Alexander Zverev stayed on course for a maiden Grand Slam title by sweeping past Rafael Jodar to reach the French Open semi-finals on Tuesday, while Czech youngster Jakub Mensik ended Joao Fonseca’s impressive run in Paris.

Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, ended Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 victory.

The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favourite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open.

“I want to win the matches that are ahead of me, that is my goal, that is my aim,” said Zverev, who has dropped only one set en route to the last four.

It is the fifth time in six years he has reached this stage in Paris.

“I’m happy to be in the semi-finals, for now,” he added.

For Jodar, the grind of back-to-back five-setters appeared to take its toll as he struggled to cope after squandering a 5-2 lead in the opening set under the roof on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Read moreSabalenka beats Osaka, Berrettini reaches quarter-finals at French Open

The 19-year-old Jodar was featuring in only his second major. He was ranked 707th in the world at this time last year.

Zverev will next play Mensik after the 20-year-old upstaged Brazilian sensation Fonseca in the night match.

Mensik beat the 19-year-old Fonseca 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to extend his best run at a Grand Slam.

“It was one of my best performances so far,” said Mensik, who needed seven match points to see off the stubborn Fonseca.

“I knew it was going to be a tough one.”

It was the youngest Roland Garros men’s quarter-final since a 20-year-old Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in 2006. Djokovic was 19 at the time.

Fonseca offered a glimpse of his vast potential with wins over Djokovic and Casper Ruud, but ran out of steam against an opponent who could rival him for the sport’s biggest prizes in years to come.

“Coming from a little injury and not having any expectation for this tournament and doing a great run… it’s a positive week,” said Fonseca, who had been troubled by a wrist issue before Roland Garros.

“This tournament gives me more conviction and more confidence to keep going.”

Read moreSwiatek out of French Open as Kostyuk, Svitolina book all-Ukrainian quarter-final

‘Flashbacks’

Marta Kostyuk and Mirra Andreeva will meet on Thursday for a place in the women’s final.

The in-form Kostyuk held her nerve to withstand a comeback from compatriot Elina Svitolina in the first all-Ukrainian women’s quarter-final at a Grand Slam in the Open era, prevailing 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

The 23-year-old Kostyuk extended her unbeaten run on clay this season to 17 matches to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final.

“I’m very happy I found a way. It was very difficult in the first two sets,” said Kostyuk, who dedicated her victory to the people of Ukraine.

The country was hit by hundreds of Russian drones and dozens of missiles early on Tuesday, killing at least 23 people.

“We had another difficult night in Ukraine, especially in Kyiv where so many people died, so I want to give this match to Ukraine,” said Kostyuk.

Svitolina, 31, fell at the quarter-final stage at Roland Garros for the sixth time. It is the only major where she has not reached the last four.

Read moreDefending ⁠champion Coco Gauff eliminated from French Open after 3rd-round loss

Kostyuk has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine during the ongoing war with Russia. Her next opponent is Russian teenager Andreeva, whom she beat in the Madrid Open final last month.

“I usually never care who is on the other side of the net. I’m there to play tennis and do my job, and that’s it,” said Kostyuk.

Andreeva breezed into her second French Open semi-final with a 6-0, 6-3 rout of Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who plans to retire at the end of the season.

The eighth seed needed less than an hour to dispatch the 36-year-old Cirstea, appearing in the last eight in Paris for the first time since 2009.

“I’m super happy that I’m going to be playing in semis again,” said Andreeva.

“I felt like it was one of my best matches so far this tournament.”

Andreeva atoned for the disappointment of her 2025 quarter-final loss to French outsider Lois Boisson, as rain and strong winds arrived in Paris after last week’s heatwave.

“I was just trying to have flashbacks only about the weather and only about the court with the closed roof, not about how I played. I’m happy that I could turn it around,” she said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Former two-weight world champion and top trainer Buddy McGirt has suggested that one man, between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, is likely to enter their showdown with one clear advantage.

The two pound-for-pound legends are reportedly set to square off in Las Vegas, colliding in a professional rematch that is now slated for September 26.

Originally, it was proposed that they would lock horns at the Sphere, Las Vegas, on September 19, only for handlers of the Netflix event to go with a different date and venue.

But despite the uncertainty, it does appear that both fighters have agreed to collide in a fully-sanctioned bout, with Mayweather graciously putting his 50-0 record on the line.

The 49-year-old has not fought professionally since his 10th-round finish over Conor McGregor in 2017, which arrived just over two years after he unanimously outpointed ‘Pac Man’

Conversely, Pacquiao has been involved in eight professional contests since their first encounter, most recently boxing to a 12-round draw against then-WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios last July.

Because of this greater activity in recent years, McGirt has told ESNEWS that he favours the 47-year-old Filipino, even if neither fighter can realistically claim to be the poster boy of activity.

“I’m [going to] go with Pacquiao for the simple fact that Floyd hasn’t fought – like [in] a fight-fight – for how long?

“These exhibition fights, you can’t really count them. Then again, I’m gonna go with Pacquiao but I wouldn’t be surprised if Floyd pulls it off.”

While Pacquiao has fought more recently than Mayweather, his draw with Barrios ended a near four-year layoff that followed his unanimous decision defeat to Yordenis Ugas.

Formula 1 is headed to Monaco this weekend for its crown jewel race, the Monaco Grand Prix, and while the season has been dominated by Mercedes.

However, this race might present a golden opportunity for their closest competitors: Ferrari.

The Silver Arrows have won every race — Grand Prix or Sprint — with the lone exception of the Sprint race in Miami, which was won by McLaren’s Lando Norris.

The Monaco Grand Prix uses one of the series’ tightest, twistiest, and slowest circuits, which means some cars will be better suited for it than others. (Photo by Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images)

That has put a significant gap in the standings between them and Ferrari; however, Monaco presents an opportunity for the Scuderia to break up Mercedes and championship leader Kimi Antonelli’s run of dominance.

That’s because Ferrari’s car and power unit are expected to be well suited for the notoriously tight and twisty Monaco circuit.

All season long, Ferrari’s strength has been under acceleration. This has been most clear on race starts. Go back and look at just about any start this season and the Ferraris look like they’ve been shot out of a cannon while the Mercedes and others often look pretty sluggish.

With as many slow corners as Monaco — with some like the hotel hairpin and La Rascasse being among the slowest on the entire calendar — getting through them and accelerating out of them is a big deal. You can’t rely on straight-line speed like you can on other circuits, and Ferrari, they’ll be cool with that as it’s not their biggest strength.

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A circuit with plenty of slow corners should play right into Ferrari’s hands. (Photo by Guido De Bortoli/LAT Images)

Finding time in these slow corners on Saturday in qualifying could mean a start from pole, and in Monaco, that really gives you an edge on a circuit where overtaking is nearly impossible.

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Even reigning champ Lando Norris expects to see the Prancing Horses start up front.

“Honestly, I think that Ferrari will be on pole next weekend in Monaco,” Norris said, per Motorsport. “Their low-speed performance is far better than everyone else.”

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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be hunting for his second win at Monaco, which happens to be his home race. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Image)

Now, a million things could go wrong, even if either Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton, starts up front. Weather could be a factor; they could clip a wall; they could run into a technical issue.

But the key to winning at Monaco these days is starting with the best track position possible, and Ferrari is looking at its best chance to do that so far this season.

The Minnesota Vikings somewhat shockingly released linebacker Kobe King last season — a weird ordeal for a rookie drafted in April 2025. It didn’t take long for King to land on his feet with the New York Jets, but seven months later, that relationship has ended, as well.

The Jets said goodbye to King on Monday, so it’s back to the drawing board for the young defender.

Minnesota’s Late-Round Miss Moves to Free Agency

King Out in NYJ

The Jets claimed King off waivers in late October, and it’s sayonara in June. NBC Sports‘ Josh Alper wrote Monday, “The Jets signed Younghoe Koo last week in a move that gave them three kickers on their 90-man roster. That number is set to drop down to two on Monday. Brian Costello of the New York Post reports that the Jets will waive Lenny Krieg, which will leave Koo and Cade York as their two kickers.”

“Krieg began playing football in Germany and joined the NFL’s International Player Pathway program in 2025. He spent last season on the Falcons’ practice squad and signed with the Jets in January. Costello also reports that the Jets will waive linebacker Kobe King. That move will come with an injury designation.”

King will now bide his time and eye a roster spot with some team this summer.

King’s Production So Far

King played 3 defensive snaps in Minnesota before former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah dropped him like a bad habit. Landing with the Jets, King did not see any action on defense, but he became a special teams contributor, getting in on the action in 9 games for 142 special teams snaps.

All told, King banked 10 tackles as a rookie and ended up playing in 14 games last year between the Vikings and Jets.

NFL Draft Buzz noted on King before the 2025 NFL Draft: “Possesses elite run-stopping instincts with a natural feel for blocking schemes – consistently beats offensive linemen to their spot and disrupts rushing lanes before they develop. Downhill thumper who brings serious thunder to his tackles — watch the Michigan game where he consistently stopped runners dead in their tracks through sheer force.”

“Shows outstanding stack-and-shed ability against guards and fullbacks, using powerful hands to maintain separation while tracking the ball carrier. Natural defensive quarterback who orchestrates pre-snap adjustments with veteran savvy – routinely puts teammates in position to make plays.”

The NYJ LB Room without Him

What will New York do without King? Oh, it should get by just fine. Here’s the ILB setup in June for Aaron Glenn’s team:

• Jamien Sherwood
• Demario Davis
• Marcelino McCrary-Ball
• Kiko Mauigoa
• Mykal Walker
• Jaden Keller
• Kingsley Jonathan
• Chase Wilson
• Paschal Ekeji

Sherwood and Davis are consistent and productive; after those two, the depth becomes skimpy, so Glenn must cultivate McCrary-Ball and Mauigoa in the event Sherwood or Davis succumb to injuries.

The Ringer‘s Diante Lee called the Jets the NFL’s worst team this offseason, noting, “This franchise can accumulate all the draft picks it wants, bring in a seasoned offensive play caller (Frank Reich), and use its almost $80 million in cap space to bring in the kind of dependable veterans it needs to kick-start a rebuild. But these are the Jets we’re talking about.”

“They find themselves in the league’s cellar because of their deep-seated incompetence, not luck or circumstance. The vibes on this team have stunk from the start of the offseason, when Aaron Glenn set out to replace basically his entire coaching staff, and it’s hard to see morale improving anytime soon.”

A Wasted Pick by MIN

King is unlikely to be a memorable player for Vikings fans years from now.

Most 6th- and 7th-Round draft picks quickly fade, and King’s potential release in October 2025 didn’t derail Minnesota’s season. Nevertheless, in retrospect, the pick feels like a missed opportunity.

When the Vikings selected King in April 2025, several more intriguing prospects were still available. Players like Brashard Smith, Kyle Monangai, Tez Johnson, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt were all drafted after King, and any of them could have offered the Vikings a more exciting developmental prospect.

While King being a Vikings bust isn’t catastrophic — late-round picks often don’t pan out — the Vikings effectively squandered that particular selection.

Meanwhile, the Vikings now have Nolan Teasley in the house as their new general manager. Perhaps the wasted draft picks will diminish. That’s the goal.

Before too long, one NFL general manager will likely realize that he needs a special teams commodity for training camp and give King a call. That’s usually how it works.

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Scottie Thompson and Barangay Ginebra head into their PBA Commissioner’s Cup title showdown with TNT on Wednesday carrying lessons from their previous defeats at the hands of the same foe and hardened by a tough semifinal series against Rain or Shine.

And Thompson hopes that the 7:30 p.m. encounter at Smart Araneta Coliseum would be the stepping stone for the Gin Kings to finally get over the line and end a three-year championship drought that seemed like ages for a team used to success.

“We will use that as motivation,” Thompson said, as Ginebra eyes its first title since the 2022-2023 Commissioner’s Cup when it prevailed over the guest team Bay Area Dragons before 54,000 fans at Philippine Arena.

Championships have eluded the crowd favorites since, with their next three Finals trips ending in defeats, all against TNT.

Last year’s Commissioner’s Cup almost made Ginebra lucky on the third time, but TNT managed to sneak one again over its rival with a Game 7 thriller that went into overtime.

“Of course, we learned a lot of lessons from that, particularly on how we play defense against TNT,” the all-around swingman continued.

“Our defense has to be consistent from start to finish, and I think that would be the key for us to have a better chance of winning the championship.”

Hard series

Ginebra entered the Finals having weathered the stubborn challenge of Rain or Shine, taking the semifinal series in six games.

Almost all games saw the Gin Kings having to go through an Elasto Painters group that started strong and refused to go away whenever they trailed by big margins, apart from the physicality they played through.

“I think it’s going to prepare us coming into this championship, because we all know how hard that series was against Rain or Shine, especially since our defense was really challenged,” said Thompson.

“We believe that we will be able to get a lot of inputs from that series that we could bring going into our matchup against TNT,” he added.

Thompson will be one of the keys for Ginebra in the series, which could likely be more about how Justin Brownlee can succeed in his bid to become the PBA’s winningest import with a shot at title No. 7 and if RJ Abarrientos can cap off a sensational conference with a splendid showing in the Finals.

But expect TNT to have something to say about those quests. INQ

Mensik and Fonseca, aged 20 and 19 respectively, are tipped to be among the players who could challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the very top of men’s tennis over the next few years – and their last-eight tie demonstrated why.

Both men were playing in their first major quarter-final and while Mensik confessed to feeling some early nerves in his post-match interview, his dominant serve proved critical as he moved into a two-set lead without facing a break point.

Fonseca had twice come back from two sets down to win matches at this year’s French Open, most notably in the third round against 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

There were flashes of brilliance from the Brazilian throughout, but another mammoth comeback proved beyond him on this occasion under the roof on Court Philippe Chatrier.

The third set went on for close to 80 minutes, with Fonseca twice moving a break of serve ahead before being dragged back to parity by Mensik.

Serving at 6-5 down, Fonseca saved six match points in a marathon 12th game of the set before forcing a tie-break – which Mensik controlled to complete a 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-3) victory.

“At the end of the match, there were some incredible shots,” said Mensik, a former Masters 1000 champion in Miami.

“I’m super happy that I’m the one that came back. I was a break down a couple of times but I managed to stay focused, stay in the match and keep fighting until the end.”

Mensik is the first Czech player to reach a Grand Slam men’s singles semi-final since Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon in 2017 and he is projected to move back into the world’s top 20.

A commendable £73,500 was raised for charity as the likes of Tony Bellew and David Price assembled for a night of boxing action in Liverpool.

The show took place on April 17, with ex-professional footballers colliding in an event that was endorsed by sporting icons such as Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

Billed as ‘A Night To Remember II’, this followed Pro Project Promotions’ first charity boxing event in October, with the organisation aiming to give retired athletes an opportunity to reignite their competitive spirit.

Equally, Pro Project Promotions founder Graham Stack, a former Arsenal goalkeeper, is hoping to fundraise a total of £500,000 within the organisation’s debut year.

He is already nearing the halfway mark, having raised a total of £201,000 for charities such as Children’s Charity Merseyside and Autism Merseyside.

Stack made it clear that this is just the beginning.

“I’m so proud to see Pro Project Promotions go from strength to strength. These events give retired players purpose, structure and a way to keep competing for something that really matters.

“To raise £73,500 [in April] and push our six-month total past £201,000 is fantastic. We’re marching towards £500,000 raised for charities and I want to thank every single person who’s backed us so far.”

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Pro Project Promotions will return to the Grosvenor House Hotel, Liverpool, on October 22, with ambassadors such as Natasha Jonas and Liam Smith expected to continue their support.

As for the show last April, it was ultimately Swansea City cult hero Lee Trundle who won the main event against ex-Scottish attacker Chris Iwelumo.

For Pro Project Promotions’ next boxing event, the competitors, entertainers, and charitable causes will be announced in the coming weeks.

Serena Williams is officially returning to professional tennis.

Nearly four years after her last competitive match, the 23-time Grand Slam champion has confirmed that she will make her comeback at the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club in London next week.

The 44-year-old announced the news in a Nike video with the simple message: “Guess everybody heard the news.”

Williams will compete in the doubles event and is set to partner rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko.

Speaking about her return, Williams said:

“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter. Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”

The announcement ends months of speculation surrounding a possible comeback. Williams returned to the anti-doping testing pool late last year and had been spotted training in Florida, fueling rumors of a return to competition.

Williams has not played professionally since the 2022 US Open. At the time, she avoided using the word retirement, instead describing her departure from tennis as “evolving away” from the sport.

Williams owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles alongside her sister, Venus Williams. She remains one of the most successful and influential figures the sport has ever seen.

While her return begins in doubles, attention is already turning to Wimbledon, where Williams is a seven-time singles champion.

The next chapter begins at Queen’s Club.