Aryna Sabalenka overcame a slow start in the latest-starting match in U.S. Open history, coming back to defeat No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 early Saturday morning to advance to the fourth round.
The No. 2 seed’s match began at 12:07 a.m., and she lost the first set just 30 minutes later. However, she took charge at the start of the second set and won 10 consecutive games, going up 5-0 in the third set.
The match ended at 1:48 a.m., marking it as one of the latest finishes for a women’s match at the U.S. Open, and Sabalenka will now face No. 33 seed Elise Mertens on Sunday.
“I was happy that I was able to stay focused, no matter what, and I was able to turn around this match,” Sabalenka said.
The previous latest start for a women’s match at the U.S. Open was exactly at midnight on September 2, 1987, when Gabriela Sabatini defeated Beverly Bowes 6-3, 6-3.
Aryna Sabalenka reacts after scoring a point
The night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium started more than an hour late, after Frances Tiafoe’s match against Ben Shelton, which lasted 4 hours and 3 minutes, pushed back the schedule.
This year, a new late-night match policy allows the tournament referee to reschedule any match not started by 11:15 p.m. However, Sabalenka and Alexandrova stayed in Ashe Stadium after defending champion Novak Djokovic lost to No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin.
A U.S. Tennis Association spokesperson mentioned that the Grandstand was kept open as a backup if needed for the Sabalenka-Alexandrova match.
On Saturday at the U.S. Open, Jannik Sinner made sure his third-round opponent, Chris O’Connell, never had a chance to think about pulling off a big upset like those against Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
Sinner commented, “It shows that this sport is unpredictable. If you drop even a little in your level—whether mentally, tennis-wise, or physically—it can greatly impact the result. The opponents who lost played incredible tennis. And that happens.”
But Sinner, ranked No. 1, is now seen as the top contender for the men’s title at Flushing Meadows. He won the first five games and 21 of the first 29 points, clearly showing how the match would go. Sinner finished with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over O’Connell in less than two hours.
O’Connell said, “I felt like he was on from the start. I felt a bit lost, to be honest. Every shot, I felt like I had to do something with it because he was just on top of me. He was suffocating me.”
Playing less than 15 hours after Djokovic lost to Alexei Popyrin, and two days after Alcaraz’s loss to Botic van de Zandschulp, Sinner dominated in every aspect.
With Serena Williams watching from a suite, Sinner hit 15 aces, never faced a break point, won five of O’Connell’s 12 service games, and had more than twice as many winners, 46, as unforced errors, 22.
Novak Djokovic reacts after winning the game
O’Connell said, “The best tennis player I’ve ever played against, for sure.” The only past U.S. Open men’s champion still in the tournament is 2021 winner Daniil Medvedev.
Medvedev, after beating No. 31 Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4, 6-3, said, “I definitely didn’t expect this in the fourth round with Novak and Carlos out. It’s fun, but it’s a new tournament now. I need to play my best to try to win it again.”
Next, Medvedev will face Nuno Borges, who came back to win after being a point away from elimination at 6-3 in a fourth-set tiebreaker, eventually beating Jakub Mensik 6-7 (5), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0.
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek, who won the U.S. Open in 2022 and has five Grand Slam titles, defeated No. 25 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2 to make it to the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the fourth year in a row.
On Saturday, Jasmine Paolini joined Coco Gauff as the only woman to reach at least the fourth round in every major tournament in 2024. Paolini reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open for the first time with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 30 seed Yulia Putintseva.
Paolini, who was the runner-up at the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July, will next play against 2023 French Open finalist Karolina Muchova. Also moving on are No. 6 Jessica Pegula, No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova, No. 18 Diana Shnaider, and 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki.
Carlos Alcaraz plays a forehand return in the game
Since losing the first set he played in New York against Mackie McDonald, which was also the first set Sinner had played since news of a doping case involving two positive tests for trace amounts of a banned steroid, the 23-year-old Italian has been flawless. He has lost only 18 games in nine sets.
Sinner, aiming for his second Grand Slam title of the year after winning his first at the Australian Open in January, will face No. 14 Tommy Paul of the United States in the fourth round on Monday. Paul won against Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (3).
Sinner commented, “He’s a great mover. He has improved a lot recently. It’s going to be a tough challenge. He plays some great tennis, especially here in America.”
Sinner might have been cautious heading into Saturday’s match, especially given that it is only the third time in the Open era (the others being 1973 and 2000) that two of the top three seeded men have been eliminated before the fourth round.
So Sinner woke up as the top pick to win the U.S. Open, a position that had been held by No. 3 Alcaraz, who won the French Open and Wimbledon this year, before the tournament started.
No. 2 Djokovic, the defending champion with a record 24 major titles, became the favorite when Alcaraz was eliminated on Thursday. However, Djokovic lost his chance when he was also knocked out on Friday.
Jannik Sinner plays a forehand return
Ranked 87th, O’Connell hoped for another surprise win, even though he had never beaten a top 10 player or gone beyond the third round at a Grand Slam.
O’Connell saw what van de Zandschulp and Popyrin achieved and believed he might do something similar against Sinner.
“I mean, yeah, I’ve got to believe,” O’Connell said, “but I just felt that he was really on fire.”
It’s tough to follow up a career-best win with another, and van de Zandschulp didn’t perform well on Saturday, losing to No. 25 Jack Draper 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Draper, a 22-year-old left-hander from Britain, has never been past the fourth round in a major, and neither has his next opponent, Tomas Machac, who won 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 against David Goffin.
“After the match (against Alcaraz), it was a little bit crazy,” van de Zandschulp said. “You try to think about the next match but you get reminded a lot of the match the day before. So of course it was tough to play today after the last two days.”
Breanna Stewart scored 32 points and Sabrina Ionescu added 25 as the New York Liberty won 98-85 against the Seattle Storm on Friday night.
Leonie Fiebich contributed 12 points for the Liberty (27-7), who recovered from a loss to the last-place Los Angeles Sparks during their three-game road trip on the West Coast.
Jonquel Jones, who missed the previous game due to illness and was still not fully well, grabbed 11 rebounds as the Liberty controlled the boards 45-17. New York also had 17 offensive rebounds.
New York shot 50.7% and made 12 of 26 three-pointers, which helped balance out the 18 turnovers Seattle turned into 24 points.
Seattle (19-12) fell into a tie with Las Vegas for fourth place but secured a playoff spot due to losses by Atlanta and Chicago.
New York Liberty players celebrate in the game
Seattle shot 46.5% from the field but struggled in the fourth quarter, making only 5 of 16 shots. Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 26 points but only managed two in the fourth quarter, along with seven assists. Jewell Loyd added 20 points and Nneka Ogwumike had 15.
The game appeared to be New York’s when Ionescu scored an unusual basket midway through the fourth quarter to make it 89-79. During a drive to the basket, she fell while attempting a contested layup. The rebound came back to her, and from her knees, she banked it in.
The Storm cut the lead to six with under three minutes remaining, but Fiebich grabbed two offensive rebounds, hit a 3-pointer, and Ionescu added six more points to seal the win.
The first quarter saw seven ties and seven lead changes, ending with the Liberty ahead 27-26. New York then scored the first 11 points of the second quarter, including three 3-pointers, the last two by Stewart.
A’ja Wilson scored 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, while Tiffany Hayes added 20 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Las Vegas Aces to a 83-72 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Friday night. This win secured a playoff spot for the two-time defending champions.
Kelsey Plum contributed 18 points and four assists for the Aces (18-12), who are now tied with the Seattle Storm for fourth place in the WNBA standings.
For the Dream (10-21), Allisha Gray scored 17 points but they are still one game behind Chicago for the eighth and final playoff spot after their fourth consecutive loss.
A’ja Wilson preps to take the shot
Rhyne Howard had 23 points but struggled with her shooting, hitting only 4 of 19 shots and just 1 of 10 from inside the arc. Jordin Canada added 10 points.
Chelsea Gray scored only four points for Las Vegas, but they were crucial in the final minutes. She made a steal and then hit a pull-up jumper to put the Aces up 77-67 with under three minutes remaining.
The Dream cut the lead to seven, but Gray scored again with a fadeaway jumper to make it 81-72 with 1:05 left.
Hayes scored 10 points in the first quarter, helping the Aces take a 22-18 lead, and Wilson added 14 points by halftime, giving Las Vegas a 44-38 lead.
Memphis Grizzlies forward GG Jackson II drives while defended by Philadelphia 76ers forward KJ Martin during the first half of an NBA basketball game
Memphis Grizzlies forward GG Jackson II will need surgery after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, the team announced on Friday.
Jackson hurt his foot “after attempting a contested layup” while playing basketball outside Dallas on Tuesday, according to the team. The surgery is set for next Wednesday.
Memphis Grizzlies vs Denver Nuggets (NBA)
The 19-year-old Jackson was a second-round pick for Memphis in the 2023 NBA draft. In 48 games, including 18 starts, he averaged 14.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
Jackson received second-team all-rookie honors and was a standout player in a season full of injuries for the Grizzlies, who ended with a 27-55 record.
Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell dribbles during the first half
The Indiana Pacers have reached an agreement with guard T.J. McConnell on a four-year extension worth $45 million.
Agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman confirmed the deal in an email to The Associated Press on Friday. McConnell, who is already signed for $9.3 million for the upcoming NBA season, will now be with the Pacers through the 2028-29 season.
The 32-year-old McConnell is coming off a season with career highs in scoring, averaging 10.2 points per game during the regular season and 11.8 points per game in the playoffs as Indiana advanced to the Eastern Conference final.
Milwaukee Bucks vs Indiana Pacers (NBA)
He was seventh in the voting for the league’s Sixth Man of the Year Award after playing in 71 games and starting just four.
A native of Western Pennsylvania who played college basketball at Duquesne and Arizona, McConnell has spent nine years in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Pacers since making his debut in October 2015.
He signed with the Sixers after going undrafted that year and joined the Pacers as a free agent in 2019.
Los Angeles Clippers’ Ivica Zubac plays during an NBA basketball game
Ivica Zubac and the Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to a $58.6 million, three-year contract extension, keeping him with the team until the end of the 2027-28 season, according to agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel on Saturday.
Last season, Zubac averaged a career-high 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds, shooting 65% from the field during the regular season.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George dunks during the first half of an NBA basketball game
In the Western Conference playoffs, he averaged 16.2 points in the Clippers’ six-game loss to Dallas.
He had one year and $11.7 million left on his current contract. Zubac, who was traded from the Lakers in February 2019, is now the longest-serving Clipper as the team gets ready for its first season in its new arena in Inglewood.
With the way Erling Haaland is scoring, keeping up with Manchester City in the English Premier League is going to be challenging.
Even though the season is just three games old, it felt important when title rival Arsenal dropped points on Saturday, and City took full advantage with another hat trick from Haaland.
The Norwegian striker scored his second hat trick in two games as City defeated West Ham 3-1, maintaining their perfect start and moving two points ahead of Arsenal, which drew 1-1 with Brighton after Declan Rice was sent off early in the second half.
“No words for him,” City manager Pep Guardiola said about Haaland, who has seven goals in three games this season and 70 in total from the 69 league games he has played for the club.
With eight Premier League hat tricks, Haaland has matched the total of Thierry Henry (258 games), Harry Kane (320), and Michael Owen (326) in their careers.
This was his first hat trick away from the Etihad Stadium, showing off his variety of finishing skills.
Kai Havertz celebrates after scoring a goal
He scored the first goal after receiving a pass from Bernardo Silva and beating goalkeeper Alphonse Areola with a low shot. After Ruben Dias scored an own goal, Haaland made it 2-1 with a powerful shot into the roof of the net in the 30th minute.
He completed his hat trick in the 83rd minute by going clear on goal and lifting the ball over Lukasz Fabianski, who had replaced Areola at halftime.
“I really liked the second goal, I have to be honest,” Haaland said. “The second one was lovely. … I like to shoot a bit hard sometimes, as well. Not only easy shots. So it’s good to get a little bit of power out of my body.”
With 35 more games left, Haaland’s impressive scoring makes any small gap to City look difficult to close.
It’s probably not surprising that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was very frustrated by what he saw as a crucial refereeing decision.
In the early kickoff, Arsenal was ahead 1-0 at Emirates Stadium and seemed to be in control when Declan Rice received a second yellow card in the 49th minute. The card was given for moving the ball aside as Joel Veltman tried to take a quick free kick near the sideline deep in Brighton’s half.
During this, Veltman kicked Rice from behind, and the home crowd was shouting for the Brighton player to be punished. Instead, referee Chris Kavanagh showed Rice a red card.
Declan Rice talks to Danny Wellbeck in the EPL
“I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed, because of how inconsistent decisions can be,” Arteta said, noting that similar actions had not been punished earlier in the game. “It was a really, really hard one to take.”
This decision changed the game, and Joao Pedro equalized with a rebound in the 58th minute after David Raya saved a shot from Yankuba Minteh.
Kai Havertz had put Arsenal ahead in the 38th minute with a lob over goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and had another chance to regain the lead in the 74th minute. However, his low shot was saved.
Last-placed Everton struggled with its own inconsistencies and inability to defend crosses, giving up a 2-0 lead in the final minutes to lose 3-2 at home against Bournemouth. Meanwhile, Brentford showed it can manage well without Ivan Toney by defeating Southampton 3-1.
Everton and Southampton are at the bottom of the table without any points, while Arsenal and Brighton saw their perfect starts to the league come to an end.
Liverpool also has six points from two games and will play against Manchester United on Sunday.
Bayer Leverkusen stands on the ground after the match
German champion Bayer Leverkusen lost a Bundesliga match for the first time in 15 months when Loïs Openda scored twice in a 3-2 comeback win for Leipzig on Saturday.
Under coach Xabi Alonso, Leverkusen has become known for scoring late goals. It briefly looked like this might happen again when the referee reviewed a possible penalty in the 86th minute after Leipzig’s Castello Lukeba and Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick made contact.
The referee decided not to award the penalty, and Leverkusen lost to a German team for the first time since May 2023 after 35 Bundesliga games unbeaten, including their entire title-winning 2023-24 season.
“It’s hard, it’s bitter,” Alonso told German broadcaster Sky. “I don’t think we deserved to lose today.”
Leipzig came back from 2-0 down by taking advantage of their few chances, mostly on the counterattack, to secure the win. Leipzig scored three goals from just 10 shots, while Leverkusen had 27 shots.
Alejandro Grimalo tries to take control of the ball
Leverkusen scored twice in a six-minute span during the first half. Jeremie Frimpong intercepted a loose pass, sent defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu the wrong way, and beat goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
Alex Grimaldo then finished off a team move that involved new signing Martin Terrier drawing Gulacsi out of position.
Despite this, Leipzig gained momentum at halftime after Kevin Kampl’s added-time header. Openda turned the game around with two accurate shots. He equalized with a shot from a tight angle near the sideline and then made it 3-2 with a curling shot from outside the box.
“Leipzig’s goal (from Kampl) before the break was something that changed (the game),” Alonso said. “We were prepared to play well and keep going in the second half, but we didn’t have too much control, the game was too open and we conceded two goals too simply.”
Brazil forward Raphinha scored a hat trick and assisted another goal as Barcelona defeated Valladolid 7-0, staying perfect with four wins out of four games under new coach Hansi Flick on Saturday.
The top team in the Spanish league easily beat newly promoted Valladolid at home, with Robert Lewandowski, Dani Olmo, Jules Koundé, and Ferran Torres also scoring.
Lamine Yamal, who played a key role in Spain’s European Championship win, set up two goals and was too much for Valladolid to handle from Lionel Messi’s old spot on the right side.
Raphinha, who had already been impressive this season with a couple of assists, scored his first career hat trick in the big win over Valladolid. This came after reports suggested the club was interested in signing Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams, another standout from Spain.
Dani Olmo and Raphinha celebrates after a goal
If Williams had joined, Raphinha might have lost his spot in the team.
“I have been working hard since I came back from the summer holidays. I knew that this season would be very important,” the former Leeds player said.
“The game today showed that we don’t need new players to come in. We are in good shape and working hard in practice and games. And this shows where we are right now.”
The score was 3-0 by halftime, and the final result could have been even worse for Valladolid. Olmo, making his first start for Barcelona, hit the woodwork twice, and Lewandowski also struck the post.
When Barcelona fired Xavi Hernández and brought in Flick, president Joan Laporta said his team needed a change.
When Victor Osimhen led Napoli to its first Serie A title in over thirty years, he started to receive the kind of admiration that was once only given to Diego Maradona in the southern city.
That was just a little more than a year ago.
Now, Osimhen is in a difficult situation with Napoli, as the club couldn’t find a buyer for the high-scoring Nigerian striker before the transfer window closed in Europe’s top five leagues on Friday.
Osimhen had expected to join a new club by now, but instead, he has been left out of Napoli’s squad recently and has not been training with the team.
If a Saudi Arabian club does not make an offer, the African player of the year might remain in this tough spot for months until the next transfer window opens in January. Both sides have contributed to the problem.
Victor Osimhen at the Foreign Press club
Napoli reportedly had significant offers for Osimhen a year ago, but club president Aurelio De Laurentiis persuaded him to stay and started talks for a contract extension that ended up more than doubling his salary.
Then last September, an upset Osimhen removed almost all photos of himself in Napoli’s shirt from his social media after the club posted a video online that seemed to mock his penalty-taking skills following a missed penalty in a draw against Bologna.
Napoli later removed the video and apologized.
The contract extension was signed in December, keeping Osimhen with Napoli until 2025-2026. His salary was increased to 11 million euros ($12 million) per season, and a release clause of 130 million euros ($144 million) was added to the contract.
Although Osimhen scored 26 goals when Napoli won Serie A in 2023, he has frequently been hindered by injuries throughout his career, and no club has been willing to pay the full release clause. His high salary has also been a barrier.
Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho in action against Real Betis during the second half of a soccer match
Chelsea has finalized the loan deal for Jadon Sancho from Manchester United, adding another forward to their already large squad.
The loan deal, which includes an obligation to buy Sancho next year, was agreed on Friday before the European transfer deadline. However, the clubs did not officially announce it until Saturday evening.
“I’m really excited to be here. London is where I grew up and I’m happy to be back,” Sancho said in a statement on the Chelsea website.
Chelsea is expected to pay Manchester United 25 million pounds (about $33 million) next summer to make the transfer permanent.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes in action during an English Premier League soccer match
Sancho joined United from Borussia Dortmund in 2021. After a falling out with manager Erik ten Hag, he went on loan to the German club for the second half of last season and even played in the Champions League final.
He returned to United over the summer but now has the chance to revive his career at Chelsea. However, he will have to compete with other attackers like Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Joao Felix, Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Nicolas Jackson.
Felix and Neto were also signed in this transfer window for a combined $120 million, but Chelsea’s owners still felt the need for another forward. Sancho is Chelsea’s 12th signing of the transfer window.
