Serena Williams eligible to return to Tennis this Month
Serena Williams will be eligible to return to professional tennis in 13 days if she chooses.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has confirmed that Serena Williams will complete the required six month period in the anti-doping testing pool on February 22, clearing her to compete again under professional rules.
This simply means Williams has met the eligibility requirement for a return after time away from the Tour. No announcement has been made by Williams or the WTA regarding future plans.
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Williams last played competitively in 2022 and stepped away as a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion and one of the most successful players in tennis history.
If she decides to return, she will likely play in major US tournaments like Indian Wells and the Miami Open, where former champions are often granted wild cards.
Brazilian star Gabriela Fujimoto debuts on the global stage of ONE Championship with one clear goal in sight – gain the fifth highlight-reel finish of her career.
The 22-year-old opens her promotional account against Malaysian talent Jihin ‘Shadow Cat’ Radzuan in an atomweight tiff inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, Feb. 13.
Their three-round contest will be part of ONE Fight Night 40: Buntan vs. Hemetsberger II on Prime Video.
Fujimoto’s well-rounded arsenal makes her a dangerous fighter regardless of where the fight unfolds. Ahead of fight night, she’s confident that trait of hers will propel her to a victory over the Fairtex Training Center athlete.
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“I am a fighter who takes advantage of opportunities. I don’t prioritize a specific outcome, only capitalizing on what presents itself. My varied record reflects that,” she told ONE Championship.
“I believe this fight is wide open, but it will end before 15 minutes.”
A win for the young gun, who turns 23 on fight night, will instantly position her as a legitimate threat in the loaded women’s atomweight MMA division.
Filipina superstar Denice Zamboanga currently serves as the divisional queen, having been elevated to undisputed status after Stamp relinquished her spot atop the throne. Zamboanga captured the interim crown against Alyona Rassohyna in January 2025.
Jihin Radzuan expects an all-out war against Gabriela Fujimoto
Jihin returns to the ring in search of her first win in three outings. But ‘Shadow Cat’ knows getting her hand raised won’t be as straightforward as it seems.
The Malaysian star has done her homework on Gabriela Fujimoto and expects her to be a tough test inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
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“I can assure you, both of us are going to give our best. Of course, she wants to show her best performance since this is her debut, and I want to show my best to claim myself back in the winner’s column,” the 27-year-old told ONE Championship in a separate interview.
Jihin vs. Fujimoto is one of nine exciting battles set for ONE Fight Night 40, which will be available to active North American Amazon Prime Video subscribers, live in U.S. primetime, for free.
A top WWE star was attacked brutally backstage. This star was already hurt and could’ve worsened her injury.
Lola Vice and Kelani Jordan have been feuding with each other for the past several weeks. This feud has only gained more intensity in recent weeks. On the 13th January episode of NXT, Kelani Jordan faced off against Lola Vice in a singles match. Lola was able to put away Jordan, but this did little to settle their feud as Kelani made it clear she was not done with Lola. Last week on NXT, Lola competed against Izzi Dame and Thea Hail in a triple threat match for the Women’s North American Championship. However, Kelani Jordan jumped Vice from behind and smashed her wrist in a ladder. Despite this injury, Lola Vice was able to win the AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles a few days later.
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Tonight on WWE NXT, Lola Vice was getting checked backstage when Robert Stone walked in and congratulated her on winning the AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles. He then told her she could face Kelani Jordan next week if she is medically cleared. Lola said she is fighting her next week. Another official pulled Robert Stone away. Kelani took this opportunity to attack Lola again. She stomped her wrist again, which could’ve further injured her.
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WWE official Robert Stone has had a busy night so far
Tonight’s episode of WWE NXT kicked off with Joe Hendry. However, he was interrupted by Vanity Project who admitted they were the ones who attacked him a few weeks ago. Therefore, Hendry challenged Jackson Drake to a title match. Robert Stone then made the match official.
Later on in the night, Robert Stone had to deal with Keanu Carver who took out an entire locker room of NXT stars. If that wasn’t enough, Ethan Page confronted Stone and demanded a new challenger. Stone booked him to defend the North American Championship against Shiloh Hill.
Robert Stone is quickly finding out how stressful it can be to be GM.
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Under-fire Thomas Frank is convinced he will still be Tottenham manager for next week’s visit of Arsenal despite the club’s relegation fears increasing after a 2-1 home loss to Newcastle.
Spurs were set to be only three points above the bottom three until Manchester United produced a last-gasp equaliser at 18th-placed West Ham.
However, Jacob Ramsey’s 68th-minute winner for Newcastle consigned Frank’s injury-hit team to a fifth defeat in nine matches and they have won only two of their last 17 Premier League fixtures.
Fans once again turned on Frank during this latest home loss with chants for old manager Mauricio Pochettino and more calls for the current Tottenham head coach to be “sacked in the morning” in another toxic atmosphere in N17.
Even though Frank’s tenure slipped into crisis mode once more on Tuesday night, he claimed to still hold the support of the club’s ownership and revealed he had spoken with them on Monday.
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“Yeah, I’m convinced I will be,” Frank responded when asked if he expected to be in charge when Arsenal make the trip to Tottenham on February 22.
“I understand the question and I understand it’s easy to point on me but I also think it’s never only the head coach or the ownership or the directors or the players or the staff.
“It’s everyone. If you do something right, you build something that can last. Of course we are not in a top position now.
“Everyone knows, directors, ownership, myself, what position we are in, what we need to improve and what we need to do better. That is what we are working very hard on.”
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Pressed on if he had any doubts about being the right man for Tottenham after they slipped to only five points above the relegation zone, Frank appeared to aim thinly-veiled digs at some of his predecessors.
Frank added: “(I’m) 1,000 per cent sure. I am also 1,000 per cent sure that I never expected us to be in a situation like this with 11 or 12 injuries on the back end of this and what we’ve been facing.
“I know when you need to build something and need to get through things, you need to show unbelievable strong resilience.
“I think it is fair to say there are a few before me up here, not only for Tottenham but in many other clubs, that have lost their head many times and I think you need to have a calm head.
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“Carry on, keep fighting and keep doing the right thing, make sure we stick together because we can only do this if we stick together. That is the board, that is the leaders, that is the players, that is the staff, that is me and that is the fans. We’ve got to get through this.”
It was a painful evening for Tottenham and Frank, but a night to savour for Howe after a difficult run of form.
Malick Thiaw’s stoppage-time goal ensured Newcastle held a deserved half-time lead and even though Archie Gray levelled for Spurs in the 64th minute, Ramsey swept home four minutes later to restore the Magpies’ advantage and earn only a third away league win this season.
Howe had sympathy for opposite number Frank and said: “Momentum is very tough to get and it’s easy to lose. I think in my experience, the times I have really struggled to get results has been down to injuries and that is probably the main reason.
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“That is exactly why Tottenham are where they are currently. I have sympathy for Thomas and his staff because if you look at the list of players, they probably have a very strong Premier League team that they are missing.
“So, I think you need your players to really fight for you as I feel my players did for me.”
The late goals are not the only habit that Hearts are forming. Winning the hard way, getting maximum points from a bare minimum performance, is something that title-winning teams do too.
“If you want to challenge for titles and win leagues, you have to win ugly, and Hearts did that tonight,” former Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew told Premier Sports.
He was not the only pundit to comment on Hearts’ below-par performance. While McInnes named an attacking side, they looked timid in the build up, struggling to stay calm in the typical chaos of an Edinburgh derby.
“They’ll not really care about the performance, they’ve got 12 games to create history,” former Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson, who also had a hard job picking a man of the match, told BBC Sportsound.
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“Harry Milne, for me, he tried everything he possible could to affect the game, to drive Hearts forward. Other than him, pretty much all of them were stinking.”
Well, quite. Scott Allan, the former Hibs and Celtic midfielder, was a bit more eloquent in his assessment.
“Tonight was such a big game and to not play well at all… I couldn’t see Hearts scoring a goal, I thought there was only going to be one winner and it was Hibs,” he reflected.
“To win like that, clean sheet as well, it says so much about what you’re building in there.
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“Derek McInnes will not be worried about that performance. What a position that puts Hearts into, going into that game on Sunday.”
Ah yes, the game on Sunday. Rangers at Ibrox. Hearts won there back in September, their first victory away to the blue half of Glasgow since 2014.
No-one could have imagined then that, the next time Hearts came to town, the visitors would still have a lead over their hosts in the standings.
“If they get three points at Ibrox, I think they’ll win the league,” Stevenson predicted. A big call for a big game.
Nigeria may have a Junior Grand Slam Player this Year
A Nigerian teenager could play at a tennis Grand Slam this year. His name is Seun Ogunsakin.
Ogunsakin is currently ranked 74 in the world junior rankings, which puts him close to automatic entry into major junior tournaments. He narrowly missed out on playing at the Australian Open Juniors earlier this year, but his ranking now places him in line for the French Open Juniors and Wimbledon Juniors main draws.
Playing at a junior Grand Slam is a big step for any young player. It gives players exposure to top level competition and is often the pathway to professional tennis.
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Ogunsakin has been competing steadily on the ITF junior circuit, picking up points that have helped push his ranking upward.
If he maintains his position, he is expected to gain direct entry into at least one Grand Slam junior event later this year.
Should that happen, Ogunsakin would become one of the few Nigerian players in recent years to feature on tennis’ biggest junior stage.
The individual behind Washington Wizards’ mascot, G-Wiz, has reportedly retained Waukeen McCoy as his legal counsel against LA Lakers big man Jaxson Hayes. McCoy, a San Francisco-based attorney, previously represented Hayes’ former girlfriend in a domestic violence lawsuit.
During pregame introductions before the Lakers’ game against the Wizards on Jan. 30, Hayes shoved G-Wiz. As a result, the NBA suspended Hayes for one game.
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According to TMZ on Tuesday, McCoy confirmed he will represent the person behind the mascot, who is expected to press charges.
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“We will give them the opportunity to resolve the matter before taking legal action,” McCoy told TMZ. “But legal action is anticipated.”
McCoy is familiar with the Lakers big man, as he helped obtain a settlement for Hayes’ former girlfriend, Sofia Jamora, in a lawsuit against him in June.
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Hayes was arrested in 2021 after authorities received a domestic violence call from his then-girlfriend, Jamora. Hayes also reportedly got into a physical altercation with the police who responded. He received three years of probation, community service and domestic violence classes.
In 2024, after TMZ released a video of the 2021 incident, the NBA said that it would reopen its investigation into Hayes. However, the league has not handed down any punishment for that incident.
What did Jaxson Hayes say about shoving the Wizards’ mascot?
LA Lakers big man Jaxson Hayes served his one-game suspension against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. He returned to the team in Saturday’s 105-99 win over the Golden State Warriors.
In his postgame media availability, Hayes was asked about the shoving incident with the Washington Wizards’ mascot.
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“Obviously apologized to the team, to the mascot,” Hayes said on Saturday. “I mean, we’re all trying to get ourselves in the mental space and the physical space to get ready to go out and play a game, and when somehow I’m stretching, and somebody steps on my foot, I might have lost it.
“Should have handled it a different way, and we live, and we learn, and so just going to keep doing that again.”
After being shoved by Jaxson Hayes, the mascot fell toward several Wizards dancers who were entering the court. The mascot’s lawyer, Waukeen McCoy, told TMZ on Tuesday that the individual behind the mascot was injured.
Division leaders clash when the Pacific-leading Los Angeles Lakers battle the Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Spurs in a key NBA Western Conference matchup on Tuesday. San Antonio is coming off a 138-125 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, while Los Angeles dropped a 119-110 decision to Oklahoma City on Monday. The Spurs (36-16), who have won four in a row, are 16-10 on the road this season. The Lakers (32-20), who had a three-game winning streak stopped, are 14-9 on their home court. Luka Doncic (hamstring), LeBron James (foot) and Austin Reaves (calf) are all out for Los Angeles. Deandre Ayton (knee) is questionable.
Tipoff from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles is set for 10:30 p.m. ET. San Antonio is a 13.5-point favorite in the latest Spurs vs. Lakers odds from DraftKings Sportsbook, while the over/under for total points scored is 224.5. Before making any Lakers vs. Spurs picks, check out the NBA predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past eight-plus seasons. The model enters Week 16 of the 2025-26 NBA season on a sizzling 38-16 roll on top-rated NBA spread picks dating back to last season. Anyone following its NBA betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
After 10,000 simulations of Spurs vs. Lakers, SportsLine’s model is going Over on the total (224.5). The Under hit in its last head-to-head meeting. The Under has also hit in seven of the last 10 San Antonio games, and in six of the last 10 Los Angeles games.
The SportsLine model is projecting San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama to score 21.9 points on average and be one of six Spurs players to score 10.8 or more points as the model projects that the teams will combine to score 232 points.
The Mountain West added North Dakota State as a football-only member beginning in 2026, getting paid $12 million to do so.
Could they seek more realignment moves?
On today’s episode of Locked On College Football, I discuss how winning impacts realignment moves for schools like Sacramento State.
Will the Hornets find a home in an FBS Conference?
Also, I owe an apology to Kennesaw State.
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Michigan’s Big 10 schedule is among the most difficult of any league slate in the country for 2026.
Can Kyle Whittingham overcome that to put the Wolverines in the Playoff?
03:21 Mountain West Expansion Speculation 07:21 Group of Six Playoff Potential 12:33 Bison’s FCS-to-FBS Transition 17:53 Winning’s Role in Conference Growth 28:26 College Football Playoff Debate
Villanova and Notre Dame are in the final stages of solidifying a monumental scheduling sacrament to begin the 2026-27 college basketball season.
The Wildcats and Fighting Irish’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have been given special clearance by the NCAA to open next season in Rome for a doubleheader on Sunday, Nov. 1, sources told CBS Sports. College basketball’s official start to the season is Monday, Nov. 2, but the NCAA quietly approved a waiver in January to allow the teams a one-day head start, given the historic precedent of the games.
The motivation for the overseas twinbill happens to be one of the most famous people on the planet: Pope Leo XIV.
The two universities are prominent private Catholic schools with connections to the Pope. For Villanova, an obvious one: Robert Francis Prevost is a 1977 alumnus. The Notre Dame piece is tied to the school’s massive global brand. Notre Dame is regarded as the most prominent Catholic institution of higher learning in the world. It also has an outpost in Rome. An avowed sports fan, the Pope also grew up in Chicago, which has a significant Notre Dame fan presence given its proximity to nearby South Bend, Indiana. (Soon after Prevost was named the most powerful man in the Catholic Church, online detectives went back and found he appeared on television during the White Sox’s 2005 World Series run.)
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Notre Dame’s women’s program is a powerhouse with two national titles and nine Final Fours. Since 2020, Niele Ivey has been the coach. Villanova owns three national titles in men’s basketball and has made the Final Four seven times, most recently in 2022 under Jay Wright. It’s now coached by Kevin Willard.
Villanova and Notre Dame worked in concert on arranging the game for months, sources said, with talks seriously materializing in the early fall. Paperwork has not been finalized, but both schools are moving forward with the expectation that one of college basketball’s most ambitious scheduling ideas in recent memory will transpire on the first day of November.
Fox is on board to broadcast both games, per sources, with the doubleheader scheduled to play out in the afternoon in Rome. That means breakfast-time basketball in the United States. While final details are still being worked through, the general plan is to have Villanova-Notre Dame lead into NFL coverage on Fox in the United States on that Sunday. The women’s game is planned to air afterward on Fox Sports 1.
Starting a season in a foreign country isn’t unprecedented: Women’s college basketball opened this past season in Paris with Duke playing Baylor. On the men’s side, Villanova and Notre Dame is believed to be the first season-opener on foreign soil and the first regular season Division I basketball competition in Italy.
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The teams will play the doubleheader at the Palazzetto dello Sport, known more colloquially as the PalaTiziano. The arena seats 3,500 people for basketball games and has existed since the late 1950s. It was built in the lead-up to Rome’s hosting of the 1960 Olympics. The PalaTiziano underwent significant renovations from 2018-2023 and is approximately 30 minutes from the Pope’s residence in Vatican City.
The Pope’s involvement in the event — if any — is unclear and very much to be determined, according to sources, though officials from both schools have been in contact with the Pope and people around the Holy See. Notre Dame’s president and others had a private meeting with the Supreme Pontiff in November, while Villanova had officials fly to the Vatican last May to see Pope Leo’s inaugural mass. Villanova’s president, Rev. Peter M. Donohue, was not in the same class as Prevost in the 1970s, but the two did overlap as undergrads at VU.
The schools intend to make the trip not just about basketball, but a huge educational experience as well. Rome, which surrounds Vatican City, is a destination for millions of devout Catholics and tourists every year.
And come November, should all go to plan, it will play host to a global American sporting event.
Michigan’s Big 10 schedule is among the most difficult of any league slate in the country for 2026. 
