Top seed Aryna Sabalenka had to come back from a set down to reach the quarter-finals at the Wuhan Open, but world number three Jessica Pegula suffered a surprise defeat.

Belarusian Sabalenka, 26, lost a one-sided first set to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva but recovered to win 1-6 6-4 6-0, winning each of the final nine games.

However, American second seed Pegula fell to a straight-set loss to China’s Wang Xinyu.

The 51st-ranked Wang is through to her first WTA 1000 quarter-final, holding her nerve to take her second match point after being broken when serving for a place in the last eight at 5-4.

Meanwhile, Italian third seed Jasmine Paolini and American fourth seed Coco Gauff both safely progressed.

Paolini won 6-3 6-2 against Erika Andreeva – who defeated sister Mirra on Wednesday – while Gauff, winner of last week’s China Open, also sealed a straight-set win, beating Marta Kostyuk 6-4 6-1.

Wimbledon and French Open runner-up Paolini will meet Chinese fifth seed Zheng Qinwen, after she beat battled back to win 5-7 6-3 6-0 against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.

Jake Paul has lived in the public since he was a teenager but with all that fame also came a lot of hate and it led him to a very dark period in his life.

Following stints acting on the Disney channel and building an online brand through social media, Paul actually found himself as public enemy No. 2 after his brother Logan Paul invited a storm of controversy when he posted a video to his YouTube channel of a suicide victim while visiting Japan’s “suicide forest” back in 2018.

The decision to film and post the video was Logan’s choice but Jake was unable to avoid the fallout.

“I got lumped into all my brother’s hate,” Paul told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was like, ‘F*ck the Pauls. F*ck both of those people.’ It was bad. The suicide forest thing basically ruined my career and income. I lost probably $30 million in deals.

“There was one $15 million deal for retail products that fell apart. They were able to get out of it because of a morality clause.”

The downward spiral from that incident left Paul in a very poor mental head space and he began partying in Los Angeles as a way to cope with his struggles.

“Basically, life hit me in the face, and it was like, ‘Who are you? What have you been doing the past couple of years?’” Paul recounted. “It led to drinking and drugs and Los Angeles and going to parties and just that whole entire world. I got sucked up into it really quickly.

“And so there I am: No money, kind of hating myself, the whole world hates me. I’m drinking. I’m depressed and not having a good relationship with either of my parents or Logan. And I was just like, ‘F*ck this shit.’ I just felt wrong in life and by all the cards I had been dealt. It was f*cked up. I just tried to do good my whole life and here I am with what felt like nothing.”

After initially finding notoriety from viral videos posted online, Paul decided take that fame and use it for an elaborate stunt that would actually conclude in his own death.

“I had a plan,” Paul revealed. “I mean, it’s f*cking crazy. I was going to put a bunch of gas cans in my Lamborghini and get really drunk and drive off the top of this cliff in Calabasas. It’s called Stunt Road.”

In the end, Paul obviously didn’t follow through with those plans but it was from that terrifying time in his life that he actually decided to become a professional fighter.

“I was not going to let them win,” Paul said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to fight. This is what every social media hater wants is to wake up and see Jake Paul killed himself.’”

It was boxing that finally gave Paul the structure and discipline he needed to course correct from all the bad decisions he was making.

He credits the sport for saving his life.

“It’s purpose, routine, health, community — all the things I needed,” Paul said. “Since 2020, it’s been boxing’s No. 1 and everything else comes after that. I never really liked YouTube. I was just good at it.”

Paul has parlayed his passion for boxing into a very successful career where he’s put together a 10-1 professional record with a massive fight booked against heavyweight legend Mike Tyson on Nov. 15 with an event that airs live on Netflix.

The European Leagues and world players’ union Fifpro will next week submit their legal complaint about Fifa’s expansion of the Club World Cup to the European Commission in Brussels.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin used his speech to also criticise high profile players for using their platform to make an argument that he says only applies to a small minority of professional players globally.

“We must recognise the match calendar has reached full capacity,” said Ceferin. “Limits have been reached.

“At the same time the impact is very different among clubs and players. Some are over-burdened. The others have spare capacity.

“In fairness to those who are stretched, I stand by what I said two months ago, there is no room for additional matches. But I have to add this, who is complaining? The ones who have the highest salaries and the ones [clubs] with 25 top players. The ones with lower salaries and hardly 11 players are not complaining. They love to play.”

Paris St-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi combines his club role with being chairman of the ECA.

PSG will play at the Club World Cup and Al-Khelaifi said he had taken calls from some clubs disappointed at the two per country limit put on the event by Fifa.

“The players and clubs who are complaining – don’t play,” he said. “I receive complaints about the fact only two clubs are participating from each country. Some want more than two. On the other side they are complaining. You cannot win.

“The calendar has always been an issue. It needs to be solved with all the stakeholders sitting together in an open and transparent way, to see what the best thing is for everybody, not just one set.

“Clubs are financing the ecosystem and salaries are going higher and higher. If we have the same competitions and the same revenues, that is an issue.”

WAYNE ROONEY revealed Mikel Arteta is COPYING his set pieces.

Arsenal have been hailed for their potent approach to dead-ball situations.

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In fact, no team can match the Gunners’ tally of 23 goals from set pieces and 16 from corners in the Premier League since the beginning of last season.

But Rooney hinted Arteta could be nicking his tactics – after exposing Arsenal for scoring an identical goal to his Derby side nearly four years ago.

Speaking on the Stick To Football podcast about the importance of set pieces, Plymouth boss Rooney said: “Set pieces are so important, the amount of matches won or lost by them is huge.

“One of the coaches does it then I come in with some weird ideas.

“The Arsenal one they scored with, I did that four years ago against Middlesbrough and we scored from it.”

Rooney was likely referencing Gabriel Magalhaes’ header against Manchester City.

At the Etihad last month, a cluster of Arsenal players started beyond the back post and flooded the six-yard box, allowing the defender to storm in from the penalty spot and nod into the back of the net.

But the positioning of the players struck a familiar chord for Rooney.

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Because when managing Derby, the Rams found the net in very similar fashion at home to Middlesbrough in a 2-1 win in February 2021.

Again, at an inswinging corner from the right, the attacking side positioned a host of players way out at the back edge of the area.

And as Martyn Waghorn gave the signal, the Derby men split and four of the five ran at different angles towards the goal, causing chaos for the Boro backline.

Defender Lee Buchanan made the first contact at the back post.

Although unlike Gabriel, he teed the ball up across the goal as team-mate Lee Gregory headed in.

Arsenal have employed Nicolas Jover as their set-piece coach and are reaping the rewards of a dedicated member of staff for a crucial part of football – both offensively and defensively.

It did not work out so well at Wolves, though, who sacked their first set-piece coach Jack Wilson this week following the 5-3 defeat at Brentford.

Since his summer arrival from Manchester City, winless Wolves have conceded from dead-ball situations in five of their seven Premier League matches and scored from one as they sit rooted to the bottom of the table.

Rooney also referenced another of his custom set pieces, where he got a player to stand on the four corners of the penalty area and three in the D and all charged towards the mixer.

And he suggested it nearly paid off with a goal last weekend when Plymouth beat Blackburn in dramatic fashion.

But then Morgan Whittacker grabbed a 97th-minute winner as the Pilgrims picked up their third victory of the season to sit 14th in the Championship table.

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Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui has had a minor procedure after experiencing palpitations.

The 26-year-old Morocco international is expected to make a full recovery from the precautionary procedure and should be available for selection within the next few weeks.

United signed full-back Mazraoui from Bayern Munich in August for an initial fee of £12.8m.

Mazraoui had to take time away from football to deal with inflammation of heart tissue in January 2023 after suffering from Covid-19.

On that occasion, Mazraoui resumed ball work in training one month later but did not return to competitive action until March.

Mazraoui has started all seven of Manchester United’s Premier League games this season, making 10 appearances across all competitions.

Record: 12-2
Age: 28
Height: 5’8″
Weight: Flyweight
Birthplace: Texas
Next fight: Oct. 6 def. Peter Caballero (14-7) via TKO (punches) – Round 1 at Fury FC 97 in Houston (UFC Fight Pass)

The skinny: Paris Moran is 28 but has two decades’ worth of combat sports experience. At 6, his father put him taekwondo. He hated it – as he did most sports, but along came jiu-jitsu in 2007 and eventually things changed. His parents divorced, and Paris found jiu-jitsu classes as the perfect father-son bonding opportunity – an added bonus. Moran joined high school wrestling. Then came striking. He became a seven-time national champion in sanshou karate (wushu). Next scene, Moran was competing in Russia, China, Costa Rica, Taiwan – you name it.

Moran has been on the cusp of the UFC for a minute. He was seemingly one win away when he took on the other best flyweight in Texas: Joshua Van. He lost, but learned from the defeat. Since then, he’s been dead-set on racking up wins against legit opponents and getting finishes. This month, he got the emphatic lopsided finish he was seeking when he moved up a weight class to put away gritty veteran Peter Caballero in 31 seconds.

In his own words: “I want to let Mick know that 125 or 135, it doesn’t matter. I just need an opportunity. I need a chance to prove myself, so I’ll fight at 135. I’m not a small 135er. I train with 135ers. I’m just a huge 125er and that weight cut sucks, but I make it happen. So if an opportunity at 135 presents itself, I’ll take it and then go back to 125. That’s going to be the home.”

“… The main thing with the UFC and me, from what I’ve been told, is the finish rate. Mick pulled up my record and said, ‘Hey, he’s only finished..’ I don’t know how much it was. Like, four or five of my 11 wins. He’s like, ‘I need him to have more.’ So the goal was to get two more finishes and stay ready. My manager Lou (DiBono) told me, ‘You know, Paris, it’s just the lay of the land. It’s so unpredictable. People fill in on one day’s notice. But as of right now, it looks like they want you to have two more finishes. So let’s plan on two more finishes after Freddy.’”

“Just knowing that my time is coming and whenever it does come, it will just be that much sweeter. I just keep reminding myself of that. It’s nothing personal. It’s just about my fight and my fighting style, so I’ve just got to keep doing what I can to not make them say no, if that makes sense.”