Rafael Nadal emphatically sealed a record-extending 14th French Open title with an imperious straight-sets victory over Casper Ruud on Sunday.
Fifth seed Nadal was relentless as he took his record tally of grand slam titles to 22 with another domineering display, beating Ruud 6-3 6-3 6-0 to reign yet again on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Amid uncertainty over how long the 36-year-old Spaniard will be able to continue playing, he did not resemble a man who has been struggling with a foot injury as he outclassed Ruud in the Norwegian's first major final.
Ruud was no match for his idol, who won 11 games in a row to secure back-to-back grand slam triumphs and maintain his perfect record in championship matches at Roland Garros.
Nadal struck an early blow when he broke with a majestic cross-court forehand winner on the run for a 2-0 lead, but he gifted the eighth seed an immediate break back with a couple of double faults before missing a forehand.
Ruud was unable to build on that, spraying a wild forehand long and seeing another bounce before crashing into the net to go a break down at 3-1.
Nadal darted in to put away a backhand winner to go 5-2 up and fired down three excellent serves in a row to wrap up the set.
Ruud got himself out of a hole by saving three break points before holding in the first game of the second set and the sprightly Scandinavian broke to love for a 3-1 lead, Nadal ending a poor service game with a double fault.
There was a sense of deja vu when Nadal broke straight back, letting out a roar after Ruud looped a backhand into the tramlines and the Mallorca native led 4-3 when a lob from the underdog landed long.
Nadal was shifting through the gears, disdainfully swatting away forehand winners to get a packed crowd purring as he won a fifth game in a row to take the second set.
A prowling Nadal continued to dominate, racing in to put away another winner for a 2-0 lead in the third set and showing no mercy on a player who has trained at his academy but was not made to feel so welcome by one of the all-time greats in Paris.
Ruud had no answer to the brilliance of Nadal as he was swept aside in the most one-sided of third sets, the champion putting him out of his misery with a backhand winner.
Aleix Espargaro has apologised to his team after his costly blunder at the Catalan Grand Prix handed Fabio Quartararo a further advantage in the MotoGP championship.
Quartararo was cruising to first place on Sunday as title rival Espargaro seemed set to finish second in Barcelona.
But Espargaro inexplicably started waving to the crowd as he began the final lap, incorrectly believing the race had finished and he had secured second on the podium.
That ended a four-podium race streak for Espargaro, who slipped to fifth, and he sits 22 points behind leader Quartararo in the standings.
The Aprilia rider was quick to apologise for his mistake after the race as he explained he had misread the circuit's timing tower when keeping an eye on the lap count.
"I'm sorry. That's the only thing that I can say, sorry to my team. It's completely my fault," Espargaro told reporters.
"My people [with the pit board] were the first ones [out of the last corner], so I had no time to watch the lap. Some laps I had no time to look at the laps [remaining] and the gap with [Jorge] Martin.
"I was pushing to the limit so I just watched the gap with Martin, +0.6, then I watched the tower and I saw 'L1'. So I did one lap and then I didn't remember that here in Barcelona the last lap is 'zero' not 'one'. And I closed the gas on the straight.
"So I'm very sorry for my team because I didn't have the speed of Fabio to win. But if I want to beat him in the championship I cannot do these mistakes. Today, I lost nine points, so I'm very sorry."
Espargaro also believes he could have maintained pace with Quartararo but had been too worried about concerns surrounding his tyre management.
"Yesterday between Michelin and my team, everybody put a lot of worry into my [mind] by saying that I use a lot of tyres, that I had to be gentle on the first laps and I was too gentle sincerely," Espargaro said.
"Because at the end of the race, when I overtook Martin, I had enough tyre to put 41.5s and go away.
"I think Fabio was not faster than me, but he was smarter, was able to push at the beginning, and then it's impossible to recover two, two-and-a-half seconds to Fabio.
"I think I could have gone with him at the beginning. But anyway, it's too late."
Joe Root admitted the England Test captaincy had started to negatively impact his personal life after starring in his first international without being skipper against New Zealand.
Root stepped down as red-ball skipper following series defeat to West Indies, leaving England with just one win in their last 17 Tests.
Ben Stokes was subsequently appointed to lead his country in the longest format, with New Zealand great Brendon McCullum charged with transforming England's fortunes in the five-day game.
The new leadership pair's country of birth posed England's first task of the new era, and it was the familiar face of Root who delivered at the crucial time in the first Test.
Root became only the second England batter to score 10,000 runs in the longest format with an unbeaten 115, guiding Stokes' side to chase 277 and take a 1-0 series lead in the three-match series.
Yorkshireman Root is also the 14th player to reach that milestone and achieved the feat at exactly the same age – 31 years and 157 days – as his former team-mate and captain Alastair Cook.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, much of Root's focus was on the impact of not having to stress about the captaincy in his first Test without skippering duties.
"It was tough to step down as captain but I'd thrown everything at it, every bit of myself into it and it had started to have an unhealthy effect on the rest of my life," he said.
"I couldn't leave it in the car or at the cricket ground. It wasn't fair on myself or my family and I want to enjoy my cricket. It's a role that needs so much energy and you can see that within Ben."
The century was also Root's first in the fourth innings of a Test match, and he was delighted to deliver for both England and Stokes.
"I had thrown everything at it [captaincy] and I was determined to help turn this team around. But I realised over that time at home that it would have to be in a different way," he told reporters.
"I'm very excited to do that now, to do everything I can to help Ben turn this team around and make it the force it should and can be.
"I'll do anything I can to help England win Test matches and be a side people enjoy watching and can be proud of.
"It got to the stage where it was time for someone else to lead. I threw absolutely everything at the role. I'm proud of the way that I tried to do that."
Meanwhile, former Australia Test captain Mark Taylor believes Root can surpass India legend Sachin Tendulkar's record 15,921 runs in red-ball internationals.
"Root has minimum five years left in him, so I think Tendulkar's record is very achievable," Taylor told Sky Sports.
"He is batting as well as I have ever seen him bat over the last 18 months to two years.
"He is in the prime of his career, so there is 15,000 runs-plus for him if he stays healthy."
Kane Williamson says New Zealand will ensure they move forward quickly and respond to their five-wicket loss to England in the first Test at Lord's.
The Black Caps were powerless to avoid defeat after their hosts completed the third-highest fourth-innings run chase at Lord's thanks to a magnificent Joe Root knock.
The former England captain, in his first game since handing the armband on to Ben Stokes, scored 115 not out and became the 14th player to break the 10,000 Test run barrier.
Speaking afterwards, Williamson said his side would learn lessons from their loss and mount a firm response, with the second Test starting next Friday at Trent Bridge.
"The game ebbed and flowed the whole time," he told Sky Sports.
"I thought both teams fought hard, and we saw how difficult it was and how much it changed throughout.
"But [we] take nothing away from the quality of the English performance. It’s about moving on quickly and taking those learnings, moving into the next Test.
"We'll reflect on this and look forward to the next one."
On Root, Williamson added: "[It's] an incredible innings from an amazing player. It's truly an unbelievable achievement.
"You recognise the quality of the player and his longevity as a world-class player."
Tottenham forward Steven Bergwijn has confirmed his desire to find a new club, saying: "I want to leave Spurs now, that's for sure."
The Netherlands international has been linked with a move away from the Premier League side since the January transfer window, having struggled for game time since the arrival of Antonio Conte as head coach in November.
Bergwijn has started just one league game under the Italian, making a further 19 appearances from the bench, scoring three goals.
His most notable contribution during the season came when he was introduced in the 79th minute away at Leicester City with his team 2-1 down, before scoring twice in stoppage time to turn the game around.
The 24-year-old joined Spurs in January 2020 from PSV Eindhoven for a reported fee of £27million (€31.5m), and has made 83 appearances for the club in all competitions (38 starts), scoring eight goals.
Bergwijn, who scored for his country in Friday's 4-1 win at Belgium in the Nations League, told Dutch outlet AD he wants "clarity" on his future soon.
"I'm at Oranje now and then we'll have a look," he said. "It would be nice if there was clarity soon. I just have to go play.
"But I want to leave Spurs now, that's for sure."
Bergwijn also said he would be happy to join a team not competing in the Champions League, and revealed he was denied the opportunity to leave the north London club in January.
"That's not even top priority [playing in the Champions League]. Though it would be nice. What's important is that I'm going to play," he said.
"I wasn't allowed to leave Spurs in the winter and then I didn't have any problems. The last few months I was hardly looked after there. Now I want to play somewhere every week."
Bergwijn has been strongly linked with a move to Ajax, and admitted he could move back to his home country, especially with the World Cup looming at the end of the year.
"That could be, yes," he said when asked about the possibility. "It's about my situation now, that has to be different."
Joe Root has become just the 14th player in Test match history to break the 10,000 run barrier after his unbeaten century steered England to victory against New Zealand.
The former captain, in his first game since stepping back from the role, hit 115 not out to give new skipper Ben Stokes a five-wicket win over the Black Caps at Lord's on Sunday.
In the process, the Yorkshire batsman joined Sir Alastair Cook as only the second England player to bring up the milestone mark.
In a remarkable coincidence, both Root and Cook reached the 10,000 figure at the exact same age - 31 years and 157 days.
They are not the only impressive numbers posted by the former in his record-breaking day at the crease, however...
1987 - the year the first player posted 10,000 runs in Test cricket, when Sunil Gavaskar achieved the figure for India.
218 - the number of innings it has taken Root to join the 10,000 run club in Test cricket.
118 - the number of matches it has taken Root to achieve it.
85 - the number of runs Root needs to move to 13th in the all-time Test runs rankings, currently trailing Pakistan's Younis Khan (10,099).
26 - the number of Test centuries scored by Root, a figure exceeded only for England by Cook, with 33.
2 - the number of other players to break the 10,000 mark while scoring a ton - Australia's Steve Waugh (Jan 2003) and India's Rahul Dravid (Mar 2008).
1 - this is the first Test century Root has scored in the final innings of a match, and therefore also his highest score in the same period of play.
Fabio Quartararo extended his MotoGP championship lead with victory in Sunday's Catalan Grand Prix as title rival Aleix Espargaro made a staggering and costly mistake.
Quartararo was a comfortable winner, and Espargaro looked nailed on for second place as he began the final lap, but the Spaniard thought the race was over and began waving to the crowd in Barcelona.
He was celebrating what he believed to be a podium finish, having started on pole position, but by slowing down he lost momentum and could not recover once he realised his clanger, trailing home in fifth.
Espargaro would have had good cause to celebrate second place, given he suffered abandonments in six of his previous seven appearances in this race, finishing only once when he was 12th in 2020.
The devastated Espargaro was later seen with his head in his hands by the side of the track and in the Aprilia garage. Nine points had slipped away, potentially crucial come the end of the season, with Quartararo boosting his championship lead to 22 points.
Quartararo and Espargaro were first and second at halfway, with a gap of around four seconds between the pair.
Espargaro slipped a place as Jorge Martin jumped to second, but the Aprilia man soon edged back ahead of the Pramac rider.
That looked set to be the 1-2-3 until Esparagaro's miscalculation allowed Martin to snatch second place, with Johann Zarco finishing third and Joan Mir fourth.
There had also been early drama, with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), winner of two of the last three races this season, crashing out on the first corner along with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) and Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) after a shunt.
Enea Bastianini (Gresini), third in the championship, a place ahead of Bagnaia, also tumbled out of the race, with Quartararo's grip on first place tightening even before Espargaro's hapless error.
TOP 10
1. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha)
2. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) +6.473 seconds
3. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) +8.385s
4. Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) +11.481s
5. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) +14.395
6. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46) +15.430
7. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) +15.975
8. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) +21.436
9. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) +26.800
10. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda) +30.460
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Riders
1. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) 147
2. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) 125
3. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing) 94
4. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) 91
5. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) 81
Teams
1. Aprilia Racing 171
2. Monster Energy Yamaha 169
3. Ducati Lenovo 146
4. Pramac Racing 142
5. Suzuki Ecstar 138
The Oakridge Farms’ unbeaten chestnut filly Atomica delivered one of the most smashing performances ever in Caymanas Park Classic racing history with a 20-length victory in Saturday’s Jamaica 1000 Guineas.
Ridden by Dane Dawkins for trainer Gary Subratie, Atomica crippled the eight-horse field with an acceleration in the final furlong that landed her a stakes record one minute 37.00 for the one-mile trip, erasing a 38-year-old mark by the brilliant 1984 horse of the year Thornbird.
“She got a really easy race today and she still broke the stakes record,” a completely satisfied Subratie said post-race.
The 30-1 outsider Our Angel was second and Silent Mission (14-1) third in the JA$3.75 million (US$24,500) event that opened Jamaica’s Triple Crown Series.
Dawkins, aboard his first ever Classic winner, cruised to the front aboard the big 1-9 favourite shortly after the start, with 8-1 second favourite Golden Whattle, last year’s champion two-year-old, in pursuit.
Heading down the backstretch to the far turn, Atomica was coasting on a two-length lead with Silent Mission, Golden Whattle and 30-1 bet Our Angel stalking the pace.
Atomica, who had won the Guineas “prep” races – the Thornbird Stakes and Portmore – in April and May, respectively, by a combined total of almost 20 lengths, quickened effortlessly into a three-length lead leaving the half-mile.
She was five lengths clear coming off the final bend and it was approaching the final furlong that Dawkins roused her for the first time in the race. He never used the whip once and hinted in the winners’ enclosure that we have not yet seen the best of the filly.
“From I left the starting gate I was very comfortable. She has a lot more (in the tank),” said the 28-year-old Dawkins, whose previous best finish in a Classic was second in the 2000 Guineas two years ago aboard Mahogany.
Atomica’s eight-furlong clocking shaved 2/5ths of a second off Thornbird’s 1984 mark of 1:37 and 2/5ths.
The win was Subratie’s third in the 1000 Guineas after Niphal in 2011 and Nuclear Affair in 2016 and he appeared to embrace the Triple Crown bid with the longer St Leger (10 furlongs) and Derby (12 furlongs) to come. “Every distance she goes she wins further away, so it is showing she will go the distance,” Subratie said, supported by owner Don Wehby.
“Based on what I saw today, I would love to go in the Derby,” Wehby said.
By Nuclear Wayne out of the Reparations mare Honkeytonkville, Atomica was winning her fifth race in a row and the champion filly’s breeder Karl Samuda, a current Government minister, believes they have hit the jackpot with her breeding.
“Her mother, the dam line is both speed and journey. Now we combine that with Nuclear Wayne, who also has speed and distance so it’s two great factors that collide in one animal and that’s why she is so great,” said Samuda, Jamaica’s Minister of Labour and Social Security.
Joe Root savoured being a match-winner for Ben Stokes as the former captain scored a sublime century to reach the 10,000 Test runs landmark in a five-wicket victory over New Zealand.
England started a new era with Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum as head coach by chasing down a target of 277 at Lord's on day four to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The prolific Root became only the second England batter to score 10,000 runs in the longest format with a majestic unbeaten 115, combining with the excellent Ben Foakes (32 not out) for an unbeaten stand of 120 under grey skies in London.
Root is the 14th player to reach that milestone and got there at exactly the same age - 31 years and 157 days - as his former team-mate Alastair Cook.
Man of the match Root was untroubled as he made a 26th Test hundred in his first international since stepping down as skipper.
Root was delighted to step up for his former vice-captain Stokes, who made an important half-century on Saturday, and seal England's first win in 10 matches in the longest format.
He said during the post-match presentation: "The number of times Ben has won us Tests under my leadership, it's a great chance for me to give back to him. I love batting.
"I want to score as many runs as I can and win us as many Test matches as I can. As long as I've got the energy and the drive to do it, I'll do it. I couldn't wish for a better person to be leading this team."
He added: "It feels fantastic, more than anything for us to have won this Test match after such a long time. It's been so enjoyable.
"Hopefully we can use this as a way to step forward."
Stokes saluted Root for ensuring his reign got off to a dream start.
"Scoring a hundred and 10,000 runs - what a player, what a man," he said.
Stokes knows England remain a work in progress after they edged in front in the three-match series.
He added: "It was a great Test match. It always seems to be, England v New Zealand - especially at Lord's. Regardless of being captain, the first Test of the summer always has a special buzz about it.
"It was a special week with all the build-up and to come away with the win makes it even better. We're happy leaving here with a win but one thing that everyone needs to take into account is that it's a change of mindset for everyone and it's not something that's going to happen overnight."
William Saliba has said he wants to show Arsenal his "true face" next season.
The France international has still not played for the Gunners since his transfer from Saint-Etienne in 2019, reportedly worth around £27million (€31.5m).
Loan moves with Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille have followed, but now the 21-year-old centre back is eager to finally show his parent club what they bought three years ago, although he admits he does not know if the Premier League club still want him.
Speaking to Telefoot, Saliba said: "I belong to Arsenal, I still have two years left [on my contract].
"I will be back with Arsenal. I have played zero matches and I still want to show them my true face and have the chance to play for these fans and this great club.
"But it doesn't just depend on me. In any case, to leave like this, would be a shame."
Saliba enjoyed a strong 2021-22 season at Marseille, finishing second in Ligue 1 and reaching the semi-finals of the inaugural Europa Conference League.
He played 36 games in Ligue 1, keeping 13 clean sheets, and attempted 490 passes more than any other player in the French top flight (3,044), completing 599 more than anyone else (2,834).
Asked to describe his campaign in one word, he said: "Surprising, or magical. It's my first full season. I was keen to show who I really am. It's a very positive assessment and really I'm very happy with my season.
"And that's why I had this little lump in my stomach saying to myself: 'Here you go to a club and you mustn't laugh, you mustn't have fun, you must play every game thoroughly.'
"It's as if I stayed at least two or three years, it's really special. Even if I don't come back to Marseille, I'll never forget. Thanks to OM, I spent a great course in my career and it was they who boosted me."
Coco Gauff lost her second French Open final of the weekend as the teenager and Jessica Pegula were beaten by Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the women's doubles.
Gauff was defeated in straight sets on Saturday by world number one Iga Swiatek in her maiden grand slam final at Roland Garros.
The 18-year-old and her fellow American Pegula started well on Sunday, taking the first set before their French opponents stormed back to win 2-6 6-3 6-2 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
An early break from Gauff and Pegula gave the number eight seeds the advantage, before another in the seventh game allowed them to serve out the opening set.
However, the experienced Garcia and Mladenovic found several more gears to race out into a 4-0 lead in the second set.
Gauff and Pegula - who was also beaten by Swiatek in the quarter-finals of the singles' event in Paris - came back to 3-4, but were broken again and the French duo grasped the chance to level the match.
The decider was one-sided, with Garcia and Mladenovic again taking a 4-0 lead, before eventually serving out to win as the 2016 champions were able to repeat the trick six years later in front of a delighted home crowd.
Mladenovic has now celebrated four doubles triumphs in her home grand slam - two with Garcia and as many with Timea Babos. This was Garcia's second success.
Joe Root scored a magnificent unbeaten century to reach the 10,000 Test runs landmark as England took a 1-0 series lead against New Zealand with a five-wicket victory at Lord's.
England looked destined to start a new era with Ben Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum as head coach with another defeat when they slumped to 69-4 after being set 277 to win on Saturday.
But Root, playing his first Test since stepping down as skipper, and Ben Foakes sealed England's first win in 10 matches in the longest format with an unbroken stand of 120 under grey skies in the morning session on day four.
Root (115 not out) made a crucial 26th Test hundred - and his first in the final innings of a Test - and the composed Foakes offered great support with an unbeaten 32 to make it a dream start to Stokes and McCullum's reign.
The prolific Root and Foakes were untroubled on the penultimate day after resuming on 216-5, needing another 61 runs to win, as the New Zealand bowlers failed to get anything out of an old ball under the floodlights.
Foakes hit a glorious on-drive for four and Root moved into the 90s by sumptuously punching Kyle Jamieson down the ground to the boundary.
Wicketkeeper-batter Foakes then pulled Tim Southee for four and Root moved to 96 with a more fortunate boundary, almost chopping the ball onto his stumps.
There was a great ovation for Root when he clipped Southee into the leg side and scampered back for two to bring up another hundred and become only the 14th player to score 10,000 Test runs in what was his 118th match.
Root fittingly finished off the job in style, dispatching Southee for three boundaries in an over to give England a first Test win over the Black Caps in eight matches.
Stephen Curry has backed his Golden State Warriors team-mates to "figure it out" after their Game 1 defeat to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
Game 2 of the championship series takes place in Chase Center on Sunday and Curry called on the Warriors to "flip the script".
The Celtics won the first encounter 120-108 on Thursday, turning things around dramatically in the fourth quarter, scoring 40 points to the Warriors' 16 to take the win.
However, Curry - who still top scored with 34 points - believes his team can respond to that setback, outlining after practice on Saturday when he had seen the necessary resilience from the Warriors this season.
"Even moments throughout the regular season where things are starting to get away from us a little bit at times," he said. "And kind of have your 'come-to-Jesus' moment, like we need to play right. How are we going to flip the script and get things back on the right track? We usually responded pretty well.
"It's the first time for a lot of things with this particular group. We are here in the Finals for a reason, because we figured it out along the way. If we're going to get back in this series, we've got to figure it out again."
Draymond Green, who claimed 11 rebounds but made just two of 12 field goal attempts on Thursday, said the Warriors need to improve their defensive performance.
"We have to play with more force on the defensive end," he said. "I think there were times in the game when they didn't feel us; when you're playing against a great team at this level at this point in the season, they have to feel you every possession.
"We just have to make sure they feel us every possession."
Coach Steve Kerr added his assertion that the experience of Curry and Green will be vital for his team if they are to win their first championship since 2018.
"Draymond and Steph have been in the Finals six times now," Kerr said. "They have seen it all. They have seen everything. They have won championships. They have lost championships. They have had their heart broken. They have had parades.
"This is all part of it. So that's the right mental approach, and that's one that's born out of experience."
Devin Haney beat George Kambosos Jr in a unanimous points decision to become the first undisputed lightweight boxing champion in 32 years.
Haney handed his Australian opponent his first professional defeat in front of over 40,000 fans at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne as he added Kambosos' WBA (Super), IBF and WBO titles to his WBC belt.
The American remains undefeated on 28-0 (15 KOs), and said after the fight it was a "dream come true".
All three judges at ringside scored the bout in favour of Haney, two by 116-112 and the other by 118-110.
Haney becomes the eighth boxer in history to hold all four titles at the same time, and the first lightweight to do so since Pernell Whitaker in 1990.
Following his history-making performance, Haney said: "I was comfortable. I was sticking to the game plan.
"The game plan was to go in and hit and not get hit, and I did that for the majority of the fight.
"I took the last round off because I knew I was comfortably ahead, but I fought a good, smart fight."
Kambosos was understanding in defeat, but said he wants a rematch down the line and indicated he will learn from mistakes made in this contest.
"I want to take the best test, the hardest test and I'm going to give him full respect for his victory and let him have his time," the 28-year-old said.
"We'll do it again. I have to implement a few things but I thought the fight was very close."
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