Jackson Merrill hit another tying home run and Luis Arraez drove in three runs, including the go-ahead run in the 10th, to lift the San Diego Padres to their season high-tying seventh straight win, 9-8 over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.
David Peralta had three hits and Jake Cronenworth drove in two runs for the Padres, who have won 16 of 18 overall and 17 of 21 on the road.
With automatic runner Tyler Wade at second, Ha-Seong Kim opened the 10th with a walk. Both runners moved up on Kyle Higashioka’s sacrifice before Arraez’s soft grounder to first put the Padres ahead.
Tanner Scott got the final three outs for his 19th save and first as a member of the Padres, who acquired him from the Marlins at the trade deadline.
San Diego trailed 7-3 after Miami’s six-run sixth but got two runs back in the seventh and Merrill followed Xander Bogaerts’ leadoff walk in the eighth with his 17th home run and fifth in 10 games to tie it.
Four of those home runs lifted the Padres into a tie, with three coming in the ninth inning.
Jake Burger and Vidal Brujan homered for the Marlins, who have lost three straight and nine of 13.
McCarthy hits two homers in Diamondbacks’ rout of Phillies
Jake McCarthy hit a pair of two-run homers and All-Star Ketel Marte also went deep before leaving with an ankle injury as the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks rolled to an 11-1 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Corbin Carroll also homered for the Diamondbacks, who have won 14 of 17 to move into a wild-card spot and remain 3 ½ games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers.
Marte exited in the fourth inning after he was knocked on his back covering second by Garrett Stubbs’ head-first slide. Marte fell to the ground in pain and eventually left the field under his own power with a trainer.
Arizona starter Zac Gallen also departed early after moving awkwardly in attempting to field a ground ball in the fifth inning. There was no immediate word on his injury, but the ace right-hander missed a month earlier this season with a right hamstring injury.
McCarthy had his first career multi-home run game.
Marte homered in the first off Aaron Nola to reach 30 for the second time in his career. He hit 32 homers in 2019.
Hoskins homers in Brewers’ 1-0 win
Rhys Hoskins homered in the 8th inning and rookie Tobias Myers and two relievers combined on a three-hitter as the Milwaukee Brewers won their fifth in a row, 1-0 over the Cincinnati Reds.
Hoskins took reliever Tony Santillan deep for his 20th home run, giving him a 14-game hitting streak.
Myers allowed three hits over 7 1/3 innings and struck out a career-high nine. Seven of his strikeouts were against the first three batters in the Reds order; Jonathan India, Elly De La Cruz and Tyler Stephenson.
Joel Payamps got the final two outs of the eighth for the win and Devin Williams struck out the side in the ninth for his first save of the season.
Cincinnati’s Nick Martinez gave up one hit and struck out seven in a season-high seven innings.
Milwaukee (67-49) moved a season-high 18 games over .500.
Canadian Open champion Jannik Sinner advanced to the quarter-finals in Montreal with a straight-sets victory over Chile's Alejandro Tabilo.
The world number one made a slow start but found his feet midway through the opening set, getting the decisive break in the seventh game to inch ahead.
Tabilo only won one of 12 points on Sinner's first serve throughout the first set and saw his own serve broken again early in the second as Sinner eased to a 6-4 6-3 win.
Due to rain cancelling Friday's play, Sinner is on double duty on Saturday, with the Italian set to return to the court to face Andrey Rublev in the last eight at 7pm local time.
Data Debrief: Sinner joins exclusive club
Sinner's victory means he has reached at least the last eight at each of his first 10 ATP events of the season.
He is the first player to achieve that feat since Novak Djokovic in 2015, and the youngest – at 22 years and 358 days old – since Ivan Lendl in 1982.
Jamaica has been having a good time at the 36th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship (CAJGC) which is being played at the Caymanas Golf Course in St. Catherine.
At the end of the second round, they were first in the Girls 18 and Under and tied for second Girls 11-13 section but did not have competitions.
On the boys’ side they were second in the 18 and Under and the 11–13 sections and fifth in the 15 and Under category.
Mattea Issa, who ended the first day in second place, closed day two tied for first with Camila Negroni of Puerto Rico. Their combined score was 159 each. Issa made up the five-point deficit from the opening round after scoring seven over par 79 to Negroni’s 12 over par 84.
Jamaica’s sole representative in the 11-13 section, Alessandra Coe, improved her joint-third position on day one to second at the end of the second round.
She scored 86 in the round on top of 87 in the previous round for a two-day total of 173. Arissa Robinson of the Bahamas maintained her day one lead with 168 after two days with scores of 85 and 83.
Jamaica does not have any representative in the 15 and Under category.
On the boys’ side Ryan Lue was still the best placed Jamaican on the course even though he lost his position at the top of the leaderboard in the 18 and Under category.
He still had the lowest score of the championship with his five under par 67 in the first round. His second-round score of six over par 78 gave him a two-day total of one over par 145 which was five strokes behind the new leader Evan Pena of Puerto Rico.
Pena swapped place with Lue to top the second day leaderboard with scores of two days of two under par 70 resulting four under pay 140.
The other Jamaicans in the category were Trey Williams in fifth place on 154 (73, 81), Aman Dhiman one place back in sixth but with just one stroke separating them after posting 155 (72,83) at the end of the round. Noah Azan and Jerone Thomas were tied for 15th place on 167 for the two rounds.
Shasa Redlefsen who lead the 11-13 category at the end of day one dropped to second with his combined score of 158 (79, 79) after two rounds. Machael Avila of Puerto Rico took over the lead when he shot two under par on day two along with 86 in the first round for a total score of 156 which put him two strokes ahead of Redlefsen.
The other Jamaican in the category, Jacob Schnoor, remained in 11th place with scores of 104 and 97 for 102 overall.
The two Jamaicans in the 15 and Under category – Jamal Stewart and Kemari Morris - were languishing in 13th and 14th place, respectively with scores of 176 and 177. The leader in the category was Tomas Rodriguez of Puerto Rico who maintained his day one position with scores of even par 72 and four under par 68 for overall four under par 140. He shot the lowed score in the second round.
The course condition on day two ranged from rain in the morning to hot and sunny afternoon with little wind. Several of the golfers including the Jamaicans posted higher scores than day one which could account for the higher day two scores.
Agustin Creevy has hailed Argentina's "amazing" performance after they came from behind to beat New Zealand 38-30 in their Rugby Championship opener.
The All Blacks made a strong start to the game and held the lead at the halfway stage, but Argentina started the second half brightly, fighting back to edge in front.
It was Creevy who proved the hero for the Pumas with a try before Mateo Carreras sealed another famous victory, having also beaten them in August 2022.
It is the first time in 12 attempts that Argentina have won their opener at the Rugby Championship, and Creevy, who missed that match in 2022, was buoyant after clinching the win.
"It was amazing," Creevy said. "I think we had a really good performance. We spoke in the week about hitting first and we hit first. I thought we dominated the whole game.
"For me, personally, I am 39 and this is the first time in my life I have won in New Zealand. This game for us is f****** amazing. And now, thinking, I want to win next week."
Meanwhile, it was Scott Robertson's first defeat since taking over the All Blacks, having earned a 2-0 series triumph over England before earning a dominant win over Fiji.
Sam Darry and Anton Lienert-Brown provided the tries in the first half to give them the lead, but they struggled to regain their foothold in the second, and Robertson was candid about where it went wrong for New Zealand on Saturday.
"We weren't good enough," Robertson admitted. "It started off at the kick-off and every time we received one, we couldn't get off our back fence.
"That kept us in a pressure cycle, and we just made too many errors."
Argentina and New Zealand will meet again in the Rugby Championship next weekend in Auckland.
Australia coach Joe Schmidt says his team now know the "benchmark" for what is expected after losing to South Africa in their Rugby Championship opener.
Schmidt's unbeaten start in charge of the Wallabies ended on Saturday as they were hammered 33-7 in Brisbane.
Australia trailed 21-0 at half-time after a dominant first half from the Springboks, and though Hunter Paisami managed a late consolation, it was never going to be enough to deny South Africa a first win in Brisbane since 2013.
Schmidt acknowledged how his side were outplayed but explained how the defeat would determine their preparation for the next game.
"They won the physical battle today, their breakdown was really strong, and they dominated possession and territory in that first half, which saps the strength out of the boys a little bit," Schmidt told Stan Sport post-match.
"The team hung in there, fought back, lost the second half 12-7; it would have been great to get a little bit more out of the game, but we've got a benchmark.
"And it wasn't a massive shock to where the Springbok would be, and it's somewhere that we're going to have to build toward."
South Africa have won back-to-back Test matches against the Wallabies in Australia for the first time since July 1993, successfully ending Australia's four-Test winning streak with ease.
Before the tournament, Schmidt had overseen two wins over Wales and another against Georgia in his unbeaten start, but he remains optimistic after taking the positives from their performance.
"We saw some real heart. I thought we got back and defended a couple of times when we were a little bit unlucky, they got a few bounces of the ball which are always going to go in your favour when all the momentum is going your way. And they earn it, and they physically impose it, so that they make it very, very difficult," Schmidt added.
"At the same time, I'm a little bit heartened by the way the boys rolled their sleeves up and kept trying to fight, and then that second half, 12-7 is a lot closer than the three tries they put on in the first half."
Australia will meet South Africa again in the Rugby Championship next weekend in Perth.
Agustin Creevy proved the late hero as Argentina stunned New Zealand with a 38-30 victory in a Wellington thriller on Saturday.
Hooker Creevy bundled over with just 11 minutes remaining, with his sixth try in 109 Tests paving the way for Santiago Carreras' penalty to seal an eye-catching triumph in their Rugby Championship opener.
Having triumphed two years ago on Kiwi soil, Argentina held out for another significant victory in New Zealand despite missing captain Julian Montoya due to a rib injury.
Sam Darry had earlier opened the scoring for the hosts before Anton Lienert-Brown restored New Zealand's lead after Lucio Cinti powered over for the visiting Pumas.
Mateo Carreras reduced the deficit heading into half-time, with New Zealand leading by five points before the boot of Carreras edged Argentina into a 25-23 advantage after the interval.
Mark Tele'a picked the right moment to dance through the Argentina defence to send the All Blacks back ahead, yet Creevy provided the late heroics before Carreras punished a line-out error to seal a famous victory.
Data Debrief: All Blacks rare failure on home soil
New Zealand had won 16 of their 17 Test matches against Argentina on home soil (L1), recording an average winning margin of 34.8 points across those 16 victories.
Yet that winning run came to an abrupt end as Argentina triumphed for just a second time in seven Rugby Championship matches, adding to a 34-31 victory against Australia in July 2023.
This landmark triumph also marked their first opening win at this competition in 12 attempts, having lost all 11 prior appearances in the Rugby Championship opener.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's struggles in Wellington continued. They have now won only one of their last seven Tests at this venue, with the All Blacks seeking revenge at Eden Park next Saturday.
Coco Gauff followed up Olympic disappointment with an early Canadian Open exit after being stunned by Diana Shnaider in Toronto.
World number two Gauff suffered early eliminations at the Paris Olympics last week after falling in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
The number one seed was then downed 6-4 6-1 by her fellow 20-year-old, who secured the first top-10 win of her career to seal a maiden appearance in the quarter-finals of an ATP 1000 event.
"Sometimes I question like whether I should have played or not," Gauff said, "But at the end of the day I wanted to test myself and see if I would be able to, how I would do being mentally tired a little bit and physically fatigued.
"I said going into the tournament I didn't have high expectations, but I wish I could have competed better today, even if it resulted in a loss. I don't think I competed well."
Shnaider is a remarkable 39-14 across all professional matches for the year, winning three titles in Hua Hin, Thailand (hard) in February, Bad Homburg (grass) in June and Budapest (clay) in July.
"I know Coco is very physically prepared for everyone on tour, and she's running very well, she's covering all of the balls and all the angles on the court," Shnaider said.
"So when there were long rallies and I was winning them I was like, 'Wow, I just beat Coco in long rallies. I am good'. I mean, I tried to play it cool, but inside I was like, 'Yes! I made it!'"
Meanwhile, third seed Aryna Sabalenka eased past British number one Katie Boulter for a routine 6-3 6-3 triumph in Canada.
Sabalenka will next face Amanda Anisimova, one of five Americans in the last eight alongside defending champion Jessica Pegula, Peyton Stearns, Emma Navarro and Taylor Townsend.
Since the beginning of 2020, Sabalenka has reached 17 WTA 1000 quarter-finals, a feat only matched by world number one Iga Swiatek for the most at WTA 1000 events in that time.
South Africa ended Joe Schmidt's unbeaten start as Australia coach in emphatic fashion as the Springboks hammered the Wallabies 33-7 in Brisbane.
The world champions were in control throughout their Rugby Championship opener as South Africa silenced an expectant 50,000-plus crowd at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
Visiting captain Siya Kolisi crashed over early on from a rolling maul before Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse crossed to seal a 21-0 half-time lead.
Kwagga Smith added another after the interval, punishing an error-strewn Australia, while Arendse doubled his own account with the Springboks' fifth try on away soil.
Hunter Paisami managed a late consolation for the drab hosts, converted by Tom Lynagh, but the damage was done as South Africa triumphed in Brisbane for the first time since 2013.
New Australia boss Schmidt had overseen two wins over Wales and another against Georgia, though needs desperate improvements ahead of the second meeting with the Springboks in Perth next Saturday.
Data Debrief: Springboks continue hold over Australia
South Africa have now secured back-to-back Test victories against the Wallabies in Australia for the first time since July 1993, following their 24-8 win in September 2022 in Sydney.
The Springboks are also on a three-match winning run against the Wallabies, their best such streak since a three-Test span from September 2012 to September 2013.
Having won 14 of their last 16 international fixtures, South Africa will fancy their chances of another victory in Perth after ending Australia's four-Test victorious streak with ease.
Matt Wallner hit a go-ahead three-run homer and Minnesota’s bullpen pitched four perfect innings as the Twins completed a doubleheader sweep of the reeling Cleveland Guardians with a 6-3 win on Friday night.
In the first game, Bailey Ober pitched six shutout innings and Carlos Santana and Ryan Jeffers each hit solo home runs to give the Twins a 4-2 victory.
The Twins’ seventh win in nine tries moved them within 1 ½ games of the Guardians, who have lost a season-high seven in a row.
That's the closest defending division champion Minnesota has been since May 13 to Cleveland, which has held first place for all but seven days in April.
The Guardians, who hadn't lost more than three games in a row all season until this skid started last weekend, went hitless against relievers Cole Sands, Caleb Thielbar and Trevor Richards after tagging Twins starter Louie Varland for eight hits and three runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Richards recorded his first save, after Jhoan Duran notched his 16th save in the opener by striking out the side in the ninth inning.
Sizzling Padres rally past Marlins
Manny Machado highlighted a four-run 10th with a two-run double and drove in three runs as the red-hot San Diego Padres rallied for their sixth straight win, 6-2 over the Miami Marlins.
The Padres trailed 2-0 entering the eighth but Jurickson Profar doubled with one out and scored on Machado’s double. Jackson Merrill, who finished with three hits, led off the ninth with a 400-foot homer to center, his 16th to tie it.
Machado’s double off Brett De Geus scored former Marlin Luis Arraez, who had singled, and Jake Cronenworth. Tyler Wade broke the 2-2 tie when he beat the throw home on a Cronenworth grounder to shortstop Xavier Edwards.
Martin Perez allowed two runs on three hits over seven innings and Bryan Hoeing and Jason Adam each worked a hitless inning before Tanner Scott worked the 10th against his former team.
San Diego has won 15 of its last 17 games and is 2 ½ games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers.
Jake Burger and Jonah Bride hit back-to-back homers in the fourth for the last-place Marlins, who have lost eight of 12.
Diamondbacks win on Del Castillo’s walk-off homer
Adrian Del Castillo hit a walk-off home run in the ninth inning for his first career blast to lift the surging Arizona Diamondbacks to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies rallied from a 2-0 deficit, tying it in the eighth on a two-out RBI double from Johan Rojas that scored Nick Castellanos from first.
That set up Del Castillo's ninth-inning heroics. He jumped all over a 97 mph fastball from Jeff Hoffman, launching it deep into the right-field seats for his first big league homer. Del Castillo was called up this week after starting catcher Gabriel Moreno went down with a groin injury in Cleveland.
Arizona has won 13 of 16 to strengthen its hold on an NL wild-card spot.
Jamaica’s Ryan Lue posted the lowest score of all the golfers on the Caymanas Golf Course during Wednesday’s first round of the 36th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship (CAJGC).
He carded an impressive five under par 67 which included six birdies and one bogey. The birdies were on holes six, nine, 10, 14, 15 and 17 while the bogey was on hole number two.
Lue was happy with his day one score which he said was the result of patience.
“Patience and preparation. I have been preparing and I just stayed patient today so I produced a pretty good score. I just played my game. I didn’t rush anything. Didn’t try to force birdies or make stupid mistakes on the course. I just kept it going. Took my birdies when they came, made a lot of pars and just happy with my result,” he said.
His nearest rival was Evan Pena of Puerto Rico who was three shots back having score two under par 70. They were the only ones to post under par scores in the found.
The other Jamaicans in the under 18 age group were Aman Dhiman with an even par 72 in third place, followed closely by Trey Williams who was tied for fourth place on one over par 73, as well as Noah Azan 82 in 14th position and Jerone Thomas 86 in 21st place.
Shasa Redlefsen topped the leaderboard in the 11-13 age group after posting seven over par 79 but was just one stroke ahead of Otiz Bayoan of Puerto Rico on 80. Jacob Schnoor occupied the 11th spot with his 104.
Jamaica’s two representatives in the 15 and Under category were in 11th and 15th place respectively. They are Jamal Stewart 84 and Kemari Morris 92. The top three in the category were Kerrington Rolle of the Bahamas 72, Tomas Rodriguez 72 who were tied for first place and Aman Newton 75.
On the girls’ side, Puerto Rico’s Camila Negroni was leading the 18 and Under category after posting three over par 75 in the round. Mattea Issa was five shots back on eight over par 80 in second place.
Negroni was pleased with her performance.
“It feels amazing. I hit my irons really good today. I made a lot of fairways. I am looking forward to tomorrow and making a lot of good shots, making a lot of puts and just fixing what I thought could be better today,” she said.
Jamaica’s lone representative in the 11-13 age group was Alessandra Coe on two strokes off the lead. She ended the round tied for third place with Isabella Ramdeen of Trinidad & Tobago. The leader was Arissa Robinson of the Trinidad & Tobago on 13 over par 85.
Jamaica does not have any representative in the 15 and Under category, however the top three were Madison Carroll-Carlos of the Bahamas 81, Shania Reyes 83 and Mariella Young 83.
Jamaica’s coach Jason Lopez assessed the day’s play.
“There has been some very high level golf. I am very impressed every year. You always see some players that you are obviously familiar with from years gone by and then you see some players you’ve never seen before and you like wow where did this player cone from, which is wonderful because it means that there is talent being developed throughout the region so for me that is a positive,” he said.
“Myself and Johnny (the other Jamaican coach) couldn’t be more pleased. The message we tried to get across to our team was to unweight themselves cause some times playing at home can be an advantage but also there is a lot of expectation. We saw our team very bubbly, very loose, a lot of smiles, a lot of pep in the step and that’s what we asked for attitude wise,” he added.
Defending Cincinnati Open champion Novak Djokovic will not take part in this year's tournament following his success at the Paris Olympics.
Djokovic, who claimed his first gold medal at Roland-Garros against Carlos Alcaraz last week, has withdrawn from the US Open tune-up event in the United States.
The Serbian became only the second player after Andre Agassi in the Open Era have won all four Grand Slams, the gold medal at the Olympics and the ATP Tour Final with his win over the Spaniard in the French capital.
Djokovic also became the oldest player (37y 74d) to secure the gold medal in either the men’s or women’s singles at the Olympics, since the sport’s reinstatement as an Olympic event in 1988.
However, he has chosen to focus on the upcoming US Open, a competition he won 12 months ago against Daniil Medvedev to claim the latest of his 24 grand slam titles.
"We certainly understand that it is a quick turnaround from his Olympic triumph to come to Cincinnati," Tournament Director Bob Moran said in a news release.
"His title run here last year was so memorable. We are eager to see him on court again soon."
Last year in Cincinnati, Djokovic claimed the title in three sets against Alcaraz, claiming his second win over the Spaniard in their fourth meeting.
The Serbian's victory over Alcaraz at the Games took his record to 5-4 over the world number three having lost in the Wimbledon final the previous month.
Djokovic's withdrawal moves Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard into the draw.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has slammed his father's coaching style after suffering a shock straight-sets defeat at the Canadian Open on Thursday.
The 25-year-old was beaten 6-4 6-4 by Kei Nishikori, the world number 576, as he secured the scalp of the tournament so far in Montreal.
It follows a disappointing Olympic Games for Tsitsipas, who was knocked out by eventual winner Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
He also struggled at Wimbledon last month, suffering defeat to Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round.
Now, he has hit out at his coach and father, Apostolos Tsitsipas, who he asked to leave midway through Thursday's match, for seemingly not reaching the standards he is looking for.
"I need, and I deserve, a coach that listens to me and hears my feedback as a player," Tsitsipas said.
"My father hasn't been very smart or very good at handling those situations. It's not the first time he has done that. I'm really disappointed at him.
"I really don't know right now if I'd consider any changes, but I'm really disappointed.
"The most important thing for a player is to have direct and good feedback from a coach. The coach is not the one holding a racket. The player is the one trying to execute a game plan.
"It's a collaborative work that you put in together. It has to be reciprocal in order for me to try to develop my tennis. It's something I don't want to get stuck at that."
The Rugby Championship is back.
All eyes will be on the Southern Hemisphere's finest throughout six matchdays in August and September, with the tournament returning to a full 12-game format after the 2023 edition was shortened due to the Rugby World Cup.
South Africa broke New Zealand's hearts in the final of that tournament in France, and now they are hoping to end the All Blacks' four-year streak of victories in this competition.
The two favourites have been kept apart on the opening matchday, and both will be desperate to avoid any slip-ups on matchday one, as the Springboks go to Australia and New Zealand entertain Argentina.
Here, we run through the best Opta stats ahead of this weekend's action, picking out the players to watch in each contest.
AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA
The action gets under way at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane as Australia host the world champions, who are targeting a third straight Test win against the Wallabies following triumphs in the last two editions of the Rugby Championship.
They only won two of their previous eight versus Australia (two draws, four losses) and last enjoyed a longer winning run against them between September 2012 and September 2013 (three matches).
With the Wallabies starting a period of transition under new head coach Joe Schmidt, Rassie Erasmus' men go in as handy favourites to follow up their 24-8 victory in Australia two years ago. They last won back-to-back Tests in Australia in July 1993.
The Springboks have won 13 of their last 15 Tests, their only two defeats in that time coming against Ireland, while their 10.8 offloads per game are the most of any Tier One nation in Tests this year.
They always bring plenty of physicality, boasting the only three Tier One players to make 10 or more carries into contact while managing a dominant carry rate of 70% or better this year, namely Ben-Jason Dixon (83%), Lukhanyo Am (82%) and Makazole Mapimpi (79%). However, the latter duo are absent from their matchday one selection.
Erasmus will be warning his side against any complacency, however, given Australia have won their last four Test matches including all three to be played in 2024.
The last time they started a calendar year with a longer winning run was in 2008 (five matches).
No Tier One team has conceded fewer than Australia's 11.3 turnovers per game in Tests this year, while only Argentina (15.33) have averaged more than South Africa (15.25). Keeping the mistakes to a minimum will be key if the Wallabies are to spring a surprise.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Australia – Jake Gordon
Gordon will form one half of Australia's run-on halves pairing, alongside Noah Lolesio. The 31-year-old has been a reliable performer at the start of this new era for Australian rugby, seeing six of his 21 kicks from hand retained by a team-mate in Test action this year.
His kick retention rate of 29% is the best of the 25 Tier One players to attempt at least 20 kicks in Test rugby in 2024.
South Africa – RG Snyman
Snyman will start at number five in place of the injured Franco Mostert, having proven a capable deputy so far this year.
He has made 10 offloads in just 182 Test rugby minutes in 2024, averaging 4.4 per 80 minutes. No other Tier One player has averaged three or more per match this year.
NEW ZEALAND v ARGENTINA
New Zealand have not failed to win the Rugby Championship in 2019, and retaining their crown will be all the more important this year, following their dramatic 12-11 defeat to South Africa in the World Cup final almost 10 months ago.
Opening their 2024 campaign in Wellington, the All Blacks will be confident of maintaining their 100% record under new head coach Scott Robertson, who oversaw two wins over England and a 47-5 rout of Fiji last month.
New Zealand have an excellent record versus Argentina, winning 16 of their previous 17 Tests against them on home soil and averaging a winning margin of 34.8 points across those victories. The only defeat in that run came in the 2022 Rugby Championship, at the low point of Ian Foster's reign as head coach.
The All Blacks got their revenge by destroying Los Pumas 44-6 in the World Cup semi-finals last year, and they have now won their last three Tests against them, scoring 40 or more points in each of those meetings.
Before that run began, New Zealand had only tallied 40 or more points in three of their previous 22 meetings with Argentina.
Argentina, meanwhile, are yet to begin a Rugby Championship campaign with a win, losing their opening match in each of their previous 11 appearances. They did, however, beat the All Blacks in their first game of the 2020 Tri Nations.
Like their hosts, Argentina are entering a new era under Felipe Contepomi, who took the reigns from Michael Cheika after the World Cup.
Los Pumas have scored an average of 6.3 tries per game in Test action this year, the most of any Tier One nation, while they also lead the way for dominant contact on carries, doing so 51 times per game on average.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
New Zealand – Ardie Savea
Savea will lead New Zealand out for the ninth time on Saturday, with a finger injury leaving regular skipper Scott Barrett sidelined.
Savea has been directly involved in six tries in his last six Test matches (four tries, two try assists) and scored a try when the All Blacks last faced Argentina in the Rugby Championship last August.
Argentina – Pablo Matera
Matera is also a stand-in captain for this match, with Julian Montoya absent due to a rib injury.
He made a competition-high 44 carries in the 2023 edition of the Rugby Championship, while his four offloads were the joint-most of any player in that tournament.
Naomi Osaka crashed out of the Canadian Open with a straight-sets defeat to Elise Mertens in the second round on Thursday.
The Belgian held her nerve for her second win over Osaka this year, beating her 6-3 6-4 in Toronto to set up a meeting with Liudmila Samsonova in the round of 16.
Osaka was caught out by making errors from the baseline and failed to gain any momentum as her preparation for the US Open took a hit with her early exit.
Despite the defeat, the former world number one remained upbeat about her performance as she looks to build on this result.
"I feel like I could have put a bit more on the court, a bit more from the baseline shots," Osaka said. "I got a bit caught up in the idea of being consistent and staying in the exchanges, I don't know.
"I'm happy with how I fought despite not winning, but I feel like I learned a lot.
"Unfortunately, I have always suffered a lot from my perfectionism, and I also tend to doubt myself a lot, but I think it's necessary to go through this process and have tough losses from which you can learn a lot about yourself.
"I know there will be many tough defeats like this one, but hopefully, I hope to be back in the top ten soon."
Data Debrief: Fight fizzles out
Osaka struggled to gain a foothold in the match, losing her serve four times while only earning two breaks in return.
She won just 37% of her second serve points (10/27) and failed to win more than two games in a row as Mertens edged out of her reach.
The Rugby Championship is back.
All eyes will be on the Southern Hemisphere's finest throughout six matchdays in August and September, with the tournament returning to a full 12-game format after the 2023 edition was shortened due to the Rugby World Cup.
South Africa broke New Zealand's hearts in the final of that tournament in France, and now they are hoping to end the All Blacks' four-year streak of victories in this competition.
The two favourites have been kept apart on the opening matchday, and both will be desperate to avoid any slip-ups on matchday one, as the Springboks go to Australia and New Zealand entertain Argentina.
Here, we run through the best Opta stats ahead of this weekend's action, picking out the players to watch in each contest.
AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA
The action gets under way at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane as Australia host the world champions, who are targeting a third straight Test win against the Wallabies following triumphs in the last two editions of the Rugby Championship.
They only won two of their previous eight versus Australia (two draws, four losses) and last enjoyed a longer winning run against them between September 2012 and September 2013 (three matches).
With the Wallabies starting a period of transition under new head coach Joe Schmidt, Rassie Erasmus' men go in as handy favourites to follow up their 24-8 victory in Australia two years ago. They last won back-to-back Tests in Australia in July 1993.
The Springboks have won 13 of their last 15 Tests, their only two defeats in that time coming against Ireland, while their 10.8 offloads per game are the most of any Tier One nation in Tests this year.
They always bring plenty of physicality, boasting the only three Tier One players to make 10 or more carries into contact while managing a dominant carry rate of 70% or better this year, namely Ben-Jason Dixon (83%), Lukhanyo Am (82%) and Makazole Mapimpi (79%). However, the latter duo are absent from their matchday one selection.
Erasmus will be warning his side against any complacency, however, given Australia have won their last four Test matches including all three to be played in 2024.
The last time they started a calendar year with a longer winning run was in 2008 (five matches).
No Tier One team has conceded fewer than Australia's 11.3 turnovers per game in Tests this year, while only Argentina (15.33) have averaged more than South Africa (15.25). Keeping the mistakes to a minimum will be key if the Wallabies are to spring a surprise.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Australia – Jake Gordon
Gordon will form one half of Australia's run-on halves pairing, alongside Noah Lolesio. The 31-year-old has been a reliable performer at the start of this new era for Australian rugby, seeing six of his 21 kicks from hand retained by a team-mate in Test action this year.
His kick retention rate of 29% is the best of the 25 Tier One players to attempt at least 20 kicks in Test rugby in 2024.
South Africa – RG Snyman
Snyman will start at number five in place of the injured Franco Mostert, having proven a capable deputy so far this year.
He has made 10 offloads in just 182 Test rugby minutes in 2024, averaging 4.4 per 80 minutes. No other Tier One player has averaged three or more per match this year.
NEW ZEALAND v ARGENTINA
New Zealand have not failed to win the Rugby Championship in 2019, and retaining their crown will be all the more important this year, following their dramatic 12-11 defeat to South Africa in the World Cup final almost 10 months ago.
Opening their 2024 campaign in Wellington, the All Blacks will be confident of maintaining their 100% record under new head coach Scott Robertson, who oversaw two wins over England and a 47-5 rout of Fiji last month.
New Zealand have an excellent record versus Argentina, winning 16 of their previous 17 Tests against them on home soil and averaging a winning margin of 34.8 points across those victories. The only defeat in that run came in the 2022 Rugby Championship, at the low point of Ian Foster's reign as head coach.
The All Blacks got their revenge by destroying Los Pumas 44-6 in the World Cup semi-finals last year, and they have now won their last three Tests against them, scoring 40 or more points in each of those meetings.
Before that run began, New Zealand had only tallied 40 or more points in three of their previous 22 meetings with Argentina.
Argentina, meanwhile, are yet to begin a Rugby Championship campaign with a win, losing their opening match in each of their previous 11 appearances. They did, however, beat the All Blacks in their first game of the 2020 Tri Nations.
Like their hosts, Argentina are entering a new era under Felipe Contepomi, who took the reigns from Michael Cheika after the World Cup.
Los Pumas have scored an average of 6.3 tries per game in Test action this year, the most of any Tier One nation, while they also lead the way for dominant contact on carries, doing so 51 times per game on average.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
New Zealand – Ardie Savea
Savea will lead New Zealand out for the ninth time on Saturday, with a finger injury leaving regular skipper Scott Barrett sidelined.
Savea has been directly involved in six tries in his last six Test matches (four tries, two try assists) and scored a try when the All Blacks last faced Argentina in the Rugby Championship last August.
Argentina – Pablo Matera
Matera is also a stand-in captain for this match, with Julian Montoya absent due to a rib injury.
He made a competition-high 44 carries in the 2023 edition of the Rugby Championship, while his four offloads were the joint-most of any player in that tournament.
Mitch Haniger lined a bases-clearing double to right field just out of the reach of a diving Ryan Vilade to lift the Seattle Mariners to a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night.
The Mariners trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the ninth but Luke Raley led off with an infield single against Luke Holton. Randy Arozarena followed with a single off Will Vest to put runners at the corners. Vest struck out Cal Raleigh and Justin Turner before walking Jorge Polanco.
Haniger then hit a sinking liner to right that Vilade dove for but misjudged, and the ball rolled to the wall, easily scoring all three runners.
It was Haniger’s franchise-leading eighth walk-off hit.
Raley homered in the sixth for Seattle’s first run and the Mariners snapped a three-game skid to move into a virtual tie with Houston for the AL West lead.
Zack McKinstry knocked in two runs for the Tigers, who were denied a sweep.
Brewers pound Braves for sweep
Rookie Jackson Chourio hit two of the Brewers’ six home runs and William Contreras added three hits, including a homer, and three RBIs as Milwaukee routed the struggling Atlanta Braves, 16-7 to complete a three-game sweep.
Sal Frelick had four hits and Garrett Mitchell, Willy Adames and Jake Bauers also went deep for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who collected 20 hits and swept the Braves in Atlanta for the first time since 2016.
Chourio, at 20 years and 150 days, became the youngest player in Brewers history with a multi-homer game. Billy Jo Robidoux, at 21 years and 266 days, set the previous record in 1985. Chourio is also the youngest player in baseball with such a game since Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2019.
Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna homered for Atlanta, which allowed 36 hits in the past two games and dropped its fifth straight.
Charlie Morton was roughed up for eight runs on nine hits in just 2 2/3 innings.
Red-hot Padres sweep Pirates
Luis Arraez capped a three-run ninth inning with an RBI double and the San Diego Padres edged the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-6, for a series sweep.
Pirates closer David Bednar was called on to protect a 5-4 lead in the ninth but gave up a leadoff single to Xander Bogaerts and walked Jackson Merrill.
After David Peralta struck out, Ha-Seong Kim walked to load the bases and the Padres tied it on a run-scoring grounder and went ahead when Oneil Cruz tossed a double play attempt past first. Arraez then tacked on what became the winning run with a double to right.
Manny Machado and Peralta homered as the Padres won their fifth straight and 14th in 16 tries to pull within 2 ½ games of the NL West-leading Dodgers.
Joey Bart homered and Cruz had three hits for the Pirates, who lost their fourth in a row.
Jannik Sinner began his defence of the Canadian Open title with a routine 6-2 6-4 victory over Borna Coric in Montreal.
Sinner, who won his first ATP Masters 1000 crown at the 2023 event and has since won the Miami Open and his first grand slam at this year's Australian Open, was victorious within one hour and 37 minutes at the Omnium Banque National presente par Rogers.
The Italian, who missed the Paris Olympic Games with tonsillitis, showed no signs of rust on his first hard-court outing since his Miami triumph in March.
He stuck the ball sweetly from the off and only dropped four points behind his own first serve, with breaks in the third games of both sets putting him on course for victory.
He will face 15th seed Alejandro Tabilo or Lorenzo Sonego in the last 16 as he prepares for a potential title tilt at the US Open.
Speaking after his win, Sinner said: "I've been here for a little bit so I'm maybe a bit more used to the conditions, but still, I'm very happy about the performance.
"It was a very tough match. Even if you watched the score, it felt closer for sure.
"I had to save a break point in the second set and if he makes that one it could potentially change the match. It was a very good mindset today and I'll try to keep going."
Data Debrief: Forty and counting for Sinner
Sinner's victory, coming at the age of 22 years and 357 days, made him the youngest player to achieve 40 successive wins against players ranked outside the ATP's top 20 since Rafael Nadal, who completed that feat aged 22 years and 285 days at Indian Wells in 2009.
Daniil Medvedev suffered a rare hard-court loss to an opponent outside the world's top 20 as Alejandro Davidovich Fokina sent him crashing out of the Canadian Open in the last 32.
Third seed Medvedev was beaten 6-4 1-6 6-2 by world number 43 Davidovich Fokina, the Spaniard coming through a one-hour, 56-minute contest in Montreal.
Davidovich Fokina, who reached the semi-finals of the tournament in 2023, will now face either Karen Khachanov or Matteo Arnaldi for a place in the quarter-finals.
It was only Medvedev's third hard-court defeat to an opponent ranked outside the ATP's top 20 since the start of 2023, with the others both coming against Sebastian Korda.
Medvedev was not the only player to be on the receiving end of an upset on Thursday, as Japan's Kei Nishikori beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-4 for his first top-20 win since 2021.
However, things were far more comfortable for world number four Alexander Zverev, who crushed Jordan Thompson by a 6-1 6-1 scoreline to reach the third round.
Zverev won a huge 95% (18/19) of points behind his first serve, also slamming 20 winners past Thompson, who had previously led the duo's head-to-head series 2-1.
Coco Gauff continued her preparations for the defence of her US Open title by reaching the next round of the Canadian Open, beating China's Yafan Wang in straight sets.
Gauff needed just under an hour and a half to get the job done in Toronto, emerging a 6-4 6-4 victor to bounce back from her disappointment at the Paris Olympics.
The world number two started shakily, saving three break points in the third game before converting a break of her own to lead 3-1 in the opening exchanges.
Wang would fight back, however, winning the next three games on the bounce, but the American would rally to take the first set.
It looked as though Gauff would cruise to victory after taking a three-game lead, but her Chinese opponent would show her powers of recovery once more, levelling the encounter soon after.
The pair would trade blows for the remainder, with Gauff proving too strong for Yang late on, claiming the triumph with a love game on serve.
Gauff will face Diana Shnaider for a place in the quarter-finals following the Russian's triumph over Magdalena Frech earlier in the day.
Data Debrief: Gauff fights off spirited Wang
While Gauff was far from her best in Toronto, she adjusted well to the hard surface having competed on the clay courts of Roland-Garros at the Olympics.
The American impressed on serve, registering six aces throughout the contest while also winning 65% of her first-serve points.
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