Nick Kyrgios has announced via social media that he will not be featuring at this year's Laver Cup in London.

The Australian has played in all the previous four editions of the tournament, but has stated he will instead spend time with his family rather than represent Team World at the O2 Arena.

Wimbledon runner-up Kyrgios has not played a singles match since his defeat to Novak Djokovic in the final in SW19 on July 10.

He has been involved in doubles action, however, winning the doubles title at the Atlanta Open with playing partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Kyrgios' absence will be a big blow for Team World in London next month, which is due to be captained by John McEnroe.

In an Instagram story, Kyrgios said: "No Laver Cup for me this year!!! Just letting you all know. Gotta have that home time with my family and beautiful girlfriend."

Australian Oscar Piastri has refuted an announcement from Alpine that he will race for them in Formula One next season.

The stunning move came on Tuesday as Alpine reserve driver Piastri shot down the team's assertion he would be taking the seat of Aston Martin-bound Fernando Alonso.

Piastri, last year's Formula 2 champion, has been linked with Williams and McLaren recently, but Alpine have been determined to keep him.

However, the 21-year-old said in a statement posted on Twitter: "I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year.

"This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year."

Team principal Otmar Szafnauer has claimed Piastri does have "a legal contract" for next year with the Renault-owned marque, seemingly putting him in direct conflict with the young driver.

The disagreement will need to be resolved, with Szafnauer having told motorsport.com "I'm not privy to whatever pre-arrangements he has with McLaren, if any at all."

He added: "Oscar and his camp are considering their options, whatever that means."

This situation has been brought into the spotlight amid Alpine's need to find a replacement for Alonso, who has agreed to succeed retiring former four-time champion Sebastian Vettel with Aston Martin.

The drama comes as Formula One enters its short mid-season break.

German great Vettel will retire from Formula One at the end of the season, with Szafnauer indicating he was expecting Alonso to commit to a new Alpine contract until news came through of Aston Martin's move for the Spanish veteran, who won the 2005 and 2006 world titles.

In Alpine's now-contradicted statement about the appointment of Piastri, Szafnauer described the youngster as "a bright and rare talent".

He added: "Through our collaboration over the past four years, we have seen him develop and mature into a driver who is more than capable of taking the step up to Formula One."

The San Diego Padres have won the Juan Soto sweepstakes, agreeing to a deal to acquire the superstar outfielder, as well as first baseman Josh Bell, from the Washington Nationals in a blockbuster trade on Tuesday.

The Nationals are set to acquire left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore and shortstop C.J. Abrams, as well as three prospects, though first baseman Eric Hosmer – who was initially expected to be included in the deal – exercised his no-trade clause, which included Washington.

When the trade does become official, Soto will go from the team with the worst record in the National League to one in possession of the league's second wild-card spot.

A two-time All-Star and World Series champion, the 23-year-old Soto is considered one of the best young players in baseball with 119 career home runs, 108 doubles, 358 RBIs, 399 runs and 464 walks in his first 565 games.

In the live-ball era, the only other players with 100+ homers, 100+ doubles, 350+ RBIs, 350+ runs and 450+ walks in the first 565 games are Hall of Famers Frank Thomas and Ted Williams. As a 21-year-old in 2020, Soto became the youngest player in NL history to win a batting title with a .351 average.

The trade comes just over two weeks after Soto turned down a 15-year, $440million extension from the Nationals, prompting Washington to seek a trade even though Soto remains under team control for two more seasons after this one.

Days after Soto rejected the extension, he went on to win the Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium over the All-Star break.

Soto homered in his final at-bat with the Nationals on Monday – his 21st of the season – and has been swinging a hot bat lately, compiling a .324/.515/.662 slash line with seven homers, 14 RBIs, 19 runs and 28 walks in 25 games since the start of July. In that span, his 1.177 OPS ranks third in baseball, among qualifying hitters.

Soto and Bell, who is batting .301 with 14 home runs and 57 RBIs in 103 games, now join a San Diego lineup that is led by six-time All-Star Manny Machado. The team is also hopeful of getting Fernando Tatis Jr. back in the coming weeks as it tries to make a run for the franchise's first World Series title.

Soto was instrumental to the Nationals' 2019 World Series championship, batting .333 with three home runs, two doubles, seven RBIs and six runs against the Houston Astros in the Fall Classic.

As part of the trade, Washington receives outfielder Robert Hassell III – the No. 1 prospect in the Padres' system – outfielder James Wood (No. 3) and right-handed pitcher Jarlin Susana (No. 14), in addition to Gore and Abrams.

Chelsea have agreed a deal reportedly in the region of £15million with Aston Villa for England Under-19s midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka.

Villa have allowed the 18-year-old to travel to London in order to discuss personal terms before undergoing a medical. 

He featured 12 times for Villa in the Premier League last season, with 10 of those appearances coming off the bench.

Austrian-born Chukwuemeka played a key role for England as they won the 2022 European Under-19 Championship at the start of last month, scoring three times in five games, including an extra-time goal in the 3-1 final win over Israel.

Chukwuemeka now makes the move to Stamford Bridge, where he will look to earn minutes in a midfield that already features the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho and World Cup winner N'Golo Kante.

Chelsea are also close to the signing of Chicago Fire goalkeeper Gaga Slonina.

Fire coach Ezra Hendrickson said at the weekend there was "something very close to happening", although the 18-year-old keeper is set to return to MLS on loan until January.

Brighton and Hove Albion left-back Marc Cucurella – a prominent target for Manchester City – is also reportedly in line for a move to Thomas Tuchel's side.

The NFL has penalised the Miami Dolphins, taking away two of their draft picks while also suspending and fining owner Stephen Ross after an investigation found that the team violated the league's anti-tampering policy.

The league's Competition Committee announced on Tuesday that the Dolphins had impermissible communication with Tom Brady during the end of his time with the New England Patriots in 2019 and 2020, as well as in 2021 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and also broke NFL rules in communicating with Sean Payton in January.

Miami tried to lure both Brady and Payton to the team but did not go through the proper channels, according to league findings.

As a part of the committee's ruling, the Dolphins will lose a first-round draft pick in 2023 and a third-round selection the following year.

Ross has been suspended through October 17, barring him from the Dolphins' facility and all NFL events, and has also been handed a $1.5million fine.

The NFL also concluded that the Dolphins "did not intentionally lose games during the 2019 season", despite claims from former coach Brian Flores.

The Dolphins released a statement from Ross on Tuesday, saying: "The independent investigation cleared our organisation on any issues related to tanking and all of Brian Flores' other allegations. As I had said all along, these allegations were false, malicious and defamatory, and this issue is now put to rest.

"With regard to tampering, I strongly disagree with the conclusions and the punishment. However, I will accept the outcome because the most important thing is that there be no distractions for our team as we begin an exciting and winning season. I will not allow anything to get in the way of that."

The Dolphins' vice chairman/limited partner Bruce Beal has also been fined $500,000 and has been suspended from all league meetings for the rest of the 2022 season.

South Africa will not risk any complacency when they face Ireland in this week's two-match T20I series, Aiden Markram has promised.

The Proteas are in the midst of their all-formats tour of England, and after beating Jos Buttler's team in a three-match T20I series, they face an Ireland side that is still winless in a T20I series under new coach Heinrich Malan, who goes up against his home nation.

Ireland came close to famous wins against both India and New Zealand, but they have lost their last six T20Is, which is tied for their longest losing run in the format, while they have already suffered defeat in eight T20Is in total this year.

South Africa played Ireland in 2021, drawing an ODI series but comfortably winning the three T20Is.

Markram, however, is not taking anything for granted ahead of Wednesday's opener in Bristol, as South Africa look to gear up for this year's World Cup, with the Proteas only playing India in the shortest format in between this series and heading to Australia.

"It will definitely be a new, exciting challenge for us," he told reporters. "We played them quite recently in Ireland and we saw exactly what they could do.

"They are improving series by series, we saw them against India, and they are a team you can't take for granted."

South Africa do not go into this with their first-choice squad, with injuries to captain Temba Bavuma and paceman Kagiso Rabada.

Markram though is among the players eager to stake a claim ahead of the World Cup.

"The communication has been really good from coach, management team and captain," said Markram, who has been the top scorer for South Africa in eight T20Is since the beginning of 2020.

"It makes it easier to understand why they are [rotating players]. Building up to World Cups you want to pick your best squad and it's important to give guys fair opportunities before you select the team."

Tector tipped to flourish

Harry Tector is likely to be key for Ireland. He is reportedly drawing interest for Cricket South Africa's new T20 league, meaning he has a real chance to impress any would-be suitors, having scored 384 runs across 14 ODIs at an average of 76.40 this year, and 249 in nine T20Is.

Tector said: "We've shown that when we stand up to these teams, we are capable of going blow-for-blow with them, and it feels that way within the group. The belief is there that we can beat these big teams, and not get nervous about any team we play."

Catching practice required

Since the beginning of 2021, no team has dropped more catches in men's T20Is than South Africa (40), who have managed a catch success rate of 79 per cent during this period

Quinton de Kock does not buck that trend, as since the start of 2020, he has dropped more catches than any other wicketkeeper. 

The Denver Broncos have announced that seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has joined the team's ownership group.

The Broncos released a statement on Tuesday from Rob Walton on behalf of the Walton-Penner family ownership group, saying: "We're delighted to welcome seven-time Formula One world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton to our ownership group.

"He is a champion competitor who knows what it takes to lead a winning team and a fierce advocate for global equality, including in his own sport.

"With over 100 race wins, Lewis is considered the most successful F1 driver of all time. His resilient spirit and standard of excellence will be an asset to the ownership group and the Broncos organisation."

Hamilton's 103 race victories are the most in F1 history, and his seven titles are tied with Michael Schumacher for the most all-time. He is winless so far this season and sits in sixth place in the drivers' standings.

He wrote on his Twitter page: "Excited to join an incredible group of owners and become a part of the @Broncos story!!

"Honoured to work with a world class team and serve as an example of the value of more diverse leadership across all sports."

Russell Wilson, the Broncos' new quarterback for the 2022 season, wrote: "Congrats @LewisHamilton. Winning is a Habit! #LetsRide"

An agreement was reached in June for the sale of the Broncos in a deal worth $4.65billion, a record for an American sports franchise. NFL owners are expected to approve the sale this month.

Ownership of the Broncos will be transferred to the Walton-Penner family ownership group, headed by Walmart heir Rob Walton.

It sets a new benchmark for the price of professional sports franchises in the United States by over $2billion, topping the purchase of the New York Mets ($2.4billion) by hedge fund manager Steve Cohen in 2020.

Arsenal legend David Seaman believes missing out on qualifying for the Champions League could be a blessing in disguise.

Despite a poor start to last season, Mikel Arteta's side looked to be heading to qualification for Europe's top competition after an impressive run that left them fourth with three games to play, four points ahead of then fifth-placed Tottenham.

However, after losing two of those final three matches, including a 3-0 thumping away at Spurs, they were pipped to fourth place by their north London rivals.

Seaman has spoken on the heartbreaking end to their season, telling Stats Perform: "The worst part about it is that Tottenham took it off us.

"Because it's Tottenham, and what went on last season, we were bottom of the league (at the end of August 2021), they were top, it went to an international break, so they were top for two weeks we were bottom. That made it worse (laughing).

"Then the fact that they've taken the Champions League spot. But you don't keep focusing on the negatives, you've got to be positive about it.

"You've got to keep learning you've got to get better. And that's exactly what we're doing."

The Gunners have been active in the transfer market ahead of the new season, bringing in the duo of striker Gabriel Jesus and the versatile Oleksandr Zinchenko from Premier League champions Manchester City.

Attacking midfielder Fabio Vieira also arrived from Porto in a deal worth an initial £30million (€35m) with a further £4.2m (€5m) in add-ons, while forward Eddie Nketiah signed a new contract after scoring five goals in Arsenal's last seven league games.

And Seaman spoke of his belief that despite the disappointment of missing out on Champions League qualification, the Europa League may be a more attainable trophy anyway.

"It was an improvement. We finished eighth twice," he said. "A lot of people just go to the negative straight away, saying we threw the Champions League away. 

"But even when we were in the top four positions, we were like, 'Whoa, we are overachieving here.' The fact that we finished fifth, and now in the Europa League is still a really good positive.

"I think, for me, we're more equipped to win the Europa League than we are the Champions League. We've got a more realistic chance of winning that. So it's all about being positive and progressing.

"And that's what's happening. We're getting better and better. The young players are getting experience and it all just leads to a good future for Arsenal."

Should you want proof that golf is a game for life, played in different venues and for all ages, digest what was going on in various corners of the world 15 summers ago.

In the Dallas area, an 11-year-old named Scott Scheffler was crushing the competition on the North Texas PGA Junior Tour. There were victories at Shady Valley, The Links at Water Chase, Lantana GC, and by eight strokes over Vince Whaley at Twin Creeks GC.

Down in Bayou country, another 11-year-old named Sam Burns was shooting 84 in the annual Shreveport (Louisiana) City Amateur. He finished top five.

In Scotland, an 18-year-old mop-haired kid from Northern Ireland, Rory McIlroy, was low amateur in the Open Championship at Carnoustie. Rounds of 68-76-73-72 served notice that this kid might be pretty good.

With rounds of 72-70, a 14-year-old from Kentucky named Justin Thomas finished second in his age group, third overall, at the Evian Masters Junior Cup in France. One perk for winning was that he got to play alongside Juli Inkster in a pro-am before the Evian Masters.

And on the other side of the world, in Hawaii, a 15-year-old Japanese player named Hideki Matsuyama dominated his match against Henry Park, 6 and 5, to help the visitors post a 24.5 to 19.5 win in the Hawaii/Japan Junior Cup.

Those were the stages, of course, played in the shadows. On the stage that mattered, a guy much older, the 31-year-old Tiger Woods, was collecting a fourth US PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ho-hum as that might have been, given it was his 14th major, what surely resonated was Woods' achievement at the end of that summer. With an overwhelming performance in the inaugural FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour, Woods earned a cool $10million.

What stands out about that 2007 Tour Championship that nailed down the first FedEx Cup were the suffocating numbers. Woods won the season finale by eight strokes, it was his 61st career win and seventh of the season, and he finished the Tour Championship at 23-under 257.

"It has been a phenomenal week," Woods said, then very much at his understated best. He had, after all, also pocketed a cheque for $1.26million for winning the Tour Championship.

"I enjoyed being on a scoring streak, hitting good shot after good shot, and I felt very comfortable with my game. It felt good."

That was then and this is now, and what feels remarkable is how quickly time has passed and how surreal it is to know this: just 15 years after they were playing golf on mostly unheralded stages as kids, the 26-year-old Scheffler (he's Scottie now, unlike in 2007), Burns, 26; McIlroy, 33; Thomas, 29; and Matsuyama, 30, were numbers 1-2-3-4-5 in the FedEx Cup standings when the calendar flipped to July.

The flip side of Woods now being 46 is the fact the game is getting younger and, oh, how the current FedEx Cup standings reflect that. After Scheffler, Burns, McIlroy, Thomas, and Matsuyama, we have Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith, Xander Schauffele, Will Zalatoris, and Max Homa.

Average age of those 10 players: 28.5.

That is more than four years younger than the average age in 2007, the first FedEx Cup when seven of the top 10 were 31 or older. This time around, eight of the current top 10 are 30 or younger.

But if this youth parade has many marchers, the warmest spotlight must be shining on the leader, the same kid who 15 years ago was dominating the competition on the North Texas Junior PGA.

All Scheffler has done in this, his third full season on the PGA Tour, is win four times and roar into the penthouse of the Official World Golf Rankings.

Not bad, this number one designation. But some might argue that Burns is number 1A, because all he has done is win three times before, and if you go back to the middle of the 2020-21 season, Burns secured victories in four of his last 29 tournaments.

The screeching noise you heard is the arrival of the Scheffler-Burns express; they are two young men who are great friends and as if to punctuate their new-found grip on the PGA Tour, they had an exclamation point of a Sunday back in May.

Locked in a play-off at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Burns poured in a long-range birdie on the first extra hole to beat his Texas friend.

Even Scheffler flashed a wide smile that day, nodding his approval to Burns, knowing there will be many more opportunities to return the favour. Perhaps even as soon as the upcoming FedEx Cup play-offs. These are the dates that matter: August 11-14 at the FedEx St Jude Classic in Memphis; August 18-21 at the BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware; and August 25-28 at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.

They are tournaments that showcase the best of the elite, and whereas you might have understandably expected them to put Scheffler in awe as a 24-year-old rookie in August of 2020, it didn't work out that way. In his second round in the play-offs, Scheffler shot 59 at TPC Boston.

He didn't win that week, but a tie for fourth set in motion a nice play-off run – tied 20th at the BMW, fifth at the Tour Championship. The three who finished immediately ahead of him in the FedEx Cup standings in 2020 – Schauffele, Thomas and Jon Rahm – are key contenders for the 2021-22 FedEx Cup as a dynamic era of young and talented performers continues into the 16th edition of this season-long race.

It is amazing, the furious speed with which these kids have progressed from junior golf to the spotlight of a FedEx Cup. Then again, perhaps there are those who saw this coming. Joel Edwards, for instance.

A veteran PGA Tour performer, Edwards was in the twilight of his career when he used to practise at Royal Oaks at Dallas where Scheffler was the brightest of a stable of talented junior players.

Precocious and supremely talented, Scheffler would challenge Edwards and another PGA Tour veteran, Harrison Frazar, to random contests. Frazar confirms he lost sleeves of golf balls to a fourth-grader; Edwards concedes that "he cost me a fortune; I used to carry a bunch of quarters because I knew I'd get my butt beat [in a bid to hit practice-range poles with wedge shots]."

And if there was one thing that stood out about Scheffler back then, even beyond his uncanny golf skills, it was his appearance.

"He always wore pants. He looked like a Tour player at 10," said Edwards.

And at 11, while mowing down the local competition, perhaps Scheffler knew this brand-new FedEx Cup was someday going to be in his future.

England have recalled Ollie Robinson for their upcoming Test series against South Africa.

Robinson has dealt with a series of ailments since last playing for the Test team in the Ashes in January.

The seamer was beset by back spasms at the start of the English summer and later contracted coronavirus, also dealing with dental issues.

Now, though, Robinson will return to a group transformed by the leadership of new coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.

Robinson was reportedly set to play only for the Lions team, before an injury to Jamie Overton created a space in the main team.

He is part of a 14-man group, which also includes Matthew Potts, a beneficiary of Robinson's absence earlier in the year.

Although Potts keeps his place, Sam Billings has made way with Ben Foakes' return from COVID-19.

England will play three Tests against South Africa, although this initial squad was confirmed only for the two August matches.

England Test squad to play South Africa:

Ben Stokes (Durham, captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Jack Leach (Somerset), Alex Lees (Durham), Craig Overton (Somerset), Matthew Potts (Durham), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire).