie any of the four par 5s.
She was nine shots behind.
Wang, an LPGA rookie, will try to extend a remarkable streak on the LPGA Tour this year. There have been 22 tournaments, all of them won by different players.
Chelsea recorded a controversial 2-0 west London derby victory over Fulham at Stamford Bridge to maintain their strong start to the Premier League season.
The scoreline however was hardly a reflection of the visitors’ role in a diverting tussle that came to life midway through the first half when 18-year-old Josh King was denied a first league goal by a VAR call that enraged manager Marco Silva and irrevocably soured the mood of away fans in the Shed End.
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Rodrigo Muniz was the player penalised, judged to have been reckless in his challenge on Trevoh Chalobah before the ball was worked to King, who finished into the corner with aplomb.
Fulham’s joy at taking the lead was transformed into a bitter sense of injustice for what remained of the derby following a lengthy pitchside review by referee Robert Jones.
Striker Joao Pedro headed Chelsea in front at the end of the nine added minutes that resulted from the hold-up.
There was further reason for Fulham’s agitation in the second half, a two-fold VAR call that first exonerated Joao Pedro then penalised Ryan Sessegnon for handball, allowing Enzo Fernandez to double the lead from the penalty spot.
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The best early chances had gone to Fulham, Joachim Andersen and Alex Iwobi each firing wide, whilst Chelsea themselves went close when Liam Delap’s shot was well blocked by Andersen.
It was to be the limit of Delap’s involvement, the new signing sustaining what looked to be a hamstring injury chasing a long ball, leading to his withdrawal after 13 minutes.
King scored what looked to be a wonderful goal midway thorough the half, turning Tosin Adarabioyo inside out at the end of a Fulham break before finishing into the corner, only for referee Jones to determine that Muniz’s clever manoeuvre to dodge Chalobah near the halfway line had constituted a foul.
It was a call that incensed Silva as well as the travelling Fulham support, who shared the view that Muniz had trodden accidentally on the Chelsea defender in the legitimate act of evading a tackle.
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Robert Sanchez then saved point-blank from Muniz after a fine ball in from Sessegnon before Moises Caicedo rescued Chelsea with a last-ditch tackle to stop Timothy Castagne from sweeping Fulham in front.
In first-half stoppage time, the hosts went in front. Fernandez sent over a corner from the left and six yards out Joao Pedro took two steps back and angled his neck masterfully to direct the ball downwards and in.
Fulham conceded a penalty at the start of the second half, Sessegnon raising an arm to Chalobah’s cross.
Another drawn-out VAR check followed to establish that Joao Pedro had not committed a foul seconds earlier and that Sessegnon had made his body “unnaturally bigger” in blocking the cross.
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From the spot, Fernandez went straight down the middle for 2-0 and for the first time, Fulham no longer looked sure of themselves.
Estevao Willian found space to wriggle into the box and drew a smart low stop from Bernd Leno at the near post before the goalkeeper was summoned again to deny Joao Pedro after the defence allowed him a clear run on goal.