Coco Gauff took her head-to-head race with Iga Swiatek a small step in the appropriate direction with a 6:4, 6:4 win of some incredible quality in Sydney. Gauff's victory gave Team USA a 1-0 lead within the United Cup final before Taylor Fritz defeated Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) to win the title.

Swiatek now leads Gauff 11-3, however the American has won their last two meetings as she reworks the forehand and serve which have hampered her for many of the 2024 season. Gauff, who added grip expert Matt Daly to her coaching staff after splitting from Brad Gilbert, whipped Swiatek's notoriously heavy forehand down the lines over and all over again throughout, various the peak and spin to forestall the No. 2 World has established the baseline rhythm so often that it dominates the players.

As with the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Swiatek made more unforced forehand errors than Gauff – but her groundstroke performance in Riyadh was completely flawed, while it was a much closer contest that the Pole led on multiple occasions.

Swiatek gave the impression to be hampered within the last two games by an issue together with her left thigh, a distinct problem to the appropriate thigh injury she has sustained since beating Great Britain's Katie Boulter. After a huge eighth game of the second set, by which Gauff made it 4:4, an incredible encounter ended disappointingly flat. Gauff will exit with renewed confidence within the rivalry thus far, while Swiatek will consider a split in each sets, which is each a missed opportunity and an encouragement for the remainder of the 2025 season.

“I am now convinced that I am one of the best players in the world,” said Gauff on the pitch.

Hurkacz took a 2-0 lead early within the third-set tiebreak against Fritz, who reached his first Grand Slam final on the US Open last yr and reached a career-high rating of No. 4 on the planet. But the Pole got stronger when he was ahead in two baseline changes, got here forward on the fallacious time and let Fritz take the lead.

It is Team USA's second United Cup title after winning the inaugural 2022 edition against Italy. Poland has now reached the ultimate twice and lost each times.

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA has signed a U.S. broadcast cope with Netflix for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil in addition to the 2031 edition, which might be played within the United States

The deal announced on Friday is probably the most significant FIFA has signed with a streaming service for a significant tournament. The value was not stated, although international competitions in women's football have struggled to draw quality offers.

RELATED: 'Why did we even start this?' Santa Clara officials say the 2026 FIFA World Cup will 'almost certainly' be a money loser

World Cups are typically broadcast on free-to-air public channels to succeed in the most important possible audience, and the last women's edition in 2023 earned FIFA lower than 10% of the 2022 men's World Cup.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino had publicly criticized public broadcastersparticularly in Europe, attributable to undervalued offers to broadcast the 2023 tournament, which was held in Australia and New Zealand. This tournament was broadcast by Fox within the USA

“This agreement sends a strong signal about the true value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and global women’s football,” Infantino said in a press release on Friday.

FIFA will likely use the Netflix deal to advance talks with European broadcasters, that are more likely to be tough negotiations.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire, co-host of The Price of Football podcast, said the deal was “a bit of a gamble” for FIFA and “saber rattling” for Infantino.

“As (Netflix) gains experience in broadcasting football, FIFA can say: 'We're now working with a blue-chip organization, so watch out, you evil Europeans,'” Maguire, a tutorial on the University of Liverpool, said in a telephone interview.

FIFA and Infantino also wish to increase broadcast contract prices to fund higher prize money and shut the gender pay gap at the lads's World Cup.

At the 2022 Men's World Cup in Qatar, the 32 team associations shared prize money of $440 million. For the Women's tournament 2023FIFA had a complete fund of $152 million for prize money, contributions to team preparation costs and payments to players' clubs.

In FIFA's Financial accounts for 2023The Football Association reported total broadcast revenue of $244 million. In the 12 months of the 2022 Men's World Cup, it was almost $2.9 billion.

The next Women's World Cup can be a 32-team, 64-game tournament in 2027, played from June 24 to July 25 in Brazil Original US bid along with Mexico.

The 2031 host has not yet been decided, although the United States will likely bid for a tournament that FIFA expects to expand to 48 teams. That would match the scale of the 104-game format of the lads's World Cup, which can debut in 2026 within the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Spain won the 2023 Women's World Cup after the United States won the previous two titles – 2019 in France and 2015 in Canada.

“Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix isn’t just about streaming games,” said Bela Bajaria, Chief Content Officer. “It’s also about celebrating the players, culture and passion that are driving the rise of women’s sport around the world.”

Netflix entered live sports last month, with greater than 60 million households watching heavily hyped boxing match between retired heavyweight legend Mike Tyson and social media personality Jake Paul. Some spectators spoke up Streaming problemsHowever.

Netflix will even broadcast two NFL games on Christmas Day: the Kansas City Chiefs on the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens on the Houston Texans. That's a part of it a three-year contract announced in May.

FIFA has been attempting to win an exclusive global cope with Apple+ to broadcast the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup, which can be played in 11 U.S. cities next June and July.

Broadcasters showed little interest within the FIFA club event, which is now being broadcast freed from charge on the streaming service DAZN, which is constructing closer business ties with Saudi Arabia.

Ahead of the following Women's World Cup, Netflix will “produce exclusive documentary series in the lead-up to both tournaments, spotlighting the world's best players, their journey and the global growth of women's football,” FIFA said.

___

AP Football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Originally published: December 20, 2024 at 10:44 am PST

Alpine skiing enthusiasts didn't imagine this once they scheduled men's and girls's speed races on consecutive weekends this month on the famed Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek, Colorado.

They thought the events held great potential for a celebration of the game's golden couple: American Mikaela Shiffrin, who could also be closing in on her record a hundredth World Cup victory, and her fiancé Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway, arguably the most effective speed skater on this planet World world, each reached the rostrum just a couple of miles from Shiffrin's home in Edwards.

That was Plan A. Not implemented as Kilde announced in October that he would miss your entire World Cup season because of injuries sustained in a crash in January.

On the intense side, Shiffrin is back on her feet and running again after falling herself during a World Cup giant slalom race in Vermont over Thanksgiving weekend, sustaining a severe cut to her abdomen. She has to take an indefinite break, but expects to be back soon. Last weekend she filmed a video while rigorously walking outside her house.

“I got my trusty little wound vacuum, we used it yesterday,” she said, showing off the device, which may speed healing by reducing air pressure over a wound, drawing out fluid and dead tissue and reducing swelling. “Here I am,” she added with a glance of grudging acceptance as she cautiously stepped onto an icy mountain road.

An update from Mikaela Shiffrin on her injury on the World Cup race in Killington. pic.twitter.com/jTUIqyeZ12

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) December 7, 2024

Shiffrin's recent injury also derailed Plan B, which called for Kilde, who has spent nearly a 12 months recovering from the intense accident in Switzerland 11 months ago, to support Shiffrin on the Birds of Prey track in Beaver Creek this weekend – where he won three years ago and where she had never competed. Instead, he taught her the art of patience and recovery.

Unfortunately, Kilde needed to grow to be an authority at this. The accident in January destroyed his left shoulder and tore muscles from the joint. It also left a deep cut on his right calf attributable to one in every of his skis. Then, out of nowhere, in July, an infection struck his surgically repaired shoulder. He was on the verge of sepsis, a potentially life-threatening condition that happens when the body's immune system overreacts to an infection, damaging the body's tissues and organs.

With a racing heart, swollen shoulders and a rising fever, he went to the emergency room during a visit to Shiffrin in Colorado. The doctors took one take a look at him and told him he wouldn't be going anywhere for some time.

There are few sports that test an athlete's ability to take care of injury as much as alpine skiing. The injury rate is largely 100%. So lots of his top performers have missed entire seasons or longer recovering from horrific broken bones, torn ligaments, torn joints, concussions and the whole lot else that may occur in high-speed accidents on ice while stuck on long, sharp-edged carbon boards. Skiers are good at making a thumbs up Instagram post from their hospital bed, but recovery and rehabilitation is anything but a glad process.

Shiffrin, 29, has been pretty lucky thus far in her storied profession, despite missing six weeks last season while recovering from an injury to her knee ligaments sustained in a downhill race on the Olympia delle Tofane course in Cortina d' Ampezzo, Italy, where the 2026 women's Olympic competition will happen. She returned in time to secure one other slalom title of the season, however the experience took its toll on her brain in addition to her body.

“When you're injured, whether it's for nine months or eight weeks, you see the world going on without you being where you should be, and that's frustrating,” she said in an interview before the beginning of the season. “There are so many moments of doubt, where you feel pain or weakness, where you think, 'I don't know if I can do this.'”

This is largely Kilde's life since his accident in January.

The shoulder and leg injuries left him confined to a wheelchair for weeks as he was unable to make use of crutches. Kilde was called the “Arnold Schwarzenegger of skiing” due to his strength. It is difficult to assume that he is just too weak to get out of the wheelchair.

The wound in his calf severed the nerves. For months he couldn't move his foot or toes the best way he wanted. Sometimes his toes would just hang down like limbs. It wasn't until late spring that he began to imagine that his foot would eventually function properly again, although he still doesn't have much feeling in his toes.

For months he felt like his life had no meaning.

“You lose your job and you’re injured, you can’t even do anything,” he said. “I can’t work on my shoulder that needed work. I can't work on my leg that needed work. I can't even go out in the sun because of antibiotics. I had to be inside. Honestly, just a really, really boring life.”

After a couple of weeks, he realized that he had to seek out a reason to get away from bed within the morning, especially since this recovery would take some time. So he searched for a strategy to stimulate his mind.

Kilde could also be a two-time Olympic medalist with 48 World Cup podiums, but in some ways he’s the black sheep of his very educated family. His father is an engineer. His mother is a nurse. His brother is a financial manager. He has a highschool education and lately has focused totally on the outside and his athletic profession. It had been an extended time since he had to check. And even longer since he became serious about studying.

However, he can be serious about real estate. So he signed up for an eight-week online course in real estate and finance on the London School of Economics. Each week there have been a lot of modules to finish, plus assignments and assignments, a final project and a certificate at the tip.

The course description stated that the work would take roughly 10 hours per week. He said it took no less than 20 years. He hasn't worked with mathematical formulas for 15 years.

He said he learned rather a lot about his investments, but greater than that, he learned something about himself.

“Reading and learning is really something that can give you a lot of energy,” he said. “I've never thought about it like that. I felt like I didn't need it. But I think now, just always try to learn. It's really something that's good for you. Not just for your mental performance, but also for your mental health. It’s very nice to know things.”

It will likely be nice to ski again. He is allowed to ski on snow again, but only free of charge skiing. He can't walk fast. He can't crash. He needs further surgery on his shoulder as doctors have needed to remove much of the work they’d done attempting to rid his body of the infection.

The next operation will likely be the one that enables a comeback. At the moment he can mainly lead a standard life. He just can't race. To prepare for this, he pays close attention to his food plan, cutting out alcohol and most sugar, ensuring to eat high-quality meat and other proteins, and waiting for the chance to do what he got down to do most of his life. And when he needs his speed boost, he has a pleasant Audi that goes from zero to 60 pretty quickly.

“And that’s okay,” he said.

His fiancée still has to work on her patience as she overcomes her recent injury. She might be just a little less composed than him at times, especially when she's on the sidelines waiting to be healthy enough to return to the starting hut at the highest of the hill.

On the opposite hand, this one is just a little different.

“I was impaled,” she announced in a video posted to social media days after her accident.

You can't say that every single day. Not even for those who're an alpine skier.

The NBA Cup isn't well worth the effort.

It's almost not possible to follow him within the group stage. The incentive structure of prize money for players and coaches is flawed. Some across the league are concerned in regards to the potential injury risk of advancing to the playoffs so early within the season. The championship game takes Thanos out of history.

The worst part is that teams are punished for good performances within the NBA Cup, not rewarded. It's higher in the event that they miss the knockout rounds. Participation within the NBA Cup and promotion to it involve costs.

Think in regards to the Warriors facing Houston with a likelihood to advance to the semifinals in Las Vegas. If they beat the Rockets, they’ll play 40 home games this season, throwing their schedule out of whack and creating harder travel that may lead to a cascade.

“As far as the schedule goes, it hurts,” one Eastern Conference executive said. “If you lose a home game, it’s not good. That’s the only thing that sucks in my opinion.”

Added to their already extensive December schedule could possibly be the Rockets game, a neutral Mavericks or Thunder matchup, and a high-intensity Game 83 that doesn't count in any respect (apart from a banner and money).

East Coast teams that reach the semifinals may have to cross multiple time zones to get to Vegas, putting them at a fair greater competitive drawback.

Teams that miss the knockout stages, meanwhile, will play the same old 41 home games and might be rescheduled against other teams that missed out on the cup – likely easier opponents.

Since the NBA Cup (formerly referred to as the in-season tournament) is just in its second 12 months, it's difficult to make a judgment upfront. The league's goal is admirable: to generate interest in games before Christmas with an artificially more competitive environment. But it's clear there are problems that should be addressed.

“I understand why they do this,” the chief said. “I would like to see data that shows this works. And helps the league. I would like to see the numbers after this one and I think they need to reevaluate if it doesn't help at all.”

Last year, the Lakers-Pacers championship was the most-watched non-Christmas regular season game in six years, according to Nielsen. It was a huge victory for the league, whose fans were able to experience an increased level of competition in a new type of tournament at the start of the season.

But it's possible that last year's ratings success was a blip; It should come as no surprise that people were interested in seeing LeBron James in a championship-coded game. What happens this year if Steph Curry doesn't make the title game?

In the group phase, the barrier to entry for fans is very high due to inconsistent, annually changing groups and groundbreaking tiebreakers.

There is no real way for the league to turn around. As part of its 11-year media rights deal, Amazon acquired the rights to stream future NBA Cup quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games.

To be fair, the NBA Cup is not taking place at DEFCON 2. As long as the players are bought in, the games should be entertaining – and that's what really matters to the league. For a man, the players have taken the games seriously and are talking about winning the prize money. Some teams, especially those with young rosters, want their players to experience playoff-like games as well. It's not a disaster.

Nevertheless, reforms seem necessary. The League has demonstrated malleability through experimentation and therefore should be able to improve upon it as more data arrives.

Maybe the NBA Cup title game could replace the All-Star Game and kill two birds with one roundball. Perhaps the league could reduce the traditional schedule but add a true tournament format for the Cup. Instead of prize money, perhaps the league could award some sort of playoff tiebreaker to the winning team or give the winning players relief from the 65-game limit for individual awards.

The NBA Cup is not yet a failed experiment. But it needs to be in a trial and error phase in the conception phase.

Quarter Awards

Many around the league believe 20 games — a quarter of the season — is an appropriate sample size to draw conclusions from.

Let's start with 20 game awards.

MVP: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

Jokic's claim to be the best player in the league has never been stronger. When he is on the floor, the Nuggets have a net rating of +10.8. When he sits it is -16.6. In other words, when he plays, they are the 2015-16 Warriors and statistically the worst team of all time when he's on the bench.

Defensive Player of the Year: Dyson Daniels, Hawks

On a chart with steals on the x-axis and deflections on the y-axis, Daniels is all alone. “The Great Barrier Thief,” a fringe threat, was a revelation in Atlanta.

The award rarely goes to guards, and the Hawks' mediocre team will likely prevent Daniels from actually winning the award. But 1 / 4 of the way in which through the season? Recognize the theft specialist.

Honorable Mentions: Isaiah Hartenstein, Evan Mobley, Amen Thompson, Draymond Green, Victor Wembanyama

Rookie of the Year: Jared McCain, 76ers

With a bullet. McCain was by far the intense spot in a miserable start for the 76ers. What a bargain at 16.

Honorable Mentions: Stephon Castle (my preseason pick), Zaccharie Risacher, Jaylen Wells, Yves Missi

sixth man: Payton Pritchard, Celtics

Two years ago, Pritchard wanted to go away Boston. Instead, Brad Stevens invested in him and empowered him. Now the guard is one of the best bench man within the league.

Honorable Mentions: Tari Eason, Amen Thompson, Aaron Wiggins, Deuce McBride

Coach of the Year: Kenny Atkinson, Cavaliers

Honorable Mention: Jordi Fernandez, Nets

A report commissioned by FIFA concludes that the football association “bears a responsibility” to compensate staff who suffered throughout the hosting of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The long-awaited report of the FIFA Subcommittee on Human Rights and Social Responsibility, finally published at midnight Central European Time on Friday, said that the FIFA Subcommittee “has taken a number of steps to fulfill its responsibility for respecting human rights to do justice.” the organization of the tournament two years ago.

However, FIFA did not act on considered one of the report's key recommendations and used the Qatar Legacy Fund to assist staff affected by human rights abuses. Instead, it announced it could donate the cash to several other programs that do circuitously compensate staff in Qatar.

FIFA emphasized that the study was not “a legal assessment of the duty to remedy the situation.”

The independent study, commissioned by the subcommittee and developed by business and human rights consultancy Human Level, finds that “Qatar ultimately experienced a series of serious human rights impacts” for plenty of staff from 2010 to 2022 are related to the tournament.

These included “deaths, injuries and illnesses; Wages are not paid for months; and significant debts faced by workers and their families in reimbursing the fees they paid to seek employment in Qatar.”

While acknowledging that “the primary responsibility for correcting such deficiencies lies with the direct employers of these workers as well as the Qatari Government,” the Subcommittee “endorses the view expressed in the Human Level Study that FIFA is also responsible.” “has a responsibility to take additional measures to help provide relief for these workers.”

World Cup organizers put the variety of deaths directly linked to the staging of the tournament at 40. Human rights groups have long believed that 1000’s of staff died.

A FIFA spokesman said: “All reports and recommendations were considered as part of a comprehensive review by the FIFA administration and relevant committees. Although not all recommendations could be met, practical and effective elements were retained.

“It should be noted that the study is not specifically a legal assessment of the obligation to remedy the situation.”

The report recommends that FIFA should use its Qatar Legacy Fund to assist affected staff or, within the case of the deceased, their members of the family.

The subcommittee advises them to “comply with the intention announced by FIFA in a press release dated November 19, 2022 to use all or part of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Legacy Fund to further strengthen the legacy of the competition for migrant workers.”

However, two days before the report was published FIFA announced The $50 million fund would as a substitute be used for a variety of social programs worldwide in collaboration with Qatar and three organizations: the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.

A FIFA spokesperson said: “The establishment of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Legacy Fund was unanimously endorsed by the FIFA Council following a proposal from the FIFA Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee.”

“A Workers Support and Insurance Fund was established in Qatar in 2018 and FIFA believes that the new Legacy Fund, supported by recognized international organizations, is a pragmatic and transparent initiative that will include social programs to help the people most in need to help around the world.”

After awarding the World Cup to Qatar, FIFA incorporated human rights into its tournament bidding process.

On Friday, FIFA's evaluation report on Saudi Arabia's bid for the 2034 World Cup declared its human rights risk assessment as “medium.”

A vote on the host of the tournament, where the Saudi bid is unrivaled, will happen on the FIFA Congress on December eleventh.

MALAGA, Spain (AP) — Rafael Nadal's skilled tennis profession is over, his last match a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Botic Van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands on the Davis Cup.

This defeat, in addition to Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers' defeat in doubles 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) against Wesley Koolhof and Van de Zandschulp, resulted in Spain being eliminated from the Davis Cup. That ended Nadal, one in all the game's most successful players of all time, who confirmed his withdrawal from the event in October.

Nadal had glimpses of his old self in the course of the loss to Van de Zandschulp, but they were all too temporary. Just a few aces in crucial moments. A clever backhand over the pinnacle. A high-speed chase after a lob, which he returned with a spin over his head while fleeing the web.

Ultimately, his game proved to be too weak to face up to a robust, modern player like Van de Zandschulp. Shots that might have previously sent balls flying across the court ended short, allowing the Dutchman to take the initiative from Nadal's racket.

With Nadal out, it was left to Carlos Alcaraz to save lots of him and Spain. Alcaraz got halfway there and won his singles match, but then he and Granollers fell in straight sets to Van de Zandschulp and Koolhof while Nadal sat on the sidelines along with his teammates and continued to egg Granollers and Alcaraz on. He stood up and clenched two fists at the identical time, attempting to get them to carry on and provides him one other probability on the court.

The game ended with two tiebreaks. Koolhof and Van de Zandschulp played their best tennis when it mattered most, and the burden of saving Nadal's profession for a number of days fell on the Spaniards. The Dutch won the primary tiebreak 7:4. In the second half, Van de Zandschulp converted the ball with a sweeping volley that hit the surface of the touchline and a superb passing shot that gave the Dutch victory. Koolhof, 35, can be retiring here. He wasn't able to go. He fell to his knees in joy.

Nadal stood up and crossed his arms. The end had come.

---

Rafael Nadal retires from tennis

When it was over, he tried to handle the gang in Spanish. The “Rafa, Rafa, Rafa” chant that accompanied him all over the world drowned him out. Then they let their hero speak.

“I was very fortunate to have received so much,” he said.

“It was an incredible privilege, an honor that we enjoyed. We have achieved so much,” he said, addressing former and current members of the Spanish tennis team. Alcaraz looked dejected on the sidelines.

“Nobody ever wants to arrive at this moment – ​​I’m not tired of playing tennis,” Nadal said.

“My body has reached a point where it can no longer play. I feel privileged to be able to extend my career longer than expected. Thank you to life and to my team,” he added.

Video tributes got here from legends and rivals: Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Conchita Martinez, Juan Martin del Potro. Royal Spanish athletes, including Ballon d'Or holder Rodri, former Spanish captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas and striker Raul, in addition to golfer Sergio Garcia, lent their voices. David Beckham addressed Nadal – in Spanish.

“I tried to achieve my goals with respect, humility and appreciation for the good things I experienced. I tried to be a good person and I hope you felt that. I am leaving the world of professional tennis after making many friends,” said Nadal.

Alcaraz later released his own tribute to X, also in Spanish. “There will be many more Davis Cups. There is only one Rafa.

“Thanks to you, I became a professional tennis player. It was a blessing to experience your career, as a child to whom you were an idol, and then as a teammate! The best possible ambassador, leaving an everlasting legacy,” he wrote.

---

It's an end that has been looming for 2 years as Nadal struggles for form and fitness since his last Grand Slam title on the 2022 French Open.

He retires with 22 Grand Slam titles, trailing only Djokovic with 24 in men's tennis history. He also won two Olympic gold medals – one in singles and one in doubles – and 4 Davis Cups, with a complete of 92 singles titles in his profession.

Nadal, now 38, made his skilled tennis debut in 2001 at a Futures event, the third round of the ATP Tour. He began playing on the Challengers (a step up but still a step below the important ATP Tour) towards the tip of 2002 after which made his important tour and Grand Slam debuts the next yr, reaching the third round of Wimbledon .

Two years later, he won his first Grand Slam on the French Open, the primary of 14 titles at an event from which he retired with a record of 116 matches, 112 wins and 4 losses. He won 4 French Opens in a row between 2005 and 2008, and after that fourth title, a number of weeks later he won his first major tournament away from clay, defeating Roger Federer at Wimbledon in a 2000s classic.

Nadal won his first Australian Open in January 2009, but in addition suffered his first ever loss at Roland Garros that yr, against Robin Soderling within the fourth round. He responded by winning five more French Opens in a row between 2010 and 2014 and, at age 24, accomplished the “career Grand Slam” by winning the 2010 US Open.

Due to injuries and a crisis of confidence, he endured two barren years in 2015 and 2016, but with recent coach Carlos Moya in tow, he recovered and won the tenth French Open and third US Open in 2017. With the “La Decima” title in Paris a brand new one began. Between 2017 and 2020 he won 4 Roland Garros titles in a row, the last of which was a straight sets victory against Djokovic, who was so often his “bete noire”. .

In 2022, he passed Federer in the lads's Grand Slam rankings by winning the twenty first and twenty second majors on the Australian Open and French Open. The 14th title in Paris was his last Grand Slam.

Although Nadal is best known for his fierce and indomitable will to win, he was also one in all the best shotmakers in tennis history and, alongside Djokovic, perhaps essentially the most complete baseline player the game has ever seen, powered by his ripping forehand with a lot topspin that he high kicked off the sector and confused the opponents. His rivalries with Federer and Djokovic, who became often called the “Big Three,” led to a number of the most memorable and high-quality matches in tennis history, by which they pushed one another to even greater heights and produced three of the best players in history of men's tennis.

Two of them have since left.

San Jose will hire a “czar” to take over coordinating major sporting events in its backyard in 2026 — including the FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl LX and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament games — as town maximizes its visibility and importance would love to inject money into the local economy.

In addition to the three major sports attractions being played at either Levi's Stadium or the SAP Center and generating a whole lot of thousands and thousands of dollars in economic impact, San Jose officials see 2026 as a chance to showcase town and convey hundreds of tourists here regularly Creating “events around events.”

“We have the Super Bowl, six World Cup games and March Madness, and we want to capture that energy,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan told The Mercury News. “We need a committed and experienced leader with experience in coordinating large sporting events.”

San Jose is providing $350,000 for the 12-month leadership position.

While San Jose just approved the role, city officials have already begun planning and have engaged quite a few city departments and business partners including, but not limited to, the Bay Area Host Committee, the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, the San Jose Downtown Association , the San Jose Sports Authority and town's skilled teams.

“This is a short-term position that will be critical in the coordinating role between city departments and also with participating partners,” said Assistant Director of Economic Development Kerry Adams-Hapner. “We anticipate that this position will also help influence and coordinate with state and federal agencies, with our (Intergovernmental Relations) Department advocating for additional funding in the form of appropriations for both public safety and infrastructure “We also see this as an opportunity to pursue fundraising and sponsorship goals and use partners like Team San Jose and Sports Authority as financial agents and financial sponsors so that when we receive grants, we can be very flexible and can spend these funds very efficiently and quickly.”

Among the policy actions San Jose has begun are preparing updates to the city's code for special events, signage and establishing a downtown entertainment zone. The company is also developing a model for its “Fly, Stay and Play” campaign to encourage tourists to make use of San Jose Mineta International Airport, which Mahan said was ranked one of the best mid-sized airport within the country by the Wall Street Journal.

When Levi's Stadium hosted the Super Bowl in 2016, John Poch, executive director of the San Jose Sports Authority, said it wasn't a spotlight prefer it is today. Although San Jose can't host the Super Bowl fan festival since the convention center doesn't meet size requirements, city officials are “optimistic” the NFL will select it to host media day on the SAP Center, which could attract greater than 5,000 accredited media members and generate an economic impact of $760,000.

“One of the things we learned is that by having media day here first and the game at the end of the week, we are offering a free shuttle into the city if they want to go to Fan Fest in San Francisco,” Poch said. “If you have one of our hotel key cards, we have a shuttle, whether it's the Caltrain train or whether we charter buses. We’re making a transportation loop so they can go to the city, but they’ll go back to the better city.”

Official estimates suggest that Super Bowl LX, scheduled to happen at Levi's Stadium on February 8, 2026, could have an economic impact of $100 million to $160 million throughout the week.

The city also desires to host festivities at locations akin to San Pedro Square, Plaza de Cesar Chavez, the SAP Center and other local theaters and auditoriums.

Although the Super Bowl is greater than 15 months away, not less than 3,700 hotel rooms have been booked to date.

One of the Super Bowl teams will stay on the San Jose Marriott downtown and practice at San Jose State University. The other team will remain in Santa Clara and intern at Stanford University. NFL officials were in San Jose on Monday to provide a final overview of how town will host the teams.

Levi's Stadium can be one among 16 venues, including 11 within the United States, that may host World Cup games. The stadium will host six games between June thirteenth and July 1st. Over the six weeks the tournament lasts, town estimates an economic boost of $270 million to $360 million.

In addition to using the Signia by Hilton, FIFA intends to rent office space in town center between October 2025 and July 2026. The teams will stay on the San Jose Marriott and Hilton Downtown, while officials have chosen the Hotel Valencia as a VIP and family hotel. San Jose plans to host watch parties at San Pedro Square, other downtown landmarks and at restaurants and venues around town that express interest. There are also plans to curate outdoor dance and concert series depending on the teams chosen to perform on-site.

The city got a first-hand have a look at how successful these may very well be this summer when similar events were held in San Pedro Square for the 2024 Copa America tournament.

“We will find out who the teams will be on December 25, but that will give us the opportunity to refine the type of outreach and opportunities to bring the type of events and participants to specific games, like we did with the Colombian ones delegates have done,” said Nanci Klein, director of economic development.

Although the NFL and FIFA have forced San Jose to attend for details of its plans, Poch said town's proactive approach has prevented it from falling behind.

“We can still plan what we would like to see as a celebration for our community because what we have that no other city has to offer is a diversity like no other place in the country,” Poch said.

Rafael Nadal has confirmed he’ll retire from skilled tennis after the Davis Cup finals in Malaga, Spain, in November.

“The reality is that it has been a difficult few years, particularly the last two. I don’t think I was able to play without restrictions,” the 38-year-old said in a video posted on Thursday, October 10.

“It's obviously a difficult decision that took me some time. But in this life everything has a beginning and an end.”

Nadal won his first skilled match on the age of 15 at a Challenger tournament in Seville and went on to win 22 Grand Slam titles, including 14 French Open. He will finish his profession with a record of 112-4 at Roland Garros, where he lost his last Grand Slam match to Alexander Zverev earlier this 12 months.

In 2008, he broke Roger Federer's streak of 5 Wimbledon titles in a final that lasted 4 hours and 48 minutes, in the primary shift of a 15-year rivalry between the 2 players at the highest of the boys's game. Alongside Novak Djokovic, Nadal and Federer formed the “Big Three” and have won 66 Grand Slam titles together. Federer retired in 2022 on the age of 41, but Djokovic remains to be an lively player.

While the 2008 Wimbledon final is commonly considered probably the greatest matches of all time, Nadal and Djokovic's 5 hour, 53 minute long 2012 Australian Open final, which Djokovic won in five sets, and their 2009 semifinal meeting in Madrid, which Nadal won won in three, at the least standing next to it.

Along with these two, Nadal will retire from tennis as certainly one of the best male players of all time.

“I am very, very lucky for all the things that I have experienced. “I would like to thank the tennis industry and everyone in this sport: my long-time colleagues, especially my great rivals,” the Spaniard added.

“I think it is the right time to end a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”

Nadal won his last Grand Slam title on the 2022 French Open, essentially playing on one foot after numbing his left one with injections to give you the chance to compete. He then suffered an abdominal tear at Wimbledon 2022 and one other injury on the Australian Open 2023. His last singles appearance was on the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he lost in a one-sided straight sets defeat to Djokovic, who would go on to win Olympic gold. Nadal won a gold medal in singles on the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He is predicted to play on the Davis Cup together with his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who at 21 is already a four-time Grand Slam winner.

“An emotional outburst from personalities that go far beyond tennis”

Nadal's retirement announcement isn't an enormous surprise, but it surely still feels seismic.

Men's tennis without Nadal just doesn't seem right. For almost 20 years he has been such a dominant, unique figure on this sport – a real one-of-a-kind whose fame and reverence extends far beyond tennis. One only has to take a look at the outpouring of emotion from figures across all sports, particularly in football and particularly in Spain, to comprehend its global impact.

It wasn't nearly what he achieved on the pitch, but in addition how he achieved it. Somehow he was part raging bull, part impeccably behaved athlete, first changing the perception of clay court players after which obliterating them.

Nadal was initially regarded as such when he won the French Open in 2005, but then developed probably the greatest all-court games within the history of the game, winning 22 Grand Slam titles and becoming probably the greatest volleyball players in the boys's game by the tip his profession. In addition to those 14 French Open titles, he won two Wimbledon titles, two Australian Open titles and 4 US Open titles.

His rivalry with Roger Federer shaped tennis within the 2000s and made the game accessible to a bigger audience than ever before. The 2008 Wimbledon final that Nadal won is taken into account by many to be the best match of all time, but his 2012 Australian Open final against Novak Djokovic and their three 2009 ATP clay-court meetings (in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome) also stand amongst many others.

For many, Nadal is the best player and competitor to ever play the boys's game, with definitely the fiercest and handiest forehand the game has ever seen.

It is the character of sport for stars to continuously evolve and naturally, rationally, we knew at the present time would all the time come. And yet one way or the other Nadal felt immortal, in a position to continuously withstand serious injuries to rise back to the highest of the game and win certainly one of his biggest prizes, the 2022 French Open, with a functional foot.

At 38, he has struggled with one too many injuries and it’s time to say goodbye. But the legacy he leaves behind won’t ever be forgotten.

(Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

When you hear Mauricio Pochettino say that his latest players need to “believe” they’ll win the World Cup, it’s easy to roll your eyes.

It's the sort of eye-catching soundbite that ambitious managers often produce at their first press conferences.

What else could he say, in any case the months of international wooing of his latest employers, the red wine and steaks, the unprecedented financial package?

No, the Argentine is a winner and speaks like one. He can also be aware that he has two tasks to meet with the US national team: not only to extend the standard of the team in a comparatively short time period, but in addition to alter their mentality.

When asked in regards to the limited time (only 10 international breaks and no tournament) before the USA co-hosts the World Cup in 2026, he said: “Everyone thinks we don't have time to prepare and come to the World Cup in top shape.

“I'm on the other side. I don't want to make an excuse. I don't want to give the players an excuse to say: 'Yes, but I don't have time to learn the new ideas and the new philosophy.' No. We're talking about football here and the players are so intelligent and talented and can play differently.

“We have time and we actually need to consider in big things. We need to consider that we will win not only one game, however the World Cup. If not, it would be very difficult. We want players who show up on the training camp from day one and think big things.”

“This is the one solution to implement this philosophy or this concept of ​​delivering performance and putting your talent on the service of the team. That might be our big challenge.”

The players he takes on are, by and large, intelligent and realistic. They are also used to being asked what progress means to them. The subject came up frequently in interviews before and during this summer's Copa America.

“Getting through the quarterfinals,” midfielder Tyler Adams said when asked in June what a positive result would look like. “We need to win a knockout game under pressure. That's how we'll measure our success.”

That may not have been what some fans wanted to hear; a temporary departure from a rallying cry that promised trophies in the competition widely heralded as a dry run for the World Cup.

But if Adams wanted to create reasonable expectations, he was right. As it turned out, victory in a knockout match would have been a real step forward for a team that was thrashed 5-1 by eventual Copa America finalists Colombia in a friendly on June 8.

Instead, the USA were eliminated in the group stage. They were victims of an individual error by Tim Weah in the loss to Panama and then lacked the quality to avoid that error. They should have beaten Uruguay to advance, but they just weren't good enough.

The magnitude of the duty ahead of him should come as no surprise to Pochettino. It may sound nice, but when he talks about replicating the US women's national team's streak of success, that also seems absurd.

Deep down, he probably knows that too. That's why he publicly calls on his players from the beginning to stop hiding. No excuses. No believing within the story that there's simply no time.

It's a chance for the 52-year-old because in point of fact the story might be true and he’ll ultimately be judged on his words and results. The USA just lost to Canada and this week could only draw with a New Zealand team that’s 78 places below them on this planet rankings.

Confidence is low and Pochettino knows that constructing some kind of collective belief is crucial to getting the team back on its feet and arriving in 2026 with the mindset to win big games.

It's unlikely he actually believes the USMNT will win the World Cup in just below two years at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. But a team often accused of lacking fighting spirit when it really counts needs to start out pondering greater, and that's what that is about.

Secondly, his job is to adapt quickly to the very different demands of being a coach in international football, where he has limited opportunities to construct a team that may break down partitions for him, as he did in his best days at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur.

“Every time we have the opportunity to be with them, we will give them the information in a very targeted way,” Pochettino added on Friday. “We have to approach training smart enough to get the best out of them.”

But while he understandably preferred to not alienate a few of his latest players by listing the team's weaknesses at his official launch, one other reality is that Pochettino have to be ruthless.

He must quickly discover a top-class goalkeeper. He must construct a defense with the aggressiveness and intelligence that the teams from his South American homeland display.

There also must be a greater balance in midfield, because the team has loads of clever defensive midfielders but lacks consistent creativity. How long will he spend, for instance, solving the Gio Reyna puzzle?

Then he must find the striker solution that may spur a team that has been too frustrated in front of goal on the Copa. Which of the promising young players who performed well on the Paris Olympics will he include in his team?

And he has to do all this while achieving enough results to take a partly skeptical US fan base along on his journey.

So don't roll your eyes when Pochettino talks about how he believes the USMNT can win the World Cup. Maybe as a substitute you must close them and silently pray for the divine intervention he might need to attain all of his goals in lower than two years.

He will need all the assistance he can get.

With his alternative of chalk, United States captain Jim Furyk has created excitement ahead of this month's Presidents Cup.

Furyk selected Nos. 7 through 12 within the team rankings for his six captain's picks, announced Tuesday. The move means Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley will play for Team USA for the primary time in a decade, while longtime American star Justin Thomas will stay home.

The other American picks were Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Max Homa, Brian Harman and Tony Finau. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala were the team's six automatic picks.

The Presidents Cup will happen from September 26 to 29 on the Royal Montreal Golf Club.

“I'm just trying to put the pieces together,” Furyk said of his alternative, calling it a “tough omission” but otherwise giving Golf Channel no explanation for why he not noted Thomas, the 31-year-old who was No. 19 within the points standings.

Bradley was originally slated to be Furyk's assistant captain, his only probability to achieve experience as a team leader before the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York. Instead, he might be relieved of those duties, Furyk said, and might concentrate on playing as a substitute.

International team captain Mike Weir has chosen Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee and Taylor Pendrith. Conners, Hughes and Pendrith are all Canadian, adding an actual maple flavour to the team with a Canadian captain and three players. They will join Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Jason Day and Byeong Hun An.

What do you concentrate on the US team?

That's each not surprising and incredibly disappointing. Furyrk, who takes on players ranked seventh through twelfth, avoids criticism because he can say, “That's fair,” but it surely does mean the U.S. has a team that’s failing each in current form and in current form. And usher in young talent. Max Homa has dropped to 86th on DataGolf while enduring a chaotic season, and Brian Harman has just one top-10 finish since March. Justin Thomas, however, is a U.S. Cup legend and is having a a lot better season than those two. Thomas is 9-3-2 in Presidents Cups and finished T14th on the Tour Championship, and Akshay Bhatia won the Texas Open this yr. Bringing the 22-year-old rising star onto the team for the long run might have been invaluable. It all seems like a missed opportunity that neither produces the most effective team nor helps the team move forward. —

Furyk could have gone straight down the list and picked the subsequent six players on the U.S. Presidents Cup leaderboard, but a few of those selections are still confusing. Harman and Homa were outmatched by several players who would have been great suits within the team — including Thomas, who’s widely often known as among the finest American match play players of this generation. Harman was likely chosen for his shot accuracy in preparation for a good and shut Royal Montreal, and Homa will bring the fireplace and spirit that comes naturally to him in team settings. But consider Bhatia, and even someone like 20-year-old Nick Dunlap. This yr's Cup might have been the proper opportunity to groom young blood for future team events, and as a substitute Furyk went with an older selection that isn't even necessarily playing that well right away. In addition to partner fit, statistics probably played an enormous role in those decisions. But you’ll be able to't ignore recent form, and it seems that Furyk has done just that. —

What do you concentrate on the international team?

Weir is giving his native Canadians love, but possibly not in the best way we thought. It would have been inconceivable for Weir to depart out Lee or Kim – two of his top talents – or Bezuidenhout, who’s having a fantastic yr, in order that left essentially three decisions to make. You could argue that Conners is a top five international player, so it's a no brainer. The same goes for Pendrith, who jumped to twenty fifth within the DataGolf world rankings with a profession yr. It's the choice for Hughes over potentially higher talents like Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor that’s so hard to make. Both Hadwin and Taylor have struggled badly in recent months, so I get it, but Taylor is a killer with two wins as an enormous boy on the 2024 Phoenix Open and 2023 Canadian Open, until absolute chaos in the summertime. That hurts. (Leaving out Australian Cam Davis is the appropriate move. His beautiful win in Detroit was more of an outlier.) —

Weir considered plenty of aspects when choosing his captain. Still, Canada's home-court nature and emphasis on recent form appear to have dominated his decision-making process. Of Weir's captain selections, the three Canadians will enjoy playing on familiar turf in front of a supportive crowd. Hughes – who finished fifteenth within the international team rankings – was notably not included within the 2022 squad. He can also be known to welcome leadership roles and needs to be a fantastic fit within the team room. Pendrith and Conners got the nod, seemingly ahead of Hadwin and Taylor, who’re perhaps the better-known and more fiery Canadians. The alternative showed that Weir prioritized consistency and up to date tournament results. Then there's Kim: He brought a memorable heat to the 2022 Games and was little doubt a natural for the energy within the locker room. Plus, Weir specifically mentioned Kim's putting, which has been shaky of late but appears to be improving with a putter change. Bezuidenhout has snuck into the FedEx top 30 and put together an underrated season, and Lee has emerged as among the finest drivers on the PGA Tour and established himself as a transparent fan favorite. Overall, there aren't too many surprises here, other than the curveball from Hughes and Davis being omitted for No. 8 within the rankings. Weir's picks are strong and represent a deliberate, multifaceted strategy. —

Required reading