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Cunha Scores Twice as Brazil Win 3-0 and Eliminate Haiti at World Cup

FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group C - Brazil v Haiti - Fans gather in New York City
FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group C - Brazil v Haiti - Fans gather in New York City
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Cunha Scores Twice as Brazil Win 3-0 and Eliminate Haiti at World Cup

FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group C - Brazil v Haiti - Fans gather in New York City
FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group C - Brazil v Haiti - Fans gather in New York City

Brazil beat Haiti 3-0 at the World Cup as Matheus Cunha struck twice and Vinicius Jr added another first-half goal to send the five-times champions top of Group C on four points and eliminate their opponents on Friday.

Morocco are level on points with the Brazilians after their earlier 1-0 win over Scotland, who have three, while Haiti are bottom with none and became the first side out of contention for the knockout stage at the tournament, Reuters reported.

Brazil took control in the 23rd minute when Vinicius's shot was parried by Johny Placide and Hannes Delcroix's attempted clearance deflected off Cunha and over the line. Cunha doubled the lead in the 36th, racing clear to fire into the top corner after a fine through ball from Vinicius.

Vinicius made it 3-0 in first-half added time, running on to Lucas Paqueta's long pass and finishing calmly. Brazil eased off after the break, with goalkeeper Alisson rarely troubled as Carlo Ancelotti's side eased to victory.

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Marquez Wins Japanese GP to Cut Martin's Lead

Ducati Lenovo Team rider Marc Marquez of Spain displays his Ducati team's 100th victory sticker at the Parc Ferme during the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 4, 2026. (Photo by Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP)
Ducati Lenovo Team rider Marc Marquez of Spain displays his Ducati team's 100th victory sticker at the Parc Ferme during the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 4, 2026. (Photo by Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP)
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Marquez Wins Japanese GP to Cut Martin's Lead

Ducati Lenovo Team rider Marc Marquez of Spain displays his Ducati team's 100th victory sticker at the Parc Ferme during the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 4, 2026. (Photo by Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP)
Ducati Lenovo Team rider Marc Marquez of Spain displays his Ducati team's 100th victory sticker at the Parc Ferme during the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 4, 2026. (Photo by Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP)

Ducati's Marc Marquez won his fourth Japanese Grand Prix to complete a sprint-race double at the Motegi Circuit on Sunday and cut title rival Jorge Martin's championship lead to two points.

After several riders experienced extreme degradation of their soft rear tires during Saturday's sprint, the entire grid opted for hard rear tires and the first few laps of the race were a cagey affair.

Polesitter Martin managed to hold on to his advantage off the line and appeared comfortable in the opening eight laps as Marquez waited ⁠for the perfect ⁠moment to pounce.

That opportunity came on the 11th lap when Martin left a sliver of space on his inside, which Marquez exploited to take the lead.

The reigning champion then controlled the race to the chequered flag, finishing ahead of Aprilia's Martin and Marco Bezzecchi.

"The race was ⁠tough, especially when I was behind Jorge, but I knew that if I was able to lead the race, my pace was good," Reuters quoted Marquez as saying.

"Jorge tried to attack, but then I just increased a bit more the pace and it was enough to do the last two laps more relaxed."

Martin is on 333 points, ahead of Marquez on 331, with six rounds remaining in the season.

"I wanted to win but I think today it was really ⁠difficult to ⁠beat Marc," Martin said. "I rode almost perfectly. I was really smooth, really confident and even then I couldn't win."

Martin's teammate Bezzecchi also kept his slim title hopes alive, fending off a late charge by Tech3's Enea Bastianini to finish third.

LCR Honda's Diogo Moreira, who clinched his first-ever podium on Saturday, crashed out, as did Gresini's Alex Marquez after serving a double long lap penalty for his role in a three-rider collision during the sprint.

Japan's Ai Ogura (Trackhouse) finished sixth after a thrilling battle with teammate Raul Fernandez and KTM's Pedro Acosta.

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Sabalenka Knocked Out of China Open in Straight Sets by Nikola Bartunkova

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in action against Nikola Bartunkova of Czech Republic during their women’s singles match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, China, 04 October 2026. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in action against Nikola Bartunkova of Czech Republic during their women’s singles match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, China, 04 October 2026. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
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Sabalenka Knocked Out of China Open in Straight Sets by Nikola Bartunkova

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in action against Nikola Bartunkova of Czech Republic during their women’s singles match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, China, 04 October 2026. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in action against Nikola Bartunkova of Czech Republic during their women’s singles match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, China, 04 October 2026. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES

Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka was bundled out in the third round of the China Open in straight sets by the Czech Republic's Nikola Bartunkova on Sunday.

The No. 34-ranked Bartunkova defeated the four-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour and a half leaving the tournament without its two top seeds in the first week.

Newly-crowned world No. 1 Elena Rybakina was ousted from the tournament on Saturday and will now be joined by Sabalenka in exiting WTA-1000 event in Beijing early.

Sabalenka, who was denied a three-peat at the US Open last month by Rybakina, squandered five break points in the first set as her historic struggles in Beijing continued. The 28-year-old Belorussian has never progressed past the quarterfinals at the event.

“First of all, I focused on myself, to be calm,” Bartunkova said. “And Aryna, she’s great, she’s a legend, she’s a Grand Slam champion. So, yeah, I’m really happy that I won the match ... I’m not a girl who celebrates too much.”

Bartunkova will next play 24-year-old Sinja Kraus of Austria, who earlier defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 6-4, The Associated Press reported.

Fifth-ranked Mirra Andreeva eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Polina Kudermetova. This year's French Open winner fired six aces and took five of her seven break point opportunities to overwhelm her Uzbek opponent in just in 68 minutes.

In the men’s tournament, Hubert Hurkacz beat Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2) 6-2 to make the final four.

Later Sunday, top seed and US Open champion Alexander Zverev plays his quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic.

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Alcaraz Through to Japan Open Semis after Shapovalov Injury

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain gives his wristband to a fan after his quarterfinal match against Denis Shapovalov of Canada during the Japan Open tennis tournament at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan, 04 October 2026. EPA/KIYOSHI OTA
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain gives his wristband to a fan after his quarterfinal match against Denis Shapovalov of Canada during the Japan Open tennis tournament at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan, 04 October 2026. EPA/KIYOSHI OTA
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Alcaraz Through to Japan Open Semis after Shapovalov Injury

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain gives his wristband to a fan after his quarterfinal match against Denis Shapovalov of Canada during the Japan Open tennis tournament at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan, 04 October 2026. EPA/KIYOSHI OTA
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain gives his wristband to a fan after his quarterfinal match against Denis Shapovalov of Canada during the Japan Open tennis tournament at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan, 04 October 2026. EPA/KIYOSHI OTA

Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the semi-finals of the Japan Open on Sunday after an ailing Denis Shapovalov retired to hand the world number three a 7-6 (7/3), 2-1 victory.

His Canadian opponent was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury to his upper right thigh in the first game of the second set, AFP reported.

Defending champion Alcaraz will play fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar for a place in the final after the world number 64 ended the impressive run of 86th-ranked Kyrian Jacquet of France.

The match was hard-fought until Shapovalov's retirement, with Alcaraz troubled by the variety of his game as the world number 46 mixed deep shots with drop shots, and power with spin.

Alcaraz, who saved four set points against Matteo Arnaldi on Saturday, salvaged another here at 5-4 down and went on to seal the tie-break with a passing shot before Shapovalov's injury.

The Australian Open champion is playing only his third event since returning from a months-long wrist injury, having reached the quarter-finals of the US Open last month.