Jannik Sinner clinched the ATP Year-End number one ranking following his straight-sets semi-final win against Tomas Machac at the Shanghai Masters.

Sinner needed an hour and 43 minutes to down his Czech opponent, winning 6-4 7-5 to set up a meeting with either Novak Djokovic or Taylor Fritz in the final. 

The Italian, however, started slowly in the first set, losing the first two games, but recovered well as the pair traded blows in a tightly contested affair. 

But a service break in the 10th game proved decisive, with Sinner taking the early advantage in a set that saw him serve four of his nine aces against the Czech. 

But Machac refused to back down, going toe-to-toe with the world number one, producing some huge baseline hitting that the Italian struggled to respond to. 

However, after a love game to level the encounter at 6-6, Sinner closed out the contest in the tie-break, sealing his 64th win of the season to reach his maiden final at the competition as he continues to chase a Tour-leading seventh title of the year. 

Data Debrief: Sinner on top of the world

Sinner (2023-24) has become only the third player in the Open Era to reach seven or more ATP event finals on hard court in consecutive seasons after Roger Federer (2004-07 and 2014-2015) and Novak Djokovic (2011-13 and 2015-2016).

The Italian is now 27-3 at ATP Masters 1000 events in 2024. Since the format’s inception in 1990, only Federer, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have achieved more wins in a season. 

Former Liverpool defender Joel Matip has confirmed his retirement from professional football. 

Matip, who joined Liverpool on a free transfer in 2016, has been without a club since leaving Anfield at the end of last season and has since decided to call time on his 15-year career. 

The 33-year-old started his career at Schalke, making 258 appearances for the Bundesliga outfit and helping them lift the DFB-Pokal and German Super Cup in 2011. 

Matip was among the first signings made by Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, joining in the same window as Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Loris Karius. 

He helped the Reds return to the Champions League in Klopp's first full campaign in charge, making 29 Premier League appearances and keeping nine clean sheets. 

However, his spell with the Reds was marred by repetitive injuries, sustaining 16 different issues across his eight-year spell on Merseyside. 

The former Cameroon international's final appearance for Liverpool came in a 4-3 win over Fulham in December 2023 after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the same game. 

Matip made 201 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions, scoring 11 goals and winning six major honours, which included the Reds' sixth Champions League triumph. 

Harry Brook has all the attributes needed to become England's best ever batter after his sensational knock against Pakistan, so says James Anderson. 

Brook became the first England batter in 34 years to score a triple-century when his side thrashed Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in their first Test of the three-match series. 

In the same Test, Root scored 262, and in doing so he passed Alastair Cook's previous England best of 12,472 career runs, placing him fifth on the all-time list. 

Brook's career-best knock of 317 took him to 1,875 runs in 19 Tests and 31 innings ahead of the second encounter in Multan that starts on Monday. 

The 25-year-old has a chance to become the fastest Englishman to 2,000 Test runs, beating the 22 matches and 33 innings of Herbert Sutcliffe in 1928.

And Anderson, who is England's all-time leading wicket taker in Test matches, showered praise on Brook, likening him to Kevin Pietersen. 

"He's on the way to being in the top three that I've played with," Anderson said on his Tailenders podcast. 

"It's Root, Pietersen and him. He's definitely got all the attributes to overtake them.

"He's just got everything. Without trying to big him up too much because he's still really early in his Test career.

"I do think that he's got the perfect amount of each of those two and that's what will make him the best that we've ever had."

Pietersen scored 8,181 runs when his 104-Test career ended in 2014, 170 fewer than Brook has managed after 19 Tests as a comparison.

England's stunning 823-7 declared was their highest total in Test cricket since 1938 as they took a 1-0 series lead against Pakistan on Friday.

The 556 England conceded in Pakistan’s first innings was the highest total any team had overturned to then go on and earn an innings victory.

Brook and Root shared a partnership of 454, England’s highest of all time for any wicket and the fourth-highest by any Test pair.

"The thing that's really similar between Joe and Harry is that they love batting," said Anderson. "They literally couldn't care less what format it is. They just want to bat.

"They want to have fun doing it. As much as Harry's the younger player and will be learning loads from Rooty, I still think Rooty learns from him as well.

"Joe's one of those sorts of players that wants to keep developing and bettering himself, and he does watch other players and try to add bits to his game.

"I'm sure he's doing that with Harry."

Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman was left perplexed by Virgil van Dijk's "frustrating" red card in his side's 1-1 draw with Hungary on Friday. 

Van Dijk, making his 77th appearance for his country, received the first dismissal of his international career with two yellow cards in the space of three minutes in the second half.

The first booking stemmed from his protests to referee Lukas Fahndric after a foul on Donyell Malen, before committing a foul soon after to receive his marching orders.

Van Dijk's dismissal looked to have settled the contest after Roland Sallai had smashed home Zsolt Nagy's cross to hand Hungary a goal advantage in the first half. 

But the Netherlands drew level four minutes after going down to 10 men when Denzel Dumfries headed Cody Gakpo's free-kick beyond Denes Dibusz to seal a share of the spoils. 

Speaking after the game, Koeman was left baffled by the decision to hand Van Dijk a first yellow card for discussing the foul on Malen with the referee. 

"That moment was frustrating," Koeman told the NOS. "I don't understand it. I think we agreed that a captain can protest to a referee.

"That foul [on Malen] was good for a red card. There was no intention at all to play the ball. That Virgil then takes that second card is not convenient. He knows that himself."

Van Dijk's red card also saw him become the oldest player to be sent off (33 years and 95 days) since Phillip Cocu (34 years and 313 days) against the same opponents. 

The Liverpool captain had enjoyed a solid game up until his dismissal, completing more passes (145) than any other player, 99 of which came in the first 45 minutes, only adding to his frustration in his assessment at full-time. 

"[The red card] is a bummer. It should not have happened. But I'm especially angry about the first," Van Dijk told ESPN Netherlands.

"They say the captain is the only one who can talk to the referee. I walk up to him. Up tempo, but not in a nasty way, not at all. Very respectful.

"Because I felt it was a breakaway player, he did not go for the ball at all. If even the captain can not say anything ... then it gets difficult."

Julian Nagelsmann believes his Germany side should have been more ruthless after downing Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1 in the Nations League on Friday. 

Deniz Undav continued his scoring streak for the national side, with his brace enough to see Germany over the line despite Edin Dzeko halving the deficit in the 70th minute. 

Nagelsmann's side sit top of Group A3 after three games ahead of facing the Netherlands on Monday, a side they drew 2-2 with last month. 

But the Germany head coach wants to see an improvement in front of goal after dominating for large parts at the Stadion Bilino Polje against Bosnia. 

The visitors ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.81 from their 12 shots, eight of which were on target, while also creating five big chances. 

Germany also finished the game with 73.1% possession, though Nagelsmann said his players must find their clinical edge when they face the Netherlands. 

"We didn't start so well and kept the ball on one side too much in the first ten minutes," Nagelsmann said. 

"When we adjusted that, it was good and we were dominant. Given our superiority, we could have scored more goals.

"Regarding the goal we conceded, Edin Dzeko shouldn't have been that free inside the box. But the team kept control after that. We didn't want to take many risks."

Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz echoed Nagelsmann's thoughts, acknowledging his side's wastefulness in front of goal. 

Wirtz impressed on Friday, creating more chances (four), playing more passes into the final third (36) and having more touches in the opposition box (six) than any of his team-mates.

"I think we made it difficult for ourselves. We could have won by a bigger margin," Wirtz said.

"Against the Netherlands we expect long balls to the striker.

"Bosnia did something similar today, but of course it will be even more difficult on Monday.

"The quality of the Dutch team is even higher."

Yoshinobu Yamamoto and four relievers combined on a two-hitter and Kike Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez homered as the Los Angeles Dodgers secured a trip to the National League Championship Series with a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.

Yamamoto allowed two hits over five innings for the Dodgers before being pulled after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated rivals who were meeting in an NL Division Series for the third time in five years.

Evan Phillips struck out three in 1 2/3 innings and Alex Vesia got one out before leaving with an injury to start the eighth. Michael Kopech worked one perfect inning and Blake Treinen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.

The Dodgers will play the New York Mets in the best-of-seven NLCS starting Sunday night in Los Angeles.

Yu Darvish allowed the two home runs and one other hit over six innings with one walk and four strikeouts.

The Dodgers won a decisive Game 5 at home for the first time since taking a 1981 NL Division Series against Houston after a season split into halves following a players' strike. Boasting the majors’ best regular-season record of 98-64, they successfully avoided a third straight NLDS elimination.

The Padres’ big hitters went bust with their season on the line. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado were 1 for 14 in Game 5 as the last 19 San Diego batters were retired.

San Diego went scoreless for the final 24 innings of the series, dropping the last two games after taking a 2-1 lead back home.

Yamamoto and Darvish were the first Japanese-born starting pitchers to square off in major league playoff history. The 26-year-old Yamamoto was the fifth rookie to start a winner-take-all game in Dodgers history.

Wales will benefit from the experience of Friday's Nations League draw with Iceland despite squandering a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2, believes boss Craig Bellamy.

Bellamy's reign began with a positive return of four points from Nations League matches against Turkiye and Montenegro, but they suffered their first major setback under him on Friday.

Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson scored to give Wales a 2-0 half-time lead at Laugardalsvollur, only for Logi Tomasson's strike and Danny Ward's own goal to earn Iceland a point.

Despite Iceland registering the most shots they have ever recorded in a Nations League match (20), Bellamy was not too disheartened by the result.

"It was good, I enjoyed it. It was what I expected to be honest, I said going out second half that this would be tough," Bellamy told S4C.

"We'll benefit so much from that 45 minutes, it's so good for us. In the long run this will be beneficial. 

"Obviously to be 2-0 up and draw is disappointing, but it was a pleasing performance. It was about me learning about the players and them learning from us.

"It's never good to concede, I don't like it, we'll look at it again. I felt momentum played a big part. It's about us understanding when to take the sting out the game, which will come.

"Overall, I'm pleased with the performance, we've had two yellows which will mean a change on Monday, but it's predictable due to different styles of refereeing. It is what it is."

Despite a frustrating second half, Bellamy is the first manager in Wales' history to go unbeaten through his first three competitive games at the helm, with one win and two draws.

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has said the FIA was wrong to punish Formula One world champion Max Verstappen for swearing. 

The Red Bull driver, who won his third world championship title last year, was asked to do community service by the motorsport’s governing body for swearing in a news conference during last month’s Singapore Grand Prix.

Verstappen then protested against the punishment by giving short answers during an official news conference and termed the penalty "ridiculous", going on to say that such decisions could speed up his exit from the sport. 

Now, the former Haas boss has weighed in, saying that the FIA should not have “made a big story out of it.”

“Max didn't swear at anybody. He used the f-word about his car. So nobody got offended by it, in my opinion,” said Steiner, who departed Haas at the start of the year. 

"The best way [to handle it] would have been not to make a big story of it. Sit down with the drivers, they have a meeting every weekend, and say: 'Hey, guys, can you tone it down a little bit? We are the FIA, we don't really like this.' 

"But don't say: 'If you do, you get a fine, a penalty, whatever.' Because you know these guys, they've got an ego as well. And they say: 'I don't want to do that.' And then what do you create? All this controversy - for nothing."

Deniz Undav netted twice in the space of six first-half minutes as Germany held on for a 2-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their Nations League match at the Stadion Bilino Polje.

The Stuttgart striker found the back of the net in the 30th and 36th minutes to pull Julian Nagelsmann’s side into a two-goal lead, but captain Edin Dzeko’s goal for the hosts after restart set up a tense ending to the game, which the Germans navigated. 

Florian Wirtz ran onto a lofted ball from Robert Andrich before laying it back for Undav to open the scoring at the half-hour mark in the League A Group 3 fixture, but Bosnia-Herzegovina were unfortunate not to equalise in an instant. 

Ermedin Demirovic broke free on a counter just four minutes later and beat German goalkeeper Alexander Nubel with his shot only to see it brush the top of the crossbar on its way out. 

It proved to be a costly miss as Undav turned in a low cross from Maximilian Mittelstadt a couple of minutes later to give the visitors a two-goal cushion. 

Undav thought he had his hat-trick in the 58th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside before Dzeko halved the deficit for Sergej Barbarez’s side heading home a Benjamin Tahriovic corner with 20 minutes left to play. 

But the hosts failed to find an equaliser as group toppers Germany preserved their unbeaten start and went two points clear of the Netherlands with their second win. Bosnia-Herzegovina, meanwhile, sit bottom with only one point from three matches. 

Denzel Dumfries' late equaliser maintained the Netherlands' unbeaten start to their Nations League campaign as they rescued a 1-1 draw with Hungary despite Virgil van Dijk's red card.

The Oranje were staring at their first defeat in Group A3 when Roland Sallai smashed Zsolt Nagy's cross home at the back post to cap a rapid break midway through the first half.

Sallai had earlier struck the post as Hungary started impressively, while Denes Dibusz was called into action by Cody Gakpo at the other end shortly before half-time.

The visitors' position was made even more tenuous with 11 minutes remaining, as Liverpool captain Van Dijk received two yellow cards in three minutes, the second for a tactical foul to prevent a Hungary counter.

But Ronald Koeman's side made light of their numerical disadvantage to draw level four minutes later, Dumfries appearing unmarked to head Gakpo's free-kick delivery home.

Neither side were able to find a winner late on, with the result keeping the Netherlands second in the table with five points, two behind leaders Germany and three clear of Hungary.

Data Debrief: No Van Dijk, no problem

Dumfries' equalising goal was the first the Netherlands have scored after receiving a red card since September 7, 2005, salvaging a valuable point just as Hungary looked set to pull level in the standings.

Van Dijk, meanwhile, became the oldest player to be sent off (aged 33 years and 95 days) since Phillip Cocu in that exact same match (34 years and 313 days).

England stand-in captain Ollie Pope has hinted that Ben Stokes could return to the team for their second Test match against Pakistan in Multan, starting on Tuesday. 

With Stokes still nursing a hamstring injury, England cruised to an emphatic innings victory against Pakistan at the same venue in the opener, inspired by the brilliant batting performances of Harry Brook (317) and Joe Root (262).

The win by an innings and 47 runs, which came early on the fifth day, saw the tourists become the first team in Test cricket history to concede more than 500 runs in the first innings but still end up winning the match by an innings.

Asked about team news for the second of the three Tests on the tour, Pope let slip that Stokes could be involved.

“I don’t know. I'm actually not 100 per cent sure,” he added.

“He's been training really well this week. He's as keen as ever to get playing again, so fingers crossed he's all good.”

Pope has deputised as England captain after full-time skipper Stokes suffered a hamstring injury in August which saw him miss the home Test series against Sri Lanka.

The 33-year-old was included in the England squad for the Pakistan tour and was expected to return for the first Test, but failed to recover in time as the visitors scripted cricketing history in Multan. 

Novak Djokovic said a part of him had "left" after Rafael Nadal followed his other great rivals Roger Federer and Andy Murray in announcing his retirement. 

Djokovic enjoyed a long-lasting rivalry with Nadal, along with Federer and Murray, with tennis' 'Big Four' winning a combined 69 grand slam titles. 

The Serbian is currently aiming to join Federer and Jimmy Connors as the only players to achieve 100 ATP Tour-level titles, and is two games away from doing so at the Shanghai Masters. 

Djokovic overcame a plucky display from Czech teenager Jakub Mensik on Friday, coming from a set down to win 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-4 and progress to a record 77th semi-final at Masters 1000 events.

The triumph came a day after Nadal confirmed he would retire next month, following 60 head-to-head meetings with Djokovic, the latest coming at the Paris Olympics earlier this year. 

Djokovic won 31 of those encounters, with four coming in grand slam finals at the US Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open. 

With Federer announcing his retirement in 2022 and Murray calling time on his career after the Olympics, Djokovic will soon be the only active player from the 'Big Four' that dominated the sport for many years.

And while the Serbian is still enjoying his tennis, he got emotional at the "overwhelming" feeling of being the last man standing. 

"He has been my greatest rival and my rivalry with him has impacted me the most in my career by far," Djokovic said.

"We knew that moment is coming sooner than later but it's still a shock.

"When it came officially for Roger a few years ago as well, when he announced retirement and Andy as well this year. It's overwhelming for me to be honest.

"I don't know what to make of it. I still enjoy competing but part of me left with them. A big part of me. It's tough news for the tennis world, the sports world.

"Rafa is an inspiration to millions of children around the world so he can be very proud of his career."

Cole Palmer will be among the very best players in the world if he continues on his current trajectory, believes the forward's Chelsea team-mate Marc Cucurella.

Palmer enjoyed a magnificent debut campaign in 2023-24 after swapping Manchester City for Stamford Bridge, with his 33 Premier League goal involvements (22 goals, 11 assists) the most of any player.

After impressing for England at Euro 2024 – where he came off the bench to score in their 2-1 final defeat to Spain – Palmer has picked up where he left off this term, registering 11 goal contributions (six goals, five assists) to once again lead the charts.

He became the first player in Premier League history to score four goals before half-time in a single game versus Brighton and Hove Albion in September, when he scooped the competition's Player of the Month award.

Palmer also won England's Player of the Year award for last campaign and Cucurella, who was a key part of the Spain team that defeated the Three Lions in Berlin, believes he is destined for the very summit.

"If you see him not in his kit you would never in your life say he was a footballer, but then on the pitch... he shoots and it doesn’t seem like he is hitting it hard but he scores," Cucurella said in an interview with The Guardian.

"He's very different. I don't know how to explain it: he's special. We’re very lucky we have him. 

"We [Spain] are lucky he didn’t play much in the Euros either because he came on and almost messed it up for us. 

"If he carries on like this, he'll be among the best. He doesn't have much strength in the air, but if that’s his only problem, then he's all right."

Chelsea are unbeaten in six Premier League games since going down 2-0 to champions City on matchday one, with boss Enzo Maresca winning the competition's Manager of the Month prize for September.

Though it is still early days for the Italian coach, Cucurella says the Blues have lofty ambitions under him.

"Our objective has to be to win a trophy," he said. "In the Conference League we can do something good, and the cups. 

"Arsenal and City have been working in the same way for many years, the same idea, the same players, and I think we’re a bit far away from that. 

"Liverpool too because it's been the same players. But we can get into the Champions League, that's the key objective."