Ronaldo Scores in Portugal's Nations League Win as Spain Sink Denmark

Cristiano Ronaldo (R) scored his 133rd international goal in Portugal's win over Poland. Sergei GAPON / AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo (R) scored his 133rd international goal in Portugal's win over Poland. Sergei GAPON / AFP
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Ronaldo Scores in Portugal's Nations League Win as Spain Sink Denmark

Cristiano Ronaldo (R) scored his 133rd international goal in Portugal's win over Poland. Sergei GAPON / AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo (R) scored his 133rd international goal in Portugal's win over Poland. Sergei GAPON / AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Portugal beat Poland 3-1 for their third straight Nations League win on Saturday, while European champions Spain put an end to Denmark's perfect start in the competition.
Bernardo Silva volleyed Portugal ahead in the 26th minute in Warsaw as Bruno Fernandes cleverly nodded a cross from Ruben Neves back towards the Manchester City midfielder, reported AFP.
Ronaldo then found himself in the right place at the right time to turn in the rebound for Portugal's second after Rafael Leao's shot came back off the post following a brilliant surging run by the AC Milan winger.
The 39-year-old Ronaldo has now struck in all three games of this Nations League campaign for Portugal, taking his record men's international goals tally to 133.
Piotr Zielinski cut the deficit for Poland but Jan Bednarek's own goal sealed victory for Portugal, the lone remaining team in League A with a 100 percent record, and they could secure a place in the quarter-finals next week.
"We worked very hard the last few days, preparing various solutions for this game, and we were able to show it on the pitch. I am really satisfied because we controlled this game," said Portugal coach Roberto Martinez.
"We played great as a team."
Portugal have a maximum nine points in Group A1, three ahead of Croatia who beat Scotland 2-1 to condemn their opponents to a third successive defeat in the section.
Ryan Christie's first half-goal gave Scotland a shock lead in Zagreb, but Igor Matanovic equalized before the interval and Andrej Kramaric bagged the winner midway through the second half.
Che Adams thought he had salvaged a stoppage-time equalizer but VAR disallowed his effort for offside, with Scotland winless in nine competitive outings -- the longest run in their history.
Zubimendi wins it for Spain
Spain needed a 79th-minute effort from Martin Zubimendi to shrug off Denmark 1-0 in Murcia as captain Alvaro Morata showed off the European Championship trophy to fans before kick-off.
The hosts were without Rodri and Dani Carvajal, both sidelined by long-term injuries, with first-choice goalkeeper Unai Simon still recovering from wrist surgery. Nico Williams, Dani Olmo and Robin Le Normand had also been ruled out.
But Luis de la Fuente's team grabbed the only goal when Zubimendi's low drive from just outside the area squirmed past Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who had earlier denied Lamine Yamal and Alvaro Morata.
"I'm very happy with the goal, but above all in such a close game in which we had to open the scoring," said Real Sociedad midfielder Zubimendi.
"He doesn't score many but he's starting to so I hope he continues like this," said De la Fuente. "He's one of the best players in the world in his position."
Spain moved up to seven points, one above Denmark, with Serbia picking up their first win after beating Switzerland 2-0 in Leskovac.
Serbia led through Nico Elvedi's own goal in first-half stoppage time and Aleksandar Mitrovic doubled the advantage before Predrag Rajkovic saved a penalty from Swiss striker Breel Embolo.
Both games in Group C3 finished goalless as Bulgaria were held at home by Luxembourg and Northern Ireland drew against Belarus on neutral ground in Hungary.
Romania eased to a 3-0 win away to Cyprus in Group C2, while Kosovo beat Lithuania 2-1.



Djokovic and Sinner Reach Shanghai Masters Final. Sabalenka Rallies over Gauff at Wuhan

 Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after his victory against USA's Taylor Fritz at their men's singles semi-final match during the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 12, 2024. (AFP)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after his victory against USA's Taylor Fritz at their men's singles semi-final match during the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 12, 2024. (AFP)
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Djokovic and Sinner Reach Shanghai Masters Final. Sabalenka Rallies over Gauff at Wuhan

 Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after his victory against USA's Taylor Fritz at their men's singles semi-final match during the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 12, 2024. (AFP)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after his victory against USA's Taylor Fritz at their men's singles semi-final match during the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 12, 2024. (AFP)

Novak Djokovic overcame physical discomfort to beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6 (6) and move closer to a 100th career title and a record-extending fifth at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday.

By also reaching the final, top-ranked Jannik Sinner ensured he will be the ATP year-end No. 1 and the first Italian to achieve that feat.

"(I've won) many titles, had great battles and great performances," the 37-year-old Djokovic said. "I did come here definitely with a vision and a desire to get to the final and fight for a 100th title. I get that chance against the best player in the world, and let’s see what happens."

Fellow great Roger Federer has 103 titles and Jimmy Connors leads men with 109 in the Open era.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner will chase his seventh ATP title of the year after beating Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-5.

Djokovic improved to 10-0 in career matches against Fritz, who blew a 5-3 lead in the second-set tiebreaker and a set point at 6-5 up.

Djokovic was clearly struggling for mobility and balance with his left knee heavily strapped.

"It always takes it out of me, these kinds of battles, but particularly towards the end of the tournament," Djokovic said. "At this stage of my career, I’m doing my best to recover and I had some issues here and there on the court, physically."

But US Open runner-up Fritz could not take advantage.

He lost a long rally at 6-6 and succumbed on the first match point when Djokovic stabbed a volley at the net and the American flicked it just long at full stretch.

Djokovic leads 4-3 overall against Sinner, who has won the last two — including in the Australian Open semifinals.

Earlier, Sinner weathered a nearly two-hour baseline storm from No. 33-ranked Machac, who beat No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

The Italian has a shot at his third Masters title in 2024 following victories in Miami and Cincinnati, to go with his wins at the Australian Open and US Open.

"I just tried to stay there every point, to see what was going to happen," Sinner said. "Just playing every point with the maximum intensity I could, so I’m very happy about that. I’m happy to be back in a final again.

"I’m just looking forward to (the final), to try to find a solution somehow ... and hopefully it’s going to win the match."

Sinner fired 10 aces and 28 winners, against only seven unforced errors, in a characteristically efficient performance for his 64th match win this year.

Wuhan Open Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka rallied from a slow start to beat an in-form Coco Gauff 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals to advance to her third straight Wuhan final and preserve her perfect record at the tournament.

Sabalenka will face seventh-ranked Zheng Qinwen in the final. The Paris Olympics champion beat No. 51-ranked Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-4. Sabalenka will be bidding for her fourth title of the season, which includes the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

The Belarussian's 16th straight victory at Wuhan ended Gauff's own recent win streak at nine, including the China Open title last week. But it looked anything but certain for Sabalenka as she crashed 6-1 in the opening set.

"In the first set she was just crushing it," Sabalenka said. "Whatever she was doing, everything was flying in. Everything was so aggressive. I didn’t have much opportunities."

In a fight between the last two US Open champions, Gauff led by a break early in the second but Sabalenka responded to pull level at 4-4 and saved a break point on serve to take a 5-4 lead.

Serving to stay in the set, Gauff was broken as Sabalenka hit a lunging forehand volley to force a deciding set.

The Belarussian carried her momentum into the third, extending her streak to seven games for a 3-0 lead. Gauff fought back to level at 4-4, but Sabalenka held strong to halt Gauff’s run.

Sabalenka broke once more after Gauff hit her season-worst 21st double fault on match point, ending the 2 1/2-hour match.

"I know what she’s going through. This is really difficult," said Sabalenka, who had issues on her serve in the past. "But I know that if she’ll be able to overcome this serve situation, I’m pretty sure she’s going to be one of the greatest players."