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Leeds Beats West Ham to Reach FA Cup Semifinals for 1st Time Since 1987

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Quarter Final - West Ham United v Leeds United - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 5, 2026 West Ham United's Mateus Fernandes in action REUTERS/Tony O Brien
Soccer Football - FA Cup - Quarter Final - West Ham United v Leeds United - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 5, 2026 West Ham United's Mateus Fernandes in action REUTERS/Tony O Brien
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Leeds Beats West Ham to Reach FA Cup Semifinals for 1st Time Since 1987

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Quarter Final - West Ham United v Leeds United - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 5, 2026 West Ham United's Mateus Fernandes in action REUTERS/Tony O Brien
Soccer Football - FA Cup - Quarter Final - West Ham United v Leeds United - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 5, 2026 West Ham United's Mateus Fernandes in action REUTERS/Tony O Brien

Leeds threw away a two-goal lead in second-half injury time and had a double scare in extra time before going on to beat West Ham in a penalty shootout on Sunday and reach the FA Cup semifinals for the first time since 1987.

Mateus Fernandes and Axel Disasi struck in the 93rd and 96th minutes as West Ham leveled the score at 2-2 at London Stadium and forced extra time — where two goals for West Ham were chalked off for offside — before Leeds won the quarterfinal shootout 4-2. West Ham debutant Finlay Herrick saved a penalty from Joel Piroe but Leeds eventually prevailed with Pascal Struijk scoring the winning penalty.

“At least I’m old enough that I was already born when there was the last semifinal for Leeds United in the FA Cup in the '80s," Leeds manager Daniel Farke said. “It was a crazy game."

The thousands of West Ham fans who had left early were trying, and failing, to get back in when Taty Castellanos thought he had put the Hammers ahead in the opening seconds of extra time after a bad error from Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri, only for VAR to rule Castellanos offside.

Then Jarrod Bowen crashed a shot against the crossbar, with Pablo offside when he rolled in the rebound.

The 20-year-old Herrick came on as a replacement for Alphonse Areola, who left the field to receive treatment with five minutes of extra time remaining, The Associated Press reported.

Ao Tanaka and Dominic Calvert-Lewin's penalty had previously built a 2-0 lead for Leeds in a classic FA Cup game between two relegation-threatened teams in the Premier League.

FA Cup semifinal draw Leeds will play Chelsea in the semifinals in a repeat of the 1970 FA Cup final, which Chelsea won after a replay.

Manchester City and second-tier Southampton meet in the other semifinal match with games to be played April 25-26 at Wembley.

The draw was held after Leeds’ victory.

West Ham averted some controversy after it backed down on a decision, reportedly taken by the safety officer before the match, that a penalty shootout would not be taken in front of the end housing 9,000 Leeds fans because of “safety concerns.”

As it was, the coin toss went West Ham’s way.

Farke said: “You could imagine what I think about such a situation."

Absent fans Stoppage time, extra time and the shootout were played in front of a half-empty stadium after the exodus of home fans.

“What I saw on the pitch was more important than anything,” West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo said.

“What I saw was a group of players, a group of boys that didn’t give up. This is the major lesson that we have to take from today.”

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Sports

Sinner Beats Rising Star Jódar in Madrid and Declares 'What a Player'

Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 29, 2026 Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates winning his quarter final match against Spain's Rafael Jodar REUTERS/Ana Beltran
Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 29, 2026 Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates winning his quarter final match against Spain's Rafael Jodar REUTERS/Ana Beltran
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Sinner Beats Rising Star Jódar in Madrid and Declares 'What a Player'

Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 29, 2026 Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates winning his quarter final match against Spain's Rafael Jodar REUTERS/Ana Beltran
Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 29, 2026 Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates winning his quarter final match against Spain's Rafael Jodar REUTERS/Ana Beltran

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner proved too much for Rafael Jódar, the latest tennis sensation from Spain.

Jódar's run was halted by a 6-2, 7-6 (0) loss to Sinner in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Jódar has been quickly rising up the rankings and had impressed in Madrid with victories against better-ranked opponents.

“What a player,” Sinner wrote on the lens of the on-court camera after the match at the Caja Magica center court.

“In the beginning he was maybe a little bit, felt a bit of tension, which is normal,” The Associated Press quoted Sinner as saying. “But after, it came out as a good match. I had a little bit of experience, you know, a little bit more of experience than him in crucial moments, but it was a good match.”

Sinner had praised the Spaniard a few other times before and was courtside to see Jódar defeat fifth-seeded Alex de Minaur in the round of 64.

“That’s also one of the reasons why I went to watch him, you know, him and João Fonseca,” Sinner said. “I like to watch because I know that they are going to be potentially the future opponents most of the time. Everyone is a very different player, and you need to adjust yourself.”

The 24-year-old Sinner said Jódar has “everything what’s needed” to be among the top players.

“At the end of the day, you know, the player has to make the step forward, and then we see. But what he’s doing, it’s incredible,” Sinner said. “But in the same time, don’t push him too much, you know. Because sometimes it’s getting into your head and it’s very tough to get out.

He’s a very, very good kid, he has a great family behind him. The father seems very, very humble. He has a small bubble, which is great for him. I think he’s going to make some incredible results in the future.”

Spain's Rafael Jodar returns a ball to Italy's Jannik Sinner during their 2026 ATP Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament quarterfinal singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid, on April 29, 2026. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

The 42nd-ranked Jódar was playing in the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time. He had already become just the third Spaniard — after Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz — to earn a main-draw win in Madrid before turning 20.

Jódar earlier this month won in Marrakech for his first ATP Tour title, then reached the semifinals in Barcelona. He was outside the top 600 in the rankings just a year ago and entered the top 100 in March.

“Jannik played very well during the whole match,” Jódar said. “I take many positive things, and I’m trying to learn from this match and for the future. I’ll try to re-watch it again and try to learn from this match.”

It was the 21st straight win for Sinner, who saved all seven break points he faced. He will be playing in the Madrid semifinals for the first time. The Italian has completed the set of semifinal appearances across all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.

Sinner, trying to become the first player to win five consecutive Masters 1000 tournaments, will next face Barcelona champion Arthur Fils, the 21-year-old who extended his winning streak to nine matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jiri Lehecka.

Sports

Marathon Brothers Run Ireland in Race to Find Dementia Cure

(FILES) British runner Jordan Adams carries a fridge at the start of the 2026 London Marathon at Blackheath in south-east London on April 26, 2026. (Photo by Toby Shepheard / AFP)
(FILES) British runner Jordan Adams carries a fridge at the start of the 2026 London Marathon at Blackheath in south-east London on April 26, 2026. (Photo by Toby Shepheard / AFP)
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Marathon Brothers Run Ireland in Race to Find Dementia Cure

(FILES) British runner Jordan Adams carries a fridge at the start of the 2026 London Marathon at Blackheath in south-east London on April 26, 2026. (Photo by Toby Shepheard / AFP)
(FILES) British runner Jordan Adams carries a fridge at the start of the 2026 London Marathon at Blackheath in south-east London on April 26, 2026. (Photo by Toby Shepheard / AFP)

Jordan Adams, who ran the London marathon with a 25-kilogram fridge on his back last weekend, is now running around Ireland in a race to find a cure for a form of dementia both he and his brother are near certain to contract.

"This mission is ongoing, as is our family's devastation with dementia, one step at a time," Adams told a crowd who gathered to see him off on Wednesday in County Donegal, their latest stop.

The 30-year-old is running consecutive daily marathons for 32 days in each of Ireland's 32 counties -- north and south of the Irish border -- with the finish in Dublin on May 28. Without the fridge, though.

Assisted by his younger brother Cian, 25, who will mostly cycle the routes, the pair started in County Antrim in Northern Ireland on Monday, just a day after completing the 26.2-mile-long (42 kilometers) course in London.

Nicknamed the FTD brothers, their mother Geraldine was diagnosed in 2010 aged 47 with a rare form of familial Frontal Temporal Dementia, AFP reported.

Overnight, Cian, then aged just 9, Jordan as a 15-year-old, their older sister and father became primary carers of their mum who died at 52 in 2016.

Two years later, Jordan learned he carries the MAT-T gene mutation which gives him a 99.9 percent chance of developing the same early-onset dementia.

Soon after Cian tested positively for the same gene.

With terminal symptoms expected to aggressively emerge in their 40s, the brothers face a stark race against time.

"What makes this disease even more cruel is that we've lost twelve Irish relatives, including my mum and Nan," Jordan, from the English Midlands, told AFP.

"We wanted to come to Ireland where all the devastation started, to honour our Irish relatives," he said.

Running with a fridge on board in London was "surreal", said Jordan, who did the stunt to bring attention to the disease.

But with Cian alongside to douse him with water, they reached the finish line together.

"We both share the same diagnosis and the same future, so I know our mum was shining down with a lot of pride," Jordan told AFP.

The brothers are not new to extreme challenges.

They ran around the United Kingdom two years ago, while Jordan has a seven-in-seven-days marathon challenge under his belt.

Undaunted by the Irish 32-in-32 test, Cian said it "comes in handy that he works as a physiotherapist.

"We've put together a good plan over the last six months, strength and conditioning, plyometrics, running training to get Jordan in the best nick possible for this challenge," Cian told AFP.

"Touch wood, at the moment his legs feel good for it," he said.

The brothers have set themselves the goal of raising one million pounds in their mother's honor, and for research into an Alzheimer's cure that could save them.

After London, they are almost halfway there.

Carol Molloy, who helps run the local branch of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI), told AFP that around 64,000 people are living with dementia in the EU member.

An estimated one in 10 of those have a young-onset diagnosis, with that number expected to grow to around 150,000 by 2050, according to Molloy.

Some 50 percent of the proceeds of the brothers' marathon challenge will go to the ASI.

"What Jordan and Cian are doing is amazing, we are so grateful," said Molloy.

Dozens of local people joined the pair on their run, at least part of the way.

One participant Sean McFadden, a runner from Letterkenny who recently lost his father to dementia, said he would complete the full marathon route alongside the brothers in solidarity.

"We have to hold our hearts out to the two lads and hope everything goes well," said the 50-year-old.

"It's a hard disease. For me today to be able to join in with the boys, it's quite special," he told AFP before setting off.

Sports

Lucky Loser Potapova Makes History with Madrid Open Semi-final Run

Austria's Anastasia Potapova returns the ball to Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova during their 2026 WTA Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid, on April 29, 2026. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
Austria's Anastasia Potapova returns the ball to Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova during their 2026 WTA Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid, on April 29, 2026. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
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Lucky Loser Potapova Makes History with Madrid Open Semi-final Run

Austria's Anastasia Potapova returns the ball to Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova during their 2026 WTA Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid, on April 29, 2026. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
Austria's Anastasia Potapova returns the ball to Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova during their 2026 WTA Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid, on April 29, 2026. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

Anastasia Potapova has turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final after her thrilling 6-1 6-7(4) 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open on Wednesday.

The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry, stunning former world number one Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match ⁠points.

Potapova's run has ⁠included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world number two Elena Rybakina.

When asked if she thought she would be in the final four after that qualifying loss, the unseeded Potapova said: "No, I wouldn't, for any ⁠money and anything.

"That's what makes our sport beautiful. I was given a second chance and now I'm here.

"I’m super happy. There’s nothing better that could happen to me in my life at the moment."

After cruising through the opening set, Potapova appeared destined for a straightforward victory when she earned three match points in the second.

But Pliskova clawed back to force a tiebreak and level the ⁠match.

Potapova ⁠trailed 3-1 in the decider, only to reel off five consecutive games and seal victory with her 10th ace before collapsing to her knees.

"I was given a few match points in the second set on serve. I couldn't manage my nerves at the time, I know that," Reuters quoted Potapova as saying.

"But it seems like this tournament keeps giving me second chances and I keep using them."

Potapova will face Marta Kostyuk or Linda Noskova in the semi-finals.