Fabio Jakobsen sprinted to victory a year after he was in a medically induced coma and Rein Taaramae picked himself up following a late crash on stage four of the Vuelta a Espana to retain the red jersey.

Jakobsen suffered life-threatening injuries in a high-speed smash on the opening stage of the Tour of Poland last year but has made an incredible recovery.

The Deceuninck-Quick Step rider showed great power and speed to take the stage win in Molina de Aragon ahead of Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), with Magnus Cort (EF Education Nippo) crossing the line in third place.

Dutchman Jakobsen left it late to dart inside Demare for a magnificent victory in an uphill finish at the end of a 163.9 kilometre route from El Burgo de Osma.

Michael Matthews had talked up his chances of winning the stage, but the Australian could not get a clear run and had to settle for fifth place behind Alberto Dainese.

Taaramae was rocked when he went down as the pace was stepped up near the end, yet he remains the race leader by a margin of 25 seconds over Kenny Elissonde as he crashed in the final 3km.

Carlos Canal, Angel Madrazo and Joan Bou spent much the stage at the front after breaking away from the start, but they were caught with 13km to go

Jakobsen said: "It's a dream come true. After the crash, I was a long way back, but I'm happy I'm here.

"A lot of time and effort has gone into this by a lot of people, and it's also their victory. I'm talking about all the doctors and surgeons and medical staff in Poland, through to my second family here with the team, and everything in between.

"It's also their victory. It's also my family's victory because they're the reason I'm here."

STAGE RESULT

1. Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick) 03:43:07 
2. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) same time
3. Magnus Cort (EF Education Nippo) same time
4. Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) same time
5. Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) same time

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Rein Taaramae (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) 13:08:51
2. Kenny Elissonde (Trek–Segafredo) +0:25
3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +0:30

Points Classification

1. Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 100
2. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) 68
3. Alex Aranburu (Astana-Premier Tech) 50

King of the Mountains

1. Rein Taaramae (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) 10
2. Kenny Elissonde (Trek–Segafredo) 7
3. Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates) 6

What's next?

A flat 184.4km stage five from Tarancon to Albacete is likely to end with another sprint finish unless high winds are a major factor.

Joel Embiid will sign a four-year, $196million supermax extension with the Philadelphia 76ers following his near-MVP efforts in 2020-21.

Widespread reports detailed the deal on Tuesday, which rewards an outstanding season for the All-Star center.

Embiid became eligible for the extension after finishing second in the MVP voting and making the All-NBA Second Team.

But for injury, the big man might have scooped the top award, for which he was the favourite until a knee problem in March.

The 76ers were only 10-11 without Embiid, but their 39-12 record with their outstanding star on the floor was enough to finish first in the Eastern Conference.

Embiid's 28.5 points per game were a career high and ranked fourth in the NBA despite the ongoing knee issue – a torn meniscus, which he played with into the postseason – limiting the former third overall pick to 31.1 minutes.

Per 75 possessions, his 32.9 points led the league, boosted by improvement in field-goal percentage (51.3), three-point percentage (37.7) and accuracy from the foul line (85.9 per cent).

Embiid's new deal, which runs through the 2026-27 season, reportedly includes a player option for the final year, although the Sixers do not have the same protection in case of further injuries.

Embiid is yet to play more than 64 games in a regular season in the NBA, with the start to his career delayed by two years due to foot surgery.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has indicated he will only get the COVID-19 vaccine if it becomes mandatory to participate on the ATP Tour.

World number three Tsitsipas revealed he has not yet been jabbed against coronavirus with the tennis world divided on the issue. 

The ATP Tour have publicly encouraged players to get vaccinated, but Novak Djokovic is among the high-profile players to have stated it should not be compulsory to compete.

When asked ahead of the Western and Southern Open if he would get the vaccine, Tsitsipas told a media conference he still had reservations.

"No one has told me anything. No one has made it a mandatory thing to be vaccinated," the Greek said.

"At some point I may have to, I'm pretty sure about it, but so far it hasn't been mandatory to compete, so I haven't done it, no."

Tsitsipas received a bye through to the second round in Cincinnati, where he will play either Sebastian Korda or Laslo Dere.

The 23-year-old, who has a tour-high 45 wins this season, climbed up to third in the world rankings last week and boldly targeted overhauling Djokovic in top spot.

"The rankings are there for a reason. They signify something important," he added.

"I think that the very next step would be the number one spot, which I hope I can get to one day.”

Davinson Sanchez said Tottenham's players have pledged to support "humble" Harry Kane irrespective of how the saga over his future plays out.

England captain Kane has been widely linked with a big-money switch to Premier League champions Manchester City.

City head coach Pep Guardiola has spoken of his desire to sign Kane, who had requested Spurs allow him to leave at the back end of last season.

Tottenham are reported to have turned down a £100million bid for the 28-year-old striker in June and are said to be preparing another offer before the transfer window closes.

Recent reports suggested City would be willing to bid as high as £150million for Kane, who has three years left on his Tottenham contract.

The saga has dragged on and Kane missed last Sunday's meeting between the two sides in their Premier League opener, which Spurs won 1-0.

Kane has been included in boss Nuno Espirito Santo's squad for their Europa Conference League qualifying double header against Portuguese outfit Pacos de Ferreira.

And defender Sanchez claimed Tottenham's squad will help Kane through a difficult period however they can.

"I'm his team-mate so I can't get deep on the situation," Sanchez told Football London. 

"It's a situation that it's being discussed between Harry and the people above. 

"We are just here to support him and if something happens then we are always going to be on his side.

"If he has the chance to be with us on the pitch then of course he's going to help us, there's no doubt about it.

"We are just on his side and any decision that happens or he makes then we are going to support him because he gives everything for the club."

Sanchez added: "Everybody here knows just how professional he is and no-one can have any doubts about how good he is as a player, how good he is as a person and his professionalism, as I say.

"Harry is the best number nine in the world. There's no doubt about it. If someone says differently they just do not understand about football.

"In my position, he helps me a lot as a player and as a captain he's been very humble and is a very good person.

"I could keep going, I will never stop about how good he is as a person."

Raphael Varane is a "big-time player" who will quickly prove his worth to Manchester United, according to new team-mate Anthony Martial.

The two have linked up many times on international duty for France and have now joined forces at United after Varane made the switch from Real Madrid.

Centre-back Varane commanded a fee believed to be in the region of £42.7million (€50m) and Martial expects him to take to life at Old Trafford with the ease of a man who has won the World Cup and Champions League.

"Varane, I know already, of course," Martial, who is also excited by the earlier arrival of Jadon Sancho, told United's official website. "And the skill set he has, I know he will bring a lot to our team, in addition to his long experience, so we are all really delighted with these two new players we have.

"Varane is a big-time player. I don't think he will need too much time to adapt to his new environment, but I'm there for him for whatever little help or advice he may need.

"He has all his experience. He's a player who has won a lot during the time of his career at Real Madrid and also in the French national team, so I am sure he will bring all his powers, as he really is a top player and I know things are going to go well for him here at United."

Having moved to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2011, Varane has won three LaLiga titles and the Champions League on four occasions.

He racked up over 350 appearances for Los Blancos and arrives at Old Trafford as one of the world's finest defenders.

Indeed, Varane has played 79 times for France, winning the World Cup in 2018 before featuring in all four of Les Bleus' games at Euro 2020.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side opened their Premier League season with an emphatic 5-1 win over Leeds United.

Varane could make his debut in Sunday's trip to Southampton.

Kris Bryant hit two home runs and Brandon Crawford was perfect at the plate as the San Francisco Giants defeated the New York Mets 7-5 in MLB action Monday. 

Bryant's two-run drive in the fifth inning gave the Mets a 4-3 lead and he helped expand it in the seventh, following Brandon Belt's solo shot by homering on the next pitch. 

Crawford drove in the final San Francisco run with a triple later than inning, capping a four-for-four night. 

Whle the Giants improved to an MLB-best 77-42, the Mets (59-59) dropped the fourth in a row after being swept in Los Angeles by the Dodgers over the weekend. 

Cole beats Angels in return

A pair of first-inning home runs accounted for all the scoring as the New York Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Angels 2-1, with Joey Gallo's two-run shot trumping Justin Upton's solo homer. The latter was the only blemish for Yankees ace Gerrit Cole as made his first start in more than weeks thanks to a stint on the COVID-19 injured list. Cole allowed just one other hit and struck out nine in 5.2 innings. 

After Trent Grisham's three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning tied the game for the San Diego Padres, the Colorado Rockies walked off 6-5 winners on a homer in the bottom of the inning from C.J. Cron.

The Chicago White Sox expanded their division lead to an MLB-high 11 games with a 5-2 home win against the Oakland Athletics as Luis Robert homered and Seby Zavala drove in a pair of runs. 

After a two-homer game Sunday, Max Muncy's eighth-inning solo shot gave the Los Angeles Dodgers their winning margin in a 2-1 triumph over the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Freddie Freeman and Adam Duvall homered while Ozzie Albies drove in three more runs as the Atlanta Braves routed the Miami Marlins 12-2 to extend their lead in the National League East to 1.5 games.

Jorge Polanco had his second walk-off hit in as many games for Minnesota, with his 10th-inning RBI double giving the Twins a 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians a day after his sacrifice fly in the ninth beat the Tampa Bay Rays. The last Twins player to produce walk-off wins in successive games was Jacque Jones in July 2005.

Sparse crowd in St. Pete

The Rays (72-47) have the best record in the American League, but the official attendance at Tropicana Field for Monday's 9-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles was the lowest in franchise history for a game not affected by coronavirus-related capacity restrictions. The loss was the 12th in a row for the Orioles, who have the worst record in the AL at 38-79.

Votto collects 2,000th hit

At age 37, Joey Votto's impressive 2021 season produced another milestone as he collected his 2,000th career hit in Cincinnati's 14-5 demoltion of the Chicago Cubs. He is the 35th player in MLB history to reach 2,000 hits and 300 home runs with one franchise, and the second Reds player to do it, joining Hall of Famer Johnny Bench.

Monday's results 

New York Yankees 2-1 Los Angeles Angels
Cincinnati Reds 14-5 Chicago Cubs
Tampa Bay Rays 9-2 Baltimore Orioles
Atlanta Braves 12-2 Miami Marlins
Kansas City Royals 7-6 Houston Astros
Minnesota Twins 5-4 Cleveland Indians
Chicago White Sox 6-2 Oakland Athletics
Colorado Rockies 6-5 San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants 7-5 New York Mets
Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Pittsburgh Pirates

Red Sox at Yankees

Eternal rivals the Boston Red Sox (69-51) and New York Yankees (66-52) will play a doubleheader in the Bronx as both teams chase Tampa Bay in the American League East. 

Petra Kvitova was one of a handful of seeded players to take the court at the Western and Southern Open on Monday and came away victorious against a past champion of the event. 

The 11th-seeded Kvitova defeated 2019 Western and Southern winner Madison Keys 7-5 6-4 on a rain-plagued opening day of main-draw play at the tournament outside Cincinnati, Ohio. 

The Czech saved eight of nine break points against her serve while breaking Keys three times, and that was enough to pull out the victory. 

Kvitova's countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova, the ninth seed, made her singles debut at the WTA 1000 event with a 6-3 6-2 rout of Daria Kasatkina. 

Fifteenth seed Elise Mertens also was a straight-sets winner, taking down Nadia Podoroska 6-3 6-4, while 13th seed Jennifer Brady defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in a match that finished shortly before 1 a.m. local time.

Though only Krejcikova was in action Monday, the field in Cincinnati includes nine of the top 10 players in the rankings, led by Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka in their first appearances since the Tokyo Olympics. 

In other matches on the first day of play, Heather Watson defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2 3-6 6-1, while Paula Badosa outlasted Petra Martic 4-6 6-4 7-6 (11-9) in a two-hour, 34-minute marathon. 

Yulia Putintseva breezed past Zhang Shuai 6-2 6-0, Jelena Ostapenko beat Tamara Zidansek 7-5 6-1 and Jil Teichmann downed Sorana Cirstea 6-2 6-0. 

Angelique Kerber beat Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-2, with Alison Riske matching that scoreline in a defeat of Leylah Fernandez.

Shelby Rogers won 6-4 2-1 when her countrywoman Danielle Collins retired with an injury. 

Andy Murray looked sharp in his first singles match since Wimbledon, rolling to a straight-sets win over Richard Gasquet at the Western and Southern Open. 

Murray defeated the veteran Frenchman 6-4 6-4 on a rainy opening day in Cincinnati, capitalising on a strong service game to advance. 

Murray had 14 aces to just two double faults and won 81 per cent of points on his first serve while saving four of the five break points he faced. 

A two-time champion at the ATP 1000 event, he will face the winner of Tuesday's match between Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz in the second round. 

Two players who shared a birthday Monday also prevailed on their big day. 

On the day he turned 20, 11th seed Jannik Sinner defeated Federico Delbonis 6-2 7-5, while 10th seed Diego Schwartzman had to work a bit harder on his 28th birthday to down Daneil Evans 6-2 4-6 6-3. 

Elsewhere, 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (7-0) 6-3, while 14th seed Alex de Minaur rallied to down Filip Krajinovic 0-6 6-4 6-4. 

Fifteenth seed David Goffin fell 6-3 6-3 to Guido Pella in the only seeded upset of the day. 

Other winners Monday included Karen Khachanov, Fabio Fognini, Lloyd Harris, Dominik Koepfer, Benoit Paire, Albert Ramos Vinolas and Mackenzie McDonald. 

Among those set to play their opening matches Tuesday are third seed Alexander Zverev, who will face Harris, and sixth seed Denis Shapovalov, who plays Paire. 

Marcus Smart and the Boston Celtics have agreed to a maximum-value four-year contract extension. 

Smart will make $77million in the deal, which begins with the 2022-23 NBA season, according to reports by ESPN and The Athletic. 

Smart posted a video of highlights from his Celtics career on his Instagram page Monday with the comment "Let's go 4 more..."

The 27-year-old has spent his entire seven-year NBA career with the Celtics after they selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 draft. 

He averaged a career-best 13.1 points and 5.7 assists per game last season.

Smart is set to make $14.3m next season, the last in his existing deal. 

Naomi Osaka was reduced to tears on Monday in her first WTA Tour news conference since snubbing the media at the French Open.

Osaka withdrew from the second grand slam of the year at Roland Garros almost three months ago after declaring she would not fulfil press conference duties during the tournament.

The four-time major champion cited mental health concerns for reaching that decision and skipped Wimbledon before returning to action at the Tokyo Olympics on home soil.

Osaka, who revealed in Paris she had suffered "long bouts of depression" since winning the US Open in 2018, agreed to speak to the press as she prepares return to the WTA Tour at the Western and Southern in Cincinnati this week.

The world number two was emotional after being asked how she benefits from a high-media profile but does not like talking to media.

Osaka answered the question from the journalist, but the video call was paused as she cried before later resuming the press conference.

She said before pausing: "That's interesting: I would say the occasion, when to do the press conferences is what I feel is the most difficult.

"I'm actually very interested in that point of view. For me I feel this is something I can't really speak for everybody, I can only speak for myself.

"But ever since I was younger, I've had a lot of media interest on me, and I think it's because of my background as well as how I play.

"Because in the first place I'm a tennis player, which is why a lot of people are interested in me. So I would say in that regard I'm quite different to a lot of people, and I can't really help that there are some things I tweet or say that create a lot of news articles or things like that.

"But I would also say, I'm not really sure how to balance it too, I'm figuring it out at the same time as you are, I would say."

Osaka then broke down while the next question was being put to her, but was able to continue.

The 23-year-old was given a first-round bye in what will be her first WTA tournament since the French Open.

Manchester City saw their main rivals for the Premier League title get off to a flying start on Saturday before the champions stumbled at Tottenham on Sunday.

Son Heung-min continued his phenomenal recent record against City with the only goal, while Pep Guardiola's men drew a blank for a third consecutive game in all competitions. Perhaps there's someone in north London who could help them out with that?

Manchester United and European champions Chelsea revelled back in front of full houses and Liverpool gave newly-promoted Norwich City a reality check.

But those are the bare facts. Let's delve a little deeper to examine some of the quirkier happenings on the Premier League's opening weekend.

Stumbling start for City

Guardiola suggested his stars returning from Euro 2020 and Copa America duty might be undercooked and so it proved. The 1-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium puts City in territory they are not used to.

You have to go back to 2008-09 and a 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa for the previous time City lost their opening Premier League fixture.

In that same campaign, Guardiola's fledgling Barcelona tenure got off to an inauspicious start with a reverse against Numancia that indicated little of the treble win that was about to unfold. The Catalan had overseen 11 subsequent opening day wins since then.

Perhaps it was always going to be Spurs who halted his run, Guardiola has now lost more away games against Tottenham (five) in all competitions than any other opponent in his career.

It is also worth considering whether he is chasing the wrong Spurs forward. Only Jamie Vardy (nine) has more than Son's seven goals against City since Guardiola took charge in 2016.

Joe Root insisted he should take the blame for England's second Test capitulation against India.

England captain Root again top scored in each of his side's innings, as he did in the series opener at Trent Bridge, including an imperious 180 first time around that put the hosts in the ascendancy.

But it was his leadership in the field that was found wanting, most notably when Mohammed Shami (56 not out) and Jasprit Bumrah (34 not out) put on an unlikely and game-changing partnership of 89 for the ninth wicket as India declared on 298-8 – effectively placing victory out of reach for England with a target of 272.

Root (33) was then the only member of England's top five to reach double figures as openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley both went for ducks, setting the tone for 120 all out and a 151-run victory for India, despite some belated resistance from Jos Buttler (25).

"A lot of this defeat has to come on my shoulders. I could have done things differently this morning and we went from being in a very strong position to being behind the game," Root said at the post-match presentation, Ollie Robinson having left India eight down with their lead still below 200 inside the opening hour.

"I take responsibility for that as captain. I need to learn and be better tactically if we find ourselves in the same position."

England were fired up when Bumrah came to the crease, apparently keen on some retribution after the India paceman gave James Anderson a working over, although Root did not think this was a factor in the game getting away for his men.

"No, I don't think it was it," he replied. "I just got a few things slightly wrong, and credit to them for the way they batted."

India celebrated deliriously as all four of their seamers shone, with Mohammed Siraj (4-32) claiming the key wicket of Buttler and bowling James Anderson to complete the job.

"The intensity is what you expect with two competitive teams," said KL Rahul, named man of the match for his first-innings 129 after Root invited India to bat.

"It only shows how much each team wants to win. We don't mind a bit of banter – and if you go after one of our guys, all 11 of us will come right back at you.

"That got us going and the bowlers were really pumped to go out and have a crack at them."