Aryna Sabalenka quipped the drinks would be on her to get the Flushing Meadows crowd onside for her US Open semi-final against Emma Navarro.

Home favourite Navarro will go up against a player in form in the last four, after last year's runner-up Sabalenka put on a show of force against Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng in the quarters.

Sabalenka claimed a statement 6-1 6-2 victory on Tuesday, in what was a rematch of this year's Australian Open final, which the Belarusian also won.

There was little let up for Zheng, as Sabalenka conceded fewer than five games against a WTA top-10 opponent for only the third time in her career, after wins over Coco Gauff in Indian Wells and Maria Sakkari at the WTA Finals last year.

Though Sabalenka knows that American Navarro, who followed up her win over defending champion Gauff by beating Paula Badosa, will have the crowd on her side.

"OK guys, drinks on me - and please give me some support in the next match," she laughed.

"She [Navarro] is a really good player. We had two battles, they were really close."

Sabalenka had more than just nerves to deal with against Zheng, given the great Roger Federer was watching on from the stands,

"I saw him there, saw him on the big screen," Sabalenka said regarding Federer, a five-time US Open champion.

"I was like, OK, I have to play my best tennis so he enjoys it. I have to show my skills, you know, slice skills, come to the net and all that stuff."

Data Debrief: Four on the spin for Sabalenka

Sabalenka has now reached four successive US Open semi-finals, as she takes her tally of last four appearances at grand slams to nine.

At the age of 26, she is the youngest woman to reach four straight semi-finals at Flushing Meadows since 2002.

She is the also first player to reach the women's singles semis at both the Australian Open and US Open in back-to-back years since Serena Williams (2015-16).

Kyle Schwarber’s third home run of the game was a go-ahead, three-run shot in the ninth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied from a five-run deficit for a 10-9 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

Schwarber hit his 12th leadoff homer of the season and went deep again in the fourth before his blast with no outs in the ninth on the ninth pitch he saw from Chad Green, a 96 mph fastball. Right fielder George Springer barely moved in reaction to Schwarber's 426-foot line drive that reached the second deck for his 31st homer of the season.

Schwarber became the first Phillies player to have two three-homer games in a season and has three such games in his career. He finished 5 for 6 with six RBIs and came within a triple of the cycle, adding a double in the third and an RBI single in the seventh.

Vladimir Guerrero went 4 for 5 with a two-run homer for Toronto, which led 6-1 after one and knocked Phillies starter Tyler Phillips out of the game after two-thirds of an inning. Phillips gave up six runs on eight hits, including two-run homers by Daulton Varsho and Addison Barger.

Matt Strahm, the seventh Phillies pitcher, gave up Leo Jiménez's homer in the ninth but closed it out for his second save.

NL East-leading Philadelphia matched a season high with 18 hits and won its third straight.

Green blew a save for the second straight game after doing so on Sunday at Minnesota. He converted 16 consecutive save opportunities to begin the season.

 

Peterson powers streaking Mets        

David Peterson struck out a career-high 11 on his 29th birthday and was backed by home runs from Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos and Pete Alonso as the New York Mets won their sixth straight, 7-2 over the slumping Boston Red Sox.

Peterson won his fourth straight decision, allowing one run and six hits – all singles - with one walk.

Early in the game, he threw a career-best 16 consecutive strikes as the first four innings zipped by in 59 minutes. New York improved to 14-3 in Peterson's starts since he made his season debut May 29 after recovering from hip surgery.

Lindor launched his 30th homer in the third inning and added an RBI double to spark a four-run eighth, drawing another chorus of “MVP! MVP!” chants from the Citi Field crowd. New York, which has won 13 of 18, remained a half-game behind Atlanta for the final NL wild card.

Vientos greeted Justin Slaten with a leadoff homer in the seventh after Lindor's blast was the lone Mets hit off starter Kutter Crawford, who fanned eight in six innings.

Nick Sogard had an RBI single for the Red Sox, who have dropped four in a row and five of six. They totalled five runs in those defeats.

 

Sale wins 16th, hits milestone

Chris Sale tied for the major league lead with his 16th win and reached 200 strikeouts for the first time since 2019 to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Sale (16-3) earned his sixth straight win and has gone 15 straight starts allowing no more than three earned runs.

He gave up six hits and fanned nine to push his season total to 206, his most since he had 219 with the Red Sox before a series of injuries derailed his career. He became the first left-hander in Braves franchise history to post 200 strikeouts.

Sale tied Detroit’s Tarik Skubal for the major league lead in wins.

Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 29th save in 31 chances, extending his scoreless streak to 22 1/3 innings.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish was left scratching his head by the lack of interest in midfielder Eberechi Eze during the transfer window. 

Eze, who joined Crystal Palace from Queens Park Rangers in 2020, has attracted plenty of interest for his performances with the Eagles over the years.

The 26-year-old got his tally up and running for the new Premier League season on Sunday, netting the equaliser in Palace's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. 

Last season, Eze completed more dribbles (69) and created more chances (54) than anyone else in the Eagles squad, also scoring 11 goals in 27 league appearances. 

But another one of Palace's top performers, Michael Olise, secured a move to Bayern Munich in a £50million switch, with Parish relieved they were able to keep at least one of their prized assets for the start of the current campaign.

"I was really worried from a club point of view of losing Michael and Ebbs in the same window," Parish told Sky Sports News.

"We didn't have in Ebbs the interest that I thought we would have.

"I was astounded. Genuinely astounded. I mean, the guy's just an outstanding footballer, an outstanding person."

Palace did have plenty of interest in defender Marc Guehi and rejected multiple bids from Newcastle, the latest of which reached £65m.

Guehi impressed for England at Euro 2024 in the absence of Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, starting every game on their way to the final. 

Parish was expecting Guehi to leave Selhurst Park during the transfer window, but with Joachim Andersen returning to Fulham on a permanent transfer and an injury to new arrival Chadi Riad, forced him to alter his plans.

"I don't think the window worked out exactly the same format that we thought it would," Parish added.

"Maybe we thought at the beginning it'd be more likely that Marc Guehi went and we kept Joachim Andersen.

"We accepted that bid [for Andersen] which then made it very difficult really to sell both of our starting centre-backs in one window."

The Magpies' attempts to sign Guehi rolled on for most of the window, with the Eagles standing firm on their valuation having earned sizeable fees for Olise and Andersen.

Parish was able to welcome eight new faces to Selhurst Park, including the permanent arrival of Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah and the loan transfer for Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah on the final day of the window. 

But the Eagles chairman is all too aware that he will not be able to hold on to Guehi, and his other star players, for too long amid the financial powers from the clubs in the division and across Europe.

"We're proud of the fact that Michael Olise's gone to Bayern Munich," said Parish.

"We want to be selling to the top clubs, or to clubs like Newcastle who've got great aspirations and have recently been in the Champions League.

"So we have to manage all of those things. We won't get really great young talent to come to us if they think they're going to be stuck."

"We want to be playing in the Champions League. The reality is we don't right now.

"That's what players want to achieve in their career and we respect that and we respect the fact that sometimes we're going to be a pathway to that."

Home hopeful Taylor Fritz reached his first ever grand slam semi-final at the US Open, beating world number four Alexander Zverev in four sets at Flushing Meadows. 

Fritz, who had lost his previous four grand slam quarter-finals, came through tie-breaks in the first and fourth set to emerge a 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victor.

Both players traded blows in the opening set, with Fritz squandering the opportunity to take the opener in the 12th game after missing three set points, only to go on and win the tie-break. 

Zverev continued to match his American opponent stride for stride, but struck the decisive blow in the second set with a break point in the eighth game to level the encounter.

But backed by a raucous crowd inside the Flushing Meadows, Fritz raced into a 3-0 lead in the third and despite Zverev finding a break of his own, he was unable to stop the world number 12 going within touching distance of victory. 

With the atmosphere intensifying, a second tie-break of the game would decide whether the ecnounter went the distance, with Zverev pulling the final ball wide to claim a famous win for Fritz at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Fritz could play fellow American Frances Tiafoe for a place in a first grand slam final, with Tiafoe squaring off against Grigor Dimitrov in Tuesday's night session.

Data Debrief: Fritz hits the heights

Defeating Zverev at the age of 26y 310d, Fritz has become the oldest American in the Open Era to reach their maiden men's singles SF at the US Open.

It was the 12th-seeded Fritz's fourth win over an ATP top-10 player in a major this season, the most by an American man in one year since Andre Agassi had five in 1999.

Home hopeful Taylor Fritz reached his first ever grand slam semi-final at the US Open, beating world number four Alexander Zverev in four sets at Flushing Meadows. 

Fritz, who had lost his previous four grand slam quarter-finals, came through tie-breaks in the first and fourth set to emerge a 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victor.

Both players traded blows in the opening set, with Fritz squandering the opportunity to take the opener in the 12th game after missing three set points, only to go on and win the tie-break. 

Zverev continued to match his American opponent stride for stride, but struck the decisive blow in the second set with a break point in the eighth game to level the encounter.

But backed by a raucous crowd inside Flushing Meadows, Fritz raced into a 3-0 lead in the third and despite Zverev finding a break of his own, he was unable to stop the world number 12 going within touching distance of victory. 

With the atmosphere intensifying, a second tie-break of the game would decide whether the encounter went the distance, with Zverev pulling the final ball wide to claim a famous win for Fritz at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Fritz could play fellow American Frances Tiafoe for a place in a first grand slam final, with Tiafoe squaring off against Grigor Dimitrov in Tuesday's night session.

Data Debrief: Fritz hits the heights

Defeating Zverev at the age of 26y 310d, Fritz has become the oldest American in the Open Era to reach their maiden men's singles SF at the US Open.

It was the 12th-seeded Fritz's fourth win over an ATP top-10 player in a major this season, the most by an American man in one year since Andre Agassi had five in 1999.

Home hopeful Taylor Fritz reached his first ever grand slam semi-final at the US Open, beating world number four Alexander Zverev in four sets at Flushing Meadows. 

Fritz, who had lost his previous four grand slam quarter-finals, came through tie-breaks in the first and fourth set to emerge a 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victor.

Both players traded blows in the opening set, with Fritz squandering the opportunity to take the opener in the 12th game after missing three set points, only to go on and win the tie-break. 

Zverev continued to match his American opponent stride for stride, but struck the decisive blow in the second set with a break point in the eighth game to level the encounter.

But backed by a raucous crowd inside Flushing Meadows, Fritz raced into a 3-0 lead in the third and despite Zverev finding a break of his own, he was unable to stop the world number 12 going within touching distance of victory. 

With the atmosphere intensifying, a second tie-break of the game would decide whether the encounter went the distance, with Zverev pulling the final ball wide to claim a famous win for Fritz at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Fritz could play fellow American Frances Tiafoe for a place in a first grand slam final, with Tiafoe squaring off against Grigor Dimitrov in Tuesday's night session.

Data Debrief: Fritz hits the heights

Defeating Zverev at the age of 26y 310d, Fritz has become the oldest American in the Open Era to reach their maiden men's singles SF at the US Open.

It was the 12th-seeded Fritz's fourth win over an ATP top-10 player in a major this season, the most by an American man in one year since Andre Agassi had five in 1999.

Emma Navarro is ready for the challenge of either Aryna Sabalenka or Zheng Qinwen as she bids for US Open glory at Flushing Meadows. 

Navarro, who had never made it past the first round in her previous appearances at New York, put on an impressive display to win in straight sets against Paula Badosa.

The American found herself 5-1 down in the second set, only to win the next six games in a row to reach her maiden grand slam semi-final. 

She also became the second American player since 2000 to make their first grand slam women's singles semi-final at the US Open, after Jennifer Brady did so in 2020. 

But waiting in the next round is last year's runner-up, Sabalenka, or the recently crowned Olympic champion Zheng, a challenge Navarro is not shying away from.

"I've played both of them a couple of times,” said Navarro. “They are great players, I think we will have a great battle. But I'll be up for the challenge of either of them.

"Both big servers, big hitters and I think they will come aggressively at me whichever one it is - but yeah I'll be ready."

Navarro had only won one match at the main stage of a grand slam before this year, but has got better and better throughout her breakout year of 2024.

She reached the third round of the Australian Open, the last 16 at the French Open, the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and now the semi-finals of her home slam.

"After I got it back to 5-2, I had a bit of an inkling that it might be two sets," added Navarro.

"I just wanted to stay really tough and stick in there and even if I did lose the second set, I wanted to set the tone for the third set.

"Just really happy with my performance today. Crazy to be moving on to the semi-finals. US Open baby."

Emma Navarro is ready for the challenge of either Aryna Sabalenka or Zheng Qinwen as she bids for US Open glory at Flushing Meadows. 

Navarro, who had never made it past the first round in her previous appearances at New York, put on an impressive display to win in straight sets against Paula Badosa.

The American found herself 5-1 down in the second set, only to win the next six games in a row to reach her maiden grand slam semi-final. 

She also became the second American player since 2000 to make their first grand slam women's singles semi-final at the US Open, after Jennifer Brady did so in 2020. 

But waiting in the next round is last year's runner-up, Sabalenka, or the recently crowned Olympic champion Zheng, a challenge Navarro is not shying away from.

"I've played both of them a couple of times,” said Navarro. “They are great players, I think we will have a great battle. But I'll be up for the challenge of either of them.

"Both big servers, big hitters and I think they will come aggressively at me whichever one it is - but yeah I'll be ready."

Navarro had only won one match at the main stage of a grand slam before this year, but has got better and better throughout her breakout year of 2024.

She reached the third round of the Australian Open, the last 16 at the French Open, the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and now the semi-finals of her home slam.

"After I got it back to 5-2, I had a bit of an inkling that it might be two sets," added Navarro.

"I just wanted to stay really tough and stick in there and even if I did lose the second set, I wanted to set the tone for the third set.

"Just really happy with my performance today. Crazy to be moving on to the semi-finals. US Open baby."

Fernando Alonso insisted that Aston Martin are "doing something really wrong" after missing out on the top 10 at Monza despite Kevin Magnussen's penalty. 

Alonso, who ended up outside the points for only the sixth time this season at the Italian Grand Prix, finished less than two tenths of a second behind the Dane's Haas. 

Magnussen was handed a 10-second penalty after a collision with Alpine's Pierre Gasly, with the Spaniard and Williams' Alex Albon chasing hard to get within that margin.

However, Alonso's two-stop strategy saw him playing catch up after being jumped by the one-stopping Albon, with the 28-year-old finishing the race in ninth. 

Alonso has scored in the past two races, while Aston Martin look assured of fifth in the constructors’ standings this season, being 40 points ahead of RB.

But Alonso couldn’t hide his frustration after the race at battling with cars lower down the field, having been fighting at the top end of the grid only 12 months ago.

“I hope we understand things that we are doing wrong, as definitely we are doing something really wrong and we get better for Baku,” Alonso said.

Alonso's team-mate, Lance Stroll, propped up the field after taking a third pit stop in an optimistic bid to deny anyone in the top 10 the fastest lap bonus point.

But their attention will now turn to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and should both Aston Martin's drivers score at least 14 points in Baku, they will become the 14th team to reach the 500-point mark in the history of Formula 1 (currently 486), also equalling Toro Rosso's record (500). 

After Aston Martin's recent struggles, both Alonso and Stroll have hope that the team can entice former Red Bull designer Adrian Newey to the team after emerging as one of the front runners to claim his signature in recent weeks.

Manuel Ugarte insists he relishing the opportunity to take on the great responsibility that comes with playing for Manchester United. 

Ugarte, who completed his £50.5million move from Paris Saint-Germain last week, was officially unveiled to supporters ahead of their 3-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. 

The Uruguayan became Erik ten Hag's fifth and final signing of the transfer window, with it expected he will be in United's midfield after the international break. 

He won 57 of his 98 tackles in Ligue 1 last season, more than any other player in the PSG squad, while also completing 1212 of his 1325 attempted passes, providing the Red Devils head coach a more mobile alternative to Casemiro in midfield.

Ugarte was also a part of Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay side that finished third at the Copa America, starting all six of their games at the tournament.

And the 23-year-old revealed that Facundo Pellistri, who completed a move to Panathinaikos last month, played a huge role in his decision to join the Red Devils. 

“First and foremost, its history, because we all know what a massive club United is - one of the best teams in the world,” said Ugarte.

“I also spoke a lot with Facu Pellistri, and he told me all about everything. The atmosphere that's generated, the matchday atmosphere at Old Trafford is incredible.

“So yes, I'm really excited. I'd love to experience United's legendary stadium as a player and feel the presence of the supporters.”

Ugarte also sought the views of Bruno Fernandes and Lisandro Martinez, two pillars of this current United side.

“I've watched a few games since the news started to come out,” Ugarte said. “I've also spoken with one or two players - Bruno and Licha - and I have chatted quite a lot.

“So yes, I'm really thrilled and, more than anything, eager and excited, while I obviously realise that it's a great responsibility, and I'm prepared for that.”

While Sunday’s match against Liverpool may not have gone to plan, Ugarte was able to sample the famous Old Trafford atmosphere for the first time.

During his time with PSG and Sporting CP, he has experienced playing away at Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur. 

“I'm really excited. I've never seen anything like it before, these United fans, because, since the news first came out, they've been sending me messages.

England have confirmed that Chelsea attacker Cole Palmer has withdrawn from their squad for the Three Lions' upcoming Nations League fixtures. 

Palmer, along with Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins, were named in interim head coach Lee Carsley's first Three Lions squad but have since returned to their clubs. 

Manchester City's Phil Foden will also play no part in their matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland after not reporting with illness. 

It serves as a significant blow for Carsley in his audition for the England role on a full-time basis, with Palmer a player the 50-year-old knows well from his time in charge of the Under-21's. 

Palmer was part of Carsley's European Under-21 Championship winning side last year, netting once in their semi-final victory over Israel. 

Of those included in the recent Nations League squad, only Anthony Gordon (14), Morgan Gibbs-White (15), Angel Gomes (16) and Noni Maudeke (19) have made more appearances under Carsley than Palmer (13). 

Palmer has continued on from his sensational return last season into this, notching one goal and four assists in three Premier League games so far this season. 

He has also created 11 chances this season, a total only bettered by Dwight McNeil (13) and Andreas Pereira (14) in the top flight so far. 

From September 6 to September 8, Jamaica’s top table tennis players will descend upon the National Indoor Sports Center in Kingston for the 2024 Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) National Senior and Junior Table Tennis Championships.

In what promises to be an unforgettable weekend of table tennis excitement, players will be competing in categories ranging from Under-9 Girls and Boys all the way up to the Men’s and Women’s Open categories.

“This will be the largest participation in over 20 years,” according to JTTA President Ingrid Graham.

She also noted that this will be the largest number of participants ever in both the Men’s Open and Under-19 sections.

These championships will also see Jamaican citizens overseas coming to the island to compete for the top spot in their respective categories.

“We have over 10 Jamaican citizens living in London, Canada and the USA coming over to participate,” Graham said.

Sponsors for the championships include OSIL, Western Sports, Graham International Consulting, SDF, JOA, Insport, Virginia Deer, Mother’s, Altamont Court Hotel, Auto Channel, Jamaica Post and GEWO Jamaica.

Doors open at 9:00 am Jamaica Time each day.

Scotland all-rounder Michael Leask is confident they can claim a historic series win over Australia in their three T20Is in Edinburgh.

Scotland have never beaten Australia in any format, though they came close to a stunning upset in the group stage of the T20 World Cup in June, eventually losing out by five wickets.

The Scots also looked set to upset at-the-time reigning champions England in the tournament, only to be denied the chance by torrential rain as the match was abandoned.

Given a rare opportunity to face one of cricket's powerhouses outside global events, Leask is keen to prove that Scotland have what it takes to go up against the big teams.

"It's lovely to have Australia on our home patch, especially for three games," Leask told BBC Scotland.

"It's an exciting opportunity for our guys, given what happened at the World Cup and how close we came.

"We've got a very exciting squad that’s ready for the challenge - it is going to be a challenge - they are some of the best in the world for a reason, but they are on our home patch.

"We're targeting a series win and that would be the icing on the cake of what has been a very good summer."

Meanwhile, despite being firm favourites to win the series, Australia captain Mitchell Marsh is not going to take anything for granted against Scotland.

Marsh is leading a new-look Australia side, with Matthew Wade and the now-retired David Warner unable to be called on.

Despite their strong record against Scotland, he believes they will be in for a tough test at The Grange.

"Scotland were well drilled [at the World Cup], certainly up for the challenge, and it was a great game of cricket," Marsh said. "I'm sure there will be more of that over the next few days.

"It's spoken about it a lot, but Scotland are a good cricket team, and they have improved a lot.

"The more cricket that teams like Scotland can play against the bigger nations, the better it is for the world game.

"It's our responsibility as players to keep growing the game, so I certainly hope they get more opportunities over the next period of time."

The first of the three T20Is will take place on Wednesday.

Sergio Perez insists Max Verstappen is now "in the same boat" as himself after Red Bull's recent struggles continued at the Italian Grand Prix. 

Perez, who finished in eighth at Monza last Sunday, complained about the balance of the RB20 along with his team-mate, who ended the race in sixth and 37 seconds behind eventual winner Charles Leclerc. 

The Mexican also found tyre wear higher than expected and failed to make a two-stop strategy work in his favour and is now without a podium since the Chinese Grand Prix.

Perez has also gone 10 consecutive Grand Prix's without finishing in the top five of the standings, the same number of times as in his previous 41 races in Formula 1.

He has struggled with his car numerous times this season, but now his difficulties have been matched by his team-mate and three-time world champion. 

“I really feel like I’m in the same boat as I’ve been in for the last eight, 10 races but now all of a sudden Max has come into similar issues so yeah," Perez said.

"There is a little bit of a confusion there but it is clear in the data where the problem is. 

“I am very confident the team here at track and back at home have the solution, we have produced great cars in the past and there is no reason why we cannot get back on track.

“We have no questions now, we know the problem. Given it is all related to balance, if we can find a fix then we can switch it around but for now, it’s head down until we find the answer."

The good news for Perez is that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is next up on the race calendar, a track he won at last season and in 2021.

Perez is also the driver who has scored the most points at Baku (100), with only a Lewis Hamilton victory and fastest lap being enough to overtake the Mexican if he fails to score points this time around (75 points for Hamilton).

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.