World number one Novak Djokovic said he will return to action at the Paris Masters blessed to be a more "humble" tennis player.
The Serbian makes his first appearance since his US Open final defeat to Daniil Medvedev at the ATP 1000 tournament in the French capital.
That defeat in New York cost Djokovic the chance to become only the third man to win a singles calendar slam by winning all four majors in the same year.
Djokovic also missed the opportunity to move top of the all-time Grand Slam tournament winners list and remains joint-top alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 titles.
However, the 34-year-old – whose status for the 2021 Australian Open remains unknown – was phlegmatic when he reflected on his loss to Russian world number two Medvedev.
"In a most ideal scenario, I would have won all four of them," Djokovic told a media conference. "Knowing I was so close gives me great encouragement for the future, but it also makes me feel humble about my game, about my career.
"It gives me a kind of reality check where I have to go back to the practice court and really understand what needs to be done so that I could improve.
"This was not an ordinary loss considering the circumstances. I have learned over the years to deal with losses in such way that I treat them as great opportunities for growth.
"I feel that the US Open loss in the final has arrived arguably at the worst or at the best time for me, in a way.
"I'm disappointed that I lost the match, but I feel like I was blessed to experience love from the crowd and support from the stadium that I have never experienced before in my life in New York, and actually not in many places around the world.
"That kind of energy that I received from the crowd from the moment I stepped on the court until I stepped out is a win for life."
Djokovic, who has won four of the last eight Paris Masters tournaments, claimed the prospect of ending the year as the world number one ahead of Medvedev will motivate him.
Should he do so then Djokovic would leapfrog Pete Sampras for the most year-end number one finishes in history with seven.
He will face either Italian Fabio Fognini or Hungarian Marton Fucsovics having received a bye through the first round.
"The year-end number one is on the line between Medvedev and myself, and I'm in a pretty good position," added Djokovic, who has won 85 ATP tour titles.
"That's obviously the goal for the end of the season other than trying to do well in the Davis Cup with the national team. So hopefully I can have a strong finish of the season and clinch that year-end number one.
"I’m pleased to be back. I have been training really well the past couple of weeks. And I have had plenty of success in Paris over the years, so that gives me enough reason to believe that I can do well.
"The lack of match play could be dangerous, so I have to really make sure that I start off my first match very well with a good intensity and build my form."
India bowler Jasprit Bumrah has suggested that an aggressive batting approach was the cause of their eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup.
After the pre-tournament favourites only posted 110-7 from their 20 overs, Bumrah and his fellow bowlers could not stop their opponents from easing to their target for the cost of just two wickets and with five and a half overs to spare.
Sunday's result is India's second loss in as many games and leaves their hopes of qualifying hanging by a thread.
It follows the 10-wicket hammering at the hands of rivals Pakistan in their opening game, and means that India will need to win well against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia, while hoping for favourable results from elsewhere.
Virat Kholi's team had no answer to the power of the Black Caps, and instead of the Indian captain, it was Bumrah who faced the post-match press conference.
When asked about the first innings, Bumrah said: "We wanted to get extra runs that could give us an advantage in the second innings. I think in that process we played a lot of attacking shots. That didn't come off today.
"I think that was the approach as a batting unit because in the second innings, batting does get easier. So we wanted to give that cushion to the bowlers. I think that was the thought process. I think in that thought process, there were a lot of attack issues."
Bumrah - who took the only two wickets in the New Zealand innings - was also asked about the scheduling of the tournament, with India's opener against Pakistan coming just nine days after the final of the Indian Premier League, and the requirement for players to be on the road for such long periods in bubbles.
"Absolutely. Sometimes you need a break. You miss your family sometimes," he added. "You've been on the road for six months. So all of that sometimes plays on the back of your mind.
"But when you're on the field, you don't think of all those things. You don't control a lot of things, how the scheduling goes on or what tournament is played when.
"So obviously staying in a bubble and staying away from your family for such a long period of time does play a role on the player's mind as well. But they also tried their best to make us feel comfortable.
"But this is the time which we're living in right now. It's a difficult time. There's a pandemic going on. So we try to adapt. But sometimes bubble fatigue, mental fatigue also creeps in, that you're doing the same thing again and again and again.
"So it is the way it is, and you can't control a lot of it here."
The 27-year-old made clear that he and his team-mates should not focus on the negatives, and urged calmness.
"As a sportsman, you face a lot of days in cricket. Some days will be good and some days would be bad. What I try to do is not get very high when good days happen and not get very low when low days happen," Bumrah said.
"All of these things are always part and parcel of a cricketer's life. Try to stay in the moment, analyse what went wrong, what went well and try to move forward. That's the only way that you can move forward in this game."
Donna Vekic ended a personal trophy drought as she beat Clara Tauson in the WTA Courmayeur Open final in Italy on Sunday.
The 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victory saw Croatian Vekic secure a third WTA Tour title of her career, and a first since 2017 when she triumphed at the Nottingham Open.
Tauson, who beat Jelena Ostapenko to win the Luxembourg Open in September, was unable to add to the two WTA titles she has won this year.
An unsteady start from both players saw service breaks in each of the first four games. Vekic finally held at the third attempt, before breaking Tauson again.
At 5-2 down in the first set, Tauson came alive, finally holding serve before breaking Vekic for a third time. The 18-year-old briefly showed the heart that had seen her save five match points in her semi-final victory over Liudmila Samsonova as she denied Vekic three set points.
The main issue for the 18-year-old Dane in the first set was her first serve, on which she only won 52 per cent of points, compared to Vekic's 79.2 per cent success rate.
Having forced a tie-break, Tauson gave herself a mountain to climb again as her opponent won the first six points. Despite a mini fightback from the teenager, Vekic was able to finally see the first set out.
The 25-year-old, who had not lost a set on her way to the final, broke again in the third game of the second set. Tauson had fought from a set down in both her quarter-final and semi-final, but she was unable to repeat the trick as Vekic eased to another straight-sets victory.
New Zealand landed their first win at this year's T20 World Cup after defeating India by eight wickets in the Group 2 clash at the Dubai International Stadium.
Trent Boult took three wickets – taking his T20I career tally to 50 – as the Black Caps recorded a third straight victory over India at the tournament, having previously prevailed when they met in 2007 and 2016.
After Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to field, Boult dismissed Ishan Kishan (4), Hardik Pandya (23) and Shardul Thakur (0).
He also caught Virat Kohli for nine from Ish Sodhi’s delivery, as India posted a total of 110-7, which proved much too low.
Daryl Mitchell led New Zealand's charge with 49 from 35 balls, while Martin Guptill had a knock of 20 in his 100th T20I innings.
Captain Williamson coasted to 33 not out as the Black Caps secured a commanding victory with 5.3 overs to spare, condemning their opponents to a fourth successive T20I defeat outside India for the first time. India could still reach the semi-finals, but it will take a huge turnaround in fortunes after losing their opening two games.
Brilliant Boult reaches the half-century
The 32-year-old left-arm quick captured 3-20 during another impressive performance for the Black Caps.
Reaching 50 T20I wickets, Boult became the fifth New Zealand bowler to achieve the feat after Tim Southee, Sodhi, Mitchell Santner and Nathan McCullum.
Ton up for Guptill
The batsman chalked up his 100th innings in the short format for the Black Caps, but it was his exploits in the field that were more important here.
The 35-year-old took catches to remove Pandya, Thakur and Rohit Sharma.
Marin Cilic won his 20th title on the ATP Tour by battling past Taylor Fritz in the final of the St Petersburg Open on Sunday.
A decade on from lifting the trophy for the first time, Cilic outlasted his American opponent 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4 in a gruelling contest lasting two hours and 23 minutes.
It took the Croatian to four tournament wins on Russian soil, the 33-year-old having also twice won the crown in Moscow, while it also saw him join truly elite company in the men's game.
Only five other active male players have won 20 or more titles: Roger Federer (103), Rafael Nadal (88), Novak Djokovic (85), Andy Murray (46) and Juan Martin del Potro (22).
"Coming 10 years after winning in 2011 and also winning now, it's so, so special for me, especially this part of my career," said Cilic. "Having now a family, two sons, I want to absolutely dedicate this trophy to my newborn son."
Cilic had the chance to reach 20 titles last week in Moscow, only to lose in straight sets to home favourite Aslan Karatsev.
With 12 aces and 78 per cent of first-serve points won, the former world number three was aggressive in his efforts to make sure this was not another missed opportunity.
After taking the first set, Cilic twice led by a break in the second but allowed Fritz to level the contest and keep alive his hopes of a first title since Eastbourne two years ago.
Fritz went a break ahead in the decider but Cilic battled back to level at 4-4. A double fault from the world number 28 gave Cilic the chance to serve out the contest, and he duly obliged, converting his first match point with a volley.
Anett Kontaveit failed to read the script as she beat Simona Halep to win the Transylvania Open and qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time.
Kontaveit went into Sunday's final knowing victory over top seed Halep would earn her the last place in the season-ending tournament in Guadalajara.
The Estonian duly denied Ons Jabeur a WTA Finals spot, beating Romanian home favourite Halep 6-2 6-3 in Cluj.
Second seed Kontaveit has now come out on top in 10 consecutive matches, having won the Kremlin Cup last weekend, and this was her fourth title of a stellar season.
Halep had not dropped a set in her previous three meetings with Kontaveit, but the former world number one was soundly beaten to miss out on a fourth title on home soil – five years after her last in Bucharest.
The 25-year-old Kontaveit took her run to 26 victories in her last 28 matches, winning 70.6 per cent of points behind her first serve to Halep's 44.1 per cent.
Kontaveit broke three times in a one-sided first set and fought back from 2-0 down in the second to continue her brilliant run.
Halep has not won a title since September 2020, having been unfortunate with injuries this year.
Atletico Madrid ended a three-game winless run in all competitions with a 3-0 victory over Real Betis at a rain-soaked Wanda Metropolitano.
Yannick Carrasco's superb first-half finish and an own goal from German Pezzella in the second put the champions in control against Manuel Pellegrini's side.
Joao Felix came off the bench to drill home a third as Atleti delivered their best league performance since the 2-0 win over Barcelona at the start of the month.
Betis rarely offered a threat to Jan Oblak's goal as they endured an eighth defeat in nine away league games against Atletico, a run in which they have failed to score in any of the past six games.
William Carvalho had a shot parried by Oblak in the first minute of a match that started in frenetic fashion, Betis looking to capitalise on a defence that had conceded at least twice in each of Atleti's previous three games.
Jose Gimenez and Antoine Griezmann each came close before Carrasco broke the deadlock in stunning style, taking Angel Correa's pass, turning away from Martin Montoya and blasting high past Claudio Bravo at his near post.
Luis Suarez headed wide when unmarked and Mario Hermoso saw the flag rule out a second when he nodded in Antoine Griezmann's delivery, as Atletico continued to push forward.
A fine passing move saw Griezmann pick out Suarez, but Bravo thwarted the striker again. However, from the resulting Griezmann corner, Pezzella mistimed his header and nodded the ball firmly into his own net.
Substitute Felix completed the scoring with a well-taken left-footed finish driven beneath Bravo, a VAR check showing he had timed his run to meet Carrasco's throughball perfectly.
What does it mean? Champions up into fourth
Atleti's win lifted them above Betis in the table and to within two points of leaders Real Madrid, second-placed Sevilla and Real Sociedad in third. Sociedad had a game to come later on Sunday, however.
It will also give them some confidence ahead of a Champions League visit to Liverpool in the coming week, particularly after the Reds surrendered a two-goal lead to draw with Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
Bravo keeps scores respectable
Atleti should really have been out of sight before Pezzella's unfortunate own goal, with Bravo making seven saves as Suarez in particular was profligate with his chances.
The former Barcelona keeper has never before made as many saves in a single LaLiga match.
Suarez needs sharpness
Suarez missed two big chances and had the highest expected goals figure (0.48) of any of Atletico's attacking players during his 71 minutes on the pitch.
The Uruguay striker will need to be more ruthless against his old club if Atletico are to leave Merseyside with a positive result.
What's next?
Atleti face Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday before heading to Valencia on November 7 for their final game before the next international break.
Bangladesh have lost all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for the rest of the T20 World Cup due to a hamstring injury.
The 34-year-old pulled up while fielding in the Tigers' defeat to West Indies at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Shakib was able to bowl four overs and open the batting, but will play no further part in the tournament.
"Shakib sustained a left lower hamstring strain while fielding during the match against the West Indies. In clinical examination, it was diagnosed as an injury of Grade 1 intensity,'' said Debashish Chowdhury, the chief physician of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
"He is ruled out from participation in the last two matches of the tournament and until further review."
Bangladesh will not replace Shakib, as they do not have any reverse players in the squad to step up.
The Tigers are bottom of Group 1 after losing all three matches, with games against South Africa and Australia to come.
Kylian Mbappe must learn to "walk on fire" if he wants to achieve his full potential, according to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
France striker Mbappe is in his fifth year at Paris Saint-Germain and the 22-year-old has been the team's Ligue 1 top scorer in the past three campaigns.
Mbappe continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid, which could happen at the end of this season, given he will become a free agent if he refuses a new PSG contract.
Former PSG frontman Ibrahimovic, who famously scored 38 league goals in the 2015-16 season, feels there is more to come from Mbappe if he introduces a greater edge and stretches himself to the limit.
Ibrahimovic has been a master of tacking his talent to an exuberant, at times brash, character, and it has made him an opponent that others fear, not merely for his goal threat but his force of personality.
He told Telefoot: "I love Mbappe, but what he does is not yet enough. He is too comfortable, in his zone. He needs to walk on fire and then he will be even better.
"He needs to sense the taste of blood. You have to be surrounded by those who tell you you're not good enough and you can progress, not by those who say you're the best."
Mbappe has become pivotal to PSG since arriving, initially on loan, in 2017 from Monaco.
Last season there was a marked difference in PSG's fortunes when he was not in the team. With Mbappe starting, as he did in 27 Ligue 1 games, PSG averaged 2.3 points per game, winning 74 per cent of those fixtures, but in the 11 matches when he was absent from the XI those numbers dipped to 1.8 points per game and a 54.5 per cent win rate.
Given PSG were pipped to the title by one point, as Lille were crowned French champions, his importance becomes obvious.
Including appearances off the bench, he featured in 31 Ligue 1 games and scored 27 goals, his second-best return for the Parisians, beaten only by his remarkable 33-goal effort in the 2018-19 season.
Mbappe will have his work cut out to match Ibrahimovic's 2015-16 strike rate of one goal every 67.2 minutes, although he has had three campaigns so far where he has dipped under the goal-every-90-minutes bar.
"Mbappe is in the top category of those that I like," said Ibrahimovic. "There are other players who have been at the top for a long time. Among young people, there is Mbappe, [Erling] Haaland. And who else? There is Ibrahimovic, no need for anyone else."
Alexander Zverev captured his fifth title of the season at the Vienna Open after defeating Frances Tiafoe 7-5 6-4 in Sunday's final.
The Olympic champion claimed more silverware in Vienna, having also triumphed in Madrid, Cincinnati and Acapulco in 2021.
The world number four, who claimed his 300th tour-level career win against Alex de Minaur earlier in the week, is now 25-2 since exiting the fourth round at Wimbledon in July.
Tiafoe was appearing in his first ATP 500 final having defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas, Diego Schwartzman and Jannik Sinner along the way.
The world number 49 stuck with Zverev during a tight opening set, in which breaks were exchanged early on.
However, the German broke again in game 12 to draw first blood, and went on to hit eight aces during the second set.
Tiafoe produced an inspired turnaround from 5-2 down in the second set of his semi-final victory over Sinner.
But there was to be no fairytale finish for the American, who was seeking a second ATP title and first since the 2018 Delray Beach Open.
Zverev subsequently held his nerve to move level with Casper Ruud on five titles for the season, the most on the ATP Tour this year.
Joaquin Correa felt his persistence paid off after scoring both goals in Inter's 2-0 win over Udinese.
Despite controlling possession in the Serie A clash, Simone Inzaghi's third-placed side had to be patient for the breakthrough at San Siro on Sunday.
It finally arrived on the hour mark courtesy of Correa's marvellous strike and the Argentina international doubled the lead with a clinical finish just eight minutes later.
On just his third start for the club - and first at San Siro - the Lazio loanee took his tally to four for the season since arriving from the Biancocelesti.
And the forward believes he and his team-mates reaped the rewards for their patience.
"It was a very complicated game and it was so important to get the three points," he told Sky Sport Italia.
"There were very few spaces, but we never stopped playing our football.
"Unfortunately, injuries slowed my progress this season, but I am getting back in shape and will try to help the team any way I can.
"Things weren't going well for me in the first half today either, but I never stopped trying.
"Now, we have to continue along this path, because everyone in the team wants the same thing."
Following a second successive clean sheet, head coach Inzaghi feels that was testament to the balance within his side.
"This was not a simple game, as we know Udinese are a physical side who closed down the spaces," he said.
"The lads didn't have much time to prepare, but we worked really hard and must continue after two consecutive victories with clean sheets.
"We have excellent defenders, but a clean sheet depends on balance throughout the team and not just the defenders."
Afghanistan got back to winning ways at the T20 World Cup as they beat Namibia by 62 runs in what was the final match of Asghar Afghan's career.
The former skipper announced prior to the Group 2 clash in Dubai that he would retire from all forms of cricket following the conclusion of the contest.
Asghar received a guard of honour in his 75th and final T20I before producing a knock of 31 – taking his overall tally to 1,382 runs – as Afghanistan looked to bounce back from Friday's defeat by Pakistan.
Mohammad Shahzad top-scored with 45 – surpassing 2,000 runs in men's T20I – while Hazratullah Zazai hit 33 and captain Mohammad Nabi was 32 not out as Afghanistan set a target of 160-5.
Namibia were aiming to build on their opening win over Scotland, but their quest suffered an early blow when Naveen-ul-Haq (3-26) bowled Craig Williams and Michael van Lingen within the opening three overs.
Hamid Hassan also claimed three wickets as the Eagles' chase fell way short at 98-9.
David Wiese hit 26 for Namibia, but it was not enough to prevent a first defeat in the Super 12s.
History for Shahzad
Dismissed by Pakistan for just eight, Shahzad had another opportunity to reach 2,000 runs in the short format.
This time, he made no mistake with his knock of 45 making him the first Afghan to achieve the feat – and 12th overall.
Naveen shines
It was always going to take a special effort to chase down Afghanistan's total of 160-5, but Naveen quickly put Namibia on the back foot.
The 22-year-old dismissed Williams and Van Lingen within his opening 10 deliveries, and that set his side well on the way to what was eventually a commanding victory.
Joaquin Correa scored a second-half double as Inter eased to a 2-0 Serie A win over Udinese at San Siro.
Correa had not been on target for the Nerazzurri since striking twice on his debut against Hellas Verona in August but doubled his tally for the champions on Sunday.
The forward took both goals superbly as Simone Inzaghi's third-placed side extended their unbeaten run to four matches.
Lautaro Martinez came on as a late substitute at the end of a week in which he signed a new deal, with Inzaghi rotating his squad ahead of a Champions League clash against Sheriff and the Milan derby in the next week.
Nicolo Barella twice went close to an early opening goal, landing a dipping long-range drive on the roof of the net and forcing Marco Silvestri to save with his feet at the end of a sweeping Inter move that was started by Edin Dzeko.
Andrea Ranocchia headed Hakan Calhanoglu's corner just over from close range and the lively Barella fired straight at Silvestri.
Dzeko was unable to reach a Ranocchia flick-on as desperate last-ditch defending frustrated Inter once again.
The Nerazzurri continued to dominate possession after the break and finally produced a moment of class to open the scoring just before the hour mark.
Ivan Perisic enabled Correa to race away down the left flank with a brilliant dummy and the Argentina international cut into the penalty area before burying a clinical right-foot finish into the bottom-left corner of the net.
Correa doubled Inter's advantage eight minutes later, finding the top-left corner with a sublime finish after the marauding Denzel Dumfries picked him out.
Arturo Vidal drilled narrowly wide from just outside the penalty area and Gerard Deulofeu had a goal ruled out for offside in a deserved win for Inter.
The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and the Guatemalan Olympic Committee (GOC) recently signed a historic Sports Co-operation Agreement that will see both bodies cooperating in the areas of applied sport sciences, sports medicine, technology, Olympic values, anti-doping, community and recreational sport, as well as sports administration.
The agreement will also facilitate the exchange of athletes and coaches who will benefit from educational and technical programmes.
The agreement was signed during the XXV General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC) in Greece.
JOA President Christopher Samuda declared that the signing of the agreement signifies an abiding commitment from the JOA and GOC to deepen their already strong bi-lateral relationship under which athletes, coaches, administrators and member federations will benefit from initiatives of capacity building and institutional strengthening, in research, training and education, sports-specific skills and the sciences and technology of sport.
President of the Guatemalan Olympic Committee, Gerardo Aguirre, also endorsed the historic partnership in regional sporting history.
"For us, Guatemala's NOC, we identified this as an opportunity to generate a connection with sport and athletes between Jamaica and Guatemala,” he said.
“Jamaica has specific strengths in sport and Guatemala has developed others, making these useful for us all to share. Therefore, this makes the signing of this agreement a marvellous opportunity and from it can come various avenues of activities so that Jamaican and Guatemalan athletes can come together."
Secretary-General and CEO of the Jamaica Olympic Association, Ryan Foster, who announced the agreement between the two Olympic organizations, explained that both Olympic bodies understand that efforts and relationships in sport must first be athlete-centric and dedicated.
“Then, for stakeholders' engagement and empowerment and this agreement which we have signed is written testimony of that fact and the reality that friendships and unity in sport defy language barriers and the breadth of seas and oceans," he said.
Director of International Affairs of the Guatemalan Olympic Committee, Neville Steins, emphasized the importance and high value of the agreement in the context of bringing “not only our countries together through sport, but more still, bringing together the Caribbean and Central America in eliminating the absence of communication owing to language differences through the use of sport and thus bring our countries' athletes together for the common good."
The JOA's foreign policy supports strong and strategic partnerships in providing enabling opportunities for athletes, coaches and administrators.
"The JOA will continue to build strong partnerships across borders and continents. We started in December 2017 when we inked in Japan with the Tottori Prefecture Government an agreement which is facilitating collaboration beyond the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as for us sport development and diplomacy go beyond events and are life-changing experiences spanning generations. We will continue in earnest as sport is an enabler, equalizer and unifier" President Samuda said.
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