Katie Boulter won her first WTA Tour title since 2024 by fighting back to beat Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 5-7 6-2 6-1 in the Ostrava Open final.

Boulter, who had slipped down to 120 in the rankings, will climb back into the top 100 after sealing the fourth WTA title of her career.

The 29-year-old Briton lost four straight games at the end of the opening set and the start of the second, but she reeled off 12 of the next 15 games to seal her first title since her second Nottingham Open triumph in 2024.

Boulter, due to marry Australia’s world number six Alex de Minaur this year, said: “It feels incredible. I’ve waited a long time for this one. I’ve worked extremely hard after a really tough year and it feels like I got the reward I deserved after putting so much work in.

“I’m absolutely thrilled. I just don’t want to stop working. I’ve got a big year ahead of me. It’s my wedding year and that’s going to be the best year of my life, no matter what happens.”

Boulter teamed up with Maria Sharapova’s former coach, American Michael Joyce, at the turn of the year and lost only two sets during the entire tournament in the Czech Republic.

She will climb to 84 in the rankings after wrapping up her victory in exactly two hours and adds her latest tournament win to previous successes in Nottingham (twice) and San Diego.

Boulter had found tour-level wins hard to come by since Wimbledon last summer and tore an abductor in her final event of last year in Hong Kong.

Leading 3-2 in the second set against Korpatsch, Boulter won the next five games, taking the second set 6-2 and opening up a 2-0 lead in the decider.

Korpatsch held serve to trail 2-1, but Boulter was in full control, winning the next four and breaking her opponent again at 5-1 up to seal victory on her second championship point.

Emma Raducanu missed the chance to win her first title since her US Open triumph in 2021 after losing in straight sets to home favourite Sorana Cirstea in the Transylvania Open final.

Top seed Raducanu appeared to be feeling the effects of her marathon semi-final win against Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova on Friday, losing out to Cirstea 6-0 6-2 in little over an hour in Cluj.

Romanian Cirstea, 35 and in her final year on the Tour, sealed the fourth WTA title of her 20-year career.

Raducanu, whose father is Romanian, was pushed to the limit in her last-four clash against Oliynykova 24 hours earlier and had no answers against Cirstea’s big hitting.

She said: “It was great to be in a final again. Sorana played great all week. She’s in form for sure and I’m really happy she was able to win this title at home. It meant a lot to her.

“I had a great week myself. I really enjoyed playing here. The crowd really made me feel like I was at home. It was a really special week for me. Today I didn’t feel great, but it’s not going to take away from my week.”

The British number one came under early pressure, eventually losing her opening service game having saved five break points, and she went on to lose the opening set without winning a game in just 30 minutes.

After losing a fourth successive service game to fall 2-0 down in the second set, Raducanu broke Cirstea to love to win her first game but then needed a medical time out.

She recovered to then hold her serve for the first time to level it up at 2-2, but could not maintain her momentum as Cirstea regrouped to take the next three games and lead 5-2.

Raducanu appeared to have nothing left in the tank as she served to stay in the match and in the next game she lost her serve for a sixth time as Cirstea took the title.

At the Abu Dhabi Open, Czech qualifier Sara Bejlek sealed a surprise first WTA Tour win by beating Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (5) 6-1 in the final. The 20-year-old will climb from 101 in the rankings into the top 50 after the best week of her career.15

If Palmer can now build momentum, he will be hitting form at just the right time.

He was a key player for England at Euro 2024 but has made just one appearance under current boss Thomas Tuchel – in a 1-0 win against Andorra last June.

Injuries have been a factor, but there is also competition for places – with the likes of Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham rivalling him for the number 10 role.

“At the moment it looks like Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham will be the two who are ahead of him,” said former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha on BBC Final Score.

“I’d be looking to find a way to get him in the side.”

When asked if he would select Palmer for England, former Blackburn and Chelsea striker Chris Sutton was a little more blunt: “Not at the minute, no. I’d play Rogers.”

England have two more friendlies lined up before the World Cup – against Uruguay on 27 March and Japan four days later – so that international camp will offer a big chance for players such as Palmer to impress Tuchel.

“I don’t think Cole [Palmer] is at his best yet,” said Murphy.

“Like a lot of players, when you have had a bad injury and you’ve had quite a lot of time out, it does take game time to get your rhythm and your sharpness back.

“He really needs to start playing regularly to force his way into the England squad and team, because at the moment with Morgan Rogers doing what he’s doing, and other players playing well, he’s got a battle on his hands.”

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — USA Luge men’s doubles slider Zack DiGregorio is a New England Patriots fan. Makes sense: He’s from Massachusetts, his mother has worked for the Patriots for more than two decades and the Patriots are about to play in the Super Bowl for the 10th time since he was born.

He doesn’t miss games. Especially not big games. And games get no bigger than the Super Bowl.

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Welcome to a Super-sized Olympic dilemma: What does one do when football’s biggest game collides with the Milan Cortina Games? In Italy, the game between the Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks kicks off Monday at 12:30 a.m., a time when Olympians like DiGregorio should be asleep and not exhausting themselves before taking part in their own Super Bowl of sliding.

“If I happen to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom,” DiGregorio said, “I may be tuning in.”

He won’t be the only one in Italy with a gaze locked on a TV, laptop or phone screen in the wee hours of Monday morning. There are 15 members of this U.S. Olympic team from Massachusetts, eight more from Washington and who knows how many else with reason to watch.

Gold-medal pursuits may be forgotten, for a few hours anyway, to watch two teams play for a silver trophy. And yes, some Olympians with major rooting interests in this game say they’ll go without and make sure their sleep cycles aren’t interrupted.

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“I’m not going to be able to watch because that’s going to be real late here,” said curling Olympian Korey Dropkin, who was born in Massachusetts. “But as my form of support, I’m going to wear my Pats jersey to bed.”

Then again, some athletes at the Olympics won’t have to stay up to watch. It seems a few already are somehow aware of the outcome.

“It’ll be the middle of the night here so I think we will see the score afterwards,” said short track speed skater Corinne Stoddard, a Seattle native. “We don’t want to be up all night. But the Seahawks are going to win. I don’t have any doubt in my mind about that one. We’ve proved it all year. So, good luck, Patriots.”

Women’s hockey player Alex Carpenter — a dual citizen of sorts for this Super Bowl, a Massachusetts native who plays for the PWHL’s Seattle Torrent — has a game on Monday, so she said she’ll just “check the score in the morning.”

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And Boston Bruins star Charlie McAvoy — part of the U.S. men’s hockey team in Milan — told NBC he might just go to bed really early Sunday night.

“That could look like a 5 a.m. wake-up to catch the second half,” McAvoy said.

The collision of a Super Bowl and an Olympics is a fun headache for some. For the Olympic movement, it represents a bigger issue.

Sunday (or Monday in Italy, technically) will mark only the second time that the Super Bowl and the Winter Games will be happening on the same day. They collided in 2022 as well, and with NFL seasons now several weeks longer than they were a generation or two ago these conflicts are probably going to keep happening.

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“You’ve got big events all working and overlapping,” International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry told the Olympic Information Service coming into the Milan Cortina Games. “So, the next part of the question is, when are we all going to sit down as one big sporting family and have these conversations around how we prioritize, how do we talk, how do we make space for each of us so that we’re also not competing against each other?”

For now, those involved will just enjoy having two big things to root for at basically the same time.

Mark Henderson’s daughter is U.S. Olympic freestyle skier Grace Henderson, who is scheduled to compete at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

That’s a few hours after the Super Bowl ends. Prediction: Mark Henderson is going to be tired.

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He found a bar in Livigno, Italy that has agreed — with the help of some cash — to stay open until the end of the Super Bowl to ensure the Henderson clan of about 15 to 20 people have enough food and drink past the scheduled 2 a.m. closing time.

“I said, ‘What would it take to stay open a few more hours?’” Mark Henderson said. “I named a price and they took it. Food and drink included.”

Krista DiGregorio, Zack’s mom, is looking for a similar establishment. She probably would have been at the Super Bowl this year — she works in the suites at Gillette Stadium, and that part-time role basically funded her son’s costly luge career as he was becoming an Olympian.

Her plan: Find a bar that’ll stay open in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

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“We’ll beg, if need be,” she said. “I am not above begging or perhaps sliding a few euros in their direction.”

The main focus for the DiGregorio clan right now is, of course, the Olympics. Zack has his Drake Maye jersey with him. The family’s rental home has all the necessary fan touches: more Pats jerseys, signs, banners, even a towel with the team’s “We all we got, we all we need” theme.

But the way Krista DiGregorio sees it, she already got her championship parade Friday night when her son was in the Olympic opening ceremony and got to march with teammates through the streets of Cortina.

A Super Bowl win would be wonderful. Either way, it’s been a pretty good season for her.

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“Unreal. Unreal,” Krista DiGregorio said. “I didn’t anticipate being as emotional as I was at that parade. To be there and see how happy he is, how happy his teammates are, the people he’s grown up with and gotten close to, it’s been wonderful.”

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AP Sports Writers Joseph Wilson and James Ellingsworth contributed to this story.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots battled through an 18-week regular season, survived the playoff gauntlet in their respective conferences, and have arrived at Super Bowl LX. While both franchises have made it to the final plateau, only one can emerge from this game as Super Bowl champions and with the Lombardi Trophy in hand. 

The big question is who that will be and what bets can we make along the way to finding out?

As we’ve done throughout the season, we’ve collected all of the best picks and gambling content from CBS Sports HQ, CBSSports.com and SportsLine and put them in one place, so you can get sports betting picks against the spread from our CBS Sports experts, well as additional feature content for each game, including plays from top SportsLine experts and the SportsLine Projection Model, best bets from our staff, and more. 

Below you’ll see that our editorial staff likes the Seahawks, but our panel of other CBS Sports HQ talent was notably Patriots heavy:

Leger Douzable: Seahawks, 24-14

Bryant McFAdden: Patriots, 23-20

Damien Harris: Patriots, 24-21

Katie Mox: Seahawks, 27-18

Danny Kanell: Patriots, 24-21

Let’s get to the rest of the picks. 

Which picks can you make with confidence for Super Bowl LX? Visit SportsLine as its incredible model simulates every NFL game 10,000 times and is up well over $7,000 for $100 players on top-rated NFL picks since its inception.

Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots

Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC

Pete Prisco’s Super Bowl LX pick

“I don’t think Seattle’s offense will spend the game moving up and down the field, but the Seahawks will be able to feast on short fields given to them by the defense. I think Maye will turn it over a few times and the sacks will start to wear on him. This will be a day for the Seattle defense. Darnold will make the plays after the turnovers, but this will be a game about the basics of football — blocking, tackling and influencing the quarterback.

“Seattle will do that best. Look for the Seahawks to win behind one of those defensive showings by their front that we will remember for a long time. Defense wins championships, they say. But the reality is the fronts of the defense is what does it — and Seattle will show that once again.”

Pick: Seattle 27, Patriots 10

To read Prisco’s full analysis, click here.

SportsLine’s Bruce Marshall’s Super Bowl LX pick

Marshall is coming into Super Bowl LX on a 59-38-2 roll (+1689) on his last 99 NFL picks, and has now unveiled his best bet for this matchup between the Seahawks and Patriots. We can tell you Marshall is leaning Under the 45.5 point total, but to see who he has winning (and covering) this matchup, you’ll need to go to SportsLine.

Tyler Sullivan’s Super Bowl LX pick

“Seattle’s defense is legit and possesses a unique challenge for a Patriots offense that has been in a recent slump. The Seahawks are top 10 in the NFL in pressure rate this season (including playoffs) and are third in total pressures. They do that despite being one of the least frequent blitzing teams in the NFL, meaning they can apply pressure by simply sending four. In turn, that’ll allow them to have an extra man in coverage, which will make life difficult for Maye, who has been sacked five times in each of his three playoff games this year. The MVP contender may also not be 100% healthy, as he’s been listed with a right shoulder injury.   

“It’s hard to imagine Maye and the Patriots’ offense suddenly turning the tide in this Super Bowl against a Seattle defense that was the No. 1 scoring defense this season. Moreover, the No. 1 scoring defenses that have squared off against All-Pro quarterbacks (like Maye is) in the Super Bowl are 5-1 in the previous six matchups. Think Seattle wins this in a rather convincing fashion.”

Pick: Seahawks 30, Patriots 17

To read Sullivan’s full analysis, click here.

SportsLine’s Emory Hunt’s Super Bowl LX pick

Arguably, no one has been as dialed in on betting football (at any level) than Emory Hunt. Specifically, Hunt has been superb betting games involving the Seahawks, coming into this Super Bowl on a 28-16 run in such games. With that in mind, you NEED to see which way the SportsLine expert is leaning, especially with his deep knowledge of Seattle. To see what best bets Hunt has lined up for Super Bowl LX, you’ll need to log on to SportsLine.

John Breech’s Super Bowl LX pick

“During the regular season, the Patriots were the second-highest scoring team in the NFL at 28.8 points per game. In the playoffs, that number has dropped to 18 points per game. Before this season, do you know how many teams had made the Super Bowl over the past 45 years while averaging 18 points per game in the playoffs? ZERO.

“If you can’t score more than 18 points against Seattle, you’re not going to win, it’s that simple. There were only two games all year where the Seahawks scored fewer than 18 points and they BOTH came against the 49ers, a divisional opponent that knows them well. The Patriots do not know them well.”

Pick: Seahawks 34, Patriots 20

To read Breech’s full analysis, click here.

SportsLine’s Brady Kannon’s Super Bowl LX pick

Do you want someone who has been on a heater with his NFL picks? Look no further than SportsLine’s Brady Kannon. He comes into this Super Bowl on a 29-15-2 roll (+1208) in his last 46 NFL picks. Now, Kannon has turned his expertise towards Super Bowl LX where he has laid out three selections: an ATS pick, a total pick, and an ML pick. To tail Kannon as he looks to stay hot, check out those wagers on SportsLine.

Zach Pereles’ Super Bowl LX pick

“Expect some nerves early, especially from the quarterbacks, but as both settle in, this should be a great, close battle between an ascending star and an unlikely one. 

“Maye is looking to become the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, and Darnold is looking to become the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl after playing for at least five different teams. Ultimately, the Seahawks’ defense gets a few timely stops, and Seattle leaves with its second championship.”

Pick: Seahawks 24, Patriots 20

To read Pereles’ full analysis, click here.

SportsLine’s Mike McClure’s top DFS plays for Super Bowl LX

Want to add a little DFS into your Super Bowl Sunday? If so, you’d be remise if you did not see how SportsLine’s Mike McClue is attacking this game. McClue is a legendary professional DFS player with more than $2 million in career winnings. Naturally, he’d be someone you’d want to tail, especially in a game as big as the Super Bowl. Of course, one of McClue’s top players to roster is Seahawks wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but he also has value pick that could prove to be the central pice to a winning formula. To see who McClure is targeting, go check out SportsLine.

Jordan Dajani’s Super Bowl LX pick

“While I am excited for this game, I think there is a possibility it ends up being a low-scoring affair that isn’t particularly close. The main matchup to watch is the Seahawks defense vs. the Patriots offense. Seattle has arguably the best defense in the NFL, while the Patriots’ offense has averaged just 18 points per game this postseason — the fewest by a Super Bowl team since the 1979 Rams. This is the seventh Super Bowl since 1970 between an All-Pro quarterback (Maye) and the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense (Seattle). The No. 1 scoring defense is 5-1 in those previous six matchups. Furthermore, Mike Macdonald’s defenses are 6-0 vs. first- or second-year quarterbacks, allowing two passing touchdowns compared to nine interceptions in those games. A few of those quarterbacks held in check were Bo Nix, Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels. 

“They say defense wins championships, and I think that will be proven on Sunday. In regard to the spread, there have been only SEVEN Super Bowl underdogs to lose outright and cover the spread. So I’ll lay the points with Seattle.” 

Pick: Seahawks 20, Patriots 13

To read Dajani’s full analysis, click here.

Jared Dubin’s Super Bowl LX pick

Seattle’s defense is just too good. New England has already struggled offensively through its first three playoff games, failing to produce representative offensive performances against any of the Chargers, Texans or Broncos. Now, the Patriots face what may be their toughest test yet in this Seahawks group. They can pressure and they are sticky on the back end. They typically don’t allow the type of big plays around which the Patriots’ passing offense was based during the regular season before it backslid in the playoffs. The Pats are going to have to run the ball well and probably dink and dunk their way down the field, and I’m not sure they can do it well enough to put up a ton of points. Strangely, I might trust Seattle’s offense more than I do New England’s at the moment, given the way Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and even Kenneth Walker III are playing. If the Seahawks can stay in a neutral or better game script and avoid having to go to a pure dropback game for an extended stretch, I like them to come away with the win here.

Pick: Seahawks 23, Patriots 16

To read Dublin’s full analysis, click here.

Garrett Podell’s Super Bowl LX pick

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has been sacked five times each in all three of New England’s AFC playoff games. That’s not ideal ahead of a matchup against the Seattle Seahawks’ No. 1 scoring defense (17.2 points per game allowed) in Super Bowl LX. Seattle’s defensive tackle duo of 2025 second team All-Pro Leonard Williams and 2024 first-round pick Byron Murphy III has been the NFL’s best this season: they have combined for the most quarterback pressures (108), quarterback hits (35) and sacks (14.0) among 300-pound duos. Then, there’s Seahawks rookie hybrid safety Nick Emmanwori, whose 18 quarterback pressures led all defensive backs this season. 

New England may look to counter by running the football with Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson, but Seattle also led the NFL in yards per carry allowed (3.7) despite playing the lowest rate of base defense in the league at just 6%. Maye won’t be able to overcome the danger the Seahawks’ defense presents at all three levels on Sunday.

Pick: Seahawks 27, Patriots 13

Kyle Stackpole’s Super Bowl LX pick

I’m not going to pretend the point spread is off and the Patriots have tremendous value as 4.5-point underdogs. If I did, I’d hit the Patriots moneyline at +190 at DraftKings and be sipping margaritas on a remote island by Monday afternoon.

That said, as a Patriots hater (not the team itself — just the fact they’re back in the Super Bowl already!), it just feels like Drake Maye, Mike Vrabel and company will figure out a way to pull this game out. Maybe it’s Sam Darnold committing three turnovers or Marcus Jones housing a punt, but something will flip this game in New England’s favor. The Patriots are on top of the NFL world once again. 

Pick: Patriots 23, Seahawks 20

Bryan DeArdo’s Super Bowl LX pick

While they may not be the best team, that hasn’t stopped the Patriots from winning it all in the past, and I don’t think that will stop them from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for a record seventh time on Sunday night. As is often the case, great defenses typically outperform prolific offenses in Super Bowls. That should give the Patriots an edge in this game as long as Drake Maye and the rest of New England’s offense take care of the ball.

Pick: Patriots, 20, Seahawks 17

The stable of Ciaron Maher seeks validation by developing Observer into a Group 1 mile-winning colt.

This Godolphin-owned three-year-old triumphed in the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) last spring, prompting trainer and owner to pursue a Group 1 conquest at 1600m for the colt.

Maher achieved similar feats with Hitotsu, returning the Derby winner to snag the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington in 2021-22, and the team now eyes that target with Observer.

While Hitotsu won the Guineas fresh, Maher will start Observer’s autumn path via the Group 2 Autumn Stakes (1400m) this Saturday at Caulfield, en route to the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on February 28.

“He’s come back, had a couple of jump-outs and looks to be in good form,” Maher’s National Assistant Trainer Jack Turnbull said.

“Interestingly, his jump-outs have been quicker than the two he had last prep.

“We’re trialling against better horses being a Group 1 winner and the tracker has been providing us with some good data.

“We trialled him over a half-mile in his first one to get him chasing and in his second one he had Browny (Ethan Brown) on, and he said he was OK.

“It gives us confidence to run him over 1400 (metres) and that will give him three weeks into the Guineas.

“He’s not quick enough to win first-up at 1200 metres, 1400 metres is OK, and second-up at a mile should be ideal.”

Observer endured bad luck finishing third to Autumn Boy in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas in October, then rebounded with wins in the Moonee Valley Vase and Victoria Derby in successive outings.

Turnbull mentioned Observer’s heightened sense of duty in workouts now, leading to the choice of lugging bit over norton bit for the upcoming race.

“Off that Derby prep, he’s not quite as fierce and hopefully, he’s grown up a bit,” Turnbull said.

“We’re going to run him in just a lugging bit, rather than the norton bit, which would suggest he’s matured a bit and hopefully he continues on that pathway to being a racehorse.

“Our aim this preparation is to be a mile winning Group 1 colt to add that to his CV.

“If he could win the Australian Guineas, we could look to go to Sydney for the Rosehill Guineas, but we’re very much a two-race program for now, and after the Guineas we can reassess after discussions with Godolphin.”

For those interested in the Autumn Stakes action, the racing betting markets offer plenty of options on Observer’s performance.

The post Derby winner kicks off at Caulfield first appeared on Just Horse Racing.