In a game with NBA talent on both sides, Giannis Antetokounmpo willed Greece to a 89-85 win against Croatia in Friday's Eurobasket action.
Antetokounmpo was the game's equal top-scorer with 27 points, shooting nine-of-24 from the field and nine-of-11 from the free throw line while adding 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
He was supported well by teammate Tyler Dorsey, who was incredibly efficient for his 27 points, finishing nine-of-17 from the field, including going five-of-nine from beyond the arc, and he added five rebounds and two steals.
For Croatia, Utah Jazz wing Bojan Bogdanovic eight-of-15 from the field to score 19 points with seven rebounds, Los Angeles Clippers centre Ivica Zubac had 11 points and five rebounds with two blocks, and former top-five NBA Draft pick Mario Hezonja chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.
Also on Friday, reigning back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic put up 22 points, six rebounds and four assists to help Serbia comfortably handle the Netherlands 100-76.
He dominated the outing along with Euroleague star Vasilje Micic, who posted 22 points and 12 assists.
In a terrific contest, recent Washington Wizards lottery pick Deni Avdija led his team to a 89-87 win over Cleveland Cavaliers forward Lauri Markkanen's Finland.
Avdija had 23 points and 15 rebounds, while Markkanen top-scored with 33 points and 12 rebounds, aided by a 14-of-15 performance at the free throw line.
Barbados 400m World Championship bronze medallist Sada Williams was admittedly disappointed with her performance at the Brussels Diamond League on Friday.
Williams finished runner-up well behind the Dominica Republic’s Fiordaliza Cofil in a time of 50.15. Cofil took the top spot with a personal best 49.80. Having dipped below the 50-second mark for the last two races, the result was a little surprising for the sprinter who believes she lost some power down the final stretch.
“I feel a little bit disappointed it wasn´t what I´m capable of. I was not able to speed up in the final stretch. It was good to run here it was hotter than I expected. Right now, I will review the race and see where I can improve. On to the next race,” Williams said after the race.
Belgium’s Cynthia Bolingo was third in a national record 50.19. Jamaica’s Candice McLeod was further back in fifth place after clocking 50.76. With 32 points from 6 races, however, Williams still leads the 400m standing for this season's Diamond League.
Big new signings hit the ground running in the first round of LIV Golf Boston, but after 18 holes at The International Golf Club it is Matthew Wolff and Talor Gooch tied for the lead at seven under.
While Gooch got to his 63 in a traditional fashion, posting eight birdies and one bogey, Wolff had far more ups and downs, making up for his three bogeys with six birdies, an eagle and a hole-in-one – the first ace in LIV Golf history.
One stroke behind the leaders are new arrivals Cameron Smith and Joaquin Neimann, after both played in last week's PGA Tour Championship.
Smith had five birdies and two eagles, showing off his firepower, but a double-bogey on the par-four 14th hole cost him a chance at the first-round lead.
After his round, Smith called it "great fun" and said "it was nice to see a familiar face" about his pairing with Dustin Johnson.
The rest of the field is at least two further strokes back, with Kevin Na, Bernd Wiesberger, Louis Oosthuizen, Paul Casey and Anirban Lahiri occupying the tie for fifth at four under.
The logjam at three under includes Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez, who along with Gooch and Patrick Reed (one under) have their Four Aces GC sitting second in the team standings. They trail only Hy Flyers GC, consisting of Wolff, Wiesberger, Cameron Tringale (one over) and Phil Mickelson (four over, 45th out of 48).
Bryson DeChambeau and Carlos Ortiz are at one under, and the Koepka brothers – Brooks and Chase – shot even-par 70s.
Coco Gauff admitted it would be a "lifelong dream" to face Serena Williams at the US Open, in what is likely to be the latter's final tournament of a glittering career.
Gauff reached the second week at Flushing Meadows in the women's singles for the first time after cruising to a 6-2-6-3 win over Madison Keys on Friday.
The number 12 seed saw off her fellow American in composed fashion to book her place in the last 16, exceeding her previous best result at the US Open in 2019.
Gauff was largely in control against the number 20 seed Keys to deliver near-flawless performance, chasing a second grand slam final of the year after finishing as runner-up at the French Open to Iga Swiatek.
She will face China's Zhang Shuai in the next round, but when asked if she will watch Williams' match against Ajla Tomljanovic later in the day during her on-court interview, Gauff said she would, adding: "It's been amazing watching Serena's matches so far. I don't know when I'd be due to face her but that's the goal.
"It's been a lifelong dream of mine to do that. Five years ago yesterday I was watching Venus and Serena play here. It's crazy to be on this court now.
"I tried to flex to my friends that I had courtside seats, now I'm on the court!"
Should both remain in the tournament, Gauff and Williams would face each other in the semi-finals.
Gauff also paid tribute to Keys, and to the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, saying: "[The win] means a lot to me... I missed my alarm and was so late. I was here until 9pm last night and lost a doubles match [with Jessica Pegula].
"Kudos to my team, they got me up for it.
"I wasn't sure how the crowd was going to go. We all love Madison... I'm good friends with her off the court, but having support here meant a lot."
Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte believes it is a "pity" that Harry Kane is yet to win a trophy in his career.
The England skipper has seen many personal records achieved and could equal another on Saturday against Fulham, where a goal would see him match the 42-goal tally of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry in London derbies.
Despite Kane's free-scoring form for club and country, the 29-year-old is yet to lift silverware.
For Spurs, Kane suffered defeat in the 2018-19 Champions League and lost two EFL Cup finals, while at international level he captained the England team that was beaten by Italy on penalties in the final of the European Championships at Wembley last year.
Conte expressed his disappointment for Kane in that regard, though added his side are pushing to change the narrative this season.
"The record underlines that you are doing something special and I think Harry in his career is doing something special in personal achievements," he said during Friday's press conference.
"It's a real pity that with so many goals... until now he didn't win [trophies].
"Usually when you score a lot of goals for your national team, for your club, you deserve a good win on your back.
"But we're trying to work and help him to get this target. You know very well for us that Harry is an important player and we're talking about a world-class striker, but I also see in Harry the desire to do something special.
"The win means you lift the trophy, you win Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup or Champions League, with the national team; the World Cup, European Championship. These are trophies that you have to lift and you're talking about a top player and I think he deserves this."
Tottenham's fine start to the season has built upon a strong finish to the end of the last campaign, which saw Conte's side pip north London rivals Arsenal to a top-four finish, with Spurs unbeaten in their last 11.
Andy Murray has admitted he is "surprised" to still be able to compete against top-level opponents given his injury history.
The 2012 US Open champion exited this year's competition following a third-round defeat to 13th seed Matteo Berrettini, though he did take the tie to four sets.
Having lost the first two sets, Murray fought back to win the tiebreaker in the third but his valiant attempts were ended by the Italian in the fourth, who sets up a round of 16 clash against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Despite the loss, Murray was pleased with his performance at the tournament and encouraged by his ability to still go toe-to-toe with the likes of Berrettini.
"I've got a metal hip. It's not easy playing with that. It's really difficult. I'm surprised I'm still able to compete with guys that are right up at the top of the game," he said after the match.
"Matches like this, you know, I'm really proud that I have worked myself into a position where I'm able to do that. I'm really disappointed that I didn't get over the line today.
"But I get reminded like 'this is the first time you've made the third round here since 2016'. It's been six years. It's been a difficult six years for me. It's been really hard.
"Although it's the first time I've only made the third round here, I'm really proud of that effort that I put in to get myself back into these positions. So, I'm hoping that in the future I can go further, but considering, I did all right."
Murray went on to explain how things feel differently for him on the court, identifying he cannot move in the same way Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic still can.
"A lot of the things feel the same, but obviously I'm just not quite capable of the sort of movement and physicality that I was five, six years ago. I mean, that's pretty obvious. You know, I shouldn't expect to be," he said.
"I think if you watch Rafa and Novak moving around the court now who are similar age, I think they're moving pretty similar to how they were five, six years ago, whereas for me there's obviously been a bit of a drop-off there.
"That can affect you in terms of how you have to play the points. Maybe you just don't track as many balls down as before. Maybe the reach isn't just quite as much as it was.
"But in terms of the shots and everything, there is nothing that is stopping me from hitting the same shots as I did before."
A board of university presidents voted unanimously on Friday to expand the College Football Playoff to 12 teams, possibly as early as the 2024 season.
An announcement on the College Football Playoff website stated the new format will begin in the 2026 campaign.
It was added, though, that the College Football Management Committee have been tasked with "assessing the possibility of beginning the expanded playoff in either the 2024 or 2025 regular season."
The Board of Managers – comprised of university presidents representing the 10 FBS conferences, plus Notre Dame – is hoping to implement expansion as soon as possible.
When Friday's meeting was announced, CBS Sports reported that universities had grown impatient with the commissioners' hesitancy to adopt a seemingly inevitable expansion and worried about missing revenue by keeping the playoff at four teams.
Media rights for a 12-team playoff could be worth double their current value, up to $1.2billion annually, CBS Sports also reported.
Friday's vote was the culmination of a process dating back to last June when the board of managers first heard a proposal for a 12-team playoff.
The confirmation on Friday laid out the new format, which will include "six conference champions ranked highest by the selection committee (no minimum ranking requirement), plus the six highest-ranked teams not included among the six highest-ranked conference champions."
It was also revealed the "four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and each will receive a first-round bye.
"The other eight teams will play in the first round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution."
President of Mississippi State and the chairman of the CFP Board of Managers, Mark Keenum, said: "This is an historic and exciting day for college football.
"More teams, more participation and more excitement are good for our fans, alumni, and student-athletes. I'm grateful to my colleagues on the board for their thoughtful approach to this issue and for their resolve to get expansion across the goal line and for the extensive work of the Management Committee that made this decision possible."
Among the crucial next steps include deciding who broadcasts the extra games.
While ESPN has television rights for the semi-final and championship games through 2026, first and second round games could be broadcast by multiple networks.
After her loss on Friday to Shericka Jackson in the 100m at the Allianz Memorial van Damme Diamond League meeting in Brussels, 2022 World 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is taking a wait-and-see approach as to whether she will compete at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich in four days’ time.
Fraser-Pryce, who complained of a tight hamstring prior to withdrawing from the 100m in Lausanne two weeks ago, ran 10.74 for second after she was edged at the line by Jackson who clocked a meet-record 10.73 for victory.
Afterwards, Fraser-Pryce, who admitted at the pre-race press conference on Thursday that she was not 100 per cent, said she did not suffer an injury during the race but was being cautious regarding her participation in Diamond League final next week.
“I feel okay about today´s race. It wasn´t anything spectacular but I felt good I do not have any injury so that is the most important part,” she said.
“I am not sure about Zurich I will have to wait and listen to my body but today was really amazing. I love running in Brussels.”
Meanwhile, Jackson was obviously pleased to be the only woman to defeat her imperious compatriot.
“It takes a lot of hard work to beat Shelley-Ann. She's a tough cookie to beat,” Jackson declared.
“So you need to keep working hard if you want to win. Tonight I had a good execution of my race, so I'm happy with that.”
Ons Jabeur has now made it to the second week in all four grand slams after her win over Shelby Rogers at the US Open.
Jabeur, the fifth seed at Flushing Meadows, had previously fallen short of making the second week in the season's final grand slam, having reached the third round in three successive years between 2019 and 2021.
But the Tunisian world number five ended that wait with a 4-6 6-4 6-3 defeat of American Rogers.
Jabeur reached the final at Wimbledon this year, her first appearance in a major showpiece match, but lost to Elena Rybakina.
She has made it to the fourth round of the grand slams six times, having managed quarter-final runs at Wimbledon (2021) and the Australian Open (2020).
Another US Open fourth-round debutant awaits Jabeur in the form of Veronika Kudermetova, who despatched Dalma Galfi 6-2 6-0.
Kudermetova's victory took just 46 minutes, making it the shortest match of the tournament.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn ran a new meet record to win the 100m hurdles at the Allianz Memorial van Damme Diamond League meeting in Brussels on Friday.
Armando Broja has signed a new six-year deal with Chelsea, securing his future after a wealth of reported interest in the transfer window.
The 20-year-old caught the eye during a loan spell with Southampton last season, scoring six times in the Premier League, with Everton and West Ham reportedly keen on a similar deal in the recently closed window.
However, Broja remained with Thomas Tuchel's side, having featured off the bench three times in the opening five games of the Premier League season.
The signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona on Thursday led to queries on whether Broja would continue to earn first-team opportunities, but Chelsea have shown a strong commitment to the Albania international, with chairman Todd Boehly stating he is a "big part of our plans moving forward."
Broja said: "I'm lost for words really just thinking about it. It's the club I've dreamed of playing for my whole life, the club that I support and the club that I love.
"I've been here since I was a boy so it's a surreal feeling for me and my family."
Aubameyang is likely to compete with Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz to lead Chelsea's attack, but with Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner having both left Stamford Bridge, Broja should have plenty of chances to prove his worth in a congested season due to the upcoming Qatar World Cup.
Shericka Jackson ran a meet record to hand Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce her first defeat over 100m this season at the Allianz Memorial van Damme Diamond League meeting in Brussels on Friday.
Jackson, 28, the 2022 200m world champion ran 10.73 to edge Fraser-Pryce at the line. The 2022 100m world champion clocked 10.74 for second place.
Marie Josee Ta Lou from the Ivory Coast was third in 10.78.
Aleia Hobbs of the United States, who ran 10.81 to beat Jackson in Lausanne, two weeks ago, clocked 10.91 for fourth.
American Sha’carri Richardson who ran 11.29 to defeat Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah in Luzern, Switzerland on Tuesday was fifth in 10.93.
Boston Celtics forward Danilo Gallinari could miss most or all of the upcoming NBA season, according to reports, after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last week.
Gallinari was injured playing for Italy in a FIBA World Cup qualifying game against Georgia on Saturday. The Italian national team later announced the veteran sharpshooter sustained a torn meniscus, without providing further details.
ESPN reported on Friday that Gallinari was hopeful of returning late in the 2022-23 season. Typical recovery time for an ACL tear is anywhere from six to 12 months.
The Celtics confirmed on Twitter on Friday: "Danilo Gallinari has been diagnosed with a torn ACL in his left knee. Gallinari sustained the injury while playing for his home nation of Italy in a FIBA World Cup qualifier against Georgia on August 27. Further updates will be provided as appropriate."
Gallinari previously tore the ACL in the same knee while playing for the Denver Nuggets late in the 2012-13 season. That injury required an additional surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2013-14 campaign.
The 34-year-old signed a two-year, $13.3million contract with Boston in July, just days after being waived by San Antonio. Gallinari was acquired by the Spurs from Atlanta on June 30 as part of the trade that sent All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray to the Hawks.
Gallinari, who averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 66 games with the Hawks last season, was being counted on to provide bench scoring for a Celtics team coming off an appearance in the NBA Finals.
He also took to Twitter on Friday to post a statement, saying: "This has been a tough week for me as I have learned the extent of my injury. This game means everything to me and not being able to be on the court with my Celtics teammates hurts.
"I plan to give everything I can to the Celtics organisation and my teammates as we hunt for a title. I will work tirelessly with the Celtics staff to return to the court as soon as I can and I appreciate the unwavering support from the fans, my teammates, and the entire NBA family."
The 13-year veteran is one of only six players to average at least 15 points per game and shoot 40 per cent or better from three-point range over the last four seasons (min. 100 games), along with 2022 All-Stars Stephen Curry and Karl Anthony-Towns, Kyrie Irving, T.J. Warren and Bojan Bogdanovic.
Remco Evenepoel kept his Vuelta a Espana lead firmly intact despite Primoz Roglic's efforts, as Mads Pedersen sprinted to victory on Friday.
Evenepoel had suffered a fall on Thursday but kept safely in the peloton in stage 13 to ensure history hunting Roglic – who crossed over the line in ninth on the uphill finish in Montilla – did not make a dent into his general classification lead.
A bunch sprint for the line was won by Pedersen, who recorded the first Vuelta stage win of his career, following on from a maiden individual success at the Tour de France earlier this year.
Pedersen, who already held the green points jersey, had to react sharply to an attack from Pascal Ackermann in the last 500 metres, but the Dane had too much power and had time to celebrate as he crossed.
Along with Kaden Groves and Bryan Coquard, Pedersen had previously reeled in a three-man breakaway of Julius van den Berg, Ander Okamika and Joan Bou.
Coquard had enough to overtake Ackermann, who just about held onto third place ahead of Fred Wright.
"It's super nice," Trek-Segafredo rider Pedersen told reporters after ensuring a Dane has won at least one stage at La Vuelta for four consecutive editions of the Grand Tour.
"We came here for a stage win and now we have won. We'll keep fighting to get one more.
"It's nice with a comfortable lead in the points jersey. We keep fighting for the stages and we'll see how it goes."
Evenepoel, meanwhile, has now held the red jersey for eight successive stages, the longest such streak for a Belgian at La Vuelta since Ferdi Van den Haute in 1978 (10 stages).
COVID not stopping Ayuso
A raft of positive COVID-19 cases have disrupted this year's race, but one rider who is able to carry on is Juan Ayuso.
The UAE Team Emirates youngster - who sits an impressive fifth returned a positive test result ahead of Friday's stage, and team doctor Adrian Rotunno confirmed the 19-year-old is fine to continue.
"As per our internal protocols Juan Ayuso was tested for COVID-19 and returned a positive result this morning. He is asymptomatic and analysing his PCR found he had a very low risk of infectivity, similar to cases such as we saw at this year's Tour de France," Rotunno confirmed to the media.
STAGE RESULT
1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 3:46:01
2. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) same time
3. Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) same time
4. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) same time
5. Danny van Poppel (BORA-Hansgrohe) same time
CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS
General Classification
1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 48:11:10
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +2:41
3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +3:03
Points Classification
1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 247
2. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) 96
3. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) 96
King of the Mountains
1. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 40
2. Robert Stannard (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 21
3. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) 20
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