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Saudi Arabia to Host Women's Tennis WTA Finals from 2024-2026

Tennis court in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Asharq Al-Awsat
Tennis court in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi Arabia to Host Women's Tennis WTA Finals from 2024-2026

Tennis court in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Asharq Al-Awsat
Tennis court in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Asharq Al-Awsat

The season-ending WTA Finals will be held in Saudi Arabia from 2024-2026, the women's tennis body said on Thursday. Riyadh will host the season finale - which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams - from Nov. 2-9 and replaces last year's hosts Cancun, Mexico.
The WTA said its agreement with the Saudi Tennis Federation will offer record prize money of $15.25 million this year with further increases in 2025 and 2026.

“Our focus is on how we develop women’s tennis for the benefit of everybody involved in the game,” WTA Tour Chairman and CEO Steve Simon told The Associated Press.

“We have players from over 90 nations now. We have over 90 events. ... We participate in many countries that have different cultures and values systems across the board,” he said.

Locations in Europe, North America and Asia also were considered as possible new sites for the WTA Finals, which have moved around to five cities over the past five editions after a deal to put the tournament in Shenzhen, China, through 2030 was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The cities that hosted in 2022 (Fort Worth, Texas) and 2023 (Cancun, Mexico) were not revealed until September each year, and last November’s event was strongly criticized by players. Four-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek beat Jessica Pegula in last year's title match; US Open champ Coco Gauff and Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka were among the other participants.
Simon said Riyadh was selected by the WTA in late December, but the details of the agreement were just completed.
“This partnership will build on our exposure to a market and a region whose impact on the sports industry is certainly growing rapidly,” Simon said. “We certainly expect that you’ll see more events coming there in the future. So at the end, we believe that the WTA should be a part of this development, versus being on the outside.”

The WTA said the Finals prize money will help work to meet the tour’s pledge, made last year, to increase pay and put it in line with what men earn in tennis. The $15.25 million on offer from Nov. 2-9, 2024 — an amount set to increase in 2025 and 2026 — is up from last year’s $9 million and eclipses the event-high $14 million at Shenzhen in 2019.

 

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Ducati’s Marquez Undergoes Successful Double Surgery After French GP Crash

Gresini Racing MotoGP rider Alex Marquez of Spain is helped after crashing during the MotoGP race at the French Motorcycling Grand Prix in Le Mans, France, 10 May 2026. (EPA)
Gresini Racing MotoGP rider Alex Marquez of Spain is helped after crashing during the MotoGP race at the French Motorcycling Grand Prix in Le Mans, France, 10 May 2026. (EPA)
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Ducati’s Marquez Undergoes Successful Double Surgery After French GP Crash

Gresini Racing MotoGP rider Alex Marquez of Spain is helped after crashing during the MotoGP race at the French Motorcycling Grand Prix in Le Mans, France, 10 May 2026. (EPA)
Gresini Racing MotoGP rider Alex Marquez of Spain is helped after crashing during the MotoGP race at the French Motorcycling Grand Prix in Le Mans, France, 10 May 2026. (EPA)

Reigning ‌MotoGP champion Marc Marquez underwent successful double surgery on Sunday in Madrid following his crash in Saturday's French Grand Prix sprint, Ducati announced.

Marquez suffered a nasty highside crash at Le Mans where the Spaniard fractured his foot and was thrown off his bike, which cartwheeled through the air before landing beside him.

The 33-year-old had also planned to undergo ‌shoulder surgery ‌after the Catalan Grand Prix ‌next ⁠weekend before the ⁠crash changed the timeline and he opted to get both surgeries done together.

"The medical team... successfully stabilized the fracture in the fifth metatarsal of the rider's right foot," Ducati said in a statement.

"Simultaneously, Marquez underwent a ⁠second, pre-planned surgical procedure to ‌fix a past injury ‌in his right shoulder. This previous trauma had ‌become painful again following the violent crash ‌at last year's Indonesian Grand Prix.

"The doctors removed two screws and a bone fragment from a previous Latarjet surgery (in December 2019) that had shifted, ‌compressing the radial nerve."

Ducati said Marquez would remain in the hospital ⁠overnight and ⁠his progress over the upcoming weeks would determine his return to racing.

He was set to miss next weekend's Catalan Grand Prix and will now target a return at the Italian Grand Prix scheduled for May 29-31 at Mugello, Ducati's home turf.

Marquez, who has yet to secure a podium finish this season, has now dropped to seventh in the standings -- 71 points behind Aprilia's championship leader Marco Bezzecchi.

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Barcelona Need a Point Against Real Madrid to Win La Liga

Barcelona's German coach Hans-Dieter Flick gives a press conference on the eve of the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona on May 9, 2026. (AFP)
Barcelona's German coach Hans-Dieter Flick gives a press conference on the eve of the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona on May 9, 2026. (AFP)
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Barcelona Need a Point Against Real Madrid to Win La Liga

Barcelona's German coach Hans-Dieter Flick gives a press conference on the eve of the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona on May 9, 2026. (AFP)
Barcelona's German coach Hans-Dieter Flick gives a press conference on the eve of the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona on May 9, 2026. (AFP)

Barcelona only need a draw against Real Madrid in a high-stakes Clasico to clinch back-to-back La Liga titles later Sunday, with Madrid in disarray after a dressing-room bust-up between two of their leading players.

Hansi Flick's side have an 11-point lead over their age-old rivals and while one point would be enough, a victory would keep them on course to make history -- and celebrate in style.

If Barcelona win their last four league games this season, starting with the battle against Alvaro Arbeloa's fracturing Madrid in Catalonia, they will match the all-time league record of 100 points.

Should Barca beat Madrid and then Real Betis the following weekend, they will become the first team to win all their home matches in a 38-game La Liga season.

The tension around Madrid after a season in which they will finish without a trophy for just the fifth time this century burst to the surface in extraordinary fashion this week.

A post-training clash between French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni and teammate Federico Valverde left the Uruguayan requiring hospital treatment for a head injury, and out for a fortnight.

Valverde's explanation that he "accidentally" collided with a table during the argument "causing a small cut on my forehead" failed to smooth over the situation.

The club imposed a 500,000-euro ($590,000) fine on each player and says they have apologized to each other and to their teammates, the club's staff and to Madrid supporters.

Arbeloa said he was happy that the club had acted swiftly and that the players had "acknowledged their mistake, expressed their regret, accepted the consequences of what they have done, and asked for forgiveness."

"For me, that's enough. What I'm not going to do is burn them at the stake in public, because they don't deserve that... because of what they've shown me over these four months and over these years," the Madrid coach added.

He said despite the confrontation, Tchouameni would be in the squad for the Clasico.

- Barcelona cohesion -

Barcelona coach Flick said the incident at Madrid was something you see in other clubs, but it was not "normal".

"It happens around the world, so it's not only a thing at Real... was I surprised? Maybe a little bit," Flick told reporters.

"But in the end, I don't care about that, because it's not my club, it's not my team. So I don't have to think about that."

Flick was at pains though to stress that in contrast to Madrid, everybody at Barcelona was on the same page.

"The most important thing, and what I really appreciate a lot in this club, is that we are all going the same way," the German explained.

"When something happens, we are talking in the same way."

Adding to the raft of statistics, Barca could become the first team to clinch La Liga in a Clasico since 1932, when Madrid won their first Spanish league.

"We want to win the title, the second in a row," Flick said.

"It's amazing, not normal, here in Spain. So this is what we want to do, nothing else, nothing more."

Madrid will not be able to count on Kylian Mbappe. The French forward has been recovering from a hamstring injury and trained with his teammates on Friday, but he was not on the squad list issued by the club on social media on Sunday.

Barcelona's young star Lamine Yamal will also watch from the stands -- the 18-year-old's own hamstring injury is expected to sideline him until the World Cup.

Sports

Galatasaray Crowned Turkish Champions

Galatasaray supporters celebrate after their team won the Turkish Super Lig soccer tournament at Taksim square in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)
Galatasaray supporters celebrate after their team won the Turkish Super Lig soccer tournament at Taksim square in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)
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Galatasaray Crowned Turkish Champions

Galatasaray supporters celebrate after their team won the Turkish Super Lig soccer tournament at Taksim square in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)
Galatasaray supporters celebrate after their team won the Turkish Super Lig soccer tournament at Taksim square in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)

Galatasaray secured their fourth consecutive Turkish league title on Saturday after a 4-2 home win over Antalyaspor.

The Istanbul club are four points ahead of arch-rivals Fenerbahce, who they beat 3-0 last month, with one match remaining.

Led by star striker Nigerian Victor Osimhen, Galatasaray have qualified directly for the Champions League again after making it to the knock-out round this year, notably routing Juventus along the way.

The most successful Turkish club with 26 titles had previously won four consecutive league titles in the late 1990s.

Without a title for twelve years, the longest drought in their history, Fenerbahce sacked their coach and sporting director the day after their derby defeat to Galatasaray.