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• 'He's an inspiration for all of us' - Sabalenka salutes 'legend' Nadal

  Aryna Sabalenka paid tribute to "legend" Rafael Nadal, acknowledging the retiring Spaniard is "an inspiration to all of us".

  The 22-time major winner announced on Thursday via a video on his social media platforms that he will retire from competitive tennis following next month's Davis Cup finals in Malaga.

  Nadal's decision - generally expected given his injury struggles in recent years - has been met with widespread tributes throughout the tennis and sporting world.

  And WTA number two Sabalenka - the reigning Australian and US Open champion - was the latest big name to salute the 14-time French Open winner, who was dubbed "the King of Clay".

  "He's an inspiration for all of us, for the next generation, for current players. He's a legend," Sabalenka told WTA.

  "As he said, everything has a beginning and an end. We are all going to be there. I'm really happy for what he was able to achieve. He was inspiration for everyone. He's a hard worker. He definitely had so much love for this sport."

  Sabalenka is through to her 11th successive WTA quarter-final at the Wuhan Open after coming from behind to beat Yulia Putintseva 1-6 6-4 6-0.

  The reigning champion recovered from losing the opening set - plus a break point at 4-3 down in the second set - to claim his 14th straight victory in Wuhan. 

  "In the first set, I was all over the place," she added. "I'm really glad that I was able to put myself together in the second set and things clicked.

  "In that game [the eighth in the second set], I was just trying to cool myself down and just to remind myself to keep trying, keep fighting.

  "You have to work for it, you have to run, you have to play the point, build the point, find the right shot, then go for it, not rush things. I was just having that conversation in my head all the time.

  "After that game, I felt like something clicked. The return was better. The movement was better. The decisions I was making were much better. I felt like that was really the turning point in the match."

• MLB: Mets advance to NLCS, Yankees, Tigers go up 2-1, Dodgers force Game 5

  Francisco Lindor’s latest huge hit was a sixth-inning grand slam that sent the New York Mets to the National League Championship Series with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

  Edwin Díaz struck out Kyle Schwarber with two runners aboard to end it as New York finished off the rival Phillies in Game 4 of their best-of-five Division Series, winning 3-1 to wrap up a postseason series at home for the first time in 24 years.

  New York will open the best-of-seven NLCS on Sunday against either the San Diego Padres or Los Angeles Dodgers.

  For the NL East champion Phillies, who won 95 games and finished six ahead of the wild-card Mets during the regular season, it was a bitter exit early in the playoffs and a disappointing step backward after they advanced to the 2022 World Series and then lost Games 6 and 7 of the 2023 NLCS at home to Arizona.

  Perhaps overanxious at the plate with so much on the table, the Mets left the bases loaded in the first and second and stranded eight runners overall through the first five innings.

  They put three runners on again in the sixth, this time with nobody out, before No. 9 batter Francisco Alvarez grounded into a force at the plate against All-Star reliever Jeff Hoffman.

  With the season on the line, Phillies manager Rob Thomson then summoned closer Carlos Estévez to face Lindor, who drove a 2-1 fastball clocked at 99 mph into Philadelphia’s bullpen in right-center, sending the sold-out crowd of 44,103 into a delirious, bouncing, throbbing frenzy.

  With his first homer of these playoffs, Lindor joined Shane Victorino and Hall of Fame slugger Jim Thome as the only major leaguers with two postseason grand slams. The star shortstop also connected for Cleveland at Yankee Stadium in Game 2 of a 2017 AL Division Series.

   

  Dodgers rout Padres to force Game 5

  Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Gavin Lux homered to back an eight-pitcher shutout as the Los Angeles Dodgers staved off elimination with an 8-0 rout of the San Diego Padres in their NL Division Series.

  The Dodgers snapped a two-game losing streak and now return home for a deciding Game 5 between the NL West rivals on Friday night.

  The winner will have home-field advantage in the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, who eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies in their NLDS.

  The Dodgers got a superb effort by opener Ryan Brasier and seven fellow relievers in a bullpen game, holding the Padres to seven hits and extending their scoreless streak to 15 innings. Evan Phillips, who got the win, retired Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill on five pitches in the sixth.

  With All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman sidelined by a troublesome right ankle sprain, Betts and Shohei Ohtani needed to produce to keep LA's season alive. They did just that, with Betts driving in two runs on two hits and Ohtani bringing in one run and reaching three times.

  The Padres started Dylan Cease on short rest and gave up Betts’ home run in the first inning and put two runners on with one out in the second and was chased by Ohtani’s RBI single to right. 

  Smith followed Max Muncy’s leadoff double in the third with a home run to extend the lead to 5-0.

  Lux’s two-run shot off Wandy Peralta in the seventh capped a three-run inning for the Dodgers.

   

  Stanton’s home run gives Yankees 2-1 lead

  Giancarlo Stanton snapped a tie in the eighth inning with a solo home run and New York’s bullpen pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings as the Yankees edged the Kansas City Royals 3-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their AL Division Series.

  Stanton finished with three hits, drove in two runs and stole a base for the first time in four years for the Yankees, who will turn to six-time All-Star pitcher Gerrit Cole on Thursday night with a chance to reach the American League Championship Series.

  The Royals used four relievers before Kris Bubic took over for the eighth. The left-hander struck out Austin Wells before Stanton hit his 3-1 pitch nearly 420 feet to left to give New York the lead.

  The Royals tried to answer off Luke Weaver in the bottom half, getting Bobby Witt Jr.'s first hit of the series and a two-out single by Salvador Perez. Weaver recovered to get Yuli Gurriel to fly out to end the threat, and he also handled the ninth to earn the save and cap a stellar performance by the New York bullpen.

  The Yankees won despite another frustrating night in the postseason for MVP front-runner Aaron Judge. He went 0 for 4 with a walk and is now 1 for 11 with only an infield single through three games against the Royals.

  It helped that the powerful Yankees drew nine walks Wednesday night, giving them 22 for the series.

   

  Tigers get second straight shutout

  Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson each drove in a run, and the Detroit Tigers used six pitchers in a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians for a 2-1 lead in their AL Division Series.

  The Tigers will have a chance to advance to their first ALCS since 2013 on Thursday night in Game 4 at Comerica Park.

  Cleveland has gone 20 straight innings without scoring since opening the series with a five-run first and a two-run sixth in its 7-0 win.

  After AL Cy Young Award favourite Tarik Skubal helped Detroit shut out Cleveland in Game 2, manager A.J. Hinch put a stream of pitchers on the mound and kept the Guardians quiet at the plate.

  Detroit reliever Will Vest entered with two on and two outs in the seventh and got David Fry to line out to Matt Vierling at third.

  Keider Montero retired the side in order in the first, and the previously slumping Greene hit a two-out RBI single in the home half.

  Brant Hurter gave up five hits in 3 1/3 innings, Beau Brieske pitched two innings, and Sean Guenther got one out before Vest threw 1 1/3 innings. Tyler Holton handled the ninth for the save.

  It's the first time Detroit has recorded two shutouts in a postseason series. It's also the first time since the 1905 World Series that the first three games of a postseason series were all shutouts.

  The Guardians had a chance to score in the third. Steven Kwan reached on a one-out infield single and advanced on shortstop Tyler Sweeney's throwing error. José Ramírez was intentionally walked with two outs, but Josh Naylor hit an inning-ending groundout.

   

• Root targets 'many more runs' as Cook backs England great to set all-time record

  Joe Root is targeting "many more runs" after overtaking Alastair Cook as England's all-time leading Test run-scorer.

  The 33-year-old surpassed Cook's previous high of 12,472 on day three of the first Test against Pakistan on Wednesday.

  Root reached the mark by piling on 71 runs in the blistering Multan heat and reached 176 not out at the end of play with England 492-3.

  "I'm obviously proud but still feel there is plenty more left to do, and many more runs left to get," Root is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

  "More than anything, the way we played as a team is what stands out - we've got ourselves back in a really good position."

  Root's 12,578 runs consist of 35 centuries, 1,355 fours and 44 sixes, coming across 146 matches.

  He is now fifth on the all-time list of run-scorers across all nations, with only Rahul Dravid (13,288), Jacques Kallis (13,289), Ricky Ponting (13,378) and Sachin Tendulkar (15,921) ahead of him.

  And with time still on his side age-wise, Cook has backed the man who took his England record to overtake each of those legendary names.

  "I would be betting on Root to do it," Cook told Test Match Special. "I don't see Root losing that hunger and ability to keep driving himself forward for the next couple of years.

  "He's just this consistent run-scoring machine. There are other geniuses who can play genius innings, but Root is a genius with consistency."

  England have never conceded as many as Pakistan's 556 and gone on to take a first-innings lead, but they trail by just 64 runs heading into day four.

  "We've still got an opportunity to win the game, which is really exciting," Root added. "Hopefully we can kick on tomorrow."