Ben

Ben Shelton messed up.

Sure, the U.S. tennis star advanced to his second U.S. Open semifinal in epic fashion, knocking off defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set marathon that did not end until 3:33 a.m. ET Wednesday.

It was during his on-court interview afterward, however, that Shelton committed a bit of a faux pas while discussing the match that ended later than any other in tournament history.

“I’m just hoping that my best friend and my sister over there don’t have to be at work at 6 a.m. in three hours,” Shelton said following the 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory. “It’d be huge from their employers to let them have the day off today.”

Shelton certainly didn’t have to give a shout out to two of his loved ones for hanging in there for the entire 4 hours 28 minutes … but since he did, there’s one other person Shelton probably should have mentioned as well: soccer star Trinity Rodman, who also was sitting courtside throughout the match. TV cameras showed her laughing and apparently saying, “What about me?”

Shelton and Rodman have been dating for more than a year, after going Instagram official in May 2025. They are seen in the stands at each other’s sporting events when their schedules allow.

For the record, Rodman apparently did have to work hours later. The U.S. national team and Washington Spirit player posted a video later Wednesday morning on TikTok that showed her inside a gym with the caption, “Yes, I’m at training now.”

She doesn’t seem to hold a grudge over her boyfriend’s omission, though. Rodman posted a video on her Instagram Story of the match’s aftermath, with the caption, “The moment belongs to Shelton!”

And Shelton actually did include Rodman in that moment, with the two of them making eye contact and flashing his signature “dialed-in” hand motion to each other as he celebrated.

Rodman’s schedule with the Spirit hasn’t allowed her to attend all of Shelton’s matches at Flushing Meadows, but she has been to at least three. For his Round 2 victory against Hubert Hurkacz, Rodman wore a black crop top that read, “I ❤️ my boyfriend.”

For the quarterfinal, Rodman carried a Shelton figurine, possibly as a good luck charm.

Shelton will face fellow U.S. player Frances Tiafoe in Friday’s semifinals.

This huge cave is more than 2,000 metres deep.

Deep beneath a massive mountain range lies a sprawling cave system that spirals beneath the hills, extending more than 2000 metres into the earth. This cave system is the deepest in the world (depending on who you ask), its limestone caverns so huge that you could upend Ben Nevis and place it inside, and still have room remaining.

The Veryovkina Cave lies beneath the Gagra Range of the Western Caucasus within the Georgian region of Abkhazia. This cave is one of two which frequently compete for the title of the deepest cave on earth.

According to Live Science, both Veryovkina and another cave in the same region, Krubera (also known as the Everest of the Deep), alternate as record holders, depending on the most recent research.

Both caves are more than 2,000 metres deep and are frequently explored further by scientists and cavers who are constantly updating the measurements.

The caves are dark, inhospitable and cold with temperatures rarely exceeding 3°C.

As you descend further into the depths, animals begin to change. Many of the species which call these caves home have no eyes or pigmentation and have long antennae, appendages and hairs which help them sense vibrations and move throughout the blackness of the cave system.

As of January this year, Veryovkina is currently in the lead, with a depth of 2,212 metres, or 1.37 miles. Krubera is close behind, at 2,199 metres, or 1.37 miles.

Veryovkina was discovered in 1968 and given the name S-115 and then renamed in 1986 after Alexander Veryovkin, a cave diver who died in a water-filled passage while exploring a nearby cave Su-Akan.

Another major incident in Veryovkina Cave occurred in 2018, and very nearly killed a team of cave explorers.

National Geographic photographer Robbie Shone and his assistant Jeff Wade joined a team of Russian explorers who had descended to the very bottom of the cave over four days.

They were camped in the darkness to undertake a more detailed examination of the cavern.

One morning, the team were eating breakfast when the cavern shook as if an earthquake had struck, and according to Robbie an “enormous torrent” of white water appeared from a hole and began to flood the cavern.

National Geographic wrote about the team’s desperate scramble back up the cave to escape the rapid flooding.

Robbie remembered climbing through the tight passages upwards as they rapidly filled with water.

He said: “All I could see was the white rope in front of me. “And I just kept moving the ascender up a little bit at a time. I was saying to myself, ‘Just keep going. Just keep doing this.’”

The whole team escaped from the cave, barely.

Robbie said: “This team had the strength, the reserves, mentally and physically, to deal with the worst situation. That’s not only why they’re exploring the deepest cave in the world so successfully, but why we all survived.”

Rothesay County Championship, Division Two, The OurCoop County Ground, Derby (day two)

Durham 283: Clark 64, Lees 63, Stokes 53; Aitchison 5-70

Derbyshire 127-6: Jewell 28, Montgomery 28; Stokes 2-14

Derbyshire (3pts) trail Durham (3pts) by 156 runs with four first innings wickets remaining

Match scorecard

The Ben Stokes show rolled into Derby on a pulsating second day of the County Championship match between Derbyshire and Durham at the OurCoop County Ground.

The former England captain delivered another top all-round performance, scoring 53 with 11 fours and then taking a wicket with his first ball.

He had figures of 2-14 but then pulled up at the start of his fifth over and had to leave the field although he was back on before the close.

Ben Aitchison starred for the hosts, taking 5-70 to bowl the Division Two leaders out for 283 which included half-centuries from Alex Lees and Graham Clark.

That looked an even better score when Derbyshire collapsed to 127-6, 156 behind, with Matthew Potts and Will Rhodes both taking two wickets.

The prospect of seeing Stokes bat put a few on the gate and it was not long before he was striding to the middle.

Aitchison was getting the ball to nip around and he moved one in to trap David Bedingham lbw in the third over of a sunny morning.

Stokes edged his second ball just short of the slips but a lofted drive off Brett Randell suggested he was in the mood to repeat his hundred on this ground in the One-Day Cup last month.

Aitchison had Lees dropped on 58 by Brooke Guest diving across first slip, and he beat Stokes, who responded by glancing the next ball to the fine leg boundary.

Stokes moved into Bazball mode when he dropped to one knee to drive Nick Potts gloriously through the covers before a dismissive pull brought him another boundary.

It was, however, far from a smooth ride, with a clip off Anuj Dal just evading mid-wicket before an edge through the slips took him to a 56-ball fifty, before Dal pouched a leading edge in his follow-through to reduce Durham to 182-5.

Clark mirrored Stokes, hitting two sixes in a 57-ball half-century and with Ollie Robinson, took Durham to 260 before the second new ball gave the game another twist.

Aitchison got the rewards he deserved when he had Clark caught at second slip to end a stand of 78 from 129 balls and then beat Robinson’s drive.

Both Brydon Carse and Potts went cheaply, the latter bowled by a beauty from Aitchison who became the first Derbyshire bowler for 61 years to take five wickets in an innings in four consecutive first-class matches.

Durham had lost their last five wickets for 23 and Derbyshire’s openers soon discovered there was plenty there for the pace bowlers.

Harry Came and Caleb Jewell were beaten numerous times by Potts and Carse but clung on until Stokes inevitably broke through.

His first ball drew Came into a defensive push which flew to third slip and in his fourth over he swung one in to beat Jewell’s drive as he went for 28.

There was concern when Stokes went off feeling his lower left side but was back on after Rhodes removed Wayne Madsen.

Rhodes then tempted Matthew Montgomery (28) into a drive before Potts struck twice late on, removing Martin Andersson for 21 and Guest for one as Durham again demonstrated their promotion ambitions.

Report by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay.

Great Britain’s Max Burgin and Ben Pattison finish first and second in their semi-final races to qualify for the 800m final, while Ireland’s Mark English also qualifies for the final after breaking the European Athletics Championship record time for the event.

FOLLOW LIVE: European Athletics Championships – day three

Available to UK users only.

Ben Jones, the actor best known for portraying trusty mechanic Cooter Davenport on “The Dukes of Hazzard” before serving two terms in Congress as a representative from Georgia, has died. He was 84.

Jones died Sunday of a heart attack at his home in Virginia, his wife, Alma Viator, said on social media.

“I lost the love of my life today,” Viator wrote on Facebook. “Ben passed from a massive heart attack. He was home resting in his favorite chair waiting for the Braves to come on and whoop the Yankees. Ben had the most amazing rich full life. He loved and was loved by so many. He will be missed. I loved him so so much.”

A character actor whose earliest credits include films such as “Together for Days” (1972) and “Moonrunners” (1975), Jones’ break came when he landed the role of “Crazy Cooter” Davenport on the CBS action comedy “The Dukes of Hazzard.” The series, which aired from 1979 to 1985, primarily followed close-knit cousins Bo (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat), as well as those in their orbit in the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia.

“The Dukes of Hazzard lost another integral part of their cast today,” Wopat wrote in his tribute to Jones on Instagram. “Ben Jones was a fine friend and a fierce advocate of all the best things we can offer in the entertainment business. He will be sorely missed… Denver Pyle frequently said to Ben, ‘I’m not your Uncle Jesse!’ But I feel like we lost a Duke cousin today.”

Initially introduced as a gruff wild man without much regard for the law, Davenport eventually settled into a loyal, fun-loving “honorary Duke” beloved by fans. The mechanic would often help repair the show’s signature vehicle, an orange 1969 Dodge Charger known as General Lee.

Despite mixed reviews from critics — former Times television critic Howard Rosenberg denounced it in 1980 as “a spittoon of a series about hotrod-speeding, card-carrying hicks somewhere in the South” — “Dukes” was one of the most-watched television shows of its time. Jones would return to play Davenport after his political career in the TV films “The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!” and “The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood,” where the character was also revealed to have ventured into politics as a congressman.

Born Aug. 30, 1941, in Tarboro, N.C., Jones grew up in Virginia and North Carolina before eventually attending the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to study writing. He was open about his struggles with alcohol and told The Times in 1993 that he had been sober since 1977.

After his time on “Dukes,” Jones was persuaded to run for office, challenging a popular Republican incumbent, Pat Swindall, for his seat representing Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives. Though he lost his first attempt in 1986, Jones won their rematch two years later after Swindall had been indicted for perjury in relation to a money-laundering scheme. (Swindall was later convicted.)

Jones, a Democrat, served two terms representing Georgia’s 4th Congressional District before redistricting took his seat. He later attempted to challenge then-Rep. Newt Gingrich for his seat but lost in the primary. He ran for office again after moving to Virginia, challenging Republican incumbent Eric Cantor for his seat in 2002 but was again unsuccessful.

“I think there are a lot of similarities between politics and entertainment, even more so with the advent of television,” Jones told The Times in 1993, shortly after leaving office. “It’s all about communication.”

Proud of his Southern heritage, Jones was also known for his controversial defense of the Confederate flag, which he described in a 2015 essay published by the New York Times as “a symbol of a non-racist Southern spirit” that had been “appropriated and desecrated” by racists.

Jones is survived by Viator, his fifth wife; his three children, Rachel, Jeanne and Walker; three stepchildren and 10 grandchildren, according to the New York Times.