De Minaur Beats Teen Hewitt in All-Aussie Washington Clash

Australia’s Alex de Minaur in action during his men's singles round of 16 match against compatriot Cruz Hewitt during their round 16 match at the Washington DC Open tennis tournament in Washington, DC, USA, 30 July 2026. (EPA)
Australia’s Alex de Minaur in action during his men's singles round of 16 match against compatriot Cruz Hewitt during their round 16 match at the Washington DC Open tennis tournament in Washington, DC, USA, 30 July 2026. (EPA)
TT

De Minaur Beats Teen Hewitt in All-Aussie Washington Clash

Australia’s Alex de Minaur in action during his men's singles round of 16 match against compatriot Cruz Hewitt during their round 16 match at the Washington DC Open tennis tournament in Washington, DC, USA, 30 July 2026. (EPA)
Australia’s Alex de Minaur in action during his men's singles round of 16 match against compatriot Cruz Hewitt during their round 16 match at the Washington DC Open tennis tournament in Washington, DC, USA, 30 July 2026. (EPA)

Defending champion Alex de Minaur powered into the Washington Open quarter-finals with a clinical 6-2, 6-3 victory over fellow Australian Cruz Hewitt.

Men's second seed Ben Shelton also advanced, as did women's top seed Jessica Pegula and No. 2 Elina Svitolina.

Top-seeded De Minaur was always likely to prove too much for 17-year-old qualifier Hewitt -- son of Aussie great Lleyton Hewitt -- who had only captured his first ATP victory in Tuesday's first round.

The first set threatened to become a demolition as De Minaur raced to a 5-0 lead.

But Hewitt found his feet, breaking back in the sixth game and holding serve before succumbing 6-2.

Cheered on by a crowd that included his famous father, Hewitt started the second set brightly.

But he was broken again on his second service game and could not reel in De Minaur, who warmly embraced the youngster at the net after taking the match.

It was the first head-to-head ATP Tour match between the two, who have known each other for years.

"It was definitely weird," said De Minaur. "I knew I was going to play him on the tour someday, but I didn't actually expect it to be this week.

"It was an amazing feeling. Even all the lead up, seeing all the incredible pictures that we have together and how we've both grown up.

"I'm glad I managed to get through, but I'm sure we're going to have many battles in the years to come."

De Minaur next faces American Brandon Nakashima, who upset Czech seventh seed Jakub Mensik 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-4.

US home hope Shelton advanced with a gritty 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-4, victory over France's Ugo Humbert. After handing Humbert the first set with a double fault on set point, Shelton dominated the second.

But the third set was a tense affair and after seizing a break for a 5-4 lead Shelton had to fend off a break point before polishing off the match with a sharply angled serve that Humbert smacked into the net.

"For me, it was all about heart tonight," Shelton said after lining up a meeting with Chile's Alejandro Tabile, a 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) winner over France's Terence Atmane.

Pegula also had to rally from a set down, saying she started her match against Poland's Frech "just a little off" after a first-round bye.

"I wasn't quite attacking the ball, and I felt like once I did that, then everything else kind of started to click together," said Pegula, who finished with 42 winners and won 12 of the last 15 games to triumph 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Pegula next plays fifth-seeded Anna Kalinskaya, who saved two match points to beat Indonesia's Janice Tjen 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).

Ukraine's Svitolina booked her quarter-final berth with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 victory over Uzbekistan's Polina Kudermetova. She'll face rising Philippines star Alexandra Eala for a place in the semi-finals.



French Federation Chief: Mbappe Should be Allowed to Move on after Apology

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Real Madrid v RB Leipzig - Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 21, 2026  Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Real Madrid v RB Leipzig - Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 21, 2026 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo
TT

French Federation Chief: Mbappe Should be Allowed to Move on after Apology

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Real Madrid v RB Leipzig - Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 21, 2026  Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Real Madrid v RB Leipzig - Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 21, 2026 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo

French Football Federation chief Philippe Diallo said Kylian Mbappe should be allowed to move on amid controversy over the France captain referring to former Chinese leader Mao Zedong as a dictator because the player has apologized and intended no offence.

Mbappe's club Real Madrid and LaLiga have also apologized following the remarks, while the league's president Javier Tebas set up a crisis unit and met Chinese ambassador Yao Jing on Wednesday as Spanish football sought to contain the fallout.

The backlash highlights the risks for athletes and brands in the lucrative Chinese market, where satire about Mao, modern ⁠China's founding leader ⁠who governed the country from 1949 until his death in 1976, remains a social taboo.

Chinese state media outlet China Daily said Mbappe's remark had "triggered a backlash among his Chinese fans, threatened his lucrative commercial relationships and offered a sharp reminder of the limits of celebrity influence.”

China's state-owned broadcaster Migu is not ⁠showing Real Madrid's game at Racing Santander on Sunday and Chinese brands including dairy companies Mengniu and Shanghai Milkground Food Tech plus Eastroc Beverage ceased all cooperation with Mbappe.

Diallo expressed hope the issue would soon be resolved.

"It is a controversy which, ultimately, should not, I hope, last because Kylian has very well explained the context in which this intervention took place. He has apologized," Diallo was quoted as saying by French newspaper Ouest-France on Thursday.

"I believe we should now leave it at that ⁠so that ⁠he can continue his season in the best possible conditions."

The controversy stems from a long-running joke surrounding 27-year-old Mbappe's influence at club level.

In a video on a French podcast that has since been taken down, Mbappe is heard discussing a humorous meme where his face had been photoshopped on to that of "some guy — I think he's a Chinese dictator.”

Fans have previously created memes superimposing Mbappe's face on images of military and political leaders to suggest he has the power to influence decisions at the teams he plays for.

Mbappe has been nicknamed "the dictator" in the European press.


South Africa Chooses Durban as Its Preferred City to Host 2036 or 2040 Olympics

TT

South Africa Chooses Durban as Its Preferred City to Host 2036 or 2040 Olympics

Durban is South Africa 's preferred candidate to host the first Olympics in Africa.

South Africa is bidding to host the 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The International Olympic Committee will choose the host city for 2036 in mid-2029.

The country's choice to put forward Durban, South Africa's third biggest city, was announced by South African Olympic committee acting president Lwandile Simelane on Thursday. She said Durban would be the main candidate city for South Africa's bid, but it would likely be a “multi-city bid” that would propose some events are held in other cities.

South Africa's economic hub of Johannesburg and Cape Town were also considered as the candidate city, The Associated Press said.

Durban, a city of around 4 million on the subtropical Indian Ocean coast, was touted as a possible Olympic host city more than a decade ago following South Africa's staging of the 2010 soccer World Cup, the first in Africa. But an official bid didn't materialize then, largely due to concerns over costs.

The city was stripped of hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games because it couldn't make financial or other guarantees required for that event.

Officials said on Thursday they were not yet able to provide any estimates regarding how much it might cost South Africa to stage the Olympics if its bid was successful. They said Durban's bid would be centered on the 56,000-seat Moses Mabhida Stadium, which was built for the 2010 World Cup.

South Africa is among seven countries bidding for the 2036 Games. The others are India, Qatar, South Korea, Germany, Hungary and Türkiye.

The IOC gave Oct. 31 as the deadline for national Olympic committees to formally declare their interest in bidding for the 2036 Games.

Candidates have an opportunity to make virtual presentations to the IOC next month to start the official bidding process. A key date is in March, the IOC has said, when its board will approve a shortlist of candidates.

South Africa would be a first African host of the Summer Games since the modern Olympics was created in 1896 if it wins. Africa's biggest economy previously failed with a bid to stage the 2004 Games in Cape Town.

The Youth Olympics open this weekend in Dakar, Senegal, marking the first Olympic sports event to be held in Africa.


MLS Announces Key 2027 'Sprint Season' Matches Ahead of Calendar Shift

Inter Miami's Argentine forward #10 Lionel Messi looks on during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, on October 28, 2026. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP)
Inter Miami's Argentine forward #10 Lionel Messi looks on during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, on October 28, 2026. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP)
TT

MLS Announces Key 2027 'Sprint Season' Matches Ahead of Calendar Shift

Inter Miami's Argentine forward #10 Lionel Messi looks on during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, on October 28, 2026. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP)
Inter Miami's Argentine forward #10 Lionel Messi looks on during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, on October 28, 2026. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP)

Lionel Messi's Inter Miami will kick off Major League Soccer's 2027 "Sprint Season" when they face Cincinnati on February 19, launching the league's transition to a traditional autumn-to-spring calendar.

The standalone match at Nu Stadium in Miami will begin a truncated 14-game regular season and playoff tournament designed to bridge the gap as MLS shifts away from its traditional summer schedule to align with Europe's top leagues.

The schedule, previewed on Apple TV's "MLS Countdown," emphasizes weekly rivalry ⁠matchups. Among the ⁠headline games announced, LA Galaxy will host Los Angeles FC on April 10 in the "El Trafico" derby.

The sprint season will conclude its regular-season slate on May 8 with "Decision Day," anchored by the Hudson River Derby between New York ⁠City FC and the New York Red Bulls, setting the stage for the May playoffs.

The four-month sprint serves as the prelude to the league's full operational shift. The first standard season under the new timetable will run from mid-to-late July 2027 through May 2028, featuring a midwinter break and no matches in January.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber previously called the calendar change "one of the ⁠most ⁠important decisions in our history,” Reuters reported.

The strategic overhaul was approved following a two-year review to synchronize the league's transfer activity with the global summer window, minimize scheduling conflicts with FIFA's international fixtures, and hold the MLS Cup playoffs in May when the North American sports calendar is less crowded.

US men's national team coach Mauricio Pochettino is among those who have endorsed the change, noting that calendar alignment with the global soccer landscape will benefit clubs, coaches, and player development.