Paul McGinley says it "breaks my heart" to see a number of his close friends and former Ryder Cup team-mates join the controversial LIV Golf Invitational Series.
Golf has been divided over the past six months by the arrival of the Saudi-backed breakaway, which has seen a number of high-profile names defect from the PGA Tour.
Six more players were announced by LIV Golf this week, including reigning Open champion Cameron Smith, ahead of the series' latest big-money event in Boston.
The PGA Tour has banned those competing in LIV Golf from taking part in any of their competitions, though that is subject to another legal challenge.
The DP World Tour was unsuccessful in doing so, meanwhile, and 18 LIV players will compete in the PGA Championship at Wentworth next week.
That includes the likes of Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter, each of whom McGinley has previously teamed up with for Ryder Cup duty.
McGinley finds the rift difficult to accept and claims that no player on the DP World Tour wants the LIV golfers involved at Wentworth.
"It breaks my heart because I have an emotional connection with every one of those players," he told The Sunday Times.
"I will see Poulter and I'll shake his hand at Wentworth, the same with Westwood and all of those guys that I shared team rooms with. That bond will never be broken.
"But we're definitely on different sides now. And it's really sad that it has come to this. Every one of those players knew the consequences when they signed with LIV.
"They also knew there was the potential for the Ryder Cup to be collateral damage in all of this. They still think they can play in the Ryder Cup.
"Who knows what's going to happen in six months' time? I think, at this stage, it's highly unlikely that any of them will be involved in the Ryder Cup again.
"If this is how it pans out, it won't be because of [DP World Tour chief executive] Keith Pelley or the board say so.
"It's because our members, the players who have remained loyal to our tour, don't want the LIV guys anywhere near the Ryder Cup.
"The feeling is that you cannot play [for] both sides. Mo Salah doesn't get to play for Liverpool one week and Real Madrid the next. LIV is a rival tour."
James Slipper wants Australia to "hurt" after they were consigned to a 24-8 Rugby Championship defeat by South Africa.
The Springboks overpowered the Wallabies at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, outscoring them by four tries to one.
Debutant Canan Moodie, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi and Franco Mostert crossed as the world champions joined Australia and Argentina on nine points, one behind leaders New Zealand.
Slipper, captain in the absence of Michael Hooper, says Dave Rennie's side should be feeling the pain after they were well beaten in Sydney.
He said: "I want the boys to hurt. Yes, South Africa were good, but I felt like we didn't play much rugby at all.
"We wanted to review last week and be a better rugby team. At no stage should we think we're the finished product.
"Individually we need to look at ourselves. I'm confident we're tracking in the right direction. We just need a bit more polish. We need to execute under pressure."
Australia's next assignment is a Bledisloe Cup opener against the All Blacks on September 15 and Slipper expects them to come back stronger after their hopes of winning the competition took a blow.
"It's tough when you're walking off the field after a loss, but we've got a lot of confidence in the group that we have," he said.
"We're after consistency and that's the big driver for us and when we start seeing that I feel that we'll see success coming our way."
Victory for the Springboks was their first in Australia for nine years and left the battle for the title wide open.
Tyson Fury declared "never say never" about joining WWE after playing a starring role at Clash at the Castle in the Cardiff.
The 34-year-old featured at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, joining in the headline clash between champion Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre.
Fury left his front-row seat in Cardiff when Austin Theory attempted to cash in his 'money in the bank' contract before downing the 25-year-old.
Reigns emerged victorious by pinning McIntyre before the pair were greeted in the ring by Fury, who treated the crowd to a rendition of Don McLean's 'American Pie'.
While Fury waits for a heavyweight unification clash against Oleksandr Usyk, he refused to rule out moving to WWE after his boxing career comes to an end.
"At the moment I'm a heavyweight world champion, and I have plenty of fights I have to take care of over the next few years," Fury responded when asked about the prospect of joining WWE.
"But I really, really have a passion for WWE. Never say never."
"Usyk was calling me out after his last fight with [Anthony] Joshua, I've replied and said let's do the fight this year, wherever they want to do it," Fury said.
"I've been waiting for offers from countries to come forward, and all of a sudden Usyk has stated he doesn't want to fight anymore, he wants to fight next year, not this year.
"So I'm not going to wait around for anybody, I'm announcing a fight next week."
Victoria Azarenka says vulnerable young female tennis players are "getting taken advantage of" as she called for improved safeguarding in the sport.
The Belarusian, who sits on an eight-person WTA players council, was speaking after Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro accused her former coach Pierre Bouteyre of rape and sexual assault.
Bouteyre strongly denied the allegations, with his lawyer telling AFP that he "recognises the relationship occurred but denies any coercion."
Speaking after her US Open victory over Petra Martic, Azarenka called for increased protection and says she would have a "very big concern" if she had a daughter who wanted to play professional tennis.
"It's a very sensitive subject because you won't hear those stories unless players come out and tell those stories," Azarenka said. "It happens right and left on the tour, which is unfortunate.
"Our job is to be better at safeguarding. As player council, it's almost like the number one subject to us. Because we see those vulnerable young ladies getting taken advantage of in different situations.
"It's really sad and really makes me emotional because I have a son [and] I don't see that happening so much on the men's tour.
"If I had a daughter, I would have to question would she want to play tennis, that would be a very big concern in that way for me.
"[The] recent story with Fiona Ferro that came out. I don't know how to put it in words sometimes. All you can do is check in on the person and kind of give your hand what I can do, what I can help with.
"I applaud her for being brave. I hope this situation she's gonna come out of it stronger and tennis is not ruined for her because of that. That's I think [a] very, very heavy topic.
"But it's the topic that has to come out more, and I think it's [journalists'] job also to not expose it. It sounds pretty weird when I say that, but do the research, help people to open up more.
"It's hopefully one by one [as we] try to eliminate that type of situation."
Zhang Shuai went winless in her first 14 appearances at major tournaments but has turned her fortunes around as she prepares for a US Open fourth-round clash with Coco Gauff.
The Chinese tennis player was said to be considering retirement in 2015 after 14 unsuccessful attempts at grand slams, though was convinced to keep fighting by friend and fellow competitor Sam Stosur.
Simona Halep at the 2016 Australian Open was the first scalp Zhang claimed at a major before she went on to reach the quarter-finals.
The 33-year-old, who has two grand slams titles in doubles with Stosur, has not looked back from that win over Halep and has made it to the second week at all four majors in 2022.
"This year, I already have three third rounds," Zhang said after her third-round win at the US Open. "Oh my god, I won six matches! Before I couldn't win one match in many, many years. How happy!
"That's why when we meet some players who want to stop or feels sad after the match, I always tell them next match, see how you are better.
"When I started the tour, how bad [were my] results? No one was worse than me. [These girls are] much better than me, right? You guys are still young. Keep trying."
Gauff awaits Zhang in the round-of-16 as the latter searches for a maiden major success and fourth singles title.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease lost his no-hitter bid on the last out as his side won 13-0 over the Minnesota Twins in the MLB on Saturday.
Cease enjoyed his longest no-hit bid of his career, and had two outs in the ninth inning before it was spoiled by a Luis Arraez line-drive single into right-center.
It was a cruel ending for Cease who had allowed only two base runners with walks, with seven strikeouts up until that point.
Cease became the second pitcher this season to fall one out short from a no-hitter, after St Louis Cardinals' Miles Mikolas in June.
The White Sox right-hander is the third pitcher to fall one short over the last five seasons. It would have been Chicago's third no-hitter of the last two years.
Cease instead settled for a career-first shutout, striking out Kyle Garlick shortly after Arraez spoiled his party.
Judge homers again as Yankees lose once more
Aaron Judge remains on track for 63 home runs this season after blasting his 52nd of the season in the New York Yankees' 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Judge's solo home run came in the ninth inning after the Yankees had gone 21 innings without scoring, with another defeat leaving them with a 15-26 record since the All-Star break.
Yandy Diaz came up with the decisive two-run single in the third inning while Corey Kluber allowed only two hits and no runs with four strikeouts across seven innings.
Riley keeps up streak as Braves walk it off
Austin Riley homered in the fourth consecutive game as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Miami Marlins in a 2-1 walk-off win. Riley also continued his 10-game on-base streak and seven-game hitting streak.
Riley hammered a line-drive blast left in the fourth inning to put the Braves up 1-0 but the Marlins would square it up in the ninth inning before a remarkable finale.
With bases loaded, Robbie Grossman provided the finish with a walk-off walk from Marlins closer Steven Okert.
World number one Iga Swiatek says she reminds herself that it is impossible to continually play at the level she achieved during her 37-match winning run earlier this year.
Swiatek reached the second week at the US Open for only the second time after Saturday's 6-3 6-4 win over Lauren Davis and has moved into title favouritism, creating a level of perceived pressure.
That comes amid a run of form where the 2020 and 2022 French Open champion has been far from the levels achieved during her 37-match winning streak which ended in July at the hands of Alize Cornet at Wimbledon.
Since then, Swiatek has only won seven of 10 matches. Swiatek's victory over Davis marked the first time since the winning streak that she has managed three straight victories.
The Pole's hard-court form line has not been compelling either but the exit of Serena Williams along with top seeds Anett Kontaveit, Maria Sakkari, Paula Badosa and Simona Halep has thrust her into US Open favouritism.
But the 21-year-old is trying not to put any extra pressure on herself with that in mind, nor re-discovering the form she displayed earlier in the year.
"Honestly I didn't even focus on that cause I still remember how it is to lose," Swiatek told reporters. "After the tournament in Cincinnati [when she lost to Madison Keys in August], I knew like it's not the end of the world that I'm losing in third round.
"It's not like the whole universe changed so right now I'm always going to be in quarter-finals or finals or whatever, win tournaments. I tried just to remind myself that it's kind of normal, that it's impossible to play always on the same level.
"Here I just took it match by match. I wasn't expecting maybe too much because of the losses, so that's good. It's not like I lost confidence or something. I still know anything can happen on these tournaments."
Swiatek admitted she lacked rhythm against Davis, who had led 4-1 in the second set, before the Pole fought back to win the final five games.
The 21-year-old won 21 of the final 25 points of the match, securing her 53rd victory of the 2022 season, closing in on Ash Barty's 57 from 2019.
"It wasn't as smooth as in first and second round," Swiatek said. "I'm pretty happy I made it through and could close it in second set and come back. That was pretty important for me.
"For sure she played totally differently than most of the players, which threw me a little bit off the rhythm. But I'm happy I was fighting till the end."
Rafael Nadal says his third-round win over Richard Gasquet was his best of this year's US Open as he works his way back after the abdominal tear that ended his Wimbledon campaign.
Prior to the US Open, Nadal had only played once since withdrawing from the Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios in early July, losing to Borna Coric in Cincinnati.
The second seed got past Rinky Hijikata and Fabio Fognini in four sets in the first two rounds at Flushing Meadows before Saturday's 6-0 6-1 7-5 win over French veteran Richard Gasquet in two hours and 17 minutes.
"My best match in the tournament," Nadal told reporters. "Easy to say that because the other day was tough.
"But important improvement. But I need to keep going. It's a good victory for me. Straight sets for the first time. Third set had been a challenge. He increased the level.
"I went through some difficult moments. That's something that is good that I went through that and saved that moments with a positive feelings. Happy to be in the fourth round, without a doubt."
The victory over Gasquet meant he has progressed to the second week at Flushing Meadows for the 12th time in his career, although he conceded he would need to lift his level to take out the title, starting with Monday's fourth-round match with 22nd seed Frances Tiafoe.
Nadal is gunning for his third major title this calendar year in New York, having triumphed at the Australian Open and French Open.
The 36-year-old's Australian Open success in February came after minimal preparation due to a foot injury, similar to his US Open lead-up due to the abdominal issue.
"I think I played better in Australia than here going to the second week," Nadal said. "But I have zero background in terms of victories and all this stuff.
"Here I played little bit worse than in Australia, without a doubt. But the story of the year and the results on the slams have been incredible, so that helps.
"I don't know the balance, what's better or worse. But all these victories help to be a little bit more confident. It's a moment to increase, to making a step forward."
"Second week against a great player like Frances, I need to be ready to play and to raise my level. I hope to be able to make that happen.
"I know is the right moment to make an improvement if I want to keep having chances to keep going on the tournament."
Top seed Iga Swiatek reached the US Open fourth round for the second time in her career after reeling off the final five games to beat Lauren Davis on Saturday.
The two-time French Open champion, who enjoyed a 37-match winning streak earlier this year, defeated Davis 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 57 minutes.
Swiatek had trailed 3-0 in the second lap but fought back emphatically to seal her passage into the last 16 where she will face either Jule Niemeier or Zheng Qinwen.
The attention in the women's singles has firmly turned to Swiatek, with Serena Williams eliminated along with the second, third and fourth seeds.
The Pole did not disappoint, hitting 25 winners and six aces, albeit with 38 unforced errors and an apparent lack of rhythm.
Swiatek wrapped up the first set in 59 minutes but world number 105 Davis offered a tougher test in the second after breaking in the second game.
The highly favoured Swiatek had to work out to avoid a 4-0 deficit, holding her serve in a 16-point game, but she showed she was back breaking Davis to love to make it 3-4.
Swiatek won 21 of the last 25 points of the match to book her spot in the second week in New York for the second straight year.
Data Slam: Swiatek finding her hard-court groove
The win improved Swiatek's 2022 tally to 53 matches but it also moved her a step closer to becoming the first player since Serena Williams in 2014 to win seven titles in a single year.
Swiatek has not quite reached the same dizzying levels lately since her 37-match winning streak, which was halted in the third round at Wimbledon, with this victory being only her fifth from eight during the hard-court season.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Swiatek – 25/38
Davis – 12/34
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Swiatek – 6/3
Davis – 0/6
BREAK POINTS WON
Swiatek – 3/14
Davis – 1/3
Second seed Rafael Nadal continued his staggering head-to-head domination of Richard Gasquet as he cruised into the fourth round at the US Open with a straight-sets victory on Saturday.
The 22-time major winner was irrepressible across the first two sets before Gasquet rallied in the third, but Nadal triumphed 6-0 6-1 7-5 in two hours and 17 minutes.
The victory means the 2022 Australian Open and French Open champion will face 22nd seed Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round and improves his head-to-head record against Gasquet to 18-0.
Nadal, who had been shaky early against Fabio Fognini last round, was ruthless when it mattered, hitting 35 winners for the match and winning 78 per cent on his first serve.
After dropping the opening sets in his previous two matches against Fognini and Rinky Hijikata, Nadal responded with a flawless first frame that included converting three of six break points.
Gasquet's belief seemed completely gone in the second set, managing no winners, with Nadal in control. The Frenchman ended Nadal's nine-game winning run to loud applause, raising his arms in celebration and probable relief.
Nadal broke early in the third but Gasquet responded to break back, pushing hard in the third set. But the Spaniard's quality shone highlighted by his finesse with a lob helping him claim the decisive break in the 11th game.
Data Slam: Rafa's longevity on show
Saturday's win was Nadal's 30th at night at Arthur Ashe Stadium and took his tally to 22-0 at majors this year, having only withdrawn from Wimbledon due to an abdominal injury. The triumph also saw him progress to the second week at Flushing Meadows for the 12th time in his decorated career, that includes four US Open titles.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Nadal – 35/23
Gasquet – 19/29
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Nadal – 2/8
Gasquet – 1/7
BREAK POINTS WON
Nadal – 7/15
Gasquet – 1/7
Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson stormed up the leaderboard in the second round of LIV Golf Boston but Talor Gooch remains on top one stroke ahead of tour newcomer Joaquin Niemann.
Johnson responded from his opening-day 67 with a seven-under-par round of 63 to move within two strokes of the lead on Saturday at The Oaks.
The 38-year-old American's stand-out day included eight birdies and an eagle on the par-five eighth hole, along with three birdies. Johnson had claimed the outright lead with three holes to play before Gooch regained it.
Gooch, who shared the lead with Matthew Wolff after the first day on Friday, remains on top at 12-under, with Niemann one shot behind and Johnson's round moving him up to 10-under.
Wolff slipped four strokes off the pace after carding 69 for the day, while tour newcomer Cameron Smith also dropped back with a one-under-par round of 69.
Anirban Lahiri is outright fourth at nine-under, with Jason Kokrak carding a five-under-par 65 to move into equal fifth with Bernd Wiesberger and Wolff at eight-under overall.
Johnson's surge along with Gooch's excellent two days means Four Aces GC are top of the standings in the team element at 22-under.
Hy Flyers GC, captained by Phil Mickelson, are second at 19-under led by Wiesberger and Wolff. Mickelson is back at three-over overall ahead of Sunday's final round.
George Russell is targeting a rise through the grid in Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix to usurp Ferrari, who he feels will be focused on catching Max Verstappen in pole position.
Mercedes driver Russell qualified sixth in Saturday's session and will sit alongside Red Bull's Sergio Perez on the third row, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton ahead of him in fourth.
While Russell's season has not lived up to expectations he may have had after joining the team that had dominated F1 prior to Verstappen's 2021 championship success, he has a plan to capitalise on Ferrari's title focus on the opening lap as he believes the Dutchman will not be able to be caught.
That could open the door for Russell and Mercedes to strike a decisive blow, with the Briton also adding he is hoping for high temperatures to result in "as many stops as possible".
"I hope they [Ferrari] put all of their focus on Max because that may leave them vulnerable to be honest, because I think Max is just going to clear off into the distance," he said.
"I think we probably will have a faster car than Ferrari and Checo tomorrow. So, we've got to go for it.
"I hope it's as hot as possible, I hope it's as many stops as possible to give us that opportunity. Some teams did long runs this morning and the degradation seemed better than expected.
"It doesn't take a lot, a couple of degrees of track temperature can swing it one way or another, so as I said, I hope the sun comes out."
Hamilton is equally hopeful of a fight with Ferrari at Zandvoort, though he is not certain the car is ready to be able to compete with those ahead of him.
"We've closed the gap somehow on [a single] lap. I can't really understand why but anyways," he said.
"But I am hoping that that means we are closer and even closer in the race and if we are that would be fantastic.
"If we can fight these guys and have a battle with these three ahead of me, that would be an amazing experience."
Jack Miller claimed a long-awaited pole position and Aleix Espargaro was left "angry and disappointed" after he could only qualify in ninth at the San Marino Grand Prix.
Ducati rider Miller will start at the front of the grid for the first time in four years after he clocked a quickest lap of one minute and 31.889 seconds on a rainy Saturday in Misano.
Francesco Bagnaia was second-fastest - but will start in fifth after being handed a three-place grid penalty - and Enea Bastianini third, with MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo only eighth.
Espargaro, who trails Quartararo by 32 points, will begin Sunday's race in ninth place and says he was not prepared to take any risks in tricky conditions after a crash at Silverstone last month left him with a fractured heel.
Aprilia Racing's Espargaro knows he will have to take a more aggressive approach on race day.
He said: "My guys said, 'Fabio is [just] in front of you'. But I don't care. This is a very special GP. I want to finish on the podium because it's the home race of Aprilia."
The Spaniard added: "When I left pit lane I felt a mix of angry and disappointed. Because to ride in these conditions is very tricky, very dangerous,
"I touched a white line in the first lap and almost flew [off]. So I tried to focus and make no mistakes, go as fast as possible but without risk. And maybe I had to risk a little bit more because ninth place is not good.
"I didn't want to make a stupid mistake like I did in Silverstone, because there are still a lot of points, a lot of races, a lot of days in front of us. It's just qualifying.
"But obviously if it rains tomorrow, I will have to risk a bit more because you get the points, not today.
"I know that if I want to fight for the championship, I need to finish on the podium. So this is what I'm aiming for."
Andrea Dovizioso will start his final MotoGP race before retiring back in 18th.
PROVISIONAL GRID
1. Jack Miller (Ducati) 1:31.889
2. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing) + 0.115
3. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.149
4. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.219
5..Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) + 0.115
6. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.270
7. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.327
8. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) + 0.347
9. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.678
10. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.876
Remco Evenepoel's lead at the Vuelta a Espana was cut on Saturday as reigning champion Primoz Roglic launched a late attack.
Roglic, who is hunting an unprecedented fourth consecutive Vuelta title, had been two minutes and 41 seconds behind Evenepoel heading into stage 14.
Yet with an attack up the final climb of Sierre de La Pandera, at the culmination of a 160-kilometre route, the Slovenian reduced the Belgian's advantage by almost a minute.
Eveneopel stays the favourite with seven stages remaining, but Roglic offered a timely reminder of his power heading into the final week.
It was not all doom and gloom for Evenepoel, who recovered to finish eighth and at least limit his losses.
"It wasn't my best day for sure, I didn't have the best legs, I couldn't accelerate when Roglic went," Evenepoel said.
"I'm still 1:49 ahead in GC, so nothing to really to panic about. I'll try to recover as much as possible and survive tomorrow."
Roglic came third, finishing behind two South Americans in the form of Miguel Angel Lopez and Richard Carapaz, who claimed his second stage win of this year's race.
The INEOS Grenadiers rider held on after being part of a 10-man breakaway, with his climbing prowess coming to the fore.
Carapaz the king of this mountain
Carapaz is the sixth rider to achieve a stage victory ending on La Pandera in La Vuelta, though the first from the Americas. The Ecuadorian is the second rider to have won two stages at this year's race, after Sam Bennett.
With five Grand Tour stage wins to his name, the 29-year-old is top of the charts among South American riders in that regard, too.
STAGE RESULT
1. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Greandiers) 4:09:27
2. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0:08
3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) same time
4. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +0:27
5. Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Greandiers) +0:36
CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS
General Classification
1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 52:21:33
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:49
3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:43
Points Classification
1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 267
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 96
3. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) 96
King of the Mountains
1. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 40
2. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Greandiers) 26
3. Robert Stannard (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 21
Max Verstappen snatched an "unbelievable" pole position for his home Dutch Grand Prix as the Formula One championship leader put on another crowd-pleasing show.
On the eve of the Zandvoort race, Verstappen banished Friday's gearbox failure and put himself in a strong position to push for a repeat of last year's win at the track, edging out Charles Leclerc by 0.021 seconds.
Ferrari's Leclerc joins him on the front row, and the Scuderia's Carlos Sainz took third, ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, with Red Bull's Sergio Perez and the Silver Arrow of George Russell on row three.
Verstappen beat Leclerc's time late in the session, and when Red Bull team-mate Perez crashed on his final lap, that brought out the yellow flags, crushing the hopes of improvement for those on a flying lap.
Asked what it felt like to be on pole, just like he was last year, Verstappen said: "Unbelievable! Especially after yesterday, we had a difficult day but worked really well overnight with the whole team to turn it around.
"A qualifying lap around here is insane. We changed a lot. Yesterday was a bit rushed in FP2 to get the car together, but today the car was enjoyable to drive."
Leclerc had been the fastest in practice on Saturday, and he put himself in the mix to take pole before Verstappen saved his best for late on.
Already 98 points behind title front-runner Verstappen, Leclerc is reasonably doubting his chances of bridging that gap in the remaining races.
He felt Ferrari would have the pace to contend for top spot on the podium this week though, and nothing he experienced on Saturday changed that viewpoint.
Leclerc said: "It was very, very close. Max did a great lap in the end, and our car was getting better and better through qualifying.
"In the beginning I was scared because Max was much quicker than us on used tyres. But in Q3 the car came more together and I did the lap which was enough for P2. Tomorrow is the race and we'll give it our all.
"We are much stronger here compared to last weekend, and that's good to see. Our race pace looks quite strong. It's going to be close with the Red Bulls. We just need to do a great start and then we'll see."
Sainz described his own performance as being "on the limit".
"It wasn't an easy qualification but in the end we did a decent job. It is very tough out there," Sainz said. "The track is especially demanding on the tyres. We have a lot of overheating during the lap, even in the long runs, a lot of degradation.
"Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day. There's going to be a lot going on, even if it's a difficult track to overtake, and there's going to be many options with strategies."
The McLaren of Lando Norris and Haas of Mick Schumacher start from the fourth row, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda's AlphaTauri and Lance Stroll's Aston Martin.
After making it through to Q3, Stroll was unable to put in a lap time due to a technical problem.
QUALIFYING TIMES
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 1:10.342
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.021s
3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.092s
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.306s
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.735s
6. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.805s
7. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.832
8. Mick Schumacher (Haas) +1.100s
9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) +2.214
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Matteo Berrettini outlined his desire to see Roger Federer return to the court as he compared the 20-time grand slam champion to retiring legend Serena Williams.
Federer has not played competitively since losing to Hubert Hurkacz in the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year, and has since undergone his third knee surgery in two years.
But the 41-year-old is hopeful of returning to the court for this month's Laver Cup, where he is set to team up with Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic for Team Europe.
Federer recently shared an encouraging video of a practice session on social media after stepping up his rehabilitation.
With tennis set to lose one legend after Williams' final US Open campaign was ended by Ajla Tomljanovic on Friday, the return of Federer would represent a major boost for the sport.
Speaking after beating Murray in the third round at Flushing Meadows, Berrettini said: "I think I said it so many times. Probably it's never going to be enough. One of the reasons why I'm here now is Roger.
"He was my idol when I was growing up. I was cheering for him, so I want him back really badly.
"He's just like Serena, I guess, one of a kind, you know?
"I wish him a really speedy recovery in whatever he's doing to come back. I wish I could play one more time against him."
Berrettini has lost each of his two tour-level matches against Federer, including a straight-sets defeat at Wimbledon in 2019.
Ian Foster declared New Zealand were back in contention for the Rugby Championship title after his team atoned for last week's shock defeat to Argentina by crushing the Pumas 53-3 in Hamilton.
Having lost three consecutive home Tests for the first time in their history, the All Blacks were under huge pressure to secure a second win of the campaign on Saturday, and they responded in emphatic fashion.
New Zealand restricted their opponents to no tries for the first time this year before blitzing the Pumas in the second half, with Jordie Barrett, Ardie Savea, Brodie Retallick and Beauden Barrett going over after the break to clinch a morale-boosting win.
Foster's future has been the subject of considerable speculation recently, but the All Blacks coach is simply concerned with the result's impact on the championship standings.
Asked whether he felt a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, Foster said: "No. It's the life of a coach.
"All we've done is put ourselves back into contention. From a championship [perspective] we've still got plenty to do, so we'll roll our sleeves up and get stuck into our work.
"It's significant in the Rugby Championship, first and foremost. This championship is important for us, and we put ourselves in a bit of a hole last week.
"We had to respond and to walk away with a bonus point and a big points differential in a tight competition at least keeps us in the race.
"I'm just proud of the way we've worked hard to get our game where we want it to be. It hasn't happened at the speed we'd like it to, but we saw signs of that tonight.
"There is no doubt the team has felt a whole lot of different pressure. I was just proud of the way the guys have hung in there and not got tight under the pressure and played with a bit of ambition."
The All Blacks' dominant success represents just their third Test win of 2022, and prevented Argentina from sealing their first back-to-back victories over their hosts.
Foster was delighted with how his team responded to the criticism coming their way, adding: "It was a big week for us. We had to respond, and I thought we did it in a really ruthless manner.
"There were a lot of questions about putting the same group out again, but I really believe in the direction we're going and am delighted with the response against a pretty enthusiastic Argentina team."
Oscar Piastri described Alpine's attempts to announce him in their 2023 driver line-up as "very upsetting" after motorsport's governing body ruled he could sign for McLaren.
Alpine and McLaren were locked in a battle for the services of the 21-year-old, who was a member of Alpine's junior programme and held reserve status with the team this season.
Both teams were in need of a new driver ahead of the 2023 campaign after Fernando Alonso announced he would be leaving Alpine for Aston Martin, while McLaren agreed an early termination of Daniel Ricciardo's deal.
In August, Alpine announced Piastri as a new driver for next year, only for the Australian to deny he had agreed to take a seat with the team.
Friday's ruling by the FIA's contract recognition board (CRB) left Piastri free to partner Lando Norris for McLaren next year, and he has hit out at Alpine's decision to make what he feels was a "false" announcement regarding his future.
"My decision was made well in advance [of Alonso's departure], which made Alpine's announcement probably even more confusing and upsetting because we had told the team that I wasn't going to continue," Piastri told Formula One's website.
"It was quite upsetting as the announcement was false and it also denied me the opportunity to properly say goodbye to everyone.
"I had been with the team for a bit over two and a half years now, and for the rest of the team to find out I was leaving in that manner was very upsetting.
"I still haven't had the opportunity to say goodbye and it's something I want to do, to show my gratitude to all the men and women at Enstone."
Piastri moved to defend his social media intervention following Alpine's announcement, claiming his decision to speak out was a necessary measure.
"It [the announcement] was done publicly in front of some members of the team who were oblivious to the situation and I didn't want to cause a scene in front of them. It was the biggest moment of my career and probably my life up to now," he said.
"To have that falsely announced was something my management and I felt we had to correct and there was also potential legal implications if we didn't deny the announcement.
"It was not intended to be pointed or in any way anything more than factual. The last line was quite a strong one, but with the CRB ruling, it shows it was purely a fact."
Regarding his decision to seek an exit from Alpine, Piastri pointed to what he described as a "breakdown in trust" between himself and the team's hierarchy.
"To be completely honest, there was a lack of clarity around my future at the team at Alpine," he said. "They publicly stated they wished to continue with Fernando for at least one or two more years. I respect that.
"But after spending the year out, my hopes were firmly set on an Alpine seat and the lack of clarity and, similarly to Fernando, a bit of a strange feeling in negotiations… it didn't feel like it was the right decision for me [to stay].
"The lack of clarity around my future, and ultimately a breakdown in trust, I felt the very attractive offer of McLaren, and the positive dealings with them thus far were all reasons why I felt McLaren was where I was best off for the future."
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