Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - The New Zealand leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series will not go ahead next year.

The full World Rugby Sevens Series schedule is due to resume in 2022 however the Hamilton leg and the Sydney event, have been cancelled following consultation with World Rugby and following the advice of government departments and international public health authorities, and with the health and wellbeing of the community in mind.

Rugby Australia and New Zealand Rugby will continue to consult with World Rugby regarding the establishment of several regional Oceania Sevens tournaments with the support of the Australian government, as preparation for the men's and women's teams ahead of the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2022.

Italy equal unbeaten run

European champions Italy made it 35 games unbeaten to equal the European record run set by Spain but were ultimately disappointed as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Bulgaria in their World Cup qualifier in Florence.

Despite the draw, Italy remain in a strong position to reach next year's World Cup in Qatar, sitting top of the group on 10 points from four matches, four points clear of Switzerland in second albeit having played two games more.

England moved five points clear at the top of their World Cup qualifying Group after a comfortable 4-0 win over Hungary in Budapest.

Hungary fans threw objects at England players on two occasions, while British broadcaster ITV also said racist "monkey noises" were aimed at some England players.

In the same group Poland beat Albania 4-1.

Sweden bounced back from conceding an early goal to surprise Spain 2-1 in Stockholm and go top of their group.

Romelu Lukaku scored twice as Belgium overcame an early scare to crush Estonia 5-2 away and solidify their position at the top of their group.

New Germany coach Hansi Flick got his reign off to a winning start with a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein.

The Germans are second in the group on nine points after four games, one behind leaders Armenia.

Routliffe and Daniell progress at Flushing Meadows

Erin Routliffe and Marcus Daniell are left to fly the New Zealand flag in the doubles at the US Open after dramatic endings to two of the three doubles matches.

Routliffe and her 18-year-old Canadian partner Leylah Fernandez are through to the second round of the women's doubles in New York.

They have beaten American Christina McHale and Mexico's Giuliana Olmos 6-4 6-2. It's the first ever win for the 26-year-old Routliffe in her fourth Grand Slam appearance with the match taking an hour and eight minutes.

Daniell and his Brazilian partner Marcelo Demoliner had just broken serve to lead 2-1 in the deciding third set against Britain's Dan Evans and Lloyd Glasspool when Evans pulled out with a leg injury. The final score was 6-7 (4) 6-4 2-1 in 1 hour 37.

By contrast Michael Venus has crashed out due to his partner German Tim Puetz suffering a side strain while serving to stay in the second set of their first-round match against Germany's Dominik Koepfer and Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori.

Venus still has the mixed doubles with partner Angel Chan.

Phoenix excited about W-League expansion

The Wellington Phoenix are one of four clubs being considered to join an expanded W-League competition this season.

Australia's W-League will expand to 10 teams this season and 12 teams the following season.

The competition's most recent expansion was in 2015 when it increased to nine teams with the addition of Melbourne City.

One of the four A-League clubs currently without a W-League presence - Wellington Phoenix, Western United, Central Coast Mariners and Macarthur FC - will next week be announced as the W-League's 10th team for the season scheduled to start on November 12.

Wellington Phoenix General Manager David Dome has welcomed the initiative and says he is looking forward to adding a professional women's football team to Wellington in due course.

"While there is no finalised timeframe in place, Wellington welcomes APL's announcement and the consideration to add Wellington to the W-league before 2023," says Dome.

"We will continue to work with all major stakeholders to gain entrance as soon as possible but note there is still work to do before any entry can be confirmed."

Debutants in Pakistan squad

Pakistan has picked four uncapped players in their 20-player squad to meet New Zealand in the One Day series later this month.

Wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris, pace bowlers Mohammad Wasim and Shahnawaz Dahani and spinner Zahid Mahmood are all in line to make their 50-over debuts.

Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah have been recalled while Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Sohaib Maqsood, who were part of the ODI series against England in July have been dropped. Haris Sohail, who withdrew from that series having sustained a hamstring injury, has also been left out.

The tour will be New Zealand's first of Pakistan in 18 years.

The tour starts with three ODIs in Rawalpindi scheduled on September 17, 19 and 21 and culminates with five T20Is in Lahore.

Crowds up to 25% capacity will also be allowed in the stadium, which means the ODIs taking place in Rawalpindi will be open to 4500 spectators each.

-PCB

Briton keen a fight with Parker

British boxer Joe Joyce has been challenged to start talks for a fight against New Zealander Joseph Parker with the winner staying on course for WBO title shot

Parker is keen to get a fight before the end of the year with likely opponents being Joyce or fellow Briton Derek Chisora.

Joyce is next in line to challenge for the WBO belt after Anthony Joshua defends his world titles against Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 25.

Joyce's manager Sam Jones told Sky Sport UK they'd face the New Zealander "in a heartbeat".

The British contender could risk his status as WBO mandatory challenger against Parker, who is also ranked highly by the WBO.

Parker's manager David Higgins told Sky Sport they were running out of time to confirm a fight this year.

Roglic closes in on Spanish title

Miguel Angel Lopez surged to victory on stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana as race leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) all but sealed a second consecutive Vuelta crown.

The Colombian, who started the day third overall, rode away from the pack on the hors-category Altu D'el Gamoniteiru to secure a solo triumph and all but ensure he will also finish on the podium on Sunday in Santiago de Compostela.

Slovenia's Red Jersey holder Roglic finished the stage in second place, 14 seconds behind Lopez and six seconds ahead of Lopez's team mate Enric Mas, who is second in the overall standings and came third in the stage.

The 162.6 km stage saw plenty of breakaways and attacks with Australian Michael Storer (DSM) distancing himself from the rest, taking the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey in the process as he hit the final climb first.

Roglic is two minutes and 30 seconds in front of second-placed Mas overall, with Lopez 23 seconds further behind the Spaniard in third.

Stage 19 is a 191.2km course from Tapia to Monforte de Lemos, which looks suited to a breakaway.

-Reuters

Fox struggles

Auckland golfer Ryan Fox has struggled in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome.

Fox fired a five ovver par 76 which has him in a tie for 130th.

He's 12 shots behind the leaders, Kalle Samooja of Finland, Min Woo Lee of Australia and Henrik Stenson of Sweden.

Fox will need a dramatic improvement if he's to avoid the cut tomorrow.

US Open play delayed before Barty and Bencic advance

The start of play at the U.S. Open was delayed, a day after remnants of Hurricane Ida brought torrential rains and high winds to the grounds, flooding roads and interrupting one match that was being played under a roof.

The powerful storm led the National Weather Service to declare a flash flood emergency in New York City for the first time in history, with at least nine deaths reported in the region.

Day Four's first matches began an hour after the normal start time

Top seed Ash Barty of Australia hardly broke sweat as she beat tournament debutant Denmark's Clara Tauson 6-1 7-5.

British teenager Emma Raducanu also advanced in style with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Zhang Shuai and Maria Sakkari downed Katerina Siniakova 6-4 6-2.

Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, the 11th seed, made short work of Martina Trevisa, beating the Italian 6-3 6-1 in 71 minutes.

Both players sent down 16 winners, but Trevisan won 48% of her first-serve points and made more than double the number of unforced errors Bencic did.

-Reuters

Federer tops Forbes' list of top-earning tennis players

Roger Federer was the highest earning tennis player in the world over the last 12 months, making about $127 million before taxes, despite the Swiss star's time on court being limited by injury, Forbes' said.

Federer, who has skipped this year's U.S. Open due to a knee injury, made less than $1.4 million from playing tennis, with the bulk of his income coming from endorsements, according to Forbes.

Japan's Naomi Osaka is the second-highest earner on the list, with $84.4 million in pre-tax income, more than 90% of which she made off court, with Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal completing the top five.

The 10 highest-paid tennis players collectively earned $450 million over the last 12 months, down 6% from last year, largely due to tournaments and lucrative exhibition matches being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Forbes' said.

Top 10 highest earners in tennis: Roger Federer - Naomi Osaka - Serena Williams - Novak Djokovic - Rafa Nadal - Kei Nishikori - Daniil Medvedev - Dominic Thiem -Stefanos Tsitsipas - Ash Barty.

-Reuters