Coco Gauff claimed the China Open title in emphatic fashion on Sunday, bringing up her second WTA Tour trophy of the season.

The world number six defeated US Open semi-finalist Karolina Muchova 6-1 6-3 in just 76 minutes to be crowned the youngest winner of the China Open in 14 years.

Gauff swiftly broke the Czech's serve to propel herself into a 2-0 lead before going on to dominate the first set, which lasted only half-an-hour.

Muchova looked to be surmounting a comeback in the second set, breaking immediately, but Gauff fought straight back, and the American broke Muchova once more to race to victory in Beijing.

It was an impressive win against an opponent who had defeated world number two Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen en route to the final. Gauff played 24 winning shots but restricted the world number 49 to just 14.

It marked Gauff's second WTA 1000 title, making her the second-youngest player since the format was introduced to win her first two finals, only older than Bianca Andreescu.

Data Debrief: Gauff a proven winner

Gauff, who was playing her 101st WTA 1000 match, is now the first player to win each of her first seven WTA hard-court finals in the Open Era.

Her victory meant she became the second American player to win the women's singles title at the China Open after Serena Williams (in 2004 and 2013 since the inception of the tournament in 2004.

Gauff has now defeated Muchova in all three meetings in WTA events, previously beating her at the US Open and Cincinnati Open in 2023.

Juventus were reduced to 10 and conceded for the first time this season in Serie A as a late Razvan Marin penalty snatched a 1-1 draw for Cagliari.

Dusan Vlahovic put Juve ahead with a penalty of his own in the 15th minute on Sunday.

Sebastiano Luperto, making his 150th appearance in Serie A, had been judged to have handled in the area after a VAR check.

Yet despite dominating the ball, with 73.7% possession, Juve were unable to find a decisive second goal, with Vlahovic guilty of squandering a fantastic chance in the 79th minute.

And they were made to pay when Marin converted from the spot after Douglas Luiz fouled Roberto Piccoli.

Juve's frustration was compounded when Francisco Conceicao picked up his second yellow card in the 89th minute, with the post then denying Adam Obert a last-gasp winner for Cagliari. 

Data Debrief: Juve's defence finally breached

Juve were rocked by a season-ending injury to defender Bremer this week, albeit they looked largely untroubled until the late penalty drama.

Marin's penalty was the first time Juve have conceded in Serie A in 755 minutes of action, since Ricardo Calafiori's goal for Bologna back on May 20.

Thiago Motta will lament some wasteful finishing, with Juve having 21 shots and tallying up 2.57 expected goals (xG) to Cagliari's 1.12.

Kawhi Leonard says he is feeling "good and getting stronger" as the Los Angeles Clippers small forward continues his recovery from a knee injury.

The two-time NBA champion missed the final eight games of the 2023-24 regular season after suffering inflammation in his right knee, as well as most of the Clippers' first-round series defeat to the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs.

Leonard has since undergone surgery and heavily focused on strengthening his knee during the Clippers' training camp in Hawaii.

However, the 33-year-old knows he must not rush his return to competitive action, or playing in successive games.

"I feel good. [I have] just been taking my time, getting stronger and getting ready," he said during the Clippers' 91-90 pre-season defeat to the Golden State Warriors, in which he did not feature.

"We're just taking it slow, day by day, and just trying to get me back on the floor. Once those conversations come, we'll see what they're talking about [on the best approach for back-to-backs]."

Leonard played 68 regular-season games last term, his most in a single campaign since 2016-17.

And while he wants to feature as regularly as possible this season, he is focused on maintaining his fitness for the crunch stages of the campaign.

"This is what I work for," he added. "I strive to get a championship, and I'm not out there to try to [solely] play 82 games.

"I'm trying to win, even though [playing as much as I can] that's obligated for me. I try to. But it hasn't worked out [the last two post-seasons], so we'll see."

Mikel Arteta has hailed Bukayo Saka's maturity and labelled what the Arsenal winger is producing as "unbelievable".

Saka produced two assists and scored Arsenal's third goal in the Gunners' 3-1 comeback win over Southampton on Saturday.

The England international leads the way for chances created (27), big chances created (12), assists (seven) and expected assists (3.16) in the Premier League this season, while only Manchester City's Bernardo Silva (19) has crafted more opportunities from open play than Saka (17).

With Martin Odegaard out injured, Saka has also taken on the responsibility of captain, and Arteta is thrilled with what the 23-year-old is delivering.

"That's the maturity and that's the steps that players have to do. He has been long enough in the team now, he has the right to have that role," said the Arsenal manager, as quoted by Sky Sports.

"He believes in that, that he has the capacity to change games, to decide games, like many other players, and he wants to be at the top.

"I think it's another step ahead, and it's what he wants.

"Do it at home, do it away, do it in big games, in the not-so-big games, and when the team needs it, not when it's 3-0. That is what defines a top, top player.

"What he's doing at his age is unbelievable. We have many examples of that as well."

Saka's next goal in the Premier League will be his 50th for Arsenal.

Since his debut in late 2018, only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (50) has netted more goals in the competition for the Gunners than Saka (49).

Indeed, in that time, Saka leads Arsenal for chances created (320), big chances created (54) and assists (42), having played 177 times in the top flight, 35 times more than any other Gunners player.

Jannik Sinner came from a set down to overcome Tomas Martin Etcheverry to progress at the Shanghai Masters.

Sinner, who came from behind in both of his first two matches at the China Open, where he eventually lost in the final to Carlos Alcaraz, had to showcase his fighting spirit once more on Sunday.

The world number one eventually prevailed 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2, requiring two hours and 39 minutes to get the job done.

Standing in the way of Sinner and a place in the quarter-finals will be either Roberto Carballes Baena or Ben Shelton.

Earlier on Sunday, Daniil Medvedev also came from behind to claim a 5-7 6-4 6-4 victory over Matteo Arnaldi.

"It was a very tough match, a very close one," said Medvedev. "I actually felt like that’s where tennis is funny. I felt like in the first set, I was probably the better player, had more opportunities. I didn’t manage to [win] it, played a bad game at the end of the set.

"In the other sets, I thought it was closer. Maybe even he had the edge on some of the moments, but that's why tennis is crazy.

"You can win when you don’t expect it, and lose when you expect to win, so I’m happy to be here again in two days."

Data Debrief: Master of the Masters 

Moving to a record 74-26, only four players since the format's introduction in 1990 have claimed more wins from their first 100 ATP 1000 matches than Sinner (74).

Sinner is behind only Rafael Nadal (83), Stefan Edberg (77), Pete Sampras (76) and Jim Courier (75).

Inter must improve defensively if they are to go on and retain their Serie A crown this season, so says Simone Inzaghi.

Marcus Thuram's hat-trick propelled Inter to a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino on Saturday.

It was Inter's second 3-2 win on the spin in Serie A, moving them up to second.

Inter only conceded seven shots, but five of those were on target, with Torino's 1.61 expected goals (xG) showing the visitors created decent openings at San Siro, where Nikola Vlasic converted a late penalty to set up a grandstand finale.

"Clearly, we need to improve in some aspects, we pay a heavy price for every tiny distraction," said Inzaghi, who has seen Inter concede two goals in successive league matches for the first time since May 2023.

"We worked really hard on details that need to be whittled down, the lads have great spirit, but considering everything we did today, today's game shouldn't have ended 3-2.

"Seeing a team perform like this in three matches makes me want to congratulate these guys. We need to keep working the way we are, and in our penalty area, we all need to be more attentive.

"We're working on it, and we need to do more. Over the past two days, the team has trained extremely well, and we're trying to pay even more attention to the finer details."

Hat-trick hero Thuram, meanwhile, says the entire team must step up when it comes to defending.

"It's also the fault of the attackers, not just the defenders or the goalkeeper," he said.

"We are eleven players on the pitch and not conceding goals is part of everyone's job. We will try to improve in the upcoming games.

"There’s a lot of work, especially in the penalty area. For me, scoring is always a great feeling, but I always want to remain a player who helps the team above all." 

Thuram's haul was the third time he has scored at least twice in a match this season, matching Erling Haaland.

Indeed, in 2024, only Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic has scored more Serie A goals than Thuram (13).

Novak Djokovic was relieved to edge past Alex Michelsen at the Shanghai Masters as his quest for a 100th career title got up and running. 

Djokovic, who has won the tournament in China on four occasions, needed almost two hours to overcome his American opponent on Saturday, eventually doing so 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (11-9).

The Serbian's slow start was punished by Michelsen, who raced into a 4-1 lead in the opening set, with Djokovic managing just three points from the first three games. 

But the 24-time grand slam champion rallied to take the first set to win his 11th tie-break from the 15 he has played this season.

"It was the first match against Alex and I also hadn't played in a while, so it took me a little time to get the rust off," said Djokovic after his first match sine the US Open.

“He started off terrifically; big serves and an aggressive style of tennis, he's not afraid to step it up and take it to his opponent."

Djokovic then led 4-1 in the second, only to allow Michelsen back into the contest, but the Serbian held his nerve in the decisive tie-break, saving two set points to advance. 

The 37-year-old has now won 35 of the 40 matches he has contested at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai - more than any other player.

Djokovic is also the only player in history (since 1990) to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles, a feat he has achieved twice on his way to a record 40 titles at this level.

He is yet to reach a final in the series this year, with the Serbian acknowledging the difficulties he faced against his American opponent. 

"I was 4-1 up, 15/40, and he hit the net-cord that went over. It could easily have been 6-1 for me in the second,” Djokovic said.

"But at this level, things can change very quickly.

"It was a very close encounter and I thought a high level of tennis in both sets. I'm just glad to keep calm when it mattered in the second-set tie-break.

"I'm glad to really be challenged by a young player, and I'm looking forward to the next one."

Up next for Djokovic is either Italian Flavio Cobolli or wildcard Stan Wawrinka.

Pep Guardiola is not worried about Manchester City's defending despite the reigning champions failing to keep a clean sheet in their last six Premier League matches.

City went 1-0 down against Fulham before fighting back to win 3-2 on Saturday. Their opponents also amassed an expected goals (xG) total of 2.4 compared to City's 1.55.

It follows a trend of unusually sloppy defensive displays from the champions, who have conceded eight goals in their last six league matches. They also had to come from behind against Brentford in September.

Guardiola, however, is not overly worried.

"Sometimes I give credit. The first goal – why don't we give credit to them rather than [be critical] defensively? There are actions we can defend better but step by step we will improve," he said, via the Guardian.

"I would say except [Yoane] Wissa against Brentford, in the other ones we were playing good. It's not nice to come back from 0-1 but we created chances today to go 1-0 and 2-0."

City allowed Fulham five big chances compared to their one, with the London side taking 11 shots, nine of those from inside the box.

Comparatively, City had 20 shots with only half of those coming from inside the box. However, two of the visitors’ goals came from outside the area with Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic both firing in from distance. 

"I'm very happy he scored two goals, he's not a guy to score [usually] those goals," Guardiola said of Kovacic, who is one of the midfielders the City boss expects to fill in for the injured Rodri this season.

“We started really well with two chances in two minutes and they switched immediately to five at the back. When they do that, we have one man free on the 18-yard box and that is Kovacic.

"The two goals were because they couldn't defend that. We have to exploit that more against teams that don’t play five at the back – now opponents know that they can’t leave him [Kovacic] alone, otherwise he will score a goal."

Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer in his postseason debut, Teoscar Hernández’s two-run single gave Los Angeles its first lead in a playoff game in two years, and the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 7-5 in their NL Division Series opener Saturday.

Manny Machado's two-run homer off Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, also making his first playoff appearance, put Los Angeles in an early 3-0 hole.

Ohtani quickly bailed out the Dodgers with his two-out homer that tied it 3-all in the second inning. The Japanese superstar went deep with fans chanting “MVP! MVP!” His shot travelled 372 feet to right field, the sellout crowd of 53,028 recording it all on their phones.

San Diego went ahead 5-3 before the Dodgers rallied with three runs in the fourth.

Tommy Edman scored on a wild pitch by reliever Adrian Morejon, who took the loss. Ohtani had a broken-bat single and later scored, along with Mookie Betts, on Hernández’s single off Jeremiah Estrada that put the Dodgers ahead 6-5.

It was their first lead in a postseason game since the seventh inning of Game 4 against the Padres in the 2022 NLDS. Los Angeles was swept by Arizona in a Division Series last year.

Trailing 7-5, the Padres had the potential tying runs on base with two outs in the ninth. Fernando Tatis Jr. singled off Blake Treinen before Jurickson Profar walked to bring up Machado, who struck out swinging.

Mets rally again for another win

Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo sparked another comeback in New York’s electric run through the National League playoffs, helping the Mets score five runs in the eighth inning against a pair of All-Star relievers as they rallied for a 6-2-win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of their Division Series.

Phillies ace Zack Wheeler struck out nine and limited the Mets to just one hit over the first seven innings but was lifted after a startling 30 swings-and-misses over 111 pitches.

New York then pounced on Philadelphia relievers Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm in the eighth.

In true Mets fashion this October, the Mets had to rally, not just on the scoreboard, but on a gut-check in each at-bat.

Francisco Alvarez hit a leadoff single against Hoffman before three straight batters reached base after facing 0-2 counts. Francisco Lindor worked a walk from his 0-2 count and Vientos followed with a tying single. Nimmo laced a go-ahead single off Strahm past a drawn-in infield for the 2-1 lead.

After Pete Alonso lofted a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead, Jose Iglesias singled and J.D. Martinez greeted Orion Kerkering with an RBI single. Starling Marte’s sacrifice fly capped the uprising.

The Mets have scored 18 runs in the eighth and ninth innings over six games since Monday. New York joined the 1980 Phillies and 1999 Mets as the only teams to win consecutive playoff games after trailing in the eighth inning or later.

Verdugo lifts Yankees over Royals

Alex Verdugo hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning and saved at least one run with a sliding catch along the left-field line, boosting the New York Yankees to a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals in their AL Division Series opener.

New York’s Gleyber Torres and Kansas City’s MJ Melendez hit two-run homers in a back-and-forth game in which the Royals wasted leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 5-4 and the Yankees failed to hold 2-1 and 4-3 margins.

Kansas City pitchers tied its season high with eight walks, forcing in a pair of runs in the fifth inning. The Yankees were just 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position before Verdugo lined a single off loser Michael Lorenzen to make it 6-5.

Verdugo’s hit scored Jazz Chisholm Jr., who singled leading off and stole second on a play allowed to stand following a video review. Yankees manager Aaron Boone started Verdugo in left over rookie Jasson Domínguez in a defense-influenced decision. Verdugo entered the game in a 2-for-34 skid at the plate.

With the Yankees trailing 3-2, Verdugo made a sliding catch on Michael Massey’s fourth-inning fly just inside the line to strand two runners. The ball hit Verdugo’s right wrist just below his glove and bounced off his chest before he grabbed it with his bare left hand.

Four Yankees relievers combined to allow only an unearned run over four innings after ace Gerrit Cole allowed four runs in five-plus innings. Clay Holmes, dropped from his closer’s job last month, worked 1 2/3 innings for the win. Luke Weaver got four straight outs with three strikeouts for the save in his postseason debut.

Yankees star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, and Royals standout Bobby Witt Jr. was 0 for 5, barking at plate umpire Adam Hamari after a called third strike in the ninth.

Guardians strike quick, blank Tigers

Lane Thomas highlighted a five-run first inning with a three-run homer and the Cleveland Guardians unleashed their lights-out bullpen to complete a four-hitter in a 7-0 win over the Tigers in an AL Division Series opener.

Thomas' shot - on his first career postseason swing – off reliever Reese Olson helped the Guardians cool off the Tigers, who stormed into the playoffs with a second-half surge before sweeping AL West champion Houston in the wild-card round.

Tanner Bibee pitched 4 2/3 innings before Guardians manager Stephen Vogt swung the door open to baseball's best bullpen to finish off the Tigers.

Cleveland's relievers combined for 4 1/3 hitless innings to finish and match the largest shutout victory margin in club postseason history. Detroit struck out 13 times and didn't get a runner past first in the final four innings.

The shutout was the worst in Detroit playoff history since Game 1 of the 1945 World Series.

Cleveland's bullpen was as advertised. Rookie Cade Smith replaced Bibee and struck out all four batters. Tim Herrin fanned two in the seventh, Hunter Gaddis pitched the eighth, and Emmanuel Clase, who led the AL with 47 saves, worked the ninth.

David Fry added a two-run double for the AL Central champion Guardians, who were unaffected by not playing for almost a week with a first-round bye.

Marcus Thuram plundered a hat-trick to propel Inter to a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino in Saturday's Serie A clash.

The victory places Inter second in the league standings with 14 points, two behind leaders Napoli.

Visiting defender Guillermo Maripan was given a straight red card after 20 minutes for a late challenge on Thuram.

Inter swiftly made their numerical advantage count, with Thuram heading in from close range five minutes after the sending-off.

Thuram doubled Inter's lead in the 35th minute with another header from close range. However, Torino pulled one back a minute later, with Duvan Zapata taking advantage of a defensive error to finish from inside the box.

Thuram completed his hat-trick on the hour mark, being in the right place to tap in a rebound after Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had saved a header.

Torino forward Nikola Vlasic converted a penalty four minutes from time after Hakan Calhanoglu had tripped Adam Masina in the area to tee up a grandstand finish.

However, the visitors were unable to mount a final push to find an equaliser.

Data Debrief: Three-goal Thuram does Torino damage

Thuram scored his second hat-trick while playing in the top five European Leagues (in all competitions), after his previous one for Borussia Monchengladbach against Oberachern in the German DFB-Pokal in 2022.

In doing so, he became only the third Inter player to score a hat-trick against Torino in Serie A, after Roberto Boninsegna in March 1974 and Edwin Ronald Firmani in December 1958.

Jordan Pickford said he fancied Anthony Gordon would switch up his penalty routine after scoring his last two spot-kicks for Newcastle United.

Gordon was a livewire for Newcastle against Everton on Saturday, though the England international ultimately fluffed his lines in the biggest moment of the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park.

With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Gordon failed to beat his former club-mate Pickford from 12 yards after James Tarkowski had fouled Sandro Tonali.

The Goodison faithful were in a buoyant mood after seeing Gordon, who left Everton for Newcastle in 2023, squander his big chance, though the Toffees could not craft an opening at the other end, albeit Dominic Calvert-Lewin was perhaps unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty of his own.

Nevertheless, Everton held firm to make it three Premier League games unbeaten and secure their first clean sheet of the campaign.

Pickford and Gordon spoke on the pitch at full-time, and the England goalkeeper told Sky Sports: "He asked me why I went that way. I just said both his penalties before had gone right, so I fancied him going to the left, which he did.

"I back myself on pens, it’s the first one I’ve saved for Everton in a while."

It marked Pickford's sixth penalty save from 33 spot-kicks faced in the league during his time at Everton, and his first stop since a crucial one from James Maddison against Leicester City in May 2023.

Newcastle, meanwhile, have had two of their last three Premier League penalties saved (one goal), having scored 23 of their previous 24 spot kicks in the competition.

Asked if it helped going up against a player he knows well in Gordon, Pickford said: "I watched the game [against Man City] and he reversed it against Ederson, and he went the same way the game before so I just fancied him going goalkeeper's left.

"It hit me off my knee, straight off my beak [nose]. I don't think Ant executed it to perfection, he'll be disappointed, but I’m there to make the save and that’s what I’ve done.

"It's like trying to double-bluff each other – I've got the better of him, it’s a big moment and managed to get us a draw. Now we move forward."

Eddie Howe, meanwhile, said his team took "big steps forward" despite not getting the three points.

"I have to credit the players because it is a difficult environment to play in and it is a much better defensive display from us too. Big steps forward," Howe told BBC Sport.

"We stood up to the physical test and were technically very good. We are trying to break barriers and have an outstanding season. I think we are capable of more and we have some tough fixtures to come.

"Anthony handled the occasion very well. I think his all-round game was very good. He will be disappointed with the penalty. But credit to Pickford for the save."

This was just Newcastle’s third clean sheet in their last 32 Premier League away games – they had recorded three consecutive shutouts on the road before this run.

Since the start of last season, meanwhile, only Arsenal (21) and Liverpool (15) have kept more Premier League clean sheets than Everton (14).