Top seed Sabalenka eases past Paolini in WTA Finals
RIYADH :Top seed Aryna Sabalenka kicked off her WTA Finals campaign with a dominant 6-3 6-1 win over Jasmine Paolini on Sunday, registering her fifth straight victory over the world number eight.
Jessica Pegula Sport News
Swiatek swats aside Keys for winning start in Riyadh
RIYADH: World No. 2 Iga Swiatek began her quest for a second WTA Finals trophy with a 6-1 6-2 win over Australian Open champion Madison Keys in their round robin clash at the season-ending championships on Saturday.
Cole ‘Full Send’ Young claims middleweight crown at Power Slap 17 in Riyadh
RIYADH: American striker Cole “Full Send” Young delivered a career-defining performance on Friday night at Mohammed Abdu Arena, capturing the world middleweight championship at Power Slap 17 — part of the Riyadh Season.
Dodgers hold off Blue Jays 3-1 to force World Series game seven
TORONTO: The Los Angeles Dodgers, fueled by a three-run third inning and another dominant pitching performance from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Friday to force a decisive World Series game seven. The defending champion Dodgers had to dig deep to thwart the Blue Jays’ ninth-inning rally bid and knot Major League Baseball’s best-of-seven championship series at three games apiece. They kept their bid for the first title repeat in 25 years alive while the Blue Jays will be aiming to claim their first title in 32 years when they host game seven on Saturday. Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow, scheduled to start game seven, stepped in with Blue Jays runners on second and third with no outs in the ninth. He induced a fly out from Ernie Clement before Andres Gimenez hit into a game-ending double play – Dodgers left fielder Enrique Hernandez fielding Gimenez’s line drive and firing the ball to second base, where Miguel Rojas caught Addison Barger for the final out. “That was crazy,” Mookie Betts said of the game-ending double play. “I thought it was a bloop hit and I saw Kike running to catch it and I turned to look and I saw he was halfway.
Manny Pacquiao hints at possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
MANILA: Manny Pacquiao has hinted a rematch of his 2015 blockbuster with Floyd Mayweather Jr. could be on the cards next year. “Right now we have a lot of negotiations about my next fight — there’s a possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather,” Pacquiao told a news conference Wednesday.
Five storylines to follow at the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh
RIYADH: The WTA Finals are back in Riyadh for a second straight year, with the top eight women of the tour ready to do battle one last time this season. Taking place at King Saud University Indoor Arena from November 1 to 8, the world’s best players are split into two groups of four. They will go through a round-robin stage, with the top two in each group advancing to Friday’s semifinals. Aryna Sabalenka is the top seed and headlines the Stephanie Graf Group alongside defending champion Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini, while second-seeded Iga Swiatek is in the Serena Williams Group with Madison Keys, Elena Rybakina and Amanda Anismova. Seven of the eight players spoke to the press on Friday, with Paolini forced to skip her media duties citing illness.
Rybakina books place in WTA Finals for third straight year
Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina secured the last qualifying spot for the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh after advancing to the Pan Pacific Open semi-finals in Tokyo on Friday.
Rybakina wins Ningbo title to close in on WTA Finals
NINGBO, China: Elena Rybakina rallied from a set down to beat Russian fourth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6 6-0 6-2 and win the Ningbo Open title on Sunday, as her late surge to reach next month’s WTA Finals gained momentum.A 10th career title for Rybakina means the Kazakh only has to reach the semifinals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo this week to seal the last qualifying spot for the season finale at the expense of Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.Others who have qualified for the WTA Finals, to be held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh from November 1-8, are Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Jasmine Paolini.Alexandrova made a flying start, racing 4-1 ahead as Rybakina struggled to rein in the errors and mix up her game, before the 30-year-old comfortably took the opening set with a powerful forehand winner.Desperate to prevent a fourth straight defeat by Alexandrova on hardcourts, Russian-born Rybakina came out firing in the next set, hitting a crosscourt winner to consolidate an early break and lay the platform to level in the match.World number nine Rybakina cranked up the intensity from the baseline in the deciding set, but it was a foray to the net that earned the 26-year-old another early break, and she went on to claim her second trophy of the season.