(Reuters) – Team World took a big step towards retaining their Laver Cup title as they extended their advantage over Team Europe to 10-2 on Saturday, with Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe leading the charge.

John McEnroe’s team now require one win from their four matches on Sunday to reach the 13-point mark and claim their second crown, but with each victory worth three points on the final day Team Europe still have some hope.

Team World arrived at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena with a 4-0 lead after four wins on the first day of the competition.

With each victory worth two points on the second day, world number eight Fritz put Team World in a commanding position after a thrilling 6-2 7-6(3) win over Russian Andrey Rublev.

“Any type of team environment, I feel it always elevates my game,” said Fritz, who avenged his Monte Carlo semi-final defeat by Rublev earlier this year.

“I feel like my record in team events is strong because I have a team cheering for me. I get pumped up. I’m excited to play for them. It just adds more pressure and fire to it.”

Casper Ruud pulled a win back for Bjorn Borg’s Team Europe with a 7-6(6) 6-2 victory over American Tommy Paul, but Tiafoe defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-5 6-3 to give his team an 8-2 lead.

Tiafoe pulled off one of the shots of the tournament with a volley behind his back and followed it up with a winner at the net in the second set to delight the crowd.

“I came out here wanting to have fun,” Tiafoe said. “Being in the team environment is so foreign to us. Tennis is such an individual sport.

“I wanted to play well for the guys, for the fans.”

Local hero Felix Auger-Aliassime teamed up with American Ben Shelton for a 7-5 6-4 victory over Hurkacz and Gael Monfils to cap off another good day for the defending champions.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

(Reuters) – Team World took a big step towards retaining their Laver Cup title as they extended their advantage over Team Europe to 10-2 on Saturday, with Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe leading the charge.

John McEnroe’s team now require one win from their four matches on Sunday to reach the 13-point mark and claim their second crown, but with each victory worth three points on the final day Team Europe still have some hope.

Team World arrived at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena with a 4-0 lead after four wins on the first day of the competition.

With each victory worth two points on the second day, world number eight Fritz put Team World in a commanding position after a thrilling 6-2 7-6(3) win over Russian Andrey Rublev.

“Any type of team environment, I feel it always elevates my game,” said Fritz, who avenged his Monte Carlo semi-final defeat by Rublev earlier this year.

“I feel like my record in team events is strong because I have a team cheering for me. I get pumped up. I’m excited to play for them. It just adds more pressure and fire to it.”

Casper Ruud pulled a win back for Bjorn Borg’s Team Europe with a 7-6(6) 6-2 victory over American Tommy Paul, but Tiafoe defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-5 6-3 to give his team an 8-2 lead.

Tiafoe pulled off one of the shots of the tournament with a volley behind his back and followed it up with a winner at the net in the second set to delight the crowd.

“I came out here wanting to have fun,” Tiafoe said. “Being in the team environment is so foreign to us. Tennis is such an individual sport.

“I wanted to play well for the guys, for the fans.”

Local hero Felix Auger-Aliassime teamed up with American Ben Shelton for a 7-5 6-4 victory over Hurkacz and Gael Monfils to cap off another good day for the defending champions.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

(Reuters) – Team World took a big step towards retaining their Laver Cup title as they extended their advantage over Team Europe to 10-2 on Saturday, with Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe leading the charge.

John McEnroe’s team now require one win from their four matches on Sunday to reach the 13-point mark and claim their second crown, but with each victory worth three points on the final day Team Europe still have some hope.

Team World arrived at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena with a 4-0 lead after four wins on the first day of the competition.

With each victory worth two points on the second day, world number eight Fritz put Team World in a commanding position after a thrilling 6-2 7-6(3) win over Russian Andrey Rublev.

“Any type of team environment, I feel it always elevates my game,” said Fritz, who avenged his Monte Carlo semi-final defeat by Rublev earlier this year.

“I feel like my record in team events is strong because I have a team cheering for me. I get pumped up. I’m excited to play for them. It just adds more pressure and fire to it.”

Casper Ruud pulled a win back for Bjorn Borg’s Team Europe with a 7-6(6) 6-2 victory over American Tommy Paul, but Tiafoe defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-5 6-3 to give his team an 8-2 lead.

Tiafoe pulled off one of the shots of the tournament with a volley behind his back and followed it up with a winner at the net in the second set to delight the crowd.

“I came out here wanting to have fun,” Tiafoe said. “Being in the team environment is so foreign to us. Tennis is such an individual sport.

“I wanted to play well for the guys, for the fans.”

Local hero Felix Auger-Aliassime teamed up with American Ben Shelton for a 7-5 6-4 victory over Hurkacz and Gael Monfils to cap off another good day for the defending champions.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

(Reuters) – Team World took a big step towards retaining their Laver Cup title as they extended their advantage over Team Europe to 10-2 on Saturday, with Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe leading the charge.

John McEnroe’s team now require one win from their four matches on Sunday to reach the 13-point mark and claim their second crown, but with each victory worth three points on the final day Team Europe still have some hope.

Team World arrived at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena with a 4-0 lead after four wins on the first day of the competition.

With each victory worth two points on the second day, world number eight Fritz put Team World in a commanding position after a thrilling 6-2 7-6(3) win over Russian Andrey Rublev.

“Any type of team environment, I feel it always elevates my game,” said Fritz, who avenged his Monte Carlo semi-final defeat by Rublev earlier this year.

“I feel like my record in team events is strong because I have a team cheering for me. I get pumped up. I’m excited to play for them. It just adds more pressure and fire to it.”

Casper Ruud pulled a win back for Bjorn Borg’s Team Europe with a 7-6(6) 6-2 victory over American Tommy Paul, but Tiafoe defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-5 6-3 to give his team an 8-2 lead.

Tiafoe pulled off one of the shots of the tournament with a volley behind his back and followed it up with a winner at the net in the second set to delight the crowd.

“I came out here wanting to have fun,” Tiafoe said. “Being in the team environment is so foreign to us. Tennis is such an individual sport.

“I wanted to play well for the guys, for the fans.”

Local hero Felix Auger-Aliassime teamed up with American Ben Shelton for a 7-5 6-4 victory over Hurkacz and Gael Monfils to cap off another good day for the defending champions.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

(Reuters) – Team World took a big step towards retaining their Laver Cup title as they extended their advantage over Team Europe to 10-2 on Saturday, with Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe leading the charge.

John McEnroe’s team now require one win from their four matches on Sunday to reach the 13-point mark and claim their second crown, but with each victory worth three points on the final day Team Europe still have some hope.

Team World arrived at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena with a 4-0 lead after four wins on the first day of the competition.

With each victory worth two points on the second day, world number eight Fritz put Team World in a commanding position after a thrilling 6-2 7-6(3) win over Russian Andrey Rublev.

“Any type of team environment, I feel it always elevates my game,” said Fritz, who avenged his Monte Carlo semi-final defeat by Rublev earlier this year.

“I feel like my record in team events is strong because I have a team cheering for me. I get pumped up. I’m excited to play for them. It just adds more pressure and fire to it.”

Casper Ruud pulled a win back for Bjorn Borg’s Team Europe with a 7-6(6) 6-2 victory over American Tommy Paul, but Tiafoe defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-5 6-3 to give his team an 8-2 lead.

Tiafoe pulled off one of the shots of the tournament with a volley behind his back and followed it up with a winner at the net in the second set to delight the crowd.

“I came out here wanting to have fun,” Tiafoe said. “Being in the team environment is so foreign to us. Tennis is such an individual sport.

“I wanted to play well for the guys, for the fans.”

Local hero Felix Auger-Aliassime teamed up with American Ben Shelton for a 7-5 6-4 victory over Hurkacz and Gael Monfils to cap off another good day for the defending champions.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

(Reuters) -Maria Sakkari of Greece ended American Caroline Dolehide’s fairytale run in the Guadalajara Open final on Saturday to win her first WTA 1000 crown and end a four-year title drought.

Second seed Sakkari powered past Dolehide, who is ranked 111th in the world, for a 7-5 6-3 victory to capture her second career title, ending the week without dropping a set.

Sakkari had lost six finals since winning her first title at the WTA 250 tournament in Rabat in 2019. She finished runner-up to Jessica Pegula in Guadalajara last year.

“We’ve heard so many bad things – that I will never win a title, that I’m a top-five player with only winning one title,” said Sakkari, who broke down in tears after her win.

“That was very hard for me to overcome and I’m so happy that I did it here this week … I want to thank my coach Tom (Hill) who has been with me the last five years. We’ve waited for more than four years for a second title.

“I want to thank my family. I really wish they were here with me. I want to dedicate this trophy to my grandfather who passed away last year, and my grandma who is watching at home.”

In Saturday’s final, Dolehide rallied from a break down in a tight opening set to take a 5-4 lead, but Sakkari won the next three games to take the set.

She broke for a 3-2 lead in the second set and held for 5-3 with her third ace of the contest, before clinching victory after an hour and 43 minutes.

Sakkari, who has previously described Mexico as her second home, was presented with the champion’s sombrero after her win and also wore the Mexican soccer team’s shirt during the trophy ceremony.

“It’s the biggest win of my career … I’m just very, very grateful that it happened here,” she told a news conference later.

“I’ve said it many times this week, I just really enjoy my time here … Tonight and tomorrow, it’s going to be two very happy days for me.”

Sakkari, currently ranked ninth in the world, is expected to climb up to sixth when the rankings are updated on Monday, according to the WTA. First-time WTA finalist Dolehide, 25, is set to break into the top 50 for the first time.

“I’m really proud of myself and I look forward to a lot more finals like this,” Dolehide told reporters. “Hopefully next time it could go a little bit more towards my way. This is definitely something to build on.”

(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; Editing by Jamie Freed)

(Reuters) – Maria Sakkari of Greece ended American Caroline Dolehide’s fairytale run in the Guadalajara Open final on Saturday to win her first WTA 1000 crown and end a four-year title drought.

Second seed Sakkari powered past Dolehide, who is ranked 111th in the world, for a 7-5 6-3 victory to capture her second career title, ending the week without dropping a set.

Sakkari had lost six finals since winning her first title at the WTA 250 tournament in Rabat in 2019. She finished runner-up to Jessica Pegula in Guadalajara last year.

“We’ve heard so many bad things – that I will never win a title, that I’m a top-five player with only winning one title,” said Sakkari, who broke down in tears after her win.

“That was very hard for me to overcome and I’m so happy that I did it here this week … I want to thank my coach Tom who has been with me the last five years. We’ve waited for more than four years for a second title.”

In Saturday’s final, Dolehide rallied from a break down in a tight opening set to take a 5-4 lead, but Sakkari won the next three games to take the set.

She broke for a 3-2 lead in the second set and held for 5-3 with her third ace of the contest, before clinching victory after an hour and 43 minutes.

Sakkari, currently ranked ninth in the world, is expected to climb up to sixth when the rankings are updated on Monday, according to the WTA. Dolehide, 25, is set to break into the top 50 for the first time.

(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; Editing by Jamie Freed)

HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) – Asian Games hosts China claimed the first gold of the continental sporting showpiece on Sunday when Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping won the lightweight women’s doubles sculls title in the rowing.

On an overcast morning at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre, the Chinese duo dominated, clocking a time of seven minutes and 6.78 seconds to finish nearly 10 seconds clear of Uzbek runners-up Luizakhon Islomova and Malika Tagmatova.

Indonesia took the bronze.

About 12,400 athletes from 45 nations are competing for 481 gold medals across a huge programme of 40 sports at the Hangzhou Games in eastern China, which were delayed by a year due to COVID-19.

China topped the medals table in the last 10 Asian Games and are almost certain to do so again on home soil.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Hangzhou; Editing by William Mallard)

By Martyn Herman

(Reuters) -Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the season with a sixth successive Premier League win but it was not as serene as it might have been in a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest as they played the second half with 10 men.

Goals by Phil Foden and Erling Haaland put the champions in cruise control within 15 minutes but Rodri’s red card one minute into the second period after he grappled with Morgan Gibbs-White meant City had to work hard to seal the victory.

Manchester United also got a much-needed 1-0 win at Burnley to snap a run of three straight defeats in all competitions.

Everton registered their first league victory of the season, producing an impressive display to triumph 3-1 at Brentford whose home struggles continued.

Luton Town got off the mark as they drew 1-1 against 10-man visitors Wolverhampton Wanderers while Crystal Palace and Fulham played out a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park.

With half of the weekend’s fixtures being played on Sunday, City took the chance to move onto a maximum 18 points, five ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, who meet on Sunday, and Liverpool, who host West Ham United.

A City win never looked in doubt once Kyle Walker set up Foden to thump in the opener after a 46-pass move and Haaland headed powerfully into the net from a cross by Matheus Nunes.

But Rodri’s needless altercation with Gibbs-White, who made a meal of the City midfielder putting his hands on his throat in the 46th minute, meant the hosts were unable to coast through the rest of the match.

“We played, I would say, 51, 52 minutes 10 against 11, so it was not easy, but we were fantastic,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “I thought the way we played in the first half was amazing against a difficult side for the physicality, the pace they have up front.”

Asked about Rodri’s sending off which means he will likely miss three games, Guardiola said: “Rodri has to control his emotions. I can get a yellow card but Rodri cannot get a red.

“He has done it. He has apologised. The players in the pitch have to control their emotions.”

DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT

A trip to Turf Moor to face a Burnley side who are better than their league position suggests looked like a dangerous assignment for United but thanks to Bruno Fernandes’s sublime volley they got back on track to climb to eighth on nine points.

Fernandes met a superb Jonny Evans pass on the stroke of halftime and his classy finish proved enough for the win.

“Team spirit was big. The battle, the fight. It’s about winning. The last week a lot was against us,” United manager Ten Hag said. “It’s up to us, we knew that.”

Everton’s James Tarkowski scored versus his former club in a well-deserved 3-1 win at Brentford’s Community Stadium.

Abdoulaye Doucoure put Everton ahead in the sixth minute with a strike into the top right corner but Mathias Jensen levelled in the 28th with a shot that went in off the far post.

Tarkowski headed in Dwight McNeil’s corner after 67 minutes before substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin wrapped up the points in the 71st with an effort off the leg of goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

Victory lifted Everton out of the relegation zone and up to 15th with four points, while Brentford, without a home win this season, are 12th on six.

Wolves were reduced to 10 men at a raucous Kenilworth Road when Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was sent off late in the first half for kicking out at Luton skipper Tom Lockyer.

Undeterred the visitors went ahead when Pedro Neto cut in after racing down the right wing and smashed a shot into the roof of the net.

However, Luton were handed a lifeline when Joao Gomes handled in the box and, after a VAR review, Carlton Morris stepped up to send Jose Sa the wrong way.

It secured Luton’s first point in the top flight since April 1992 and they might have been celebrating a win.

“But it’s coming. We were better again today. I’m not saying we should have got something from the game, I’m saying we should have won,” Luton manager Rob Edwards said.

The Hatters moved off the bottom, above Burnley on goal difference, with one point from five games.

Palace and Fulham are ninth and 10th respectively with eight points after their stalemate.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Ken Ferris)

(Reuters) – Megan Rapinoe will bid farewell to international football with no regrets about her time on and off the pitch, she told a news conference on Saturday ahead of her last game on Sunday, highlighting her support of social causes throughout her career.

The striker, who earned recognition not only for being a two-time world champion but also for her activism, gained fame for her advocacy of LGBT+ rights, solidarity with NFL player Colin Kaepernick and famously confronting former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The off-field stuff is what is most meaningful (to me) and I think what I’m most proud of leaving this team and leaving the game,” she said.

“Being so vocal about racial justice or gay rights, I feel like the team really stepped into it and took upon itself to be so much more of what we were on the field and really focus on that.”

“We’ve been a very special generation of players, but I think it says a lot about us that everything we’ve accomplished on the field pales in comparison to what we’ve done off the field.”

Although the 38-year-old player will say goodbye to the U.S. national team on Sunday when they face South Africa in a friendly, she shows no signs of retiring from public life after a career spent championing social causes.

“I’m very excited to continue to be a part of the growth of women’s sport, not just football. I think we are at a very special time. I want to use my platform and my leverage, but now I’ll have more time to do that.”

The Olympic champion was enthusiastic about the future of the national squad, the potential of the new generation and the growth of the team’s culture as part of her activism legacy.

She highlighted players Naomi Girma, Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith, particularly Girma’s focus on mental health advocacy.

Rapinoe will play her final NWSL regular season game with the OL Reign on Oct. 6 against the Washington Spirit in Seattle.

(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Josie Kao)