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The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens is quiet for most of the year, but for two weeks late in August it becomes the epicenter of tennis as fans flock to Flushing Meadows for the US Open. The main draw begins Sunday, but Fan Week is already underway and qualifying matches are in full swing, with a mix of special events, food and family activities on offer.

The US Open schedule is packed with action, from 2024 Wimbledon champions Maria Sharapova and Jelena Ostapenko playing each other in the opening match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium to doubles specialists Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova taking on each other on Thursday. But the story of the tournament may well be former No. 1 Novak Djokovic. He is seeking to regain his form of old and must navigate a challenging draw in New York.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner starts his title defense against Vit Kopriva in the first round, while other top seeds include Jack Draper, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev. The women’s draw is equally deep, with rising talents Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe joining the deep American contingent alongside rising prospects Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien.

The US Open is the final Grand Slam of the season, with the winner taking the biggest prize purse of all four. The tournament will be shown on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC in the United States, while coverage will vary by country with local broadcasters showing the matches in other countries.

NAGOYA, Japan — The heart of Asia will pulsate with energy as athletes from around the world come together to compete at Asian Games 2026. The event, to be held from September 19 to October 4, will showcase the continent’s prowess in a multitude of sports at venues across Aichi Prefecture, with the city of Nagoya serving as its epicenter.

The Sports Ministry announced stringent new criteria for the selection of athletes to take part in the multidisciplinary competition, saying only those with “real chance of winning medals” will be considered. It also barred the inclusion of additional sportspersons, coaches and support staff, even if they are willing to pay their own expenses, in an effort to address recurring disputes over such matters.

Those selected will be required to rank at the top two in championships where a team event is involved, or finish in the top four for those with six or more teams. This is in addition to a top-two or top-four finish at an Asian Championships competition, recognised by the International Federation for that sport.

Aichi-Nagoya is well-equipped to host the Games, with a comprehensive transportation network including JR lines (Tokaido Shinkansen, Chuo Main Line, etc), Kintetsu Railway, Meitetsu Railway and private bus companies operating throughout the area. Shuttle buses will be available to aid movement to the competition sites from transport stations, and measures to curb private car use in areas surrounding the venues will also be introduced.

TORONTO — There was no shortage of dramatic moments in Game 7 of the World Series. But one stood out above all others for Brooke Whitaker: Her husband’s jaw-dropping home run off Shohei Ohtani.

The Jays’ Bo Bichette blasted a three-run, goggles-on, 440-foot homer off the Angels superstar to give Toronto a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The blast erupted Rogers Centre and gave the defending champs an immediate boost.

But it was what happened in the bottom of the fourth inning that caused the highest drama of the night and nearly led to a benches-clearing incident. Andres Gimenez took two brush-back pitches from lefty Justin Wrobleski and got into a verbal spat with him. The benches and bullpens cleared in a flurry of emotions.

It was an unusual sequence for the Dodgers, who had just trailed by a run. But despite the fracas, the series was still very much alive.

During that chaotic stretch, the Blue Jays hung on, largely thanks to two outstanding defensive plays by Daulton Varsho in centre field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base.

And in the eighth, a hero emerged: Will Klein. The Jays’ long man, whose regular-season high was 45 pitches in a Triple-A game, battled through four scoreless innings and stranded runners on second and third. He was a World Series hero.

The NFL draft takes place April 24-26 and will feature 257 picks. Each team has 10 minutes to make a selection in the first round, seven minutes in the second round and five minutes in rounds three through seven. Teams that don’t make their pick within the allotted time risk being jumped by the team behind them in the draft order.

Despite a deep rookie class at running back, it’s important to prioritize landing an impact player at the position early on. A top-tier RB is a necessary part of any fantasy team, and the pool of high-volume backs dries up quickly.

The 2025 QB and TE tiers have sifted into similar groups, with a small group of elite players at the top, a smattering of known commodities with question marks in the middle and a few discount values near the QB1/TE1 range. Targeting a few of those lower-round guys is the best way to increase your odds of landing one of the big-name options at the position.

The Eagles’ frontline defense has been one of the league’s best in recent seasons, but Shemar Stewart is a potential game-changer at the interior. He has impressive power and agility to go along with outstanding run-defense skills.

For many athletes, retiring from their sport can be a challenge. Athletes can struggle to find a new identity outside of their sport, and can even end up living on food stamps or going into debt in their early post-athletic careers. This is a significant problem that can be overcome with greater support and awareness from sports organisations, who can help their athletes plan for the future.

Athletes who are preparing for retirement need to think about more than their career, and also consider their family. A recent study by Dr Cavallerio interviewed female gymnasts who had retired from elite level competition and found that the experience of retirement was not just emotionally difficult for the athlete, but also the parents, partners and coaches.

Alex Morgan, one of the most successful women’s soccer players of her generation, recently announced her retirement from the game. In a video posted to social media, Morgan explained that it had been a difficult decision, but that it was time to move on to the next chapter in her life.

Financial advisers recommend that athletes consider buying term life insurance and permanent total disability insurance to protect their income, and set up a trust if they have more than $1 million in assets to avoid potential tax penalties. They should also make sure to pay off all debts before retiring, and invest in income-producing assets that can provide a steady stream of cash in retirement.

Whether helping bring down Jose Mourinho, marching against their club owners or pushing back against plans to commercialize football, fans have a long history of using their passion for sports as a tool for nonviolent protest. These fan protest stories remind us that fan activism isn’t a passing fad, but an integral part of the fight for social change.

Black fans, for example, used their passion for sports as a weapon in the Civil Rights Movement, boycotting professional sports teams that segregated seating and pressuring city leaders to integrate stadiums. They maintained their protests through the Black press, relying on writers like Jim Hall, Marcel Hopson and Marion Jackson to keep readers up to date on boycott information. They also employed other tactics, including pickets and directing their protests toward the owners of the franchises rather than the players themselves.

The timbre of protests differed, too. For example, while Star Wars has been a common pop culture reference for American protesters, for young people in countries where anime is incredibly popular (such as China), One Piece may hold more sway because of its universal appeal and its depiction of the struggle against an evil empire.

When writing about someone who participates in a protest, it’s important to focus on their personal characteristics, such as their hobbies and family, to help readers connect with them and promote positive attitudes toward underrepresented groups. This is especially true when reporting on sports-related protests, as the use of personal narrative can reinforce the message that all fans are equal and should be treated with respect.

Gender equality in sports is essential to achieving a level playing field for everyone who wishes to participate and excel in sports. The prevailing stereotypes of men as superior athletes to women have alienated many girls and boys from participation and led to the glaring disparities that persist in the world of sports today, including: gender-based pay disparities (e.g., US Women’s soccer captain Megan Rapinoe earning forty times less than her male counterparts), lack of women in technical and senior management positions (management and training), gender gap in the professionalization of sport, limited media visibility for female athletes, and insufficient funding for women’s teams.

Many of these challenges can be addressed by taking a holistic approach, addressing all areas of the sports landscape. Bar-Anderson and colleagues highlight the key role of education as a tool for combating gender discrimination, while del Valle et al. examine the underlying structural drivers of gender inequality in school-based athletics and advocate for transformative pedagogical practices. In contrast, Ottogalli-Mazzacavallo et al. delve into the antiquated dichotomy between ‘vigorous’ pursuits reserved for boys and ‘aesthetic’ activities relegated to girls, arguing that this curricular paradigm undermines women’s sports participation.

A recent study uses Fuzzy-Hybrid TOPSIS and Latent Profile Analysis to analyse the Europeans’ Attitudes towards Gender Equality in Sports (ATGEQS). The results show that a substantial proportion of the public endorses the notion that equal opportunities for men and women in sport is a good thing. However, the political divide reveals an ideological split, with left-wing respondents favouring the idea more than right-wing ones. This suggests that gender equality in sports has a political dimension and is subject to rapid social change.

With evolving fan expectations, a push for equity and sustainability, and new opportunities to innovate, sports technology is changing faster than ever. Sports trends to watch for include virtual and phygital sports, coaching technologies, innovations for female athletes, and smart stadium experiences.

Wearables are a major driver of this change, with advanced sports tech like fitness trackers and communication helmets becoming commonplace in many leagues and clubs. These devices allow players to monitor and adjust their workouts based on their goals, while also tracking important metrics such as heart rate, speed, movement, and energy use. For semi-professional football teams, for example, access to smart wearables and advanced video analysis tools such as Catapult Vector is game-changing. They can now train more effectively, mitigate injury risks, and develop strategies akin to elite teams.

Other transformative sports technology in the pipeline includes a shift towards smarter training and more personalized player development. AI-driven analytics tools are revolutionizing the way coaches and players prepare for games, practice, and scout talent. These tools help analyze game footage to identify patterns and predict future outcomes, boosting the accuracy of coaching and player development.

Unified sports technology platforms are reducing the time needed to flip between apps and focus on strategy, ensuring that no data slips through the cracks. For instance, intelligent video software can automatically create highlight reels for each player that align with their specific role and goal, allowing coaches to spend more time coaching rather than sifting through footage.

The UEFA Champions League is one of the most popular and most lucrative sports media events in the world. It is a tournament for the best teams in European professional soccer. It was originally known as the European Cup (up until 1992), and it is widely considered to be the world’s most prestigious club competition.

Initially, the competition was open only to the champion clubs of European national leagues (and in some cases, two runners-up from each association). Since its revamp in 1992, the tournament has been expanded to include more teams and a group stage.

In the group phase, teams are placed into one of four pots based on their UEFA coefficient, and they play against each other twice (home and away). The winner and runner-up of each group advances to the knockout stage, which is still run in a typical double-legged manner. The teams are ranked over the two legs, and the team with the most goals—or aggregate—advances to the next round.

The defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, are the clear favorites to win this year’s Champions League. They boast a strong attacking unit and are well-balanced across all areas of the game. However, the big question mark is whether Ousmane Dembele can recover from an injury in time to be part of the squad. PSG should be able to succeed without him, but it will be a challenge. Here are the players who could make the difference in Saturday’s final.

The World Test Championship was launched in 2019 to add context and excitement to cricket’s longest format. Spanning two-year cycles, the tournament determines the world’s best Test team based on points earned from a series of matches against each other.

The inaugural cycle ended with New Zealand and India each winning their respective WTC finals, but this summer it is South Africa who will be holding the mace when they take on Australia in a decisive final at Lord’s. The Proteas ripped the label of underdog from Australia’s callused grip in Saturday’s thrilling finale at the home of cricket, courtesy of Aiden Markram’s unbeaten century and Temba Bavuma’s vital support.

Amid the jubilation, it is important to remember that the WTC remains controversial, and the ICC has already considered a range of potential changes in response to criticisms of its structure. Whether through the point deductions for slow overs or the exclusion of non-Test playing nations such as Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, the competition has been accused of focusing on profits over the long term sustainability of the game.

Despite the criticism, the WTC offers an intriguing and exciting concept, and on Wednesday night at Lord’s it will be finally put to the ultimate test. The result will decide which of the nine full ICC members is the world’s top Test team, and who will hold the mace in the fourth edition of the World Test Championship.