Carlos Alcaraz put his name up in lights in New York as the 18-year-old stunned third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a massive US Open third-round upset.
Spanish teenager Alcaraz scored an astounding 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 0-6 7-6 (7-5) victory in a battle lasting four hours, seven minutes inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday.
French Open runner-up Tsitsipas became the biggest casualty of the men's tournament so far as hot prospect Alcaraz showed his mettle on the grand slam stage at Flushing Meadows.
It means Alcaraz, rated by many as Spain's best young male player since Rafael Nadal first emerged, has reached the fourth round of a major for the first time in his career.
He becomes the youngest player to reach the last 16 of the US Open since Americans Michael Chang and Pete Sampras in 1989.
The US Open said the win made Alcaraz the youngest man to beat a top-three opponent at the tournament since the ATP introduced its world ranking system in 1973.
Alcaraz put a dire fourth set behind him and looked to have won the match with a lob at 6-4 in the deciding tie-break, but his ball landed a whisker long.
That meant the players were back on serve, but Alcaraz was unbowed and sealed victory with a scorching forehand winner, announcing himself as a likely superstar of the near future. He struck 61 winners in all.
He will face German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk in the fourth round, with a quarter-final place at stake.
Speaking on court after his win, Alcaraz hailed the supportive New York spectators who were firmly in his corner.
"I think without this crowd I haven't the possibility to win this match," he said. "Thank you to you the crowd for pushing me up in the fifth set
"It has been an incredible feeling for me. This victory means a lot to me. It's the best match of my career, the best win.
"For me to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas is a dream come true for me and to do it here is more special."
LaMarcus Aldridge will make a dramatic comeback to the NBA after doctors cleared him to rejoin the Brooklyn Nets, it was revealed on Friday.
Seven-time All-Star Aldridge announced his immediate retirement in April after experiencing a major health scare.
Aldridge revealed that he played against the Los Angeles Lakers while dealing with an irregular heartbeat – an issue that became worse following the 126-101 defeat for the Nets.
Now he is reported to have agreed a one-year deal worth $2.6million, with the 36-year-old eager to get back into action.
In a statement to ESPN, Aldridge said: "I retired in April based on what I believed was the wisest precautionary decision for my personal health at the time, but further testing and evaluation by several top physicians has convinced the doctors, myself and the Nets that I'm fully cleared and able to return to the rigours of the NBA.
"I loved my brief time with Brooklyn and am excited to rejoin the team in pursuit of a championship."
There was no immediate comment from the Nets, who earlier in the day requested waivers on forward Alize Johnson.
The about-turn in Aldridge's plans was not quite as surprising as his initial announcement that his career was over, with recent reports having suggested it was in the offing.
Aldridge only joined the Nets at the end of March as a free agent, averaging 12.8 points in five games after agreeing a contract buyout with the San Antonio Spurs.
He said at the time of his retirement that, despite doctors dealing effectively with his immediate health concern, the aftermath of the Lakers game "was still one of the scariest things I've experienced".
He added, back in April: "For 15 years, I've put basketball first, and now it is time to put my health and family first."
Aldridge, drafted second in the 2006 draft by the Chicago Bulls, was swiftly traded to the Portland Trail Blazers and had nine seasons in Oregon before moving on to San Antonio.
He has career per-game averages of 19.4 points and 8.2 rebounds, with a game high of 56 points, hitting 352 double-doubles.
He stands 49 points short of reaching 20,000, an early target for when he gets back on the court.
Ian Foster has challenged Jordie Barrett to bring a "calmness" to New Zealand at full-back when they attempt to complete a Bledisloe Cup clean sweep of Australia on Sunday.
The All Blacks racked up a record score against the Wallabies to win the Bledisloe Cup for a 19th successive year at Eden Park last month, winning 57-22.
Head coach Foster has made five changes to his side for the rearranged clash at Optus Stadium, with expectant fathers Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith and Richie Mo'unga absent.
Barrett has got the nod over Damian McKenzie, while Brad Weber gets his second start at scrum-half and Ardie Savea has been named captain for the rest of the Rugby Championship, with Sam Cane injured.
Foster said: "We've been pretty happy with Damian at the back in terms of his influence in the first-receiver role and some of his decision-making from behind. Jordie we know is a quality player. We get asked a lot of questions decision-making-wise on attack and defence at 15, and that's probably his biggest work-on.
"We know he's a great individual athlete who can do some pretty special things, it's just about bringing that calmness to the back and making sure we have real clarity. There is a nice little battle going there at full-back."
Samu Kerevi returns at inside centre for Australia, while Izack Rodda will make his return from the bench and Folau Fainga'a makes his first start of the year.
Stats Perform use Opta facts to preview the Rugby Championship showdown in Perth.
AUSTRALIA V NEW ZEALAND
Form
New Zealand showed no mercy as they put Australia to the sword in Auckland last time out.
The Wallabies have fond memories of facing their trans-Tasman rivals at Optus Stadium, having scored their highest points total against the All Blacks two years ago in a 47-26 triumph.
New Zealand have lost only one of their past seven Tests against Australia (W5, D1), that 24-22 loss coming at Suncorp Stadium last November.
Foster's men have scored 50 points or more in four of their five Tests this year. The last time the All Blacks brought up a half-century of points more times in a calendar year was when they did so on five occasions in 2007.
Ones to watch
Kerevi has not played for his country since a heavy defeat to England at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The centre's international career looked to be over when he moved to Japan but he is back on the Test stage as he replaces Matt Toomua.
Explosive powerhouse Kerevi, who will partner Len Ikitau, will be expected to make a big impact in the midfield battle.
Foster's pre-match words will be ringing in the ears of Jordie Barrett as he prepares to start in the 15 shirt.
Barrett has scored 106 points in 27 Tests, including 15 tries, and is capable of tormenting Australia.
NHL stars are set to return to Olympic ice hockey at Beijing next February after being forced to miss the 2018 Winter Games, it was revealed on Friday.
An agreement was struck after months of discussions between the NHL, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
At the time of players being barred from competing at PyeongChang three years ago, it was reported the main sticking points were the cost of insuring and transporting players while on Olympic duty.
The International Olympic Committee said, in announcing the return of elite stars from the NHL, that it was "travel costs, television timings in North America, and league scheduling" that had prevented their participation last time out.
Full details of the new deal that will allow NHL stars to travel to China have yet to be disclosed, and players could yet be prevented from travelling if COVID-19 circumstances concern the league.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said: "We understand how passionately NHL players feel about representing and competing for their countries.
"We are very pleased that we were able to conclude arrangements that will allow them to resume best on best competition on the Olympic stage."
IIHF president Rene Fasel hailed the commitment, saying: "I know that I can speak for hockey fans around the world when I say that we absolutely welcome the decision to bring back best-on-best ice hockey to the Olympics.
"We had many constructive discussions, and a lot of hard work was put into making this happen within the time we set for ourselves, and I want to thank all parties involved for their support and commitment."
Players from the NHL had previously featured at each Games from Nagano 1998 through to Sochi 2014, before their absence was keenly felt in South Korea. The Winter Olympics ice hockey programme in 2022 is due to run from February 3-20, with the NHL having cleared a block in its season to allow for stars to compete.
The NHL and NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) indicated in a statement that any COVID-19 doubts could mean there is a change to their stance further down the line.
The statement read: "The agreement allows for the possibility of a later decision to withdraw in the event evolving COVID conditions are deemed by the NHL/NHLPA to render participation by NHL players to be impractical or unsafe."
With Canada and the United States hamstrung by having to field weakened teams in PyeongChang, it was the Olympic Athletes from Russia team who took gold in the men's final, beating Germany after overtime. Canada won bronze, with the United States exiting in the quarter-finals.
The 2021-22 NHL regular season is due to run from October 12 to April 29.
Primoz Roglic heads into the final weekend of the Vuelta a Espana with a third successive title within touching distance, while Magnus Cort won stage 19 on Friday.
Danish rider Cort, who also triumphed on stages six and 12, was the quickest man in a breakaway, holding off Rui Oliveira and Quinn Simmons to clinch victory in Monforte de Lemos.
EF Education-Nippo team-mate Lawson Craddock powered out to lead the final sprint and though Simmons attacked with 200 metres to go, it was Cort who caught the slipstream to claim a dramatic win by a bike length at the culmination of a 191.2-kilometre stage.
Cort, who won two stages in the 2016 Vuelta and one in 2020, said: "It's amazing, it's a dream now, I really hope I don't wake up. It was not before the last five or six kilometres that I started believing.
"They always kept us close and it was a really hard day. We didn't always work perfect together in the front, we had a few attacks that reduced the size of the group.
"I think everybody had tired legs and it was hard to work together in this hilly terrain but somehow we managed to hang onto it."
Roglic kept his general classification competitors at arm's length as he retained his grasp on La Roja heading into the last two stages, finishing 18 seconds behind the leaders.
Saturday's mountain stage could still cause problems, while Roglic has been hurt by time trials in grand tours before – the 2020 Tour de France was settled in Tadej Pogacar's favour in such a manner – but the Slovenian looks well placed to make it three Vuelta wins in a row.
Roglic's family were on hand to witness him receive the 50th overall leader jersey of his career, and the Olympic gold medallist knows he is on the verge of a remarkable achievement.
"It’s beautiful to have my family here. They are my life and I'm very happy," he said.
"It was a hard day from the start to the finish. A super strong break went away. For us, it was fine, and we could take it easy. But La Vuelta is coming to an end so there aren’t much opportunities left.
"The sprinters' teams pulled with a super hard tempo. It's crazy [that this is my 50th Grand Tour leader’s jersey]. Hopefully I can keep it."
STAGE RESULT
1. Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) 04:24:54
2. Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) same time
3. Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) same time
CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS
General Classification
1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 77:49:37
2. Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:30
3. Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) +2:53
Points Classification
1. Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) 250
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 162
3. Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) 144
King of the Mountains
1. Michael Storer (Team DSM) 59
2. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) 54
3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 48
What's next?
Saturday's route is a monster. A 202.2km stage from Sanxenxo to Mos. Castro de Herville takes in five short but difficult climbs after a relatively flat start.
Lewis Hamilton knows Mercedes are "on the back foot" after he broke down in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix on Friday.
Hamilton set the pace in the first session at Zandvoort, but lost power after completing just three laps of an FP2 that was halted by a red flag due to Nikita Mazepin going into the Turn 11 gravel.
The seven-time Formula One world champion, who leads Max Verstappen by only three points in the battle for the title, was not overly concerned by the setback as Mercedes investigated the issue.
Asked if he knew what the cause of the problem was, the Brit replied: “Not yet. I was just in there [the garage], I just lost power, so they just told me to stop, but it’s not the end of the world.
"It's been a beautiful day in terms of weather, it's amazing to see the crowd – there's so many people here – it's good to see people hyped and the first time we’ve see the full, full energy.
"Not full yet, but we’ll probably see it in the next few days – all the energy the Dutch fans bring.
"It's more annoying that we only got like 20 minutes of running with that red flag. It naturally puts us on the back foot, but Valtteri [Bottas] looked like he had a good session so probably tomorrow we can try and fill in, make up for some of the time, hopefully.”
Charles Leclerc was fastest in the second session, but Verstappen believes he could have been top of the timesheets in his homeland if the red flag had not been waved.
Red Bull driver Verstappen, who was fifth-fastest, said: "I don’t think it looks very representative from our side in the short run. My lap was on a used set, and the lap I had to abort I think would have been good enough for first.
"Already after one lap, the tyres do drop off a bit. Nevertheless, we will work on a few things where we were not entirely happy in the short runs. But long run looks competitive, so that is always very important."
David Patten, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, has died at the age of 47, his agent has confirmed.
Patten played for the Patriots between 2001 and 2004 and won three Championship rings with the franchise.
He had previously played for the Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants and went on to have spells in Washington and New Orleans before returning to Ohio and then New England to round off his career as an offseason and practice squad member.
The former wide receiver, who had been the assistant coach of the Western Carolina Catamounts since 2013, cemented his place in Pats history when he caught Tom Brady's first postseason touchdown pass to put New England 14-3 ahead against the St. Louis Rams in 2002.
New England went on to win 20-17, with the catch the only one Patten made in the game. It was Brady's first Super Bowl success, and the quarterback went on to become an all-time great, winning the Championship game on seven occasions, most recently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year.
Patten tallied up 4,715 regular-season receiving yards over a 12-year career in the NFL, and 106 for rushing.
On Friday, news of his passing was confirmed by Sam Gordon, who runs the G2 Management agency of which Patten was a client.
"Today, I woke up to the worst news you could hear," Gordon posted on Instagram, alongside a photo of himself and Patten.
"My close friend and childhood hero David Patten passed away suddenly last night.
"Very rarely do people get to call their childhood heroes/favorite players their friends. Or even have them take a chance on you. You blessed with me with that. You blessed me with your belief in me when I was getting my company off of the ground.
"But most important of all, you were there to talk when the stress was too great and I was unsure of myself in my field. Mr Patten. My friend, my hero, the first one to believe in me as a manager/agent. I will miss you every day.
"Thank you David Patten. Thank you so much for your friendship, your inspiration, believing in me and trusting me to be your manager."
Richard Seymour, who was Patten's team-mate during his stint with the Patriots, tweeted: "heartbroken... great man of God… lost for words – David Patten..."
Christian Horner has revealed that Williams and Alfa Romeo have expressed an interest in signing Alex Albon for the 2022 Formula One season.
Albon lost his Red Bull seat to Sergio Perez at the end of last season and was relegated to the role of reserve driver.
With Kimi Raikkonen retiring and George Russell strongly fancied to replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes, Albon could be back on the grid next year.
Red Bull boss Horner hopes Albon gets another chance and will help the 25-year-old kickstart his career.
Horner said: "I think Alex, he deserves a seat in Formula One next year and I think there's quite a bit of interest in him for next year and we'll do whatever we can to try and enable that.
"I hope that nothing prevents him from realising one of those opportunities. He's a talented driver; it's subject to George moving. Kimi's retiring – that does open up opportunities – so I am sure it will get resolved over the next week or so.
"We're looking at external teams. Williams and Alfa have both expressed interest and yes, we're keen to see him back racing in Formula One, and hopefully that can get resolved over the next few days."
Horner added: "We’ll be supportive of [Albon] racing elsewhere. I hope that Mercedes don't prevent that from happening. He deserves that chance. So, we're doing our best to help him and we’ll see what happens."
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff insisted he would not stand in Albon's way of a place on the grid despite their backing of Nyck de Vries, the 2019 Formula Two champion who is vying to make the step up.
"I would never block someone like Alex Albon," said Wolff. "He's a fantastic guy, personality is great, I was personally sad to see him going [in 2020], and if he has a chance in a Formula One car I think that's the right thing to do.
"But equally, maybe Nyck has. So we'll have to look at the open spaces at Alfa and at Williams and try to find a solution."
Richard Cockerill and Anthony Seibold have joined Eddie Jones' England coaching set-up.
Former Leicester Tigers and Edinburgh head coach Cockerill has been appointed as forwards coach and will work alongside Matt Proudfoot.
Australian Seibold takes over as defence coach following John Mitchell's departure for Premiership club Wasps.
Seibold switches codes, with his most recent role being as head coach of NRL side Brisbane Broncos.
England head coach Jones said: "We're two years from the World Cup so we wanted to freshen up our coaching team and get the right people in place for where we want to go – which is to win the World Cup.
"We've added Richard to the team to work with Matt to create a dominant forward pack. He's a former England player, has great coaching experience and comes in as a well-rounded, mature, driven English coach."
Jones said of his compatriot Seibold: "Anthony is a coach that I have had a relationship with since 2019 and have followed his career closely.
"He is a good coach and thinks deeply about the game. John Mitchell did a great job improving us in defence and Anthony will add further nuances to the good system that he has put into place.
"It's an exciting time for rugby with the new season starting, supporters back in the stadium and the return of the grassroots game this weekend – with the rugby community celebrating being back together at Pitch Up for Rugby events around the country. We're looking forward to getting the squad back together and growing this England team."
Novak Djokovic says he was not acting like a "spoiled brat" when he complained about a rowdy spectator during his US Open defeat of Tallon Griekspoor.
World number one Djokovic took another stride towards a first calendar Grand Slam and a record 21st major title by beating Dutchman Griekspoor 6-2 6-3 6-2 in the second round on Thursday.
Top seed Djokovic, who will face Kei Nishikori in the third round, had to contend with a member of the crowd trying to unsettle him in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
He shouted as the Serb went for an overhead smash that he missed and continued to be vocal during points, prompting Djokovic to express his grievances with the chair umpire.
Djokovic feels it is important to make it clear that sort of behaviour should not be tolerated.
"When tennis players talk about that, someone who is watching team sports would say, 'What a spoiled brat'," the three-time US Open champion said.
"But it's a different sport. Look, there's a lot of noise happening on the stadium, particularly in the night sessions. I don't mind that.
"Even sometimes during the point it happens that people out of excitement, they just scream, or they release like a sound or whatever, sigh, whatever you call it. And that's fine.
"But if someone intentionally does it over and over again, then I have tolerance up to a certain point, then it's not correct, then it's not fine. It's not fair. I feel like it's not good for us players.
"I mean, particularly that guy for some reason was calling, raising the sound and kind of screaming just before I would hit my smash, which was a big point. Before that he would do [it] a few times. After that again.
"That wasn't nice. That's all. I don't mind the noise. Don't get me wrong. I think it's important for the entertainment, for the crowds, the music.
"I get it. But if someone does it over and over again, particularly when you are at his side, he knows why he's doing it. The guy that I pointed out, he knew exactly what he was doing, and that's all."
Novak Djokovic welcomed the ongoing 'GOAT' discussion alongside Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer after the world number one took another step towards an historic grand slam title at the US Open.
Djokovic, Nadal and Federer share the most men's slams in history with 20 but the former has the chance to break the record at Flushing Meadows, where the top seed dismantled unheralded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2 6-3 6-2 in the second round on Thursday.
Serb star Djokovic is also bidding to become just the third man to complete a calendar Grand Slam and the first to sweep all four majors in a year since Rod Laver in 1969.
It is widely debated who is the greatest player of all time among Djokovic, Nadal and Federer – the latter two are both absent from this year's US Open due to injury.
After reaching the third round in New York, Djokovic was asked who the better player on a neutral surface is, given Nadal's clay-court dominance and Federer's grass-court expertise.
"It's difficult to say who is better. Three of us, we're all so different. We have different styles," Djokovic said during his post-match news conference.
"We have different trajectories or journeys to where we are at this moment. We all had tremendous success, some more particularly on one surface, some the other surface.
"We do complement each other. I think the rivalry between the big three, so to say, it's phenomenal for our sport.
"So the more traction, the more conversation there is around the three of us, the GOAT discussion, et cetera, the better in general for our sport. I hope people still keep on talking about it."
Djokovic added: "I think actually one of the best I think images that I've ever seen from tennis is them [Nadal and Federer] playing on a half-grass, half-clay court.
"I thought that was fantastic. Whoever came up with the idea was genius. As a tennis fan, I enjoyed that very much."
Djokovic hit 33 winners, fired down 13 aces and broke six times throughout a dominant performance against Griekspoor under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights.
The 34-year-old also improved to 53-1 against non-top 100 opponents at majors, while he is now 13-0 against them at the US Open.
Kei Nishikori awaits Djokovic, who owns a 17-2 head-to-head record against the 2014 US Open runner-up.
"We played many times. I have very good score against him," Djokovic said of Nishikori. "I lost I think last time here in New York in semis in 2014. Historically I think his most successful grand slam is here. He's one of the quickest and most-talented players that I've seen in my lifetime, in my career.
"I think it's important for me to serve well and try to take off the pace a little bit because he likes the pace. He likes to hit the ball early, protect the line. But I know his game well. We played in Olympic Games. I know what's expecting me. I look forward to a good challenge."
History-chasing world number one Novak Djokovic cruised through to the third round of the US Open at the expense of Tallon Griekspoor 6-2 6-3 6-2.
Djokovic is bidding to become just the third man to complete a calendar Grand Slam and the first to sweep all four majors in a year since Rod Laver in 1969.
The top seed, who is also pursuing a record-breaking 21st slam crown – currently level with injured stars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on 20 – outclassed Griekspoor in one hour, 39 minutes on Thursday.
Awaiting Djokovic is 2014 US Open finalist and Japanese star Kei Nishikori in the third round.
Djokovic, who withstood a spirited challenge from Holger Rune in the opening round before the teenager succumbed to cramps, asserted his dominance against Griekspoor from the outset on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Boasting a 14-0 record in second-round matches at the US Open, Djokovic only lost one point on his first serve in the opening set and fired down five aces, while hitting 13 winners and converting two of his three break points.
While world number 121 Griekspoor managed to break Djokovic's serve in the second set, the Serb was typically efficient as he builds towards another shot at history in New York.
Coming to the net more in the third set, Djokovic was determined to get off the court as quickly as possible and he did just that – saving three break points en route to another third-round appearance at the year's final slam.
Data slam: Djokovic continues strong record
The 34-year-old came into the contest with a 52-1 slam record against non-top 100 opponents. Djokovic improved to 53-1 – his lone loss to world number 117 Denis Istomin at the 2017 Australian Open – and a perfect 13-0 at the US Open with his straight-sets victory.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Djokovic – 33/20
Griekspoor – 20/28
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Djokovic – 13/5
Griekspoor – 5/2
BREAK POINTS WON
Djokovic – 6/10
Griekspoor – 1/4
World number one Ash Barty said her serving struggles are "not a concern" after advancing to the US Open third round.
Barty continued her quest for a third grand slam title and first US Open crown with a 6-1 7-5 win over teenage prodigy Clara Tauson on Thursday.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Barty hit 33 winners and fired down 11 aces to see off the 18-year-old on Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Barty, though, had to stave off a late challenge just like the top seed did against Vera Zvonareva in the opening round.
After she faltered to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set of her victory over Tauson, Barty said: "It's happened a few times, but I have won 40-odd matches [this year] and it hasn’t happened a lot.
"It's just a few of those games I haven't been able to get up and hit my spots on first serves.
"When you give good players looks at second serves, you're going to get hurt. It's simple as that. It’s not a concern."
Barty leads the WTA Tour this season for titles won (five), match victories (42), finals reached (six), aces (319) and top-10 wins (seven).
"There's room for improvement, without a doubt, but there's room for improvement every single day," said Barty, who has never reached the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows.
"Credit to her, she was a little bit more aggressive in that second set. I got a little bit passive and just let my energy drop and allowed her back in.
"We'll go back and have a chat about the matches and, once we get back on the practice court, try and fix a few things up, trust myself and trying to continue to play how I want to play."
Next up for Australian star Barty is either 2020 US Open quarter-finalist Shelby Rogers or Sorana Cirstea.
The Brooklyn Nets have added another All-Star to the mix, agreeing to a deal with veteran forward Paul Millsap.
Millsap's agent DeAngelo Simmons confirmed the move to The Athletic and other outlets, and the player posted an image of himself in a Brooklyn uniform on his Instagram page on Thursday.
The 36-year-old Millsap is entering his 16th NBA season, spending the first seven years of his career with the Utah Jazz before four seasons each with the Atlanta Hawks and the Denver Nuggets.
His best years came in Atlanta, where he made the All-Star team all four seasons.
Millsap's playing time steadily diminished in Denver last season as he lost his starting job and ended up averaging just 20.8 minutes and 9.0 points per game – his lowest since his second year in the league.
At this stage of his career, Millsap will be a complementary player on a loaded Brooklyn team that also features Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Blake Griffin.
He effectively steps into the role vacated by fellow veteran Jeff Green, who averaged 11 points in 27 minutes for Brooklyn last season before signing a two-year deal with the Nuggets last month.
Joining the star-studded Nets squad gives Millsap a strong chance to make the NBA Finals for the first time in his career. He has been on teams that reached the conference finals three times, but his team never won more than one game in any of those series.
Potentially finishing his career with a contender was a priority for Millsap, as The Athletic reports he also considered the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls.
Alexander Zverev believes his comeback victory over Novak Djokovic at the Olympics has paved the way for his fine start at the US Open.
Zverev came from a set down to defeat world number one Djokovic 1-6 6-3 6-1 at the semi-final stage in Tokyo, with the German going on to claim gold by beating Karen Khachanov in straight sets.
The world number four carried the winning form to Cincinnati, triumphing at the Western and Southern Open, and has made a smooth start at Flushing Meadows, where he lost out to Dominic Thiem in last year's final.
Zverev did not offer up a single break point in a dominant first-round win over Sam Querrey, and lost only four games when cruising past Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1 6-0 6-3 on Thursday.
"The process started at the Olympics for me, and the match against Novak," Zverev told reporters.
"That kind of started it off, because I was down badly, and I managed to win with great tennis.
"It was very important for me to kind of back it up in Cincinnati, because a lot of the times players that for the first time in their career win something really big like a grand slam title or a gold medal, they do tend to go downhill a little bit.
"So it was important for me to go to Cincinnati, to a place where I have never won a match before this year, and have a great tournament."
Another motivation for Zverev is the cruel fashion in which he lost to Thiem last year, when he surrendered a two-set lead.
"I mean I was the first man in 785 years to lose a US Open from two sets to love up and being a break up in the third set, serving for it in the fifth set, being two points away multiple times, it was painful," Zverev said with a smile.
"I still remember it, I remember it every single time I walk on this board but I take it as motivation because I'm back here to hopefully play a great tournament and win a grand slam title, that's what I’m here to do."
Zverev has now tallied up 40 wins in 2021 and 13 on the bounce, though the 24-year-old - who could meet Djokovic in the semi-finals - knows he has to maintain his strong service game to keep his best tennis.
"My serve is kind of the key to my game. When it's working I'm playing great. When it's not, I'm losing matches like I did at Wimbledon," he said.
"It's no secret that my serve is probably the most important shot in my game, and I'm happy with how it's working. The matches are not going to get easier and I will need that to be my weapon.
"I think it was always a problem of mine at the beginning of my career that I always spent a lot of hours, a lot of time in the beginning of grand slam tournaments. So it's nice to have two matches, winning [them] in straight sets."
Miguel Angel Lopez sealed a first stage victory of the 2021 Vuelta a Espana for Movistar as Primoz Roglic came second to increase his lead in the general classification.
The demanding 18th stage concluded with a 14.6-kilometre climb - and it was with roughly with four to go that Lopez made his move.
With a group of the world's best riders not far behind and primed to take advantage should he ultimately come up short, the Colombian knew he would likely need to maintain his aggression all the way to the finish.
And despite the chasing pack edging a little closer in the latter stages, Lopez did enough to cross the line up in the clouds at the summit finish on Altu d'El Gamoniteiru, ending up 14 seconds clear.
Missing out on first place will have been of little concern for Roglic, however, as the two-time Vuelta winner added another few seconds to his overall advantage over Lopez's Movistar team-mate Enric Mas as he enjoyed a strong conclusion to the last major climb of the race.
Despite finishing well, Roglic stressed just how difficult Thursday's outing was after a superb effort when winning stage 17, while he was happy to be done with the high mountains at the Vuelta for 2021.
"It felt like a queen stage, it was really hard, especially after yesterday's effort," he said. "It was extremely hard for me and I'm happy that I had something left to climb this mountain.
"We were off duty [with Bahrain Victorious and Movistar Team pulling the peloton]. In my opinion, we could have gone easier! It was a hard pace and a hard day from start to finish.
"I'm happy we're done with the big mountains. We're all feeling the efforts from the last two days and the three weeks before.
"Still there are hard stages to come. Hopefully, we can do our best and finish it off."
STAGE RESULT
1. Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) 04:41:21
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +0:14
3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +0:20
CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS
General Classification
1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 73:24:25
2. Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:30
3. Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) +2:53
Points Classification
1. Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) 250
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 162
3. Matteo Trentin (UAE-Team Emirates) 123
King of the Mountains
1. Michael Storer (Team DSM) 59
2. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) 54
3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 48
What's next?
Friday's 191.2km route from Tapia to Monforte de Lemos could be decisive. Considered "hilly" rather than mountainous, the peloton is likely to be tired after the exploits of Thursday, meaning opportunities for breakaways should be presented.
Kimi Raikkonen says he "wouldn't change a single thing" about his Formula One career and does not expect to miss racing once he retires at the end of the season.
The 2007 world champion announced on Wednesday that this will be his final campaign.
Finn Raikkonen made his debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and has gone on to start a record 341 races, winning 21 and finishing on the podium 103 times.
The 41-year-old Alfa Romeo driver insists he will walk away with no regrets.
Asked what his biggest strength as a driver is, he said: "I don't know if I have one! I had a good run, I'm happy with what I achieved.
"Obviously you want to win and it's not easy to win. I wanted to win a championship, I got close quite a few times and managed to win it with Ferrari, so happy that it happened, especially with them.
"But the rest, strength or not strength, I don't care. I had fun and I did it my way, and I wouldn't change a single thing even if I could, because otherwise then maybe we wouldn't be sitting here today if you changed one thing along the way. No complaints – I cannot really complain."
Raikkonen has not thought about what comes next – and is certainly in no rush to commit to anything other than his family.
He said: "No plans. I don't want to have some schedule put on, because obviously the last 18, 19 years in F1, since I started, I did rally in those two years [away from F1 in 2010 and 2011], there was always a schedule, always what is coming next and what is this date and that date. So I don't want that.
"That's for sure one of the big reasons why I want to also do something else. Obviously, there's other schedules: family, the kids' schools and kindergartens and that stuff.
"But I don't want the family life to be dictated by when is the next race or test or flight or next work. I'm not in a rush, and I've not even thought about it at all.
"Obviously I've known this situation for quite a while, so there's always obviously opportunities to do this or do that, but right now I'm not interested to even think about it."
He added: "Will I miss the racing? I don't know. I've done it so long that I doubt that I'll start to miss it that much."
The US Open was mounting a clean-up and safety check operation on Thursday after being affected by a deadly storm that struck New York City.
There would be no play before 12:00 local time (16:00 GMT), an hour later than matches usually get under way, and spectators were told they would not be allowed into the grounds until 11:00 at the earliest.
Severe weather hit New York and New Jersey on Wednesday, with the tail-end of Hurricane Ida striking the area and causing at least nine deaths.
Eight of those deaths recorded in New York resulted from basements flooding, the New York Post reported, with the flash flooding causing chaos in large parts of the city. At one point, 3.15 inches of rain fell in an hour, a record for the Big Apple.
Tournament organisers were carrying out inspections to determine whether safety of visitors to the Flushing Meadows grounds could be assured.
The US Open said in a statement: "We appreciate your patience as we evaluate the readiness of our site. The safety of our fans, players and staff is of the utmost importance.
"We will be issuing an update to the schedule including gate opening and match start times. The current plan will not open gates before 11:00 am."
The storms were so unusually powerful on Wednesday that the late-night match between Kevin Anderson and Diego Schwartzman on the covered Louis Armstrong Stadium was affected by rain, with water gusting in through openings despite the protection.
It was moved to Arthur Ashe Stadium to be completed, with its original court left drenched.
Transport in New York early on Thursday was proving problematic, with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, responsible for the local bus and subway system, announcing an "extremely limited" service and urging customers to "stay home if you can".
Ash Barty and Novak Djokovic, along with Olympic champions Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic, are among those due in action on Thursday.
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