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Ed Sheeran Buys Minority Stake in Hometown Club Ipswich 

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran arrives for the screening of the film "Songwriter" during the 68th edition of the International Film Festival Berlin, in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP)
Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran arrives for the screening of the film "Songwriter" during the 68th edition of the International Film Festival Berlin, in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP)
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Ed Sheeran Buys Minority Stake in Hometown Club Ipswich 

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran arrives for the screening of the film "Songwriter" during the 68th edition of the International Film Festival Berlin, in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP)
Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran arrives for the screening of the film "Songwriter" during the 68th edition of the International Film Festival Berlin, in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP)

Singer Ed Sheeran fulfilled "any football fan's dream" and purchased a minority stake in his hometown club, the newly-promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town.

Sheeran's total stake in the club is 1.4% and he will not join their board, Ipswich said in a statement on Thursday.

But the artist, who often attends Ipswich's home matches, will have an executive box at the Portman Road Stadium, the club added.

"Really excited to announce that I have bought a small percentage of my hometown football club Ipswich Town," Sheeran, 33, posted on Instagram.

"It’s any football fan's dream to be an owner in the club they support and I feel so grateful for the opportunity.

"I’ve lived in Suffolk since I was three, and although I have travelled the world and sometimes feel like an outsider in big cities, Suffolk and Ipswich have always made me feel part of a community and protected. It’s such a joy to be a fan of Ipswich Town."

Ipswich, who earned an automatic promotion after finishing second in the English Championship last season, begin their Premier League campaign at home against Liverpool on Saturday.

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Top-Ranked Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner Advance in Cincinnati Open

Iga Swiatek of Poland serves during her match against Varvara Gracheva of France during Day 4 of the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 14, 2024 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images via AFP)
Iga Swiatek of Poland serves during her match against Varvara Gracheva of France during Day 4 of the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 14, 2024 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images via AFP)
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Top-Ranked Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner Advance in Cincinnati Open

Iga Swiatek of Poland serves during her match against Varvara Gracheva of France during Day 4 of the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 14, 2024 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images via AFP)
Iga Swiatek of Poland serves during her match against Varvara Gracheva of France during Day 4 of the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 14, 2024 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images via AFP)

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek survived in her return to hard courts Wednesday night in the Cincinnati Open, outlasting Varvara Gracheva 6-0, 6-7 (8), 6-2.

Playing for the first time since finishing third for Poland in the Paris Olympics on clay, Swiatek set up a third-round match against Marta Kostyuk — a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Lulu Sun.

“For sure, the transition is probably the hardest, from like the slowest surface to the fastest surface,” Swiatek said. “But that’s why I’m still happy with my performance, and looking forward to another match to kind of still do the grinding and implement what I was working on, but not really focusing on the results.”

Swiatek won her third straight French Open title in May and has six WTA Tour victories this season.

On the men’s side in the US Open tuneup event, top-ranked Jannik Sinner got past American Alex Michelsen 6-4, 7-5 in his first match.

In the late match, Jiri Lehecka upset fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Earlier in women's play, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva beat 11th seeded Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-2. Andreeva was playing her first match since taking a silver medal in doubles in Paris.

“I just went out there, tried to show my best level, and tried to win a match, and I think I did it,” Andreeva said.

Andreeva will face 2016 Cincinnati champion Karolina Pliskova.

Toronto semifinalist Diana Shnaider of Russia, Andreeva’s doubles partner in Paris, beat Zhang Shuai 6-1, 6-4.

Sinner improved to 25-2 on hard courts this season and advanced to a third-round meeting with Australia’s Jordan Thompson. Sinner is trying to reach the quarterfinals in Cincinnati for the first time.

“I’m very happy to be in the next round,” the Italian star said. “For me this is a place where I used to struggle a lot in the past years, so let’s see what I can do this time.”

Thompson beat Sebastian Baez 6-2, 6-4.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, in his first tournament since announcing he would no longer be coached by his father, rallied to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Tsitsipas, the No. 9 seed, revealed that Apostolos Tsitsipas would no longer coach him after losing to Kei Nishikori in his first match last week in Montreal.