beats

Ivory Coast defeats France 2-1 in friendly ahead of the 2026 World Cup, as Manchester United’s Amad Diallo seals win.

France has brushed aside ‌concerns over their World Cup readiness after suffering a surprise 2-1 defeat by Ivory Coast in a ⁠tournament warm-up match, insisting the setback will serve as a useful reminder rather than a cause for alarm.

Didier Deschamps’s side ⁠led through a superb first-half goal from Rayan Cherki on Thursday, but they were overrun after the break as Guela Doue and Amad Diallo turned the game around for the ⁠Elephants in Nantes.

With France opening their World Cup campaign against Senegal in New York on June 16, midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni said the result should be viewed in the context of preparations.

“It’s a pity to lose, but we’re in a ‌preparation phase; we stay confident,” Tchouameni said.

“There is no conclusion to draw from this game, even if we had won it. We will be ready.”

France fielded an experimental side, with several Paris Saint-Germain players rested after last weekend’s Champions League final triumph, and made numerous changes after halftime.

Defender Lucas Hernandez also played down the significance of the defeat.

“We always want to win, but we’re in ⁠a phase of preparation, and there were a lot of ⁠substitutions,” Hernandez said.

“We’re in good spirits.”

Deschamps, however, admitted that his side had lost control of the contest after an encouraging opening 45 minutes and warned that France would face opponents with similar qualities to Ivory Coast in the ⁠United States.

“A defeat is never pleasant, even if we did some good things in the first half,” Deschamps said.

“In the second ⁠half we made a lot of changes, but that’s ⁠no excuse. We were not as good after the break, and they brought a lot of pace.

“We will face the same type of team on June 16.”

The France coach said the result could prove useful ‌if it prevented his players from becoming complacent before the tournament.

“It’s a reminder, if we needed one, not to think we’re better than we are,” he said.

‌Cherki ‌added: “It’s a little warning, and I can tell you we’re not going to the World Cup thinking we’re favourites, but we’re going to crush everyone.”

No handshake and no photo as Mirra Andreeva of Russia beats Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine to reach French Open tennis final.

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva reached her first Grand Slam final by beating Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3 in a tense encounter at the French Open.

Andreeva converted her first match point when she served for the tennis match on Thursday.

There was no post-match handshake between the pair, however, and Kostyuk walked off quickly, turning only to wave and blow kisses to the crowd at Court Philippe-Chatrier, where some fans were draped in Ukrainian flags.

The atmosphere beforehand was somewhat tense as the players had separate photos taken as they each stood next to two children on their respective sides of the net. Usually, the players pose for the same photo, standing right next to each other by the net.

Kostyuk and countrywoman Oleksandra Oliynykova have spoken out during the tournament about the impact Russia’s four-year invasion of Ukraine is having on their country.

The eighth seed seized control from the outset and never loosened her grip on the contest, overwhelming Kostyuk with her ⁠depth and aggression on Court Philippe-Chatrier to set up a title clash against compatriot Diana Shnaider or Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska.

Andreeva, 19, raced into a 4-0 lead in the opening set and barely looked back in the third meeting between the two ⁠players, the Ukrainian having won the first ⁠two.

Kostyuk briefly threatened to make a contest of it in the second set, but the Russian swiftly snuffed out any hopes of a comeback before serving ⁠out the match to complete a dominant display.

“I’m still very nervous, very nervous coming to ⁠this match as she’s had an ⁠amazing season, she hadn’t lost on clay, so that put pressure,” said Andreeva.

“She’s an amazing player, a tough opponent, so I’m super happy with the way ‌I played. I’m happy I got revenge for the Madrid final, and to reach my first Grand Slam final.

“All of these ‌feelings ‌combined, I’ve never felt anything like this. I’m very excited about the last match here in Paris.”

Top-seeded Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori of Italy won the mixed doubles final earlier Thursday, beating Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Evan King of the US 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.

An Italian is guaranteed to be in Sunday’s men’s French Open singles final, with Flavio Cobolli facing fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Friday in the first Grand Slam semifinal for both players.

Having revealed several superstitions in his on-court interview – thanking the crowd in French, maintaining the same racquet tension no matter the conditions and keeping the same post-match routine – Cobolli was asked about them in his press conference.

“I’m a little bit [superstitious] but not crazy – this week I’m a little bit more crazy than the others,” he said. “I just go to the same restaurant, the same menu, the same shower.”

Cobolli then recalled a moment at a previous French Open when he was using the shower and Nadal knocked on the door asking him to hurry up because he was waiting to use that particular cubicle.

“He told me that it was his shower since 14 years,” continued Cobolli. “So I think the best thing that I’m doing is the shower.”

Cobolli recovered from losing the first set to beat Auger-Aliassime 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 and he will make his top-10 debut on Monday if Jakub Mensik, who faces Alexander Zverev in the other semi-final, fails to win the title in Paris.

Arnaldi’s win in Wednesday’s night session means an Italian finalist is guaranteed, even after the shock second-round exit of overwhelming favourite Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti being ruled out of the tournament because of injury.

Alexander Zverev ensured his pursuit of an elusive Grand Slam title remained on track with a comprehensive victory over highly-rated teenager Rafael Jodar to reach the French Open semi-finals.

Second seed Zverev is the highest-ranked man left in the singles draw after a series of shock exits in Paris.

The German has long been tipped for Grand Slam glory but has struggled in the pressure moments, suffering defeat in three finals and seven semi-finals.

He came up short against Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 French Open final, despite leading by two sets to one, and has fallen four times in the Paris last four alone.

Tuesday’s meeting with 19-year-old Jodar was billed as a potentially tricky tie, with the Spaniard tipped to be a future star.

But Zverev, 10 years Jodar’s senior, used all his experience to come through 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 6-3.

“I want to keep going and win the matches ahead of me – that is my goal and my aim,” Zverev said.

“Today was a very good test against a very good player.

“I am happy to be in the semi-final but for now, that is it.”

Kostyuk was overcome with emotion following her historic meeting with Svitolina, which came a day after one of Moscow’s largest assaults on Ukraine in recent months.

She has been vocal in her criticism of Russian players who have failed to denounce the war and, like her compatriots, has maintained a policy of not shaking hands with opponents from Russia and its ally Belarus.

On the apparent reluctance of her Russian counterparts to speak about the war, Kostyuk said: “For me, it’s not frustrating anymore. They are all grown-ups.

“They are clearly aware of what’s going on. If this is something that they want to avoid talking about, they have to live with this, not me.

“I don’t know how you can sleep at night peacefully when you know that this is going on and you have nothing to say about it.”

Asked about facing a Ukrainian player next, Andreeva told the media: “It doesn’t matter who I play. I really try to play against the ball that is coming at me and focus on the game.”

Driven to deliver the title for Ukraine, Kostyuk will head into her semi-final on a 17-match winning streak on the clay this season.

“I still think it [the title] is very far. I have two matches to play and hopefully you will come and support me on Thursday,” Kostyuk told the crowd, who gave her a standing ovation and waved Ukrainian flags.

Asked if she would perform another backflip at Roland Garros, just as she did after beating Andreeva to win the Madrid Open last month, Kostyuk added: “In Madrid I practised the day before the final.

“I don’t need to practise here – I did it a month ago – but I promised I will only do it again when I win a final.”

Amid the excitement of youth, world number three Zverev underlined his status as favourite for the men’s singles title with a clinical straight-set win over Jesper de Jong, which sent him through to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the sixth consecutive year.

The second seed, 29, has long been earmarked as a future Grand Slam champion but despite reaching finals at three of the four majors – and leading Carlos Alcaraz by two sets to one at the French Open in 2024 – he is still searching for his maiden title.

However, with world number one Jannik Sinner and Djokovic both eliminated in the first week, plus defending champion Alcaraz absent because of injury, the German’s route to the title has opened up.

De Jong, ranked more than 100 places below Zverev, went toe-to-toe with the heavy-hitting German in the opener, racing into a 3-0 lead and later leading 3-0 in the tie-break before Zverev reeled off seven consecutive points to take the set.

Zverev had to be patient in the second, waiting until the 10th game to convert one of only two break-point opportunities offered to him, but was too strong for his opponent in a 24-minute third set, completing a 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-1 win.

Relentless on serve in the final two sets, he conceded just six points across nine service games while also showing his formidable touch at the net, winning 29 of 38 points.

“It was a bit difficult in the beginning,” Zverev said on court. “I didn’t start strong and he started really fast. But once I found my rhythm, I was comfortable.

“My game is there. It’s about showing it on the match courts.”

Zverev is one of only three top-10 seeds left in the draw, one of just two players with experience of playing in a major final and is competing on a surface on which he has won nine of his 24 ATP titles.

Perhaps most crucially, while many of his rivals have battled through multiple five-set matches, he has won three of his four matches in straight sets.

Coco Gauff overcame an “eventful” start to her French Open title defence – dealing with a “mini car accident” and a dress malfunction before securing a first-round win.

The American fourth seed opened her campaign with a routine 6-4 6-0 victory over compatriot Taylor Townsend.

But it was the drama off the court that left Gauff with the more memorable story.

“We got in a mini car accident on our way to the site today,” she told TNT Sports.

“There was this pole thing and it was supposed to go down and the police told him [the driver] to go and we ran into it.

“You felt an impact, I spilled my juice all over the car.”

Gauff said the car was “not driveable” afterwards and her team had to make alternative travel arrangements to get to the Roland Garros site.

The 22-year-old, who came from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s final, said the accident – along with other incidents – felt like a “good omen”.

Gauff and Townsend were on Court Philippe Chatrier earlier than planned, with the men’s match before coming to an abrupt end when Alexandre Muller retired injured after 50 minutes against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“The retirement happened and right before the match my dress got stuck so my physio was in the bathroom trying to help me take it off,” Gauff said.

“It was an eventful day, but whenever that happens it lets you not think about the match.”

MILWAUKEE — Looking back, Alex Vesia can say that when was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Dodgers with fellow pitching prospect Kyle Hurt in 2021, he had “no idea” what it actually meant to trust the process.

Sure, it’s a cliche, and one most strongly associated with the Philadelphia 76ers’ rebuild in the NBA a decade ago. But it’s had staying power in the sports lexicon for a reason.

The mantra clicked for Vesia in his first season with the Dodgers.

“When I first heard of it, it was just like, OK, I know what a process is,” he said before the Dodgers’ 5-1 win against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. “But then watching it over the course of the year — where fastballs need to be placed, where sliders need to go, just trusting the information. That when a guy swings a lot at sliders and misses them, trusting that when you throw yours, he will miss it.

The Dodgers’ Andy Pages celebrates his two-run home run with teammate Kyle Tucker during a win over the Brewers Sunday in Milwaukee.

(Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)

“And then over the course of a few outings, when you see those results, it’s like, ‘OK, I can do this’ more and more and more.”

Vesia is now one of the veteran leaders in a Dodgers bullpen that set a franchise record Saturday with 36 consecutive scoreless innings, surpassing the mark of 33 set in 1998. The Dodgers extended the streak to 38 on Sunday.

“Last night was awesome,” Vesia said Sunday, a day after a dominant 11-3 win. “It was a really great game because it showed how versatile our bullpen can be, that we don’t need a set inning for the guy.”

Instead, manager Dave Roberts could play matchups — having left-handers Vesia and Tanner Scott face the more heavily left-handed heart of the order, and Hurt check in for the right-handers at the bottom and top — until the Dodgers’ offense made it a blowout.

On Sunday, the bullpen had only to cover two innings, thanks to a steady performance by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who limited the Brewers to one run through seven innings. And the Dodgers relievers had a four-run cushion to work with, thanks to a fifth-inning rally that included a two-run triple from Kyle Tucker and a two-run homer from Andy Pages.

Right-hander Will Klein retired the top of the order in a clean eighth inning, and Scott set down the next three Brewers, putting the finishing touches on a series win in a rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series.

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts turns a double play during a win Sunday in Milwaukee.

(Kayla Wolf / Ap Photo/kayla Wolf)

As Roberts reflected on the 7-2 road trip to Anaheim, San Diego and Milwaukee, he highlighted the bullpen’s impact: “There’s a lot of different guys that are the reason why they’ve been so successful recently.”

Entering the season, much of the chatter surrounding the bullpen centered on the addition of closer Edwin Díaz. But he’s been on the injured list (elbow surgery) since April 20, and the relief corps has been on a roll.

Without a closer, the Dodgers’ circle of trust in close games includes a good mix of veteran arms and budding talent, from Scott, Vesia and Blake Treinen to Hurt, Klein and Jack Dreyer (on the 15-day IL because of left shoulder discomfort).

“It’s a bunch of selfless guys who know that the job is to throw up a zero and give it to the next guy,” Klein said. “I think we’re all just trying to give our offense a chance to do what we know they can do. And I think that showed up last night, and it showed up a lot the last two weeks. They’ve been playing really well, and so I think we know if we just go out there, put up a zero, they’ll do it the next inning — and if they don’t, we try again.”

The bullpen’s scoreless streak stretches back through the eighth inning of a 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on May 12. It covers a bullpen game, when the group filled in for Blake Snell after he was scratched from his start in Anaheim, and the series in San Diego, where the Dodgers relievers outperformed the Padres’ renowned bullpen.

“We’ve got to give credit to the starters and the hitters, and the guys playing great defense too,” Hurt said. “So, it’s not just us.”

Though good defense and some luck is involved in any scoreless streak this long — opponents entered Sunday with a .147 batting average on balls in play against Dodgers relievers since their shutout performance on May 13 — it’s no fluke either. The Dodgers bullpen still leads the majors in the Fielding Independent Pitching category (2.35) in that time.

So, what’s the secret stuff?

“The secret stuff is, there is no secret stuff,” Klein said. “Sometimes when you look for an answer, or you look for the magic to fix things, that’s when you overdo it and things start spiraling. But I think everyone knows that it’s one pitch at a time, and if you think about the result, you’re not as ingrained in the process.”

That was the moral in “Space Jam” too.

The ripple effects of that consistency have been clear.

“It frees up the offense a little bit,” Roberts said. “Regardless of who comes into a ballgame, I think they have the confidence now to go up and put up a zero. And it makes my life easier because you trust a lot more guys. And that’s what these guys have earned.”

Novak Djokovic showed signs of rust as he was forced to fight back from a set down to beat world number 83 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in four sets in the first round of the French Open.

The third seed, who is bidding for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title, had only played 11 singles matches in 2026 prior to arriving in Paris, including losing in three sets to Dino Prizmic in his only outing on clay.

The 39-year-old was visibly frustrated in the opening two sets as he struggled against the 6ft 7in (2.01m) Frenchman’s serve and ferocious forehand, conceding the first set 7-5 and later wasting nine break points in the second before converting his fourth set point.

That proved the turning point in the match, with Djokovic rattling through the third set in just 22 minutes before closing out the win 5-7 7-5 6-1 6-4.

He will face another home hope, Valentin Royer, in round two on Wednesday.

More to follow.

AMAZON shoppers are racing to snap up a viral cabin bag that is perfect for dodging dreaded airline luggage fees.

Originally priced at £29.99, the popular bag has been slashed to just £25.49 for the black version.

Vankev Underseat Cabin Bag, £25.49 (was £29.99)

With the bank holiday weekend just days away, lots of savvy shoppers will be jetting off on mini-breaks – and keen to keep extra costs to a minimum.

Budget carriers like Ryanair and EasyJet are notoriously stringent with their baggage rules, meaning flyers can usually only bring a single small personal item onboard for free.

Amazon sells plenty of bargain luggage – no doubt aimed at panicky last-minute spenders – but this particular underseat backpack has racked up thousands of rave reviews.

Measuring exactly 40x20x25cm, in line with Ryanair hand luggage rules, the 20-litre bag is perfectly sized to slide under the seat, meaning you won’t have to spend any extra fees.

It’s got two main compartments, including a suitcase-style opening for clothes, plus a separate padded sleeve that fits a 14-inch laptop.

The backpack boasts a TSA-friendly design, which means it unfolds flat between 90 and 180 degrees so you do not have to clumsily unpack your electronics at airport security.

It also features a handy luggage strap to slide over your main suitcase handle, and a hidden anti-theft pocket that’s perfect for passports and other valuables.

We in the Sun Shopping team haven’t tested this backpack ourselves.

But over 5,000 Amazon shoppers have left five-star reviews on the website, stunned by its quality at that cheap-as-chips price.

“I used this bag for an 8-day trip across Europe,” one happy traveller wrote.

“It was perfect for under the seat on both Ryanair and EasyJet. (No extra fees!) The compartments were all great.”

Another impressed flyer noted: “I have to say, it really impressed me. I easily managed to fit my essentials, including a 14-inch laptop, which had its own padded compartment – a nice touch for protection.

“The straps on this bag make it comfortable to carry around, whether you’re hiking through the airport or simply stashing it under the seat.”

It feels sturdy and well-made, which gives me confidence it’ll hold up during my travels.”

A third shopper added: “Much bigger than you expect, love this, couldn’t go wrong.

“I was amazed at how much I could fit in the bag and how it has a holster to put on my carry-on handle.

“Wow, love it. Worth every penny!”

Sale prices vary across each colour of the bag, and Amazon has marked the discount as a limited-time deal, so jet-setters will need to move fast.

ALL IN

Holiday spot slashes prices to entice Brits – from 7 nights all inclusive for £289pp

SAVE IN STYLE

The ‘perfect Ryanair underseat bag’ that ACTUALLY looks good is 40% off today

The Sun’s Travel writer Jenna Stevens spotted a similar deal on a Ryanair underseat cabin bag – and one that’s actually pretty stylish too.

Winger Leandro Trossard scores the only goal of the match as Arsenal survives VAR controversy to win at West Ham.

Arsenal cleared arguably the most dangerous ‌remaining obstacle in their path to the Premier League title by the skin of their teeth as Leandro Trossard’s late goal secured a ⁠dramatic 1-0 win at West Ham ⁠United to restore their five-point lead on Sunday.

The visitors were living dangerously at the London Stadium, but Trossard guided home a low shot from Martin Odegaard’s pass in the 83rd minute to spark delirium amongst the Arsenal fans and despair in the home ranks.

Arsenal ⁠rode their luck and survived a huge scare deep in stoppage time as West Ham substitute Callum Wilson had an equaliser ruled out for a foul after a long video assistant referee (VAR) review.

Victory put Arsenal a step closer to a first Premier League title since 2004, and they will be crowned football champions if they win their ⁠last two games at home to Burnley and away to Crystal Palace on the final day.

Arsenal have 79 points from 36 games with Manchester City, who have a game in hand, on 74.

For West Ham, it was a bitter pill to swallow as defeat left them staring at relegation, and they could find themselves four points from the safety zone with two games left if Tottenham Hotspur beat Leeds United on Monday.

If Arsenal do go on to lift the title, the incident in stoppage ‌time described by Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville as the “biggest VAR call in the history of the Premier League” will be just a detail in a season-long slog with Manchester City.

But it could have serious implications for West Ham, who would have deserved a point for a gritty display.

With time almost up and even West Ham keeper Mads Hermansen up for a corner, the ball broke for Wilson, who slammed a shot through a forest of legs and over the line.

West Ham fans went wild, and Manchester City’s probably did, too. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta looked aghast, but when the VAR instructed referee Chris Kavanagh to look at a possible foul by West Ham substitute Pablo on Arsenal keeper David Raya in the build-up, the stadium fell silent.

He ⁠returned to announce that the goal was disallowed and Arsenal could breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Teenager Mirra Andreeva reached her first Madrid Open final with a 6-4 7-6 (10-8) victory over Hailey Baptiste.

The 19-year-old Russian will face 26th seed Marta Kostyuk in Saturday’s final, after the Ukrainian beat Austria’s Anastasia Potapova 6-2 1-6 6-1.

Ninth seed Andreeva has won all bar one of her 13 clay-court matches this season, taking the title in Linz and reaching the semi-finals in Stuttgart, and becomes the first teenager to reach three WTA 1000 finals.

After taking the first set against the 30th seed, Andreeva served for the match at 5-4, but was broken by Baptiste who then took the second set to a tiebreak.

The 24-year-old American, who defeated world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the previous round, saved three set points before Andreeva completed her win.

“Honestly, I feel so much adrenaline inside. I feel like I’m still nervous. I’m just so happy that I won and that I was able to save all those set points,” said Andreeva, who has become the second-youngest finalist in the tournament’s history, behind Caroline Wozniacki.

“The serve helped me a lot. I’m so, so happy – I cannot really find ways to describe what I’m feeling right now,” added Andreeva.

Kostyuk advanced to her first WTA 1000 final in an error-strewn match against lucky loser Potapova, winning the first set with two breaks but losing the second in 30 minutes.

The 23-year-old raced to a 4-0 lead in the decider and refused to shake the hand of her Russian-born opponent after closing the match out.

In the men’s tournament, defending champion Casper Ruud was beaten in the quarter-finals by Belgian Alexander Blockx, 6-4 6-4.

Unseeded Blockx, who only broke into the top 100 for the first time last month and is at a career-high 69th in the world, has knocked out four consecutive seeds, including third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, in the Spanish capital.

The 21-year-old defeated Ruud, the Norwegian 21st seed, in 96 minutes and will now face Alexander Zverev in his first tour-level semi-final, having never previously won a tour match on clay prior to this season.

Two-time Madrid champion Zverev won 6-1 6-4 against Italian 10th seed Flavio Cobolli, who beat the German en route to the Munich final 12 days ago, and has now reached the semi-finals in seven of his past eight Masters 1000 tournaments.

Top seed Jannik Sinner will face 21st seed Arthur Fils in Friday’s other semi-final after the pair won their quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Beau Greaves became the first woman to win a PDC ranking title by defeating Michael Smith 8-7 in the Players Championship 11 final in Milton Keynes.

The 22-year-old checked out with 142 in the deciding leg to seal victory against the former world champion, closing with a double 11.

Greaves enjoyed a strong run to her encounter with Smith, defeating Rob Cross 6-5 and Gary Anderson 7-1 on the way to the final.

It is the latest step in Greaves’ ascendant career, after she recorded a 114-match winning run in the PDC Women’s Series and became the first woman to hit a nine-dart finish on the PDC ProTour.

Elsewhere in the tournament, world number two Luke Humphries exited in the third round 6-5 to Max Hopp, while Premier League Darts players Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock fell in the first round.

The event did not feature world champion Luke Littler, who is yet to play in a Players Championship event this year, while Michael van Gerwen, Jonny Clayton, Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall were also not in the field.

Shaun Murphy produced a superb performance to thrash China’s Xiao Guodong 13-3 and become the first player into the 2026 World Championship quarter-finals.

Murphy, a champion at the Crucible in 2005 and runner-up in 2009, 2015 and 2021, led 6-2 overnight against China’s world number nine Xiao Guodong, before winning seven of the eight frames in Friday’s first session.

It meant the 43-year-old eighth seed won his match with a session to spare.

Murphy made breaks of 93, 66, 103, 69, 115 and 103 in Friday’s session to set up a last-eight tie against the winner of the all-Chinese match between reigning world champion Zhao Xintong and Ding Junhui, with the quarter-final beginning on Tuesday and finishing on Wednesday.

“I’m really pleased with how I played. I’m delighted,” said Murphy. “It does not happen often that you win with a session to spare, because everyone is so good.

“I would not say I’m desperate to win another World Championship, but it is close.

“It’s 21 years since that clueless 22-year-old came here and nicked the trophy from everyone. Since then I’ve been trying my hardest to get the trophy again. It’s not been through the lack of trying.”

Murphy last reached the quarter-final stage in 2021, when he went on to the final and lost to Mark Selby, and said he still feels he can improve.

“I’m loving the game, loving practice and still think I can get better,” said Murphy. “The best days are still ahead of me.”

Luke Littler overcame a chorus of boos in Liverpool to strengthen his grip on a Premier League play-off place with an impressive 6-1 win over Jonny Clayton.

Manchester United fan Littler, 19, was booed throughout the night on Merseyside, but he kept his cool to claim his fourth nightly win in week 12.

The world champion saw off Luke Humphries 6-2 in the quarter-finals, but was pushed to the limit by Michael van Gerwen in the last four.

With the top four in the Premier League table going through to the finals night, Clayton leads the way overall, three points clear of second-placed Littler, who is 15 ahead of Gian van Veen in fifth.

Clayton and Littler are clear of the rest with four league-phase nights to go before finals night at London’s O2 Arena on 28 May.

When comparing his reception in Rotterdam last Thursday to the one he got in Liverpool, Littler said: “Rotterdam was way louder than this tonight.

“There was a little bit [of booing] but this week was nothing compared to last week.

“I’ve just got to forget about it. I was definitely focused and wanted to win tonight, and that’s what I’ve done.”

Littler has finished top of the table in the previous two years and is determined to do so again, saying: “I’m very close to Jonny now and I’m going to go chasing.

“I want to finish top once again and if it’s not to be then it’s not to be, but there are still four weeks left to play for.”

Littler, who was booed in Rotterdam last week following his exchange with Dutch number one Gian van Veen in Manchester three weeks ago, showed his resilience to secure another five points.

He quickly raced into a 4-0 lead over Clayton in the final after capitalising on missed doubles from the 2021 Premier League champion.

While Clayton was only able to land one out of his six double attempts, Littler averaged more than 104 and had a 60% checkout rate to secure victory.

A few days ago came the astonishing news that the world record in the half-marathon was obliterated by a 5-foot-5 humanoid robot named Lightning in Beijing.

Now a robot named Ace has achieved another milestone for AI and robotics by defeating expert-level humans at table tennis in Tokyo, according to a study published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature.

What’s next, a robotic baseball player named Babe that swats 500-foot home runs and throws 120 mph pitches, eclipsing Shohei Ohtani’s real-life achievements and commanding a billion dollar contract?

It’s all fun and games until it isn’t.

Extraordinary athletic achievements by AI robots might seem innocuous, especially compared to far more grave threats described by various experts, including the landmark publication “An Overview of Catastrophic AI Risks” by the Center for AI Safety in 2023.

To name a few: Misinformation and social media manipulation; job displacement and economic inequality; cybersecurity threats; lethal autonomous weapons; environmental impact; psychological dependence; and ultimately, the existential risk to humanity of losing control of rogue AI systems.

For now, let’s get back to ping-pong.

Ace was developed by good, old Sony, the 80-year-old makers of gaming consoles, televisions, smartphones, cameras and audio equipment that we enjoy every day.

Of course Sony has an AI research division, and while most consumers were still going ga-ga over PlayStation 5 Pro 2TB, it developed the first robot to attain expert-level performance in a competitive physical sport that requires rapid decisions and precision execution.

Ace integrates nine synchronized cameras and three vision systems to track the spinning plastic ping-pong ball. Its lightning-fast processing time would be the envy of even Lightning, the humanoid robot that broke the world record in the half-marathon by nearly seven minutes.

“Here we present Ace, to our knowledge the first real-world autonomous system competitive with elite human table tennis players,” the study said. “Ace addresses the challenges of physical real-time interaction through a new, high-speed perception system using event-based vision sensors and a new control system based on model-free reinforcement learning, as well as state-of-the-art high-speed robot hardware.”

Ace showed out in matches that followed International Table Tennis Federation rules and were officiated by licensed umpires. Most of the matches took place in 2025 — before table tennis tale “Marty Supreme” even hit theaters — although Ace defeated professional players as recently as March.

One such human is Mayuka Taira, who said in comments provided by Sony AI to Reuters that the robot’s strengths are what one might expect: unpredictability and an absence of emotion.

“Because you can’t read its reactions, it’s impossible to sense what kind of shots it dislikes or struggles with, and that makes it even more difficult to play against,” Taira said.

Initial real-world applications of Ace-like robots likely would be in manufacturing and service industries, although untapped potential lies across sports, entertainment and safety-critical environments, according to the study.

“These results highlight the potential of physical AI agents to perform complex, real-time interactive tasks, suggesting broader applications in domains requiring fast, precise human–robot interaction,” the study said.

Those domains certainly could include baseball diamonds, basketball courts and gridirons. Hockey rinks could be lumped in provided robots can skate.

AI already is used in MLB. The vaunted Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS) uses AI-powered Hawk-Eye camera technology and computer vision to determine if pitches are strikes or balls. Twelve high-speed cameras track ball flight and AI delivers the definitive call to the scoreboard within seconds of a challenge.

A robotic batter facing a robotic pitcher with calls made by ABS might eliminate any disagreements over balls and strikes.

Terrifying.

Reuters contributed to this story.

Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to clinch victory at the indoor clay-court tournament in Stuttgart.

World number two Rybakina came through a close first set against her Czech opponent and raced through the second to wrap up a 7-5 6-1 victory in one hour and 18 minutes.

It is the 26-year-old’s second title of 2026, following her Australian Open success in January.

It is also the second time she has won the event in Stuttgart, which has a Porsche car as part of the winner’s prize.

When she previously won the title in 2024, she was initially unable to drive that year’s prize as she did not have a driving licence at the time.

“I want to say a big thanks to my team, without you guys it wouldn’t be possible,” said Rybakina. “Thank you for always pushing me to do better and improve every day.”

Muchova’s run to the final followed her victory at February’s Qatar Open and will leave her just outside the top 10 in the world rankings.