Thea Frodin, of the United States, left, greets Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, after Rybakina won their match during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

NEW YORK — Thea Frodin once had to hit like Serena Williams in a movie. On Tuesday at the U.S. Open, she showed some pretty good power of her own in real life.

The 17-year-old from California lost to No. 2 Elena Rybakina 6-3, 6-2 while playing her first WTA Tour match in a Grand Slam tournament.

Frodin fired 11 aces, nearly doubling up one of the best servers in women’s tennis. She said her movie role in which she had to swing like Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, doesn’t mean she feels pressure to show extra pop off the racket.

“I feel I have always been an aggressive player. That’s always been kind of my game, just to be aggressive,” the 6-foot Frodin said. “Obviously my height gives me the chance to serve bigger.”

In the 2021 film “King Richard,” Frodin was the body double for actor Demi Singleton, who played the younger Williams sister. Frodin earned the opportunity to audition after winning singles, doubles and mixed doubles sectional titles at the 10-and-under level in California and then spent six months working on set.

Will Smith won an Oscar for his performance as Richard Williams, father to Serena and her sister, Venus. Frodin hasn’t met the sisters yet but said she noticed that Smith reposted one of her social media posts.

Thea Frodin, of the United States, serves the ball to Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Frodin played her way into the U.S. Open by winning the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships to earn a wild card. She quickly gained more attention than that type of player usually gets because of her “King Richard” experience, but thought she handled that well.

“I mean, I think it’s hard to get away from all of that. It’s kind of just about accepting it and not letting it get to you,” Frodin said. “I feel like I did a good job of that.”

With fans in the Grandstand chanting her name, Frodin fired consecutive aces after facing match point trailing 5-1, then hit another to erase a third match point Rybakina had earned and eventually held serve. Rybakina finally finished the match on her fourth try by hitting her sixth ace.

Rybakina didn’t know much about Frodin the player, but said during their scouting her team became aware of her Williams’ role.

“I think that she has great shots, and especially serve,” Rybakina said. “She has this powerful game, which is I think great and it’s just a matter of experience, be more stable, playing matches. But she has the game. She can be quite dangerous with these kind of shots.”

Rybakina is guaranteed to take the No. 1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka if she reaches the semifinals, or if the two-time defending champion doesn’t win the tournament.

Frodin said playing someone with Rybakina’s skills made it hard for her to show her normal aggressive style. Still in high school, she plans to return to junior tennis for now but hopes to have another chance at the top level.

“I think it was a fun experience to kind of see how the best players in the world, how they hit their balls and their shots,” Frodin said. “Hopefully the next time I meet her, if I do, I can be more experienced and see what I can do.”

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Senegalese international Iliman Ndiaye has signed a contract with Manchester City that runs through 2031.

Wladimir Klitschko retired in 2017 after having one of the most impressive reigns as a heavyweight world champion, but the Ukrainian superstar has now been called out for a clash with a fellow Hall of Famer.

No fighter in boxing history has spent longer as a heavyweight world champion than Klitschko, who reigned as a champion for a combined 12 years across his two reigns as champion, until Tyson Fury brought his era to a close in 2015.

Klitschko returned to challenge Anthony Joshua for the unified heavyweight world titles two years later, but ‘AJ’ got the better of the veteran in an instant classic which looked set to be Klitschko’s final pro bout.

This year, talk of a comeback has emerged, where ‘Dr. Steelhammer’ could potentially break George Foreman’s legendary record as the oldest heavyweight world champion (47), if able to dethrone one of the four newly-crowned titleholders; Daniel Dubois, Filip Hrgovic, Murat Gassiev and Agit Kabayel. 

Now, in an interview with ES News, fellow Hall of Famer James Toney shared his interest in a showdown with Klitschko, either in the boxing ring or in a bare-knuckle fight.

“I would be world champion [in bare-knuckle], when I fight, I fight to win. 

“Make it happen [me vs. Klitschko in bare-knuckle]. I would knock his a** out, like I would have done in the boxing ring.”

“I don’t care [bare knuckle or boxing], whatever he wants to do.”

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Toney – who has also not fought professionally since 2017 – continuously called for a shot at the Klitschko brothers during his time in the ring, once stating that they have ‘no talent and no heart’ after the pair avoided a fight with him.

Olympic long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall says she is “lucky and blessed to be alive” after being involved in a car crash.

The 27-year-old American was on her way to training last week when she was involved in a “very scary” head-on collision, leaving her with a “severe” concussion.

While not ruling herself out of this month’s inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, the reigning world champion says she has been unable to train since the accident.

“Luckily I walked away without any major injuries,” Davis-Woodhall wrote on social media.

“At this point I’m working with my team and doctors to get healthy, but I’m not sure if I will be ready to compete at Ultimate Championships next week. More updates to come.”

Davis-Woodhall said her injuries were not life-threatening but that both cars, which were going at about 20mph, were written off.

“It’s really unfortunate timing; I am at the peak of my training right now,” she said.

“I’m as fast as I’ve ever been. I’m as strong as I’ve ever been. So this decision is very difficult for me. I don’t know where I am right now.”

The championships in Hungary start on 11 September, where athletes will compete for a top prize of £111,000.

The competition brings together Olympic, world and Diamond League champions, as well as the year’s leading performers in a three-day end-of-season event.

Davis-Woodhall won long jump gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, before winning the Worlds in Tokyo a year later.

World number three Jessica Pegula raced into the third round of the US Open on Wednesday, dominating on serve in a 6-3, 6-1 victory over compatriot Sofia Kenin. Pegula needed just 56 minutes to get past Kenin, the former Australian Open champion now ranked 110th, dropping just seven points on serve. “I was just trying to stay focused on what I needed to do,” said Pegula, who is among a trio of players who could supplant Aryna Sabalenka atop the world rankings in New York.

Pegula, who reached the US Open final in 2024, next meets another former finalist, Leylah Fernandez.

The Canadian breezed past Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4, 6-1.

Defending champions Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka highlighted the day-four action.

World number one Sabalenka, gunning for a rare US Open three-peat, takes on 160th-ranked Russian qualifier Polina Iatcenko before second-ranked Alcaraz caps the night session against Portugal’s Jaime Faria.

Alcaraz won his seventh major title at the Australian Open in January but arrived in New York an unknown quantity after a wrist injury forced a four-month layoff that saw him miss Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

He dispelled doubts with a straight-set victory over Roman Safiullin and will look for further improvement against 72nd-ranked Faria.

Other seeded players chasing third-round berths on Wednesday included seventh-seeded former champion Daniil Medvedev, eighth-seeded American Ben Shelton and his 11th-seeded compatriot Frances Tiafoe.

Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur was hoping to finally get his campaign underway in a first-round match against Italian Andrea Guerrieri that was postponed from Tuesday by rain.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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David Vandyke is feeling positive about Oregon Coast’s prospects at Ipswich on Wednesday, especially considering her past performances against horses like Pembrey and Chilly Girl.

While the latter two are highly fancied for the Group 2 Furious Stakes at Randwick this Saturday, Oregon Coast will be contesting the Racing and Sports Fillies and Mares Plate (1200m). Nevertheless, capitalising on established form lines, a strategy Vandyke used when purchasing her, could yield positive results in this midweek race.

Under previous trainers Brett and Georgie Cavanough, Oregon Coast debuted in the Group 3 Widden Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill, finishing sixth behind the unbeaten Chilly Girl on January 31.

In her subsequent outing, the filly secured second place at Eagle Farm, finishing 5½-lengths behind Pembrey a fortnight later.

The three-year-old was later purchased by Vandyke online for $100,000.

“One of my clients races her mother (She’s On Time) and she alerted me that this filly was up for sale,” Vandyke recalled. “I watched her two runs and it was a slashing run against Pembrey who has certainly come out and proved the form. There was a bloodstock agent selling it who I know so I rang him and he said ‘she’s fine’ so we bid on her and we were very happy to get her.”

“She’s been in work for five months so I’ve taken her along slowly and didn’t want to run her in races I didn’t think she could win. She drew badly last week so I scratched her but she has a good gate tomorrow (barrier three).”

The ride on Oregon Coast has been assigned to Ben Thompson, the current Queensland Jockey Of The Year.

“With her form, she should be very hard to beat in a maiden at Ipswich,” Vandyke concluded. Look up the latest Australian betting sites for odds on this promising filly.