Felix Auger-Aliassime climbed to sixth in the ATP Finals chase as he earned yet another title at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

The Canadian had not won any of his eight career finals before this season, but he has now come through four of five in 2022.

Three of those have been in Auger-Aliassime's past three tournament entries, as he followed up successes in Florence and Antwerp by beating Holger Rune on Sunday.

Rune had himself won last time out against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Stockholm final, but he was brushed aside by Auger-Aliassime 6-3 7-5.

The world number nine threatened to wrap up the victory in double quick time as he raced through the opener, with Rune responding in the second set to drag the match out to 100 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime fended off a break point early in the second and two more later in the set, protecting his serve throughout and then going on the offensive.

The fourth of four break opportunities at 5-5 was seized, and Auger-Aliassime – fresh from beating world number one Carlos Alcaraz – served out the match at the third attempt.

The 22-year-old has never previously made the season-ending Finals but moved ahead of Andrey Rublev with his latest success.

The Seattle Seahawks are hoping to have DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett – their leading two pass-catchers – available against the New York Giants on Sunday.

The Week 8 matchup pits two of the NFL's surprise packages against one another, with the Giants 6-1 in the NFC East as the Seahawks lead the NFC West at 4-3 despite trading quarterback Russell Wilson.

Seattle have received a boost ahead of welcoming the Giants to Lumen Field, as both Metcalf and Lockett could feature.

Metcalf was carted off in last week's win against the Los Angeles Chargers with a patellar tendon injury, prompting fears he could miss an extended period.

But the wide receiver avoided surgery, and ESPN's Adam Schefter reported he would face the Giants, while NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said he has "a good chance".

Metcalf has caught only two touchdown passes this season after a career-high 12 last year, although his 418 receiving yards rank in the league's top 25.

He trails team-mate Lockett, who has 468 yards and two TDs and also should play on Sunday.

Lockett has been managing both hamstring and rib injuries, but Schefter expects him to play. Rapoport described him as "a game-time decision" but with "some optimism he goes".

Elsewhere in the NFL, early reporting on Sunday had Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams and Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons both on course to play despite previously being listed as questionable.

Adams, whose Raiders go to the New Orleans Saints, was ill, while Parsons has been dealing with a shoulder injury ahead of the Cowboys hosting the Chicago Bears.

Vasiliy Lomachenko says he is "ready" to face undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney after defeating Jamaine Ortiz on his return from military service in Ukraine.

Three-time lightweight champion Lomachenko returned to defend his homeland in Ukraine after the invasion by Russia, before resuming his career on Saturday with a unanimous decision victory over Ortiz.

The 34-year-old will now eye a clash with Haney, who was in attendance at Madison Square Garden in New York and outlined his hopes for fighting Lomachenko, stating "hopefully we can get it on".

"I will be ready," replied Lomachenko, who reportedly rejected a major title unification with George Kambosos earlier this year, instead opting to return to Ukraine and enlist for the Territorial Defence force.

Lomachenko added on his return against Ortiz: "I'm happy to be back in the ring and make this great show. He is a tough fighter, he is a good fighter."

As for the mouthwatering prospect of a clash between Lomachenko and Haney, the Ukrainian's promoter Bob Arum suggested a potential clash would be a meeting between the two best lightweights.

"The fight to make in the lightweight division is Haney versus Lomachenko," Arum said.

"We will do everything we can to make the undisputed championship showdown that all fight fans want to see. They are the world’s premier lightweights, and it would be a fantastic battle."

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Lomachenko is expected to return to Ukraine to help his home country.

Captain Sam Cane and hooker Dane Coles have been ruled out of New Zealand's tour of Europe.

Flanker Cane suffered two cheekbone fractures in a 38-31 win over Japan at the National Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday.

The vastly experienced Coles missed that victory after suffering a calf injury prior to kick-off and he will return home along with Cane.

Billy Harmon has been called up to the squad ahead of a Test against Wales at the Principality Stadium next Saturday.

Wing Leicester Fainga'anuku will also join up with the All Blacks for that Test in Cardiff after leaving the squad in Japan for family reasons.

The Rugby Championship winners will face Scotland and England next month after doing battle with Wayne Pivac's side.

New Zealand head coach Ian Foster said: "It will create a great opportunity for the likes of a Dalton Papali'i and he's in good form. It's the reality of rugby, you always want to get through your first couple of games injury free.

"It hasn't worked out this way, and it doesn't change the challenges coming up."

The All Blacks will appeal against Brodie Retallick's red card for a clean-out on loose forward Kazuki Himeno in the 65th minute of the win over the Brave Blossoms, with a hearing likely to take place on Tuesday.

Max Verstappen knows pole position at the Mexican Grand Prix does not guarantee first place, as the Formula One world champion aims to claim a 14th win of the season.

Of Verstappen's 13 race wins in 2022, nine have come without the Dutchman starting on pole, which has seen him surpass Lewis Hamilton's calendar-year record (eight in 2019).

Verstappen will, though, start from the front in Mexico City on Sunday.

Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualified in second and third respectively, though Verstappen does not expect pole position to dictate who wins the race.

"I've started, I guess, everywhere except pole here, and we won the races, so it is always important to have a good start around here," Verstappen told reporters.

"I think our top speed is not too bad to defend, at least, when people are in the draft. We just need to focus on that and honestly, I think if we have a good race pace, then it will be a good fight. 

"We don't know [about the race pace] because we've been driving on these development tyres, so it's a bit difficult to tell. But I think the car we had [on Saturday], I'm expecting it to be alright."

Red Bull will match their longest winning streak in F1 should they clinch a ninth straight victory – only in 2013 have they achieved such a run.

Russell, who has enjoyed a strong debut season with Mercedes in a difficult campaign for the team, is hopeful of denting Verstappen's lead at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

"I think we were looking competitive. Similar to what Max said: we don't really know. But we think we've got a reasonable shot," Russell said.

"I think having Lewis and I there at the front gives us an opportunity to maybe do something different with the strategy.

"I don't think anybody really knows if it's going to be a one or two-stop. So, let's see what we can do."

Verstappen and Hamilton finished first and second respectively at the United States Grand Prix last week, becoming the pair with the most one-two finishes (32) in F1 history. 

Hamilton, however, understands the difficulties of challenging Verstappen, given Red Bull's superiority throughout the year – though an early attack at the first turn could be crucial.

"Naturally, it's always a tough race around here, with the track temperatures and tyres," Hamilton said. "These guys have been rapid all year long.

"Even at our best this weekend, still losing out to them through straight-line speed. It'll definitely be difficult to get by them, but we'll give it our best shot. And Turn 1 is an opportunity. So, we'll go for it."

Jake Paul called out Nate Diaz for his next fight after downing his "idol" Anderson Silva on Saturday.

Paul extended to 6-0 with a third victory against MMA competitors, defeating former middleweight champion Silva in a boxing contest on a unanimous decision at Desert Diamond Arena.

Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren are the other two UFC fighters to fall to Paul, who labelled UFC legend Silva as his hero after a memorable performance that saw him knock down the Brazilian in the eighth round.

"I feel like I'm living in a movie," Paul said after the victory. "You couldn't have written this in a story.

"Just being in the ring with him, seeing his heart, his courage, his bravery, that's the champion that I looked up to.

"He's such an inspiration. He was my idol growing up. He inspired me to be great."

Silva defeated former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., after leaving UFC in 2020, and proved a much tougher task for Paul, who indicated already who he wants his next fight to be.

Diaz, in attendance supporting undercard fighter and team-mate Chris Avila, appeared to slap a member of Paul's team after a backstage altercation saw both camps throw drinks.

Now, Paul wants to face Diaz, who became a free agent after UFC 279, as he looks to extend his growing record.

"Nate Diaz, stop being a b**** and fight me," Paul added. "Everyone wants that fight – Nate, stop fighting people for free, let's do it in the ring."

Kyrie Irving says he will not "stand down" for what he believes in after facing widespread backlash for sharing a film on social media with alleged anti-Semitic connotations.

The 30-year-old tweeted a link to 'Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America' on Thursday, with Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai condemning Irving for promoting a film "full of anti-Semitic disinformation".

The Nets and NBA both released strong statements refusing to tolerate "hate speech", while coach Steve Nash said the star guard had been spoken to prior to Saturday's 125-116 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

However, speaking after the game against the Pacers at Barclays Center, Irving suggested he had not done anything wrong and would continue to speak with freedom.

"I'm not here to argue over a person or a culture or a religion and what they believe," Irving said. "Nah, this is what's here. It's on a public platform.

"Did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody? Did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people?

"So out of all the judgement that people got for me posting, without talking to me, and then I respect what Joe [Tsai] said, but there has a lot to do with not ego or pride of how proud I am to be [of] African heritage, but also to be living as a free black man here in America, knowing the historical complexities for me to get here.

"So I'm not going to stand down on anything that I believe in. I'm only going to get stronger because I'm not alone. I have a whole army around me."

Irving had earlier defended his actions on Twitter, where his shared post still remains, stating the "anti-Semitic label" on him was "not justified", nor did he intend to disrespect "anyone's beliefs".

The Nets fell to a fourth straight loss of the season against the Pacers, though Nash does not believe the Irving situation influenced Brooklyn's performance.

"I don't think our group is overly affected by the situation," Nash said. "We've had so many situations over the last one or two years that I think we've kind of built an immunity to some of it.

"I also think our guys aren't that familiar with the material."

Star Nets forward Kevin Durant echoed Nash's comments, suggesting Brooklyn would pay no attention to those outside of the locker room.

"Absolutely not," Durant responded when asked if the furore had impacted his side. "The only impact is you guys and everybody outside the locker room."

Steve Nash implored the Brooklyn Nets to "care more" after falling to their fourth straight loss, with Ben Simmons revealing the side met for a players-only meeting to discuss problems.

Indiana Pacers recorded a 125-116 victory on Saturday, the fourth time in six games the Nets have conceded 125 points or more, as Nash's side dropped to 1-5 this season.

Brooklyn host the Pacers again on Monday and Nash outlined his frustrations with the Nets as he urged his team to show more commitment.

"It was a disaster," coach Nash said. "How else do you say it? I didn't see the will, didn't see the desire, or the connectivity necessary to get stops and get rebounds.

"We just got to make a bigger commitment and it's got to mean more and we got to care more.

"We have to look deep inside ourselves and what we want to do. What do we want to accomplish? Do we want to give up on this because it's been difficult early or do we want to stay the course and start to build something?

"We've had a lot of really good days here early in the season and we've lost a couple of games; it shakes our mentality, it has shaken our mentality hard.

"And we're not seeing the same competitive spirit, same purpose, and if we don't clean that up it's not going to get better. It's the only way to get out of difficult positions is to have character and competitive spirit."

The Nets have been largely reliant on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving thus far, the pair scoring 61 points at Barclays Center, and the former acknowledged Brooklyn must improve soon.

"It was a s***ty night," Durant said. "Excuse my language, it was a bad night. We're p***ed. We enjoy basketball.

"We like to win, though, so of course when we lose the games it's going to be a sombre mood in the locker room. But it will change once we start playing some good basketball.

"We got a lot of basketball to be played ahead of us."

While Nash urged his team to up their effort levels, Simmons suggested the Nets are confronting their problems after a meeting between the players following the defeat.

"It was honest," Simmons said of the meeting. "We had a conversation. Obviously, I'm not going to talk about it, but it was honest.

"That's what winning teams do. Hold each other accountable, be able to be open and talk to your team-mates, and respect that and be men."

The Houston Astros levelled up the World Series with Saturday's 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, but Jose Altuve's breakout performance may be the joker in the pack they need.

Altuve had a three-hit game, starting with a lead-off double as the Astros piled on three first-inning runs at Minute Maid Park to square the series after blowing a 5-0 lead in Game 1 on Friday, losing 6-5.

The second baseman is second on all-time postseason home runs list (23), but has struggled this postseason, averaging .171 with only seven hits from 41 at-bats, no RBIs and no home runs.

Altuve had been mired in a none-for-25 slump earlier in the postseason but has simplified his approach with Astros manager Dusty Baker sticking with him.

"If I say it every day, he's gotta have one of these days," Baker told reporters. "It's just how I feel about Altuve.

"His track record speaks for itself. He swung the bat great today. It's a good feeling to get him to lead off like he's been doing all year in the first inning. Boy it was great to see."

Alex Bregman added a two-run home run in the fifth inning to open up a 5-0 lead, but he praised Altuve for setting the tone.

"It was awesome," Bregman said. "I feel like that one swing of the bat to start off the game got the crowd into it, got our dugout into it, got our offense going."

"Early in the playoffs, I was swinging at everything and then getting slowly better at swinging at my pitch," Altuve said. "Yeah, I got a hit on a pitch almost above my head today. But it's a hit, so it's good."

The Phillies produced a sensational rally to win Game 1 after trailing 5-0 so Baker was rapt to square up the World Series at 1-1 before it heads to Philadelphia for Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park on Monday.

"It was almost a mathematical must [to win]," Baker said. "It's tough when you lose the first two games at home. But I've been on the other side of the things.

"It's good for the city, good for our fans that they went home happy after last night."

There will be one racing certainty when the WTA Finals gets under way: a new champion will be crowned.

Iga Swiatek heads the list of contenders to carry off the trophy in Fort Worth, Texas, having enjoyed a spectacular season.

Ascendant Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff will be chasing a home victory, while Tunisia's Ons Jabeur has reached finals at Wimbledon and the US Open so loves the big occasion.

Ahead of the tournament getting under way on Monday, Stats Perform has taken a look at the eight-player field.

Swiatek still the player to beat

With no past winner in the line-up, there is every reason to look to the world number one, Swiatek, as favourite.

The 21-year-old Polish player has eight titles this year, lifting trophies at Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, the French Open, the US Open and San Diego.

Indeed, she is the only grand slam singles winner in the draw, with Ash Barty having retired and Elena Rybakina absent after no ranking or race points were awarded at Wimbledon, where she was a surprise champion.

Rybakina's absence calls into question the meritocracy of this year's tournament, which is intended to showcase the top performers on tour, yet there can be no doubt the season's premier performer is in the draw.

French Open and US Open winner Swiatek's remarkable run of 10 straight-sets victories in finals (dating back to the 2020 French Open) was finally ended by Barbora Krejcikova, who sprang a shock by winning in Ostrava in early October.

But by getting back to winning ways a week later in San Diego, scrapping for a three-set victory over Donna Vekic in the title match, Swiatek produced a typically impressive response, beating Qinwen Zheng, Gauff and Pegula on her way through the draw to improve to 64-8 in her win-loss record for the year.

Here is a measure of her dominance this season: Swiatek headed the 'Race to the WTA Finals' rankings with 10,335 points, with the players in second (Jabeur) to eighth place (Daria Kasatkina) having tallies ranging between 4,555 and 2,935 points.

Is Pegula the chief rival to Swiatek?

She might not have been the player that would have sprung to mind even a month ago, but Pegula's victory at the Guadalajara Open this month was an eye-opener.

Beginning by saving match points in a thrilling three-setter against Rybakina, Pegula took down grand slam winners Bianca Andreescu, Sloane Stephens and Victoria Azarenka before swatting aside Maria Sakkari in the final.

Pegula has reached quarter-finals at the Australian, French and US Opens in 2022, and she has a tour-high 39 wins in WTA 1000 events since the beginning of last year.

She is up to third in the WTA rankings, one ahead of Coco Gauff, with the United States now having two women in the top five for the first time since October 2010, when Serena Williams was number two and sister Venus sat fourth.

As Pegula said after the Guadalajara final: "I'm definitely a very ambitious person. A little bit of a perfectionist, as well. I don't think you could win if you weren't ambitious, especially at this level.

"I feel like it's going to give me more motivation going forward knowing I can win these big titles. I think it will give me a lot of confidence ending the year, going into next year."

These are spirited words. She heads into the tournament with a 0-4 record against Swiatek in 2022, however.

Who's in, who's out, what's it all about?

As well as Swiatek and Pegula, the field for the eight-day tournament includes Caroline Garcia, Aryna Sabalenka and Sakkari, who have all featured at the WTA Finals in the past.

Four players make their debuts, including Pegula, who is joined as a newcomer by Jabeur, Gauff and Daria Kasatkina.

Gauff, 18, has become the 14th player aged under 19 to reach the WTA top five since the rankings were introduced in 1975.

She would not be the youngest WTA Finals champion, were she to lift the title, as Monica Seles has a tight grip on that record, having triumphed at the age of 16 years and 11 months at the 1990 edition.

Last year's champion Garbine Muguruza is absent. The Spaniard was expected by many to push on and enjoy a stellar 2022 season, but it did not play out that way, with the former French Open and Wimbledon winner sliding to 57th in the world rankings after a dismal campaign.

It goes to show that whoever prevails in Fort Worth, we should be cautious about treating the outcome as an indication of what to expect in the new year.

Stephen Curry scored 31 points with 11 rebounds in his annual homecoming that ended in an overtime defeat for the Golden State Warriors, losing 120-113 to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.

Golden State had led by four points in the final minute of regulation, before P.J. Washington hit a jumper, followed by a Dennis Smith Jr layup to tie the game.

Curry missed a tough three-point attempt to win the game at the end of regulation time, and airballed another shot in overtime. The Warriors point guard finished with three-of-13 from beyond the arc, making 10-of-22 from the field.

The Hornets, who were without LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier, were rampant in overtime, with Washington finishing the game with 31 points and Jalen McDaniels draining a crucial triple. Gordon Hayward made a strong contribution with 23 points and four assists.

Golden State shot at 29.5 per cent from three-point range, with Klay Thompson battling on one-of-seven shooting from beyond the arc in his 11 points.

Jordan Poole made four-of-11 attempts in his 24 points off the bench for the Warriors, who are 0-2 on the road this season and 3-3 overall.

Clutch Embiid lifts 76ers to back-to-back wins

Joel Embiid scored 25 points but none were better than his tiebreaking three-point shot as the Philadelphia 76ers made it back-to-back wins with a 114-109 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Embiid drained his wide-open three-point shot to put the 76ers up 112-109 with 18.1 seconds remaining in the game as Philadelphia improved to 3-4 after their 1-4 start to the season.

The 76ers center had seven rebounds and four assists, while James Harden contributed 15 points on two-of-13 field shooting with 11 assists, while Tyrese Maxey scored 14 points after posting a career-high 44 on Friday.

Nets woes worsen with Pacers shock

The Brooklyn Nets' defensive woes continued as they fell to a fourth straight loss, going down 125-116 to the Indiana Pacers for whom rookie Bennedict Mathurin scored a career-high 32 points.

The Nets conceded another big score, averaging 124.5 points against during their four-game losing skid, with Kevin Durant contributing 26 points with five rebounds and four blocks.

Kyrie Irving, who has come under fire for appearing to show support to an antisemitic film this week, responded on the court with 35 points including five triples with six assists.

The Houston Astros responded to blowing a 5-0 lead in Game 1 with a fast start to set up their 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies to square the World Series on Saturday.

The Astros raced to a 3-0 first-inning lead, scoring two runs from the first four pitches from Phillies starter Zach Wheeler, before Alex Bregman's fifth-inning two-run blast shored up a 5-0 lead at Minute Maid Park.

The Phillies had rallied from that deficit on Friday but could not replicate that, despite plating runs in the seventh and ninth innings. Kyle Schwarber thought he had pulled it back to 5-3 with an eighth-inning two-run blast but that was called a foul after a replay review.

Framber Valdez was heroic, sending down 104 pitches before being retired in the seventh inning with nine strikeouts having allowed only four hits, three walks and one earned run.

Jose Altuve's lead-off double from the first pitch was followed by Jeremy Pena's left-field line drive from the second pitch to score the second baseman. Altuve put aside his postseason struggles with three hits for the game.

Two pitches later Pena scored when Yordan Alvarez's left-field shot sailed over Schwarber's head. Alvarez added the third in the inning from an error by shortstop Edmundo Sosa.

Wheeler corrected his early issues, allowing only two singles from 14 batters until Bregman's fifth-inning blast, his third of the postseason.

Nick Castellanos scored from Jean Segura's seventh-inning sacrifice fly, before Schwarber came close to halving the deficit twice, with his two-run blast overturned, followed by a right-field shot that was caught inches short by Kyle Tucker.

Astros first baseman's Yuli Gurriel error allowed Alec Bohm to score in the ninth but Ryan Pressly closed it out to square the World Series at 1-1.