The final days of any election campaign often throw up surprises. Add Real Madrid into the mix, a club who regularly manage to make the bizarre seem normal, and you can almost guarantee drama.

Voting for the next Real president will take place on Sunday, with Florentino Perez expected to be re-elected. The 79-year-old’s second stint in office at the Bernabeu looks set to be extended this weekend, but that hasn’t stopped rival Enrique Riquelme from taking one last punt at glory.

Riquelme enraged Manchester City when he took to Spanish television programme El Hormiguero earlier this week to claim he would bring Erling Haaland and Rodri to the Bernabeu if elected. City released a statement to say there was “no chance” of the former moving to Madrid, threatening legal action after Riquelme held up a Real shirt with Haaland’s name and the No.9 printed on the back.

The stunt is unlikely to sway voters enough to prevent Perez from securing re-election, and so attention will soon turn to the Real president’s plans, should he indeed secure the win. There will be more than a few interested spectators in the corridors of Old Trafford.

Aurélien Tchouaméni is on Manchester United’s radar but Perez has already confirmed he has no intention of letting the Frenchman leave.

Perez has long been an admirer of Rodri, and with the Spaniard refusing to shut down speculation over his future when asked earlier this week, it’s unclear what the future holds for the City midfielder. City are already understood to be in pole position to secure Elliot Anderson’s signature this summer, but if Rodri were to leave then surely their interest in the Nottingham Forest man would ramp up.

Sandro Tonali is another player being watched by both United and City. Again, if Perez were to want to make Rodri one of his marquee summer signings at Real Madrid, City’s interest in Tonali would only grow and give United another obstacle to overcome if they did pursue a move for the Newcastle midfielder.

And then there is the €150million (£130m) Perez has pledged to spend on a player he refused to name.

For that sort of money it will almost certainly be an attacking player and while United’s midfield overhaul is their priority this summer, it often takes a big-money move for the transfer market to really click into gear. Whichever club has their pockets lined with Real’s millions, they will want to offset the outgoing with a marquee signing of their own, and so the domino effect begins.

The transfer window is not even open yet, but with the World Cup complicating matters it may be that United fans have to wait until the latter stages of the window to discover who their Casemiro replacement will be. An agreement has been reached with Atalanta to bring Ederson to Old Trafford, but he’s not expected to be the man brought in to replace his fellow countryman.

It’s impossible to tell how the window will pan out for United but, as is the case in most transfer windows, the business done by Real will undoubtedly have a knock-on effect on a lot of clubs across Europe.

Sunday’s presidential election will see us move a step closer to knowing Real’s plans for the summer.

Eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva ended the run of 114th-ranked Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the Roland Garros final on Saturday.

Andreeva became the youngest player to win the women’s singles title since Monica Seles, who was 18 when she landed her third straight French Open in 1992.

Read moreFrom Siberia to French Open final, Andreeva living ‘dream’

Chwalinska was attempting to become the first qualifier to capture the Roland Garros title.

When Andreeva executed a backhand cross-court winner on her first match point, she dropped on her knees to the clay to celebrate.

Alexander Zverev plays Flavio Cobolli in the men’s final on Sunday to conclude the wildest Grand Slam in recent memory.

Read moreZverev eases past Mensik in French Open semifinals, in striking distance of elusive Grand Slam title

Andreeva has been considered a Grand Slam contender since she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old at the 2023 Madrid Open, when she became the third-youngest player to win a main-draw match at a WTA 1000 tournament and made the quarterfinals.

Lately, Andreeva has had to contend with playing under neutral status and without her country’s flag due to the war with Ukraine. 

When she beat Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals, her opponent refused to shake her hand, as has been the custom for Ukrainian players facing Russians ever since the war started in 2022.

Read moreAndreeva races past error-prone Kostyuk to reach French Open final

Andreeva has now gone a step further than her coach, Conchita Martinez, who lost the 2000 French Open final to Mary Pierce.

Pierce was due to present the winner’s trophy to Andreeva.

The final was played under mostly sunny skies but wind was a factor in the first Grand Slam final for both player.

Chwalinska double-faulted on the opening point of the match but she was the first player to hold serve in the fifth game.

Eventually, though, Andreeva found a way to hit through the wind and an answer to Chwalinska’s array of spins and drop shots.

There was a strong Polish presence in the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd.

When Chwalinska was introduced, fans held aloft red-and-white Polish flags and chanted her name: “Ma-ja, Ma-ja.”

Read morePolish qualifier Maja Chwalinska carries fairytale run into French Open final

Andreeva had little support from the crowd, although there was a shout of “Davai Mirra!” – “Go Mirra” – in Russian late in the match.

In men’s doubles, top-seeded Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos retained their title with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

The 2026 French Open men’s final features a surprising matchup, as No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev faces No. 10 seed Flavio Cobolli. Jannik Sinner was upset early in the tournament, while Carlos Alcaraz was forced to withdraw due to a wrist injury. Zverev, who is 0-3 in Grand Slam finals, is arguably the best player to have never won a Slam. Cobolli is trying to become the first Italian man to win the French Open since Adriano Panatta in 1976. 

Zverev holds a 3-1 advantage in the head-to-head matchup, but they have split their two meetings this season. The latest French Open odds have Zverev priced as a -435 favorite, while Cobolli is +320. Before making any 2026 French Open picks, you need to see who proven SportsLine tennis handicapper Jose Onorato is backing.

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Onorato grew up playing competitive tennis in Caracas, Venezuela. After coming to the U.S., he trained with famed coach Nick Bollettieri at IMG Academy in Florida and faced players like Robert Farah, now one of the world’s top-ranked doubles players.

Onorato has gone 168-106-8 (+107.12 units) on his best bets since 2022. He correctly called Jannik Sinner in the 2025 Australian Open (+160), Carlos Alcaraz (+130) in the 2025 French Open and Sinner again at 2025 Wimbledon (+180). He also called Coco Gauff (+700) in the 2025 French Open and Iga Swiatek (+1200) at 2025 Wimbledon. Anybody following his tennis betting picks at sportsbooks and on betting sites could have seen strong returns. 

Now, Onorato has scrutinized the latest French Open 2026 odds and released his coveted best bets to win the men’s final. He’s sharing all of his picks and analysis at SportsLine. 

2026 French Open men’s final preview

Zverev has been seeking a Grand Slam title for years, but this is easily his best opportunity since failing to serve out the 2020 US Open final against Dominic Thiem. The German won the Olympic gold in Tokyo and has 58 career wins over top-10 players. He holds a 3-1 edge over Cobolli, splitting their two meetings this year.  

Cobolli is the second consecutive Italian to make the French Open final, as Sinner lost in five sets last year. He holds a 3-2 record in tour-level finals, but none of those wins came against top-10 players. This is a unique opportunity for both players, with Zverev priced as a -435 favorite. See Onorato’s picks here.

How to make 2026 French Open men’s final picks 

Onorato has a full preview with multiple best bets, including a prop that returns plus-money. You can only see his French Open 2026 picks and analysis at SportsLine.

Who wins the French Open men’s final, and which bets should you target? Visit SportsLine now to see Onorato’s bets for the French Open 2026, all from the renowned tennis expert with several high-profile future wins, and find out.

Three months after leading India to the T20 World Cup title, Suryakumar Yadav has not only lost the captaincy but also his place in India’s T20I setup, with the selectors deciding that the 35-year-old no longer fits into the team’s plans for the next cycle.Chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed that the decision was driven by a combination of form and the need to look ahead to the next World Cup. “With regards to Surya, obviously it’s a tough one having just won the World Cup. But as it happens after most World Cups, we try and reassess what your best way forward is,” Agarkar said after announcing India’s T20I squads for the Ireland and England series. “It was partly his own form but also looking at the next two-year cycle, or a little bit more than two years now till the next World Cup, we thought this was the best way forward,” he added, admitting that replacing a captain who had just delivered a World Cup was “not the easiest sort of discussion to have.”For a player who, at his peak, looked untouchable and redefined T20 batting, the fall has been swift. But was the decision purely about age and succession planning? Or had Suryakumar’s numbers already stopped justifying his status as India’s automatic No. 4?

A deep dive into his performances reveals that while the decline is not as straightforward as it may appear, the selectors’ decision was rooted in a trend that had been building for nearly two years. At first glance, it feels counterintuitive. India has just won the World Cup. Suryakumar remains one of the most accomplished T20 batters of his generation. His captaincy record is excellent. Yet when selectors sit down to build towards the 2028 T20 World Cup and the Los Angeles Olympics, sentiment rarely enters the equation. They look at age. They look at fitness. They look at the trajectory.And increasingly, those indicators pointed away from Suryakumar Yadav.The Peak That Made Him UntouchableBefore discussing why India is moving on, it is worth remembering just how extraordinary Suryakumar’s peak was.Between 2022 and early 2023, there was arguably no more destructive batter in T20 cricket.In 2022 alone, he scored 1,158 T20I runs at an average of 48.2 and a strike rate of 187. He followed it with 733 runs in 2023 at an average of 48.9. Across those two seasons, he averaged 48.5 while striking at 173.6.This was the version of SKY that became India’s most important T20 batter. This was the version that became the captain. The problem for India is that this version of SKY has not existed consistently since 2023.

The Decline Is Not ImaginedOne poor series can be ignored, and so can a poor tournament. But it was tough to overlook a worrying trend. The numbers show a decline beginning midway through 2024, then deepening throughout 2025. The comparison between peak SKY and current SKY is stark.The decline is visible everywhere. His average has almost halved, his strike rate has fallen sharply, and so has his six-hitting frequency. Most importantly, he was no longer converting starts into match-shaping innings.The collapse reached its lowest point in 2025. Across 20 T20I innings, Suryakumar managed only 221 runs at an average of 13.8 and failed to register a single fifty. For a batter occupying India’s premium middle-order position, those are impossible numbers to ignore.The Captaincy Can No Longer Protect HimOrdinarily, winning solves everything. And India certainly won under Suryakumar: The Asia Cup in 2025 and the T20 World Cup in 2026.A win percentage approaching 77%. But international cricket does not work on leadership alone.

Captains must justify their place as players first. As captain, SKY scored 1232 runs in 52 matches, and since taking full charge in July 2024, he has managed 932 runs in 45 matches while enduring repeated lean spells with the bat.India’s captain was winning, but India’s captain was not performing like India’s best batter.In fact, even though his numbers for India in the middle-order show that he has the most runs by volume by virtue of playing more matches, his impact per innings for the winning case was falling behind. Contrastingly, he was right at the centre of India’s wins during his peak.

Batting Averages of middle-order batters in India’s wins

And for the position that Suryakumar Yadav made his own – the No.4, Successors have already arrived. With Shreyas Iyer coming into the setup as captain, he will be India’s new No.4, but even before that, SKY was losing to his teammates already. Tilak Varma’s numbers, batting at No.4, since January 2024 are impossible to ignore. He averages 50.5 in T20Is compared to Suryakumar’s 26.6. In victories, the gap widens even further. Tilak averages nearly twice as much.

Shivam Dube has also outperformed him post-2024. So the selectors are not moving on from a player who remains clearly India’s best option. They are moving on from a player whose competitors have begun outperforming him.The Contradiction

Suryakumar Yadav’s IPL numbers though give a glimmer of hope. It not a case of SKY losing his touch completely. His 2025 IPL season was arguably the best of his career: 717 runs at an average of 65.2 and since 2024, only Shreyas Iyer has scored more IPL runs among India’s middle-order batters.In 2025, he produced his worst T20I season and his best IPL season simultaneously. Then in 2026 he delivered a strong T20 World Cup campaign while enduring his worst IPL season in nearly a decade.Why Shreyas Iyer Makes SenseThe captaincy switch ultimately says more about India’s future than it does about Suryakumar’s past. Shreyas Iyer is younger. He has built a strong leadership resume. He has demonstrated success across multiple franchises. Most importantly, he can realistically lead India through the entirety of the next cycle. Right now, Suryakumar no longer offers that certainty.

The Wrist Nobody Wants To Talk AboutThen there is the fitness issue. Throughout the T20 World Cup campaign, Suryakumar repeatedly required treatment on his right wrist. The taping became routine. The padding became routine. The medical attention became routine. India’s support staff publicly downplayed concerns, but the images told their own story.At 35, injuries carry different significance than they do at 25. The wrist issue alone may not justify moving on. Combined with declining output, however, it becomes another variable selectors must factor into long-term planning.Peak SKY remains one of the greatest T20 batters the format has seen and the IPL numbers suggest that the skill has not disappeared. But international cricket is ultimately about what comes next.The selectors see a 35-year-old carrying a recurring wrist issue. They see an average of 26.6 since January 2024. They see younger batters outperforming him in the same role. They see a captain who may not even be part of the next World Cup cycle.And they see an opportunity to reset now rather than later.

It’s a two of a kind for Golden Tempo.

The winner of last month’s Kentucky Derby, who sat out the Preakness Stakes, forfeiting a shot at the Triple Crown, took home the victory at the 158th Belmont Stakes in New York on Saturday.

Renegade, similar to the Derby, closed as the 8-5 favorite, followed by Chief Wallabee and Emerging Market at 5-1 and Golden Tempo at 6-1.

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The racing post is pulled down the front stretch for a race at Saratoga Race Course.  (Gregory Fisher/Imagn Images)

Just like the Derby, Golden Tempo was well at the back of the pack but began to make his move at the final turn. At one point, Golden Tempo was neck-and-neck with Commandment, but Golden Tempo was able to get away from the pack in the final stretch.

A $1 exacta paid out $55.67, while a 50-cent trifecta won $51.32, and a 10-cent superfecta brought in $23.79. Somebody lucked out on a pick-six — picking six consecutive winners in a row at the track. A $1 pick-six paid out $9,640.39 once Golden Tempo crossed the finish line.

This was the second consecutive year in which the Derby winner skipped out on the Preakness to tune up for the Belmont. Last year, Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby before not traveling to Pimlico Race Course and then taking home the Belmont.

Golden Tempo (9) with Jockey Jose Ortiz crosses the finish line to win the 158th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Saratoga Springs, New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

CHERIE DEVAUX REFLECTS ON MAKING KENTUCKY DERBY HISTORY AS FIRST FEMALE TRAINER TO WIN THE RACE

“We made our decision, he won today, and we’re happy about that,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said after the race.

Saturday’s Belmont Stakes marked the third consecutive, and final, year in which the race took place at Saratoga Race Course in Upstate New York, as Belmont Park finishes up renovations.

Due to the change in course since 2024, the race ran at 1 ¼ miles instead of its usual mile-and-a-half. Saratoga is home to the annual Whitney, Travers, and Jim Dandy Stakes.

A sign at Saratoga Race Course for the 2026 Belmont Stakes. (Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)

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This year’s Belmont did not feature any horses from the Preakness Stakes three weeks ago and just four from the Kentucky Derby in early May: Renegade, Commandment, Chief Wallabee, and Golden Tempo.

All four of them finished in the top four.

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A new tartan has been unveiled to commemorate Scotland’s enduring relationship with the United States, ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary and its co-hosting of the upcoming World Cup.

The design, crafted by Kaci McEwan, a student at Heriot-Watt University’s School of Textiles and Design in Edinburgh, was chosen to symbolise the deep historical and cultural bonds between Scotland and the US.

US ambassador to the UK, Warren Stephens, served on the judging panel for the Scottish Government-commissioned competition.

The initiative coincides with the anniversary of the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence and Scotland’s participation in the football tournament later this month.

McEwan’s fabric design intricately reflects the United States’ path to independence, utilising precisely numbered threads and distinct colour sections to represent pivotal moments in early American history.

External Affairs Minister Stephen Gethins said: “Scots were at the heart of the United States’ emergence as an independent country.

“Ever since, those deep bonds of family and friendship have endured, with a diaspora of millions across the US.

“Celebrating 250 years of American independence strengthens the an connection between America and Scotland – bonds which act as a bridge between our past, and our future, as two proud nations.

“The winning tartan commemorates significant moments in US history, whilst highlighting Scotland’s creative drive to offer a modern symbol of the strong and evolving cultural ties between both countries.

“I warmly congratulate Kaci McEwan on this outstanding achievement, and commend all those shortlisted for their exceptional work in bringing this shared history to life.

“Each of the shortlisted designs reflected a deep appreciation of the historic ties between Scotland and the United States.

“As Scotland takes its place at the men’s World Cup, the Scottish Government will showcase the skills and expertise we can offer the US and wider world.”

Ms McEwan said her tartan was designed to tell a story, including references to 4 July and the original 13 colonies.

She said: “I still can’t quite believe it. When I first read the email, I genuinely thought it must have been sent to everyone and I’d misunderstood it.

“I had to read it a few times before it really sank in that I’d actually won.

“It feels incredibly surreal, but also really rewarding, because I put so much time and care into researching and developing the design.

“For me, the tartan was about telling a story. Every thread and colour represents a moment in the journey towards the Declaration of Independence — from the 13 colonies to key dates and even subtle references like the 4th of July.

“Being able to bring that narrative to life through weaving has been such an exciting creative challenge.

“To now have my work recognised on such an international scale is incredibly exciting, and I’m so grateful for the guidance and encouragement I’ve had throughout my studies.

“It’s been an amazing journey, and this really feels like a special way to mark the end of it.”