Latest - Former champion Andy Murray produced an astonishing fightback to outlast Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6 4-6 7-6(5) 7-6(4) 6-4 in his long-awaited return to Grand Slam singles action in the U.S. Open first round.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 33-year-old Briton, contesting a singles match at a major for the first time since the 2019 Australian Open, appeared to be heading for an early exit as a fearless Nishioka outplayed him for two sets on a virtually empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Yet as he has so often done in his career, Murray simply refused to accept defeat.
He recovered for a break down in the third set and saved a match point late in the fourth before finally crushing 49th-ranked Nishioka's spirit to claim victory in four hours 38 minutes.
It was Murray's 10th win from two sets down and showed that despite two hip surgeries he remains one of the sport's great warriors.
Murray won the title on the same court in 2012.
-Reuters
Changes to Warriors lineup
Injury and the unavailability of loan players have forced four line-up changes for the Warriors' NRL game against third-placed Parramatta in Gosford on Sunday.
Jack Murchie returns to the Warriors starting side. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Second rower Eliesa Katoa is out for at least two weeks with an injury to his left hand which he picked up in last weekend's 36-6 victory over Newcastle.
Parramatta loan players George Jennings and Daniel Alvaro are also out of the side. They haven't been released by the Eels this week after being in the line-up the past five weeks, a period in which the Warriors have beaten the Wests Tigers, Manly, Canterbury Bankstown and Newcastle while losing just 12-18 to competition leader Penrith.
Promoted from the bench to take Katoa's spot is mid-season signing Jack Murchie.
Called in to replace the in-form Jennings on the wing is ex-Kiwi international Gerard Beale.
With Alvaro out and Murchie moved into the starting line-up, Isaiah Papali'i returns to the interchange while Josh Curran, used only once so far this season, is line for his fifth career appearance.
Kiwi cyclist's team wins Tour de France stage
New Zealand cyclist George Bennett's team has won the fourth stage of the Tour de France with Slovenian Primoz Roglic taking the first mountain-top finish of the race.
Roglic showed no ill effects of his crash earlier this month as he prevailed on the 160.5-km ride from Sisteron.
His compatriot Tadej Pogacar was second and Frenchman Guillaume Martin was third in a sprint featuring all the pre-race favourites.
France's Julian Alaphilippe retained the overall leader's yellow jersey when he took fifth place.
Roglic, whose participation in the Tour was in doubt after a crash in the Criterium du Dauphine, eased to victory to claim a 10-second bonus and send an early warning to his rivals.
Roglic is now third overall, 7 seconds behind Alaphillippe.
The fifth stage is a 183-km effort from Gap to Privas.
-Reuters
Robertson clarifies Lions request
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson says any role he had with the British and Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa next year would not have to be in a formal assistant coaching position.
Scott Robertson Photo: Photosport
Robertson said last month that he had approached Lions coach Warren Gatland, a fellow New Zealander, about a spot on the tour to gain some international experience.
The request was not welcomed in some quarters and Ian McGeechan, who coached the Lions on four tours, wrote that Gatland needed assistants better acquainted with the northern hemisphere game and players.
Robertson told Stuff he's still waiting to hear back from Lions organisers and was willing to help out where he could.
"It was a chance for me to grow as a person and teach with people with different mindsets and skill sets and be in such a special group. Nothing has changed from that," he told stuff.co.nz.
"I am happy to help Andy Farrell out with the defence, to have more of a specialised role to allow him to get the best out of the group.
"You need a hand. You've got test matches, and midweek games. Coaching staffs are big, they've got a lot of players."
-Reuters
Top Spanish tennis player diagnosed with cancer
Former world women's tennis number six Carla Suarez Navarro says she has been diagnosed with early stage Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer, and will need to go through six months of chemotherapy.
Carla Suarez Navarro Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 31-year-old Spaniard, in a video posted on her Twitter account, said she received her diagnosis a few days ago.
"I'm fine and calm at the moment, willing to face whatever comes," Suarez Navarro said in the video. "See you soon."
Last week, Suarez Navarro withdrew from the U.S. Open, which began in New York on Monday, for health reasons.
-Reuters
SBW named for Roosters
Sonny Bill Williams will make his long-awaited return to the National Rugby League on Saturday after being named on the Sydney Roosters' bench for the repeat of last year's championship decider against the Canberra Raiders.
Sonny Bill Williams last played for the Roosters in 2014. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Dual code international Williams, who played a leading role in the Roosters' 2013 championship season, has been named in Trent Robinson's matchday squad.
The 35-year-old was released by Toronto Wolfpack in July after the Canadian team pulled out of the restart of Super League Europe due to financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A twice Rugby World Cup winner with the All Blacks, Williams has jumped through hoops to link up with the defending champion Roosters, who are fourth in the league with three rounds left before the playoffs.
He needed a special permit to return to Australia from Britain due to COVID-19-related border controls and served a 14-day quarantine upon arrival before being free to train.
-Reuters
Football fans back in the stands for Bundesliga
RB Leipzig have become the first Bundesliga club allowed to have some fans back in their stadium for their season opener next month after the city's health authority gave the green light for up to 8,500 spectators to attend.
Photo: AFP
The city said the club, who last month were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, could have fans back in their ground against Mainz 05 on 20 September if novel coronavirus infection rates in the region remain at current levels.
All fans will have to wear face masks and will be placed in small groups spread across the 42,000-capacity stadium. There will be no visiting spectators and all supporters must provide personal details and be local residents.
Bundesliga clubs have been playing without fans since March.
-Reuters
French rugby side postpones game due to lack of players
French Top 14 rugby club Stade Francais' season opener against Bordeaux Begles has been postponed over health risks amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Paris club were scheduled to play Bordeaux in the French capital on Friday, but were unable to field the required number of players for the game.
Stade Francais last month cancelled a pre-season game against Toulon because some of their players had developed lesions on their lungs after contracting Covid-19 and needed an extra week to recuperate.
The 2019-20 Top 14 season was suspended in March because of the novel coronavirus outbreak and officially abandoned in early June with no champions named.
-Reuters