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Batter dropped from white-ball tour to Zimbabwe and South AfricaChief selector George Bailey insists his Test chances still aliveThe once-glittering international cricket career of Marnus Labuschagne is on the ropes after he was dropped from the ODI side, even if chair of selectors George Bailey made it clear he remains in contention for the Test side.Labuschagne was dropped from Australia’s white-ball touring party to Zimbabwe and South Africa, a squad named with next year’s ODI World Cup in mind. Continue reading...

Kim Birrell, Maya Joint and James Duckworth advance on day twoBirrell plans to spend $265,000 pay day on upcoming weddingAn elated Kim Birrell plans on paying down her mortgage after surviving a match point and a restless night’s sleep to chalk up a life-changing US Open win in New York.The gritty Gold Coaster wore down Croatian Petra Marcinko 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to finally reach the second round after losing all three of her previous Flushing Meadows openers in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Continue reading...

Beth Mead and Niamh Charles are notable additions to the champions’ squad that looks just as strong as last seasonGuardian writers’ predicted position: 1st (NB: this is not necessarily Tom Garry’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Last season’s position: 1st Continue reading...

Edward and Mo Farah among those to be inductedSonia Lannaman and Shirley Strong also honouredBritain’s first black Olympic medal winner Harry Edward is to be inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame. Edward will join the likes of Mo Farah, former sprinter Sonia Lannaman and medal-winning hurdler Shirley Strong, who will all be honoured at a ceremony in Birmingham in November. Edward’s citation includes the tribute: “A true citizen of the world and a pioneer of British sport, England Athletics is proud and humbled to induct Britain’s first black Olympic medallist into the Hall of Fame.”Edward was until recent years a forgotten hero of the 1920s, a decade that saw him win two bronze edals, in the 100m and 200m, at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. He was also three times the AAA 100yd and 220yd champion and won the 100, 220 and 440-yard AAA championships in 1922, inside a single hour. King George V came down from the stands to personally congratulate him. Continue reading...

Manchester City confirm Allan signing for initial £32.1mPalace sell Muñoz to Forest and poised to sign AhanorNick Woltemade is close to a loan move from Newcastle to Juventus, a year after arriving at St James’ Park in a club-record £69m deal from Stuttgart. The gifted Germany forward has struggled to impose himself amid the high-intensity gameplans choreographed first by Eddie Howe and now Matthias Jaissle.Juventus are one of a handful of clubs – Borussia Dortmund are among the others – to have inquired about Woltemade’s availability and Newcastle are in negotiations with the Turin club regarding a move involving a loan fee of about £5m. Continue reading...

Atlético say they will not allow Barcelona to buy Álvarez Jesus poised for Barça and Martinelli for Al-HilalArsenal are running out of time to persuade Julián Álvarez to join them from Atlético Madrid after agreeing to sell Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Fábio Vieira in deals collectively worth more than £70m.Álvarez has his heart set on joining Barcelona despite Atlético’s insistence they will not sell to their La Liga rivals – he returned to training on Sunday after being left out of their squad for the win against Sevilla. Continue reading...

Spaniard beats Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4Alcaraz has not played since April with wrist injuryAs Carlos Alcaraz edged closer to the conclusion of his first singles set in more than four and a half months, like so many times in his career instinct took over. Up 5-4, 30-15 in set one, Alcaraz swept forward to the net behind a precise wide serve and, when his opponent Roman Safiullin responded with a dipping backhand return directly to his feet, Alcaraz delicately pushed a half-volley over the net for a winner.It was a gorgeous shot, a perfect example of the creativity and feel trademarked by Alcaraz that has been missed throughout his extended injury layoff. That touch of genius was followed, predictably, by a wide smile, a quick hold and a comprehensive victory as the Spaniard returned to competition with a stellar 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win against Safiullin. Continue reading...

The smile on Declan Rice’s face with six minutes of normal time remaining said it all. He had just shut down Ian Maatsen as the Aston Villa full-back zoomed into the box. Arsenal, for whom Bukayo Saka scored the only goal, were authoritative and seemingly took great satisfaction in keeping Villa at arm’s length.Unai Emery’s work‑in‑progress side struggled to test the champions, David Raya untroubled. The records will show Villa have lost their first two league matches of a season without scoring for the first time since 2002 but, despite successive defeats, this time there was no capitulation. Continue reading...

Beloved singer died last week at the age of 80Parton was born 30 miles from college campusThe Tennessee Volunteers will be honoring Dolly Parton with a helmet sticker this season, the college football team’s head coach, Josh Heupel, announced on Monday.Parton, a Tennessee native, died last week at the age of 80 from cancer. Continue reading...

The Serb has his heart set on defending Olympic title in 2028 but his ageing body is screaming a resounding ‘no’As the scoreline continued to cascade and the prospect of Novak Djokovic winning even one match in New York this year became increasingly remote, the 24-time grand slam title winner’s suffering and toil drove the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd to its feet in the early hours of Monday morning. With Djokovic trailing 3-1 in the fifth set, thousands of spectators stood in unison to salute their champion and urge him on. The moment reduced Djokovic to tears.This was quite a familiar scene. Five years ago, the same crowd similarly offered a tearful Djokovic a standing ovation as his match against Daniil Medvedev slipped away. The circumstances surrounding those results, however, could have hardly been any different. Back in 2021, Djokovic stood three sets away from winning the calendar year grand slam, the ultimate achievement. Here, he was losing in the first round of the US Open against a clay-court specialist ranked outside the top 50, an opponent he would usually crush with disdain. Continue reading...