Juan Martin del Potro was reduced to tears in what he expects to be his final tennis match as the former US Open champion bowed out of the Argentina Open.
The 33-year-old Argentinian lost 6-1 6-3 to fellow Argentinian Federico Delbonis in Buenos Aires, having come back from four rounds of knee surgery to get back on court.
He saved seven of 12 break points in a determined effort against Delbonis, but Del Potro, who had been on the injured list since June 2019, was in no shape to compete for victory over his compatriot.
One of the most popular players on the tour, who might have achieved many more great things had wrist and knee trouble not played him over the last decade, Del Potro bid an emotional farewell.
The moment got to Del Potro as he prepared to serve at 5-3 down in the second set. His emotions spilled out, with a towel failing to mask his tears as a passionate crowd rallied behind him, chanting: "Ole, ole, ole, ole, Delpo, Delpo."
A fan carried a flag bearing the message: "The Tower of Tandil keeps fighting. Thank you." Tandil is Del Potro's home city.
After the match, Del Potro said: "The truth is that this is a moment I never wanted to come. Health leads me to have to make a decision: I made too much effort in these two and a half years.
"Sometimes I can lose. I do not have the strength that everyone believes. I think I fulfilled all the dreams in tennis and the most difficult thing to achieve, which is the affection of the people.
"I feel like I've given it all. This is a day I never wanted to come, but I'm going to remember it for the rest of my life."
He was relieved to be leaving on his own terms, saying: "Now I am calm because my last match was possibly on the court and not in a press conference. I will always remember this."
Del Potro, whose US Open triumph came when he beat Roger Federer in a sensational 2009 final, has accepted a wildcard to the upcoming Rio Open, but he signalled he is unlikely to now take that up.
"Yes, I was planning to go to Rio," he said, quoted by La Nacion. "But... I think I already gave everything until the last point."
Del Potro was an Olympic silver medallist in 2016, beaten in the Rio final by Andy Murray, and later in the same year he helped Argentina win the Davis Cup.
It was fitting that Delbonis, who won the decisive rubber against Croatia after Del Potro was victorious in both his singles matches, was the man on the other side of the net on Tuesday. He and Del Potro shared a long, affectionate hug at the net at the end of the match.
Del Potro's mother, Patricia, was among those in the crowd. The ATP said it was the first time she had attended one of his matches. She was pictured embracing her son off court after the match ended.
Other matches happened in Buenos Aires on Tuesday too, a highlight being Brazilian Thiago Monteiro's 6-3 6-3 win over seventh seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
At the Dallas Open, first-round winners included Jack Sock, Jordan Thompson and Liam Broady.
Australia's three-match T20I series against New Zealand has been cancelled, it has emerged.
Cricket Australia (CA) said the planned fixtures in March had been shelved "due to New Zealand's border controls and quarantine requirements".
The three matches were due to be played in Napier, on March 17, 18 and 20.
Yet the travel restrictions between the two countries, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, mean Australia would not be able to make the trip.
In a statement on its website, CA said: "The three-match series, scheduled for March 17-20 at McLean Park in Napier, was initially arranged with the New Zealand government's plan to relax restrictions at the trans-Tasman border in mind.
"However, with those plans now substantially delayed, the decision was made to abandon the series."
CA chief executive Nick Hockley added: "We thank NZ Cricket for making every effort to host the series, but unfortunately it wasn't possible given the border restrictions and quarantine requirements."
The teams are due to clash in the short format later in the year at the T20 World Cup. The October 22 match at the SCG in Sydney will be the opening game for both sides in that tournament.
Inter forward Alexis Sanchez served up a reminder of his talent before expressing frustration at a lack of opportunities under Simone Inzaghi this season.
Sanchez produced an inspired performance as the Nerazzurri responded to their derby defeat by Milan with a 2-0 win over Roma, advancing to the Coppa Italia semi-finals.
After Edin Dzeko opened the scoring at San Siro, Chile international Sanchez sealed victory with a ferocious 25-yard effort midway through the second half.
The former Barcelona, Manchester United and Arsenal forward also registered game-high tallies of 13 crosses and five key passes.
Sanchez was making his 23rd appearance of the season in all competitions, but only his sixth start.
While acknowledging the team must come first, he spoke of his frustration at mainly having to settle for cameos.
He said: "I always want to play. The more I play, the better I feel. I want to do the best for the team, it's difficult to play five or 10 minutes and do well."
Looking at Inter's current circumstances, Sanchez told Sport Mediaset: “We know that we played better than Milan in the derby, but we shouldn't have made those mistakes.
"We're staying calm as we're still top [of Serie A] and we want to continue down our path."
Meanwhile, Inzaghi expressed delight at his players' response to their disappointing weekend defeat at the hands of Milan.
The Inter head coach said: "The boys were very good, it was not an easy match. Roma are a quality team, with an excellent squad. We controlled the pitch very well and deserved [to reach] this semi-final.
"I congratulated the boys because to play a match with such strong personality two and a half days after the setback in the derby wasn't easy."
The only sour note for the hosts was an ankle injury sustained by defender Alessandro Bastoni during the first half.
Inzaghi hopes that any spell on the sidelines for the Italy international will be minimal.
"I hope it is nothing serious," Inzaghi said. "The doctors will do the necessary checks, we hope not to lose him for too long because he is really too important to us."
West Ham boss David Moyes has defended his decision to start Kurt Zouma in the victory over Watford on Tuesday.
A disturbing video surfaced on Monday showing the defender kicking a cat across the kitchen floor at his home, while also slapping it while in a child's arms.
Obtained by The Sun, the footage was filmed by Zouma's brother Yoan, who can be heard laughing, and posted on Snapchat.
The France international released a statement earlier on Tuesday saying he was "deeply sorry", while the incident was condemned by the club, RSPCA and other animal welfare groups.
Zouma nevertheless started the Hammers' showdown with Watford at the London Stadium, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 win that lifted Moyes' team up to fourth in the Premier League.
While Moyes acknowledged the widespread disappointment and backlash to what he described as "a poor situation", he insisted the matter is being dealt with internally.
"I am really disappointed, and the club have taken all the actions that they can do at the moment," he told reporters in his post-match press conference.
"They are working on that behind the scenes. My job is to pick the best team for West Ham and Kurt was part of that team.
"I think the club would rather deal with it all in time, and they will let you know what the action is.
"I was really disappointed with what I saw and what I was told. But as I've said, it was my job to find the best team for West Ham. There will be people who will be disappointed at that and I understand that totally.
"I am someone who cares a lot about my dogs and horses and all the people I am connected with. I have spoken to him, and we will move on as much as we can.
"We wanted to get this game out of the way, and we understand nobody will be pleased about it. It is a poor situation."
Ralf Rangnick was frustrated by a "very, very soft" decision leading to Manchester United having a goal ruled out in their 1-1 draw against Burnley on Tuesday.
United appeared to have gone 2-0 up when Josh Brownhill turned Marcus Rashford's cross into his own net, but a foul was belatedly given for Paul Pogba's challenge on Erik Pieters in the build-up.
Pogba had given the Red Devils the lead in the 18th minute with his first Premier League goal in 384 days after Raphael Varane had one disallowed for an offside against Harry Maguire.
Nick Pope kept Burnley in it for the rest of the first half and following Jay Rodriguez's equaliser two minutes after the restart, United were unable to test the hosts' keeper again.
Rangnick felt the game ought to have been over by half-time and that his team were hindered significantly by the own goal being chalked off.
"I think we played a fantastic first half, couldn't have played any better. We scored three goals, the second that was disallowed I cannot understand," Rangnick told the BBC.
"It was a very, very soft decision by the linesman. He flagged the foul five or six seconds after it took place.
"It really surprised me he flagged when the ball was in the net. Had he really seen the foul? The first I can understand why it was disallowed, it was a hard one, but the second I cannot understand.
"If you look into the whole game, we dominated for most of it. Winning one point is not enough and another frustrating game."
Only Premier League leaders Manchester City (11) are on a longer unbeaten away run in the top flight than United, who have avoided defeat in each of their past six outings. However, Rangnick's side have won just two of those matches.
Rodriguez's goal came with Burnley's first shot on target of the game and that frustrated United captain Harry Maguire, who allowed Wout Weghorst to turn and slide his strike partner in with an excellent assist.
"I think you saw the first half. We had control. We have got to win the game with the amount of chances we created. We had to get that second goal. It's two points dropped," Maguire told BT Sport.
"We wanted to dominate the game but when you come to Burnley away you are not going to dominate for 90 minutes. We had to see it out better. We conceded like against Middlesbrough [in the FA Cup on Friday] when they had that spell of pressure. We have got to be that bit more clinical.
"It was a disappointing goal on our behalf to concede. We came out in the second half a bit sloppy. We had long enough in the game to come back from that and try and find the winner.
"We demand of ourselves to win the football match, so it is disappointing."
Bradley Beal will sit out the remainder of the NBA season to undergo wrist surgery.
Washington Wizards guard Beal, who can become a free agent at the end of the season, has sat out the past four games and will not return after deciding to go under the knife to repair a torn scapholunate ligament of his left wrist.
"Despite the last 10 days of getting intensive treatment and rehab on my wrist, it became clear that I would not be able to compete to my standards or to the level that our team and our fans deserve," said Beal.
"I'm disappointed to have my season end this way, but we all agreed that this was the best decision. I look forward to coming back at 100 per cent and continuing to lead this team as we work together to build toward the future."
The All-Star is eligible for a five-year $245million extension with the Wizards in the close season. He also has a $36.4m player option for next term.
Beal had been heavily linked to a trade before Thursday's deadline, but that now appears unlikely.
He was rumoured to be a target for Philadelphia 76ers as they continue to look to offload Ben Simmons, while the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks had also been touted as potential trade candidates.
Beal was averaging 23.2 points, 6.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds.
Antonio Conte is pleasantly surprised to see Christian Eriksen back in the Premier League, and the Tottenham boss admits he would love to work with the midfielder again.
Eriksen has not played since suffering a cardiac arrest during Denmark's match against Finland at Euro 2020 in June, but he has signed a short-term deal with Brentford.
Due to the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device surgically implanted within his chest in the wake of the incident, Eriksen was ineligible for professional football in Italy, meaning he had to leave Inter, who he had played for since joining from Tottenham in January 2020.
Indeed, Eriksen played under Conte at Inter, helping the Nerazzurri end their long wait for a Serie A title last season.
He is now set to make his comeback. After training with his former club Ajax, Eriksen joined up with Brentford at the end of the January transfer window.
Though Conte said Spurs had not discussed the possibility of bringing Eriksen back to north London, the Italian did not rule out a possible reunion in the future, explaining he met the midfielder by chance in a hotel on Sunday.
"No, honestly we didn't talk about [re-signing him]. I am surprised about this situation," Conte told a news conference ahead of Wednesday's clash with Southampton.
"I thought he needed more time to come back, to play in England. For Tottenham, he is part of the story and to come back here could be a good opportunity for me and him and the club.
"But now he's signed for Brentford only for six months, we will see what happens. I met him on Sunday, it was good to speak with him and see him with his family, and I will be the first person to be very happy to see him on the pitch again.
"We spent a good time at Inter, we won the league and spent important seasons together. Wish him the best in the future. You don't know what will happen. It would be good to have him again and work together."
Eriksen signed for Spurs in 2013, shortly before Gareth Bale's departure to Real Madrid.
He went on to make 226 Premier League appearances, creating 571 goalscoring opportunities – far more than any other Spurs player from September 14, 2013, when Eriksen made his debut, to January 28, 2020, when he left for Inter. Dele Alli, who has now left for Everton, ranked second with 218.
Of those opportunities, 73 were classed as big chances (a chance from which Opta would expect the average player to score), another team-high, as was his tally of 62 assists.
Indeed, only Harry Kane (136) boasted more league goals for Spurs in the same timeframe than Eriksen's 51, eight of which came directly from free-kicks.
Alexis Sanchez's wonderful strike helped Inter reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals with a 2-0 victory over Roma.
Edin Dzeko opened the scoring against his old club with a neat volley inside the first two minutes at San Siro.
Then, Sanchez doubled the advantage midway through the second half with a magnificent effort from 25 yards.
It was enough to give Simone Inzaghi's side a fourth victory in five meetings with their opponents at this stage of the competition.
The third-highest scorer in Roma’s history behind Francesco Totti (307) and Roberto Pruzzo (138), Dzeko scored 119 goals in 260 appearances for the Giallorossi in all competitions between 2015 and 2021.
The Bosnia international came back to haunt his old club after just two minutes, volleying home brilliantly from Ivan Perisic's inviting cross.
Inter went close to doubling their lead as Nicolo Barella rattled the crossbar from distance, while Dzeko and Milan Skriniar saw headers saved by Rui Patricio.
At the other end, Samir Handanovic sprung into action with superb reflexes to deny Nicolo Zaniolo from the visitors' first attack.
The hosts lost Alessandro Bastoni to injury just before half-time. Along with Inzaghi and Lautaro Martinez, the defender faced disciplinary action earlier in the day for his conduct during the derby defeat by Milan at the weekend.
On returning to his former club, Jose Mourinho and his Roma side threatened to find an equaliser after the break.
Jordan Veretout's long-range effort was not too far off target, while Handanovic did brilliantly to scramble across and tip Sergio Oliveira's deflected strike over the bar.
But Inter doubled their advantage and sealed the tie in emphatic fashion in the 68th minute, with Sanchez unleashing a rasping drive into the top left corner.
Manchester United slipped out of the Premier League's top four after being held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley at Turf Moor on Tuesday.
An immediate recovery from their shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Middlesbrough appeared to be on the cards for United when Paul Pogba rifled home early on.
The Red Devils were kept at bay for the rest of the first half by the officiating and the exploits of Nick Pope, setting the stage for Jay Rodriguez's equaliser.
United were unable to find a winner in the closing stages, meaning they fell to fifth with West Ham replacing them in the Champions League qualification places.
After Raphael Varane saw what would have been his first United goal disallowed for Harry Maguire straying offside, Pogba fired Luke Shaw's cutback into the top-right corner to give the visitors the lead in the 18th minute.
Ralf Rangnick's side thought they had a second when Josh Brownhill put Marcus Rashford's delivery into his own net, but Pogba was deemed to have fouled Erik Pieters in the build-up.
Burnley would have been out of the game by half-time had it not been for Nick Pope, who brilliantly denied Edinson Cavani and Rashford.
Rodriguez made the most of Pope's good work two minutes after the restart by slotting home Burnley's first shot on target.
Wout Weghorst set up the equaliser and saw an ambitious 25-yard effort parried by David de Gea, while Maxwel Cornet hobbled off for Burnley.
Cristiano Ronaldo came on from the bench but was unable to inspire United, who failed to register a single shot on target in the second half as bottom side Burnley held on for a valuable point.
Domantas Sabonis is reportedly being sent to the Sacramento Kings by the Indiana Pacers, who will acquire Tyrese Haliburton as part of a six-player trade.
According to ESPN, the Pacers will also receive guard Buddy Hield and center Tristan Thompson in exchange for two-time All-Star Sabonis. Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday and a 2027 second-round pick will head to the Kings.
It is expected that Indiana's decision to part with Sabonis reduces the chances of Myles Turner departing before Thursday's trade deadline, given he can now play a bigger role at center.
Sabonis is averaging 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in 2021-22. Only Rudy Gobert (15.1), Nikola Jokic (13.7) and Clint Capela (12.2) average more rebounds per game than Sabonis, whose 34 double-doubles this season ranks him third in the league.
The Kings had to give up Haliburton to get the deal done, with the 12th overall pick from the 2020 draft having been expected to be a key player for the franchise for years to come.
Haliburton's 1.69 steals per game this season is the sixth best in the league, while he sits 11th for assists per game with 7.4. He is also averaging 14.3 points and 3.9 rebounds.
They have also given up Hield, who has made 3.3 three-pointers per game this season. Only Stephen Curry (4.8) and Fred VanVleet (3.9) average more.
Domantas Sabonis is reportedly being sent to the Sacramento Kings by the Indiana Pacers, who will acquire Tyrese Haliburton as part of a six-player trade.
According to ESPN, the Pacers will also receive guard Buddy Hield and center Tristan Thompson in exchange for two-time All-Star Sabonis. Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday and a 2027 second-round pick will head to the Kings.
It is expected that Indiana's decision to part with Sabonis reduces the chances of Myles Turner departing before Thursday's trade deadline, given he can now play a bigger role at center.
Sabonis is averaging 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in 2021-22. Only Rudy Gobert (15.1), Nikola Jokic (13.7) and Clint Capela (12.2) average more rebounds per game than Sabonis, whose 34 double-doubles this season ranks him third in the league.
The Kings had to give up Haliburton to get the deal done, with the 12th overall pick from the 2020 draft having been expected to be a key player for the franchise for years to come.
Haliburton's 1.69 steals per game this season is the sixth best in the league, while he sits 11th for assists per game with 7.4. He is also averaging 14.3 points and 3.9 rebounds.
They have also given up Hield, who has made 3.3 three-pointers per game this season. Only Stephen Curry (4.8) and Fred VanVleet (3.9) average more.
It was quite a day on Tuesday at the Winter Olympics with dramatic medals won and records broken, but Wednesday has the potential to supersede it as Beijing 2022 continues.
The men's ice hockey gets under way, while there are big medal events in the luge, Nordic combined and short track speed skating, among others.
The men will try to follow Tuesday's exhilarating effort from the women in the freeski big air final, while the women's slalom and snowboard cross promise more excitement.
Stats Perform has you covered ahead of Wednesday's action.
Alpine skiing
The women's slalom provides an opportunity for both success and redemption on the 'Ice River' course at the Yanqing National Ski Centre.
Sweden's Sara Hector will be hoping to follow up Monday's gold medal in the giant slalom, while Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States will want to make up for crashing out of the same competition just five turns into her opening run.
Petra Vlhova of Slovakia and Katharina Liensberger of Austria, the reigning world champion, are two who could also challenge.
Curling
After Italy's dominance ended in an inevitable gold in the mixed doubles on Tuesday, the men's competition gets under way.
The opening series of matches will see Denmark face Canada, the United States go up against Russian Olympic Committee, Norway will play Switzerland and hosts China face Sweden.
Three of the US's gold medal team from Pyeongchang return to defend their title, including skip John Shuster.
Freestyle skiing
Following a sensational victory for China's 'Snow Princess' Eileen Gu on Tuesday, the pressure is on the men to follow suit.
The big story had been the return to competition of reigning slopestyle world champion Andri Ragettli, but the Swiss star failed to qualify for the final having only finished 14th on Monday.
American trio Alex Hall, Colby Stevenson and Mac Forehand could challenge for the medals, while Sweden's Oliwer Magnusson and Norway's Birk Ruud are also among the favourites, with the latter topping qualifying.
Ice hockey
With no involvement from NHL players, the men's tournament gets going in Beijing, feeling like it could almost be anyone's game.
Defending Olympic champions Russian Olympic Committee face Switzerland on Wednesday, while Czech Republic play Denmark.
Luge
The doubles event is expected to be dominated by Germany, with the 2014 and 2018 Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt returning, while bronze medallists from 2018 and current World Cup leaders Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken will likely provide stern competition.
Eggert and Benecken are also the track record holders after their November 2021 run of 58.793 seconds.
Nordic combined
One of the primary stories in the Nordic combined is whether Olympic champion Eric Frenzel of Germany and world champion Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway will be able to compete after both contracted COVID-19.
Should they not make the start line, Austria's Johannes Lamparter is likely to be the favourite after his numerous Nordic Combined World Cup wins, including three in January.
Short track speed skating
The men's 1,500m final takes place on Wednesday, with China's Ren Ziwei looking to add to the two gold medals he already has from the 1,000m and mixed team relay.
Hungary's Liu Shaolin Sandor was disqualified for causing a collision with Ren in the 1,000m and will want to make up for that in the longer form final.
Snowboard
The women's snowboard cross probably sees Great Britain's best chance at a medal in Beijing with Charlotte Bankes among the favourites.
The 26-year-old leads this season’s World Cup standings with five podiums from six events, while Australia's Belle Brockhoff and Italy's Michela Moioli are likely to provide her strongest competition.
The men's and women's halfpipe qualifying also begin, which will see superstar Shaun White - who has confirmed these will be his last Games - and fellow United States star Chloe Kim compete.
President of the Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, Chris Stoke, insists the team will now shift all its attention into competition mode following an unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on behalf of the country’s two-woman team.
On Monday, a CAS panel rejected an appeal filed by woman bobsledder Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian who had called for a recalculation of the point rankings for the Beijing 2022 Quota Allocation for the two-woman event, based only on races that actually took place.
The appeal was based on the decision made by the Olympic organisers after inclement weather had led to the cancelation of a meet scheduled for Germany on December 4. According to the filing, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation instead counted a December 5 competition twice, which allowed a sled piloted by France’s Margot Boch to qualify for the final spot in the two-woman bobsled competition at the Olympics. The decision meant Audra Segree, Fenlator-Victorian's brakewoman, missed out on a spot via a tiebreak. The court, however, rejected the appeal.
While insisting it was important to air their grouses, Stokes insists the team is ready to move on.
“The decision has come down as dismissed, we accept that wholeheartedly. Winning is one thing but the more important thing is to speak up and I’m very proud of Jazmine for speaking up,” Stokes said.
“We maintain that it is better sports results be determined on the field of play and not in administration but we put that behind us and we are now in a high-performance zone and we are getting ready for competition.”
Fenlator-Victorian will compete in the Women’s Monobob, which gets underway on February 11. Jamaica’s men’s team will compete in both the Two-Man and Four-Man events, which get underway a few days later.
Stefano Pioli says Zlatan Ibrahimovic is like "a lion in a cage" in his quest to return from injury, but revealed he will not be available for Milan's Coppa Italia quarter-final showdown with Lazio.
His side's top scorer in Serie A this season with eight goals, Ibrahimovic is currently sidelined with an Achilles tendon injury, having limped off during the first half of last month's stalemate with Juventus.
The 40-year-old's absence was evident for most of last weekend's derby with Inter; the Rossoneri registering just one shot on goal until Olivier Giroud's quickfire double completed a dramatic turnaround.
Milan welcome Lazio to San Siro in the last eight of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday, although it comes too soon for Ibrahimovic.
But Pioli insists the striker is doing everything in his power to return as soon as possible.
"Zlatan is a lion in a cage," he told Sportmediaset. "His motivation is to help the team on the pitch.
"Tomorrow, he won't be [available]; we'll see for the next ones."
Pioli also praised the contribution of Giroud, who has drawn criticism from some sections despite taking his tally to seven for the campaign with that derby brace, while also becoming the first Frenchman to net twice against Inter in Serie A.
When asked whether his display against the Nerazzurri deflected the criticism, the head coach said: "I don't know, the detractors are always there. What matters is the trust we have.
"He is proving to be the footballer for whom he was purchased. [He is] a valuable player and a person of great depth who is making a great contribution to the team."
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