Alexander Zverev has won his second Grand Slam singles title after the German top seed beat Ben Shelton in the US Open final on Sunday.

Zverev beat the American, who was making his first appearance in a major final, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-2.

This success caps the best season of Zverev’s career. Not only has he now won two of the four Grand Slams in the same season, but he has become just the ninth man to reach at least the semifinals at all four majors in the same season.

“We went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we’ve won two in three months,” Zverev said on court after his second major win of the year, following his victory at the French Open in June. 

“God has seen how hard we’ve worked and how much we’ve suffered. 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before,” he said as he thanked his coaching team and family.

Great expectations from the start

As a former junior world No. 1, there were great expectations on Zverev from the moment he started his pro career in 2013 at just 16 years old. Titles soon followed, as did a shock early win over Roger Federer in a tournament in his native Germany in 2016.

But the presence of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic meant Zverev struggled to make a mark in the Grand Slams. After a string of disappointing exits, he had something of a breakthrough in 2020, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open and the final of the US Open.

With age starting to catch up with at least two of the big three in modern men’s tennis, Zverev looked well primed to become a dominant force in the majors. His 2021 Olympic gold felt like it might be just the start.

French Open ends long grand slam wait

But he was unable to make the opportunity count, and the emergence of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz has made the task even tougher. Finally, this year, Zverev got his hands on a major title, winning at Roland Garros in June. In doing so, he became the first German man to win a singles Grand Slam since Boris Becker in 1996 in the process.

“It was just relief, joy, everything together,” he told ATPTour.com. “I didn’t realize that I had won the match until I saw my box all jumping around and celebrating. In your mind, you think, ‘Well, I’ve got to continue playing’, but then I saw my dad raise his arms in the air. That’s when it kind of hit me, ‘Okay, we’ve done it. We’ve achieved it. We are Grand Slam champions.’”

Becker’s triumph was a year before Zverev was born in Hamburg to Russian parents who were both tennis pros in the Soviet Union and moved to Germany in 1991. His older brother, Mischa, was also a pro until 2023, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2017 and becoming world number 25 in the same year. But it was Alexander who was destined for the even bigger stage.

Family a big influence on Zverev’s career

In their youth, Mischa was generally coached by his father, Alexander Zverev Snr, while the younger brother was coached by his mother, Irina. His father has taken the reins in the professional arena though, and the family remain a constant fixture at Zverev’s matches.

“I know there are crazy tennis parents out there as well,” the 29-year-old said on the subject ahead of the US Open. “If you try to control every single aspect of your kid’s life, even when the kid is 25, 26, 27 years old and at some point has a personal life… I think that is never helpful.”

“But if you have smart tennis parents like we do have on tour now, I feel like Ben Shelton’s father is incredibly smart, Casper Ruud’s father is incredibly smart, I feel like I’m lucky enough to say the same thing about my parents. I think then it’s beneficial.”

Despite finally ending Germany’s long wait for a major male tennis champion, Zverev is far from universally liked in his own country, or on the tennis circuit.

Domestic violence allegations

While there is acknowledgement of his work in promoting awareness of type 1 diabetes, with which he was diagnosed in 2022, allegations of domestic abuse have hung over his career and seen him heckled at various tournaments. His behavior on court has also seen him get in trouble before.

The first came in October 2020, when his ex-girlfriend, Olya Sharypova, claimed he had been violent towards her on multiple occasions. However, Sharypova didn’t press criminal charges, and in January 2023, men’s tennis governing body the ATP closed its own investigation into the matter, citing “insufficient evidence.”

Welcoming that decision at the time, Zverev said: “From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence and denied the baseless allegations made against me.”

But he faced a Berlin court in 2024 after similar allegations from Brenda Patea, Zverev’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his daughter. The court was told that “after a heated argument” in the German capital, Zverev allegedly pushed Patea against a wall and strangled her with both hands.

He denied the charges and the case was settled, with Zverev paying €200,000 ($233,000), €150,000 of which went to the state and €50,000 to charitable organizations. The case was officially declared “no verdict” and Zverev made no admission of guilt.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery

As poster boy Armand Duplantis performed the Ultimate Championship’s official song and fireworks lit up the sky above the newly crowned winners, athletics had taken its first strides in a new direction.

Across three fast-paced evenings the inaugural event played out in Budapest, where a record $10m (£7.4m) prize pot was distributed among the sport’s biggest stars.

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It looked different. It felt different. And, after three successive sell-out crowds and positive feedback from the athletes, it appears it is here to stay.

“It’s a good first step towards changing track and field for the better,” said Usain Bolt, event ambassador and the greatest sprinter in history.

“The athletes are loving it. It’s a different energy, a different vibe.”

World Athletics and its president, Lord Coe, worked for three years to tackle the absence of a season-ending pinnacle event.

Rather than keeping to an established formula, the Ultimate Championship was a bold, innovative undertaking – and it is hoped it can exist as a testing ground to help shape the sport’s future.

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“We walked out, we came through the little starlights and we all looked at each other and said, ‘this is unbelievable’,” Britain’s four-time global relay medallist Imani-Lara Lansiquot told BBC Sport.

“It’s so rare that things really live up to the expectation, the hype. I’m so, so glad, having been in this sport for many years now, to actually see us be put on a platform and celebrated in this way.”

Athletics has long grappled with the issue of maintaining the interest and excitement which it generates at the Olympics throughout the rest of those four-year cycles.

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The structure of the season has not always been clear for occasional viewers, while showdowns between the world’s top athletes can be inconsistent. From a storytelling perspective, that is far from ideal.

They are all issues World Athletics has sought to begin addressing with the biennial Ultimate Championship, while also compensating the athletes with record prize money.

The premise is accessible: condensed, fast-paced sessions, with the best competing against the best for a global title and significant prize money.

A striking new appearance and several innovative features ensured the Ultimate Championship provided a notably different feel to that of the sport’s established global championships.

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An infield painted black sought to focus attention on the illuminated live events, while the horizontal jumps were decided in a bright pink sandpit.

A new trophy waited for the winners on a plinth, with their crowning moment marked by sparklers and celebratory music.

New features for TV audiences attempted to enhance the viewer experience, with athlete headshots, win probabilities and projected finishing positions flashing up on screen.

They did so with varying success.

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen was unimpressed by his predicted finishing position of 12th before winning the 5,000m title, while Britain’s 1500m champion Josh Kerr was expected to finish last – a result of both athletes racing lightly over recent seasons.

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There was a notable athlete-centric feel to the event beyond the increased financial rewards.

The world’s top athletes arrived on the eve of the championship for a red carpet event featuring photoshoots.

Athlete videos were played inside the stadium before events and winners held centre-court style interviews before being escorted to a champions’ enclosure, where they joined Bolt and master of ceremonies Noah Lyles.

On the videos, Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell said: “I do like the fact that it builds personality and character for, hopefully, people to connect with the athletes. That storytelling is something that’s really interesting.

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“If you think of superstars like Carlos Alcaraz, Serena Williams or Tadej Pogacar, obviously they’re great athletes, but it’s their personality coming through that makes it fun.”

BBC commentator and former 1500m world champion Steve Cram said: “The key is the exposure of it. It’s good for the sport. It’s really good for the profile of the athletes.”

But the championship did not avoid criticism – the biggest its exclusion of certain events.

World Athletics took the decision to include events based on viewer behaviour, including pulse rate and sweat response.

That meant that distance track events, including the 3,000m steeplechase and 10,000m, were omitted, while only selected field events were included. Shot-putters and discus throwers were excluded entirely.

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The event format was also altered. Round progression in several field events meant increased jeopardy, with the competition whittled down to the top four athletes by the fourth and final round.

British long jumper Jazmin Sawyers told BBC Sport: “Some field events didn’t get any attention because they’re not here. The championship is worse off for not having them.

“It looks amazing in stadium and broadcast. It’s dynamic. It’s exciting. There’s a place for it alongside regular championships.

“I don’t think I would like to see it replace regular championships, but I like the idea that this is something that exists alone.”

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On the long jump competition format, she added: “I would love to see all eight [athletes] get all four jumps. It makes it more interesting.

“I was able to come from fourth to second. What if the person who was eighth could go from eighth to first? That’s more exciting.”

On the matter of the excluded events, Coe said the disciplines held at the Ultimate Championship were “not in tablets of stone”.

Looking ahead to the next edition in 2028, the Ultimate Championship will be positioned at the end of a season which is headlined by an Olympics.

It remains to be seen how it will fit alongside the Diamond League – the sport’s season-long series – in the schedule of the athletes.

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Former Olympic heptathlon champion Denise Lewis told BBC Sport: “People have wanted to see something that looked different and felt like a different product. World Athletics has delivered.

“I don’t think we know what it will do to the global calendar of athletics.

“The overall picture and the landscape isn’t clear. There is place for this, but I do think it is unclear what yet.”

Coe accepted before the weekend that there would be “no guarantee we’re going get everything right” and said a “slightly different format” might be considered in future.

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But, regardless, the competition was a statement of intent as the sport seeks to engage with new, bigger audiences while ensuring its star names are rewarded with prize money closer aligned to that of other sports.

Speaking after become Britain’s first Ultimate champion in the 1500m, Josh Kerr said: “I welcome anything that can push this sport on to make it more entertaining for people to watch and athletes to go out and compete.

“There is one last thing that we can do to get it right and that is to let athletes wear their own brands versus their country.

“I love my country and competing for them, but we don’t make money from that. We don’t have the pay cheques other sports do just yet.

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“My $30,000 pay cheque just came through from winning the World Indoors, so $150,000 is a huge jump and I’m massively appreciative.”

Reigning Paralympics champion Harvinder Singh and world No. 1 Sheetal Devi led the charge as India signed off their World Archery Para Series Stage III campaign on a high, winning two gold and four bronze medals, on the final day, here on Wednesday.

World No. 1 and reigning world champion Sheetal Devi held her nerve in a dramatic shoot-off to win the para compound women’s individual gold, while double Paralympics medallist Harvinder, paired with Bhawna, helped India to gold in the para recurve mixed team event.

In the recurve mixed team final, double Paralympics medalist Harvinder and Bhawna made short work of China’s Liang Qiurong and Xia Lei, winning 6-0 in straight sets.

India took the opening set 35-31 before winning the second 36-33 and completing the clean sweep with a 34-32 victory in the third.

Bhawna then added another bronze in an all-Indian para recurve women’s bronze-medal play-off, defeating compatriot Rajshree Rathod 6-0.

Sheetal returned in the evening session and produced a composed performance against Kazakhstan’s Aizada Seidan in a thrilling compound women’s individual final.

Both the archers started with perfect 30s and remained locked at 59 after the second end, with both shooting 29. Aizada then edged ahead by a point in the third end after shooting 28 to Sheetal’s 27.

The fourth end ended 29-29, before Sheetal produced a 29 in the final end against Aizada’s 28 to level the scores at 144-all and force a shoot-off.

Sheetal kept her composure when it mattered most, hitting a perfect 10, while Aizada managed a nine to hand the Indian the gold.

Sheetal, thus, completed a medal double, having earlier teamed up with Toman Kumar to win bronze in the compound mixed team event.

The Indian pair dominated their bronze-medal play-off against Iraq’s Sara Al Hamid and Abbas Kadim, winning 157-145.

Sheetal and Toman dropped just three points across four ends, underlining their dominance.

They shot 39 in each of the first three ends, dropping just one point each time, before finishing with a perfect 40 in the fourth.

India also picked up a bronze in the para compound women’s individual event, with Sarita edging out China’s Wang Huiting 141-140.

The campaign ended with another bronze for Toman, as the world No. 1 and reigning world champion defeated Iraq’s Abbas Kadhim 143-138 in the para compound men’s individual event for his second medal of the competition.

The Los Angeles Clippers have accepted their fate as a bottom tier sports franchise.

At first, the Kawhi Leonard thing didn’t feel like a big deal. Salary cap circumvention? What’s that? Pablo Torre’s reporting was incredible, but for a brief moment, it felt like the gravity of the situation was overlooked by the common hoops fan.

The investigation dragged on and on. It was one of the weirdest pieces of the offseason, as the Leonard trade back to the Toronto Raptors was in limbo because of the league’s investigation. Leonard got off the hook with a slap on the wrist, just a $700,000 fine.

The Clippers did not get off the hook.

The NBA dropped the hammer on the Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer. They lost five future first-round draft picks and the organization was fined $30 million. Ballmer and executive Gillian Zucker were suspended for one year, and president Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months. On Sunday night, ESPN’s Shams Charanis reported that Ballmer is complying with the league’s punishment.

In a league that’s had plenty of scandal, the NBA dropped their most significant punishment ever on the Clippers. As it turns out, you can’t sidestep the NBA salary cap by paying a superstar under the table cash through fake brands. Maybe other teams are doing it. Torre has suggested that it could be a possibility. If they are, they’d be really dumb if they continued.

Because the Clippers are royally screwed.

Sometimes in life, you know you’re getting the short end of the stick. There’s nothing worse than being in a rut.

But the Clippers just got themselves into a five year rut.

They aren’t a great team. They just sold Leonard, possibly because they knew a hammer punishment was being dropped as a result of this investigation. Darius Garland, Bradley Beal, Rui Hachimura and Brook Lopez will play actual NBA minutes together this season. It’s a roster coached by Tyronn Lue, whose superstar coaching status could likely dim as a result of this upcoming debacle.

The Clippers have no way to add young talent via the draft. Ballmer has money, but getting fined $30 million can’t be fun. They can play a super villain role, going well over the salary cap luxury tax and into the second apron, buying free agent superstars who would be open to signing big money deals in Los Angeles.

Or, they can accept their fate and meddle in the middle or bottom of the Western Conference. They’re an irrelevant franchise in Los Angeles. Leonard was supposed to be the thing that helped change that narrative, and he ended up being the guy that cemented it for at least another half decade.

The Denver Broncos will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Monday Night Football game of the season. Denver looks to continue their success after making the AFC Championship Game in 2025. Kansas City looks to bounce-back after missing the playoffs last season.

The Broncos were a relatively average offense last season, ranking 18th in points (0.362) per play. They averaged a reasonable 23.2 points per game, although they were better at home.

Denver is returning their entire offense, while adding an elite talent to the mix. Bo Nix and JK Dobbins will return from injury, while their entire receiving group returns in 2026. They also will feature the same starting offensive line as the majority of last season.

Denver traded a substantial amount for Jaylen Waddle in the offseason. Head coach Sean Payton raved about how versatile he is, and he believes he’s going to add an entirely new dimension to this offense.

The big question is how quickly can Nix get back in a groove after suffering a major injury in the AFC Divisional Round. The young quarterback looked good in his only preseason action, though, and I’m not expecting a ton of rust here.

On the other side, Kansas City lost a substantial amount of their defense in the offseason. Overall, they lost six defensive players who started double-digit games for them.

Kansas City’s lost a ton of their secondary. They traded Trent McDuffie, while Bryan Cook and Jaylen Watson left in free agency. They’ll also be without starting safety Chamarri Conner because of injury.

The Cheifs also lost Michael Danna, Leo Chenal, and Derrick Nnadi in the front seven. I’m less concerned about this for this play, as they return high-end players like Nick Bolton, Chris Jones, and George Karlaftis. I’m less concerned about this for this play, as they return high-end players like Nick Bolton, Chris Jones, and George Karlaftis.

The Broncos threw at one of the higher rates in the NFL last season, and they’re going to attack this young secondary. Kansas City will be relying on multiple rookies, which could cause issues on the backend.

We have a fully healthy Broncos offense, who is going to attack the weakest part of Kansas City’s defense. Luckily, we’re getting a relatively low number because of Denver’s struggles on the road in 2025.

Where to Bet: Denver Broncos over 20.5 team total | -120 at DraftKings Sportsbook

2026 NFL Season Betting Record: 0-2

Neil signed a three-year deal at Ibrox in July and was immediately instilled as part of Derek McInnes’ leadership group.

He once again wore the captain’s armband in Lawrence Shankland’s absence and rose to the occasion of his first Old Firm derby, excelling in the middle of the park alongside Nicolas Raskin and James Penrice, who inverted from left-back.

“Dan is going to get highlighted for his goals – two different types of finishes – but we knew we could occupy that space on the edge of the box if we attacked properly,” manager McInnes said.

“You still need people to step up and show their quality and Dan did that. His performance was really strong as well, as was Nico and wee James in there.

“The three of them were terrific and it played a big part in us getting some sort of ascendancy in the game.”

Neil has grown in stature in recent weeks, but this was his finest performance in a Rangers shirt to date, getting the better of proven performers Callum McGregor and Benjamin Nygren.

At one point, Neil spun McGregor and left the Celtic captain in his wake. It was reflective of Rangers’ dominance throughout the 90 minutes and Neil’s own excellent showing.

“It was a great team performance,” Neil told Premier Sports. “We fully deserved the victory out there.

“In the last few games we’ve done well without the ball. Today we wanted to use the crowd and get after them – the lads executed it perfectly.”

Ryan Garcia ended Conor Benn’s welterweight world title dreams in Las Vegas, dropping and stopping the Brit in two rounds, and Chris Eubank Jr was quick to react.

Benn came back down to 147lbs for the first time in four years to challenge for Garcia’s WBC belt, battling the scales in what he called a ‘brutal’ weight cut.

On the first bell, he came out and put pressure on Garcia, who landed his signature left hooks and sneaky uppercuts in response. Benn stood up to those shots in the first three minutes, but a right hand in the second round saw him on the canvas.

Garcia jumped on the opportunity for the stoppage and landed enough unanswered shots for referee Thomas Taylor to step in and wave it off.

The American was a heavy favourite and plenty of big names in the sport predicted a stoppage due to his speed and power, but not many said it would end so early.

Some will put it down to Benn’s punch resistance being depleted after his extreme weight cut, and will await his words on the outcome in the next day or two.

In the meantime, Eubank took to social media almost immediately after the fight, highlighting the irony of the circumstances.

“Welcome to the ‘fighting after cutting too much weight’ club… Enjoy.”

Eubank and Benn fought twice last year, each managing a win. The ‘born rivals’ each managed a win, with Eubank scoring a unanimous decision in the first meeting and Benn the same result in the rematch.

Eubank was extremely vocal about facing a 10lbs rehydration clause in the contract for both bouts, meaning he couldn’t weigh more than 170lbs on the morning of each fight after making 160 the day before. The clause seemed to have a major effect on him in the second fight.

Benn faced no such rehydration clause, and even boasted this morning that he had put on over 30lbs since making 146lbs, however it was almost certainly gamesmanship.

The Brit is now expected to move up in weight, and a trilogy with Eubank may be the strongest option out there for him.