Category: 6. Sports

When the US Open draw was released, the clash between two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova and recently-crowned Montreal winner Victoria Mboko was the most eye-catching first-round matchup of them all.

Not only did it pit 18-year-old Mboko’s youth against Krejcikova’s experience, but it indicated just how quickly things can change in tennis. At the start of 2025, Krejcikova was a Top 10 player, and Mboko outside the Top 300. But this week, the surging Mboko was the seeded player at No. 22, while Krejcikova’s current position of No. 62 means she is unseeded in New York.

US Open: Draws | Scores | Order of play

Krejcikova’s slide in the rankings owes more to her six months off tour due to a back injury this year than her quality, and the Czech demonstrated that emphatically with a 6-3, 6-2 win in 1 hour and 23 minutes. Her tactical nous was on show from the start: alternating knifing slices with heavy clouts off both wings, she effectively prevented Mboko from finding a rhythm while setting points up for her own winners.

Mboko, who sustained a wrist injury during her Montreal title run and withdrew from Cincinnati the following week to recover, seemed hampered at times by it. Though she delivered a scattering of her signature backhand winners down the line, the Canadian teenager shook out her heavily-strapped wrist several times, and coughed up 10 double faults. That included two in her opening game, two in the last game of the opening set, two more to drop serve at the start of the second and two in the final game of the match.

By contrast, Krejcikova’s serve got better and better as the match went on. She won 81% of her first-serve points overall, and conceded only three points behind her delivery in the second set. And a ranking far below her career high of No. 2 has not bothered her in the past: she won both of her major titles, Roland Garros 2021 and Wimbledon 2024, while ranked outside the Top 30.

Krejcikova will next face Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, who snapped a 10-match losing streak by saving seven match points to defeat Olga Danilovic 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6[9] on Sunday.

By Ryder Cup Digital On August 25, 2025 11:30 UTC

The U.S. Ryder Cup Team has confirmed the match format for the 45th Ryder Cup, set for September 26–28, 2025, at Bethpage Black in New York.

The competition will begin on Friday, September 26, with morning foursomes (alternate shot) followed by four-ball in the afternoon. The same schedule will be played on Saturday, September 27, before The Ryder Cup concludes with 12 singles matches on Sunday, September 28.

This marks the third consecutive Ryder Cup to feature foursomes followed by four-ball on the opening two days, and the 13th time since 1981 the format has been used. The United States has implemented this structure eight times, while Europe has selected it on five occasions.

The home team has taken advantage of the format each of the last two Ryder Cups with Europe going 7-1 in foursomes matches over the first days in 2023, while the United States went 6-2 in foursomes matches at Whistling Straits in 2021.

History favors the Americans when this setup is in play: the U.S. owns a 9-3-1 record in Ryder Cups where foursomes have led off play on both Friday and Saturday.

MANAGUA (Nicaragua) – Following the incidents that occurred after the final whistle of the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 game between Argentina and Dominican Republic on August 24, 2025 in Managua, Nicaragua, the FIBA Disciplinary Panel imposed the following sanctions in accordance with the FIBA Regulations:

Dominican Republic:

David Jones is suspended for two FIBA Official Games.

Juan Guerrero is suspended for one FIBA Official Game.

Juan Suero is suspended for one FIBA Official Game.

Angel Delgado is suspended for one FIBA Official Games for a probationary period of three years.

If the player commits the same or similar offense during the probationary period, he will immediately be suspended one game, in addition to any sanction imposed for the new offense.

A monetary fine of CHF 20,000 to the Dominican Basketball Federation, with CHF 10,000 suspended for a probationary period of three years.

Argentina:

Gonzalo Bressan is suspended for two FIBA Official Games.

Francisco Caffaro is suspended for one FIBA Official Game.

Juan Vaulet is suspended for one FIBA Official Game.

A monetary fine of CHF 2,000 to the coach Pablo Prigioni.

A monetary fine of CHF 20,000 to the Argentinian Basketball Federation, with CHF 10,000 suspended for a probationary period of three years.

FIBA will make no further comment on this decision.

FIBA

The organiser of the event at which former UFC champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s son appeared to violently assault wrestler Stuart Smith has described the incident as “reprehensible”.

Knokx Pro Wrestling added that the apparent attack by Raja Jackson “never should have occurred”.

Smith’s brother said on Sunday that the wrestler – also known as Syko Stu – was “stable but in critical care”.

Knokx Pro Wrestling said: “What was supposed to be a planned and agreed upon wrestling spot, turned into a selfish, irresponsible act of violence against Mr Smith.”

Smith was appearing on the card at Knokx Pro Wrestling’s event in California.

Raja Jackson, a 25-year-old professional MMA fighter, was involved in two incidents with Smith that were shown on live streaming platform Kick.

Jackson was shown being hit on his head outside the venue by US army veteran Smith before the event.

Then, when Smith was fighting an opponent, Jackson climbed into the ring, picked him up and slammed him on to the canvas, which appeared to leave him unconscious.

He then appeared to strike Smith repeatedly before being pulled off by other wrestlers.

Knokx Pro Wrestling added: “This egregious act is reprehensible and never should have occurred.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with our brother Mr Stuart Smith (Syko Stu) as he remains a priority and we are monitoring his well-being.

“In the 17 years of operation of KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy, there has never been anything as heinous take place such as this and we apologize to our patrons and fans.”

Quinton Jackson has said he is “deeply concerned” and “very upset that any of this happened”.

He also described it as a “work gone wrong” – in wrestling terms, a ‘work’ is a fight that is staged or scripted.

TMZ has reported that the Los Angeles Police Department is now investigating the incident.

Fiji were beaten 65-7 by Canada in their tournament opener in York on Saturday, a difficult defeat to swallow but it’s never easy when you play the team ranked second in the world.

As is customary for their squad for which religion is an integral part of their team culture, a Sunday service was held the next day for reflection. Stoltz had noticed her team-mates felt down about the result and some of the outside criticism they received from it, and so despite being one of the youngest players, she took it upon herself to write and read out loud a letter to them, saying that when she looks at her team-mates she doesn’t see losers, she sees “warriors” and “fighters”.

“I know the game may not have gone the way some of you wanted it to go. Losses sting. Sometimes more than we let others see,” the 19-year-old said in a video you can watch below.

“I am proud of the heart you carry because I know that heart is something not everyone has.

“And I need you to hear me: a scoreboard cannot measure the value of this team. Win or lose, your worth does not change. You’re more than a result.

“We may have lost on paper but when I looked onto that field at each of you, I didn’t see losers.

“I saw warriors. I see fighters. I see people who refuse to give up, and that makes me proud in a way no words can fully explain.”

Despite experiencing a Rugby World Cup for the first time in her career, Stolz showed maturity beyond her years to call upon her team to maintain the belief that “greatness” lies ahead for all of them.

“So lift your heads,” she said. “This is not the end of our story, it’s only the beginning. It’s just a page in a bigger book, and I believe that God has written greatness ahead of us.

“And as your team-mate, as your sister, and as your family, I am beyond grateful to stand alongside each of you in this truth.”

The Fijiana next face Scotland in Manchester on Saturday – and you can buy tickets to that match here.

Day 2

The second day of action (28 August) moves to Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadium, where the world’s leading track stars join the competition for Diamond League titles.

Among the biggest names is Saint Lucia’s first-ever Olympic gold medallist, Julien Alfred, who will compete in the women’s 100m. While the likes of world champion Sha’Carri Richardson and this year’s world leader Melissa Jefferson will not run in Zurich, Alfred will still need to be at her very best to beat the likes of Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith and Jamaica’s Tia Clayton in the shortest sprint event.

In the 200m, both of Paris 2024’s men’s sprint champions will face off against each other, with the USA’s Lyles and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo resuming their budding rivalry in Zurich.

Lyles, who was given a wild card to compete in the final, has the chance to make history by becoming the first-ever male track athlete to win six Diamond League titles. But the relentless challenge of Olympic 200m champion Tebogo makes this one of the must-see events of the final.

The men’s 800m sees a clash of titans as the joint-second and fourth fastest two-lap runners in history line up against each other in the Letzigrund Stadium.

Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi’s personal best of 1:41.11 is a mere 0.2 seconds slower than David Rudisha’s world record set all the way back at London 2012. But have no doubt about it, he will face a difficult task in beating off Canada’s Marco Arop, who will be aiming for a confidence-boosting victory in a year in which he is aiming to defend his world title from 2023.

Could we see a world record fall in Zurich? All will be revealed on Thursday.

In the women’s 400m hurdles, the Netherlands’ Femke Bol will be a strong favourite as she looks to win her fifth title. The race in Zurich will also be excellent preparation for the reigning world champion, who will be hoping for victory both in Zurich and Tokyo in the absence of world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

Moving back to the field events, a thrilling contest is on the cards in the men’s javelin, where India’s Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Neeraj Chopra faces two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada. Both men will need to be at the top of their game to beat Germany’s Julian Weber, who has the longest throw of this year at 91.06 metres.

Of course, being the Diamond League Final, there are a host of other athletes — including Olympic champions — on show in Zurich such as Norway’s Karsten Warholm in the men’s 400m hurdles, Germany’s Malaika Mihambo in the women’s long jump, Dominica’s Thea LaFond in the women’s triple jump, New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr in the men’s high jump and many others.

One thing’s for sure, you won’t want to take your eyes off any of the action on 27 and 28 August in Zurich.

Premier League football returned to Emirates Stadium with a bang as we put five without reply past Leeds United, and you can see all of Mikel Arteta’s reactions to the goals now in Bench Cam, presented by TCL.

The boss took his seat in the home dugout for the first time in the league in 2025/26, and watched his side put on a devastating attacking display, scoring with all five of their shots on target to record a fine victory over last season’s Championship champions.

On an afternoon he called “special”, there were plenty of feed-good moments, from Jurrien Timber bagging an unexpected brace, Viktor Gyokeres grabbing his first Gunners goals, and debuts for Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman.

See how Mikel dealt with all the moments and his full-time celebrations by pressing play on the video above.