defeat

SACRAMENTO — Donovan Walton hit a three-run homer and rookie Henry Bolte had his first four-hit game to help the Athletics beat the Angels 7-3 on Wednesday night.

The Angels (60-98) are trying to avoid the first 100-loss season in franchise history.

Lawrence Butler had an RBI single and Walton hit his ninth home run, a two-out shot off rookie Walbert Ureña (9-11) for a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Bolte went four for five, scored two runs and had an RBI double in the second that put the Athletics (63-95) up 5-0.

Mike Trout and Vaughn Grissom hit back-to-back homers off Jeffrey Springs in the fourth to make it 5-2. It was the 22nd homer this season for Trout the 426th of his career, all with the Angels.

Grissom followed his 13th homer with an RBI single in the fifth to cut it to 5-3 and chase Springs.

Alika Williams and Bolte had singles off José Fermin in the sixth and both scored on a double by Shea Langeliers for the final margin.

Springs gave up three runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. The left-hander was 3-0 after his first four starts, but went 1-14 over his final 25. Geoff Hartlieb (2-1) got five outs for the win and Elvis Alvarado struck out two in the ninth to close it out.

Ureña yielded five runs and seven hits in four innings. The right-hander had given five runs in his previous three starts covering 21 innings.

Athletics catcher Brian Serven fouled a bunt off his left eye in the sixth and had to leave the game.

LAS VEGAS — Four-time MVP A’ja Wilson scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Aces to an 89-79 victory over the Sparks on Tuesday night and clinch at least a No. 3 playoff seed for Las Vegas.

The Aces (30-13), on a six-game winning streak, will get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, which begin Sunday. If the standings hold, they would face No. 6 seed Washington (27-16) in the best-of-three series.

Chelsea Gray scored 17 points for the Aces, Stephanie Talbot had 14 points and Jackie Young totaled 14 points and 11 assists.

Nneka Ogwumike, who was honored before the game, scored 17 points to lead the Sparks (16-27). Erica Wheeler added 16 points.

The Aces used a 15-point run in the first quarter to take early control, going up 17-5. They led by 17 points when the Sparks went on their own long run, an 11-point spurt in the second period to cut the lead to 35-29.

The Sparks then remained within striking distance, but never closed the gap. Las Vegas’ 10-point run in the third period put the Aces back in control with a 63-45 lead.

The Aces presented Ogwumike, an eight-time All-Star and 2016 MVP, with a flower bouquet before the game. Ogwumike, who announced Aug. 19 she would retire after this season, also received a standing ovation from the crowd. She also is president of the players’ union.

The Sparks played without Dearica Hamby (left knee) and Cameron Brink (right ankle). Hamby, who played in the Aces’ organization from 2015-22, averages 14.4 points and 7.0 rebounds. Brink, the second overall pick in the 2024 draft, averages 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds.

Britain’s Callum Connor was given a UFC contract despite losing in Dana White’s Contender Series, but Norbert Novenyi Jr missed out despite winning.

Six fighters from Tuesday’s five fights earned contracts in MMA’s leading promotion – four of the winners plus two losers, including 26-year-old Connor.

Peru’s Piero Guaylupo earned a unanimous decision over lightweight rival Connor, who suffered the first professional loss of his career.

UFC president White said it could be a fight of the year contender because it contained more significant strikes than any UFC lightweight three-round bout.

“Both of these guys are in the hospital right now, as they should be,” said White.

“One of the greatest fights you’ll ever see on Tuesdays or Saturdays or any other day.

“For Piero to be 21 years old and fight the way he did, the fight was incredible. But it takes two guys to make a great fight. I’m taking them both.”

Connor, from Manchester, now has a pro record of 8-1 and has a four-fight win streak on UK promotion Full Contact Contender.

Middleweight Novenyi, who was born in Hungary but fights out of London, earned a unanimous decision over American Theo Haig to improve his pro record to 11-1.

But the 26-year-old was the only fighter who won on Tuesday not to be given a contract. He was told by White that “tonight’s not your night, my friend”.

“Norbert, both of you guys have great records,” White said. “You came in, fought a good fight.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything tonight that makes me say, ‘I got to have this guy in the UFC’.

“Whatever you decide to do here, we would like to take another look at you.”

Sri Lanka were bowled out for 69 runs, 10 less than Mandhana’s belligerent match-winning innings as India retained gold.

Smriti Mandhana’s whirlwind innings of 79 runs helped India crush Sri Lanka by 147 runs and win a second consecutive women’s cricket gold at the Asian Games.

India smashed 216-3 off their 20 overs, the highest women’s total in Asian Games history, with 18 fours and 13 sixes in the final on Tuesday.

Richa Ghosh and Bharti Fulmali plundered 25 off the final over from the hapless Mithali Ayodhya, who did not help her cause by conceding eight wides.

Sri Lanka were never in the hunt, and captain Chamari Athapaththu’s 29 was their only innings of note as they were skittled for 69 in 15.4 overs and had to settle for silver.

Opening batter Mandhana hit seven sixes and five fours in a 45-ball knock that sent the ball to all parts of the Korogi Athletic Park ground in Nagoya.

After India captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat, Shafali Verma, who made an unbeaten century in the semifinal, and Mandhana put on a blistering opening partnership.

The pair had raced to 99 in the 10th over when Verma had a rush of blood, playing a needless reverse sweep which she top-edged to Kawya Kavindi at point to fall for 48 off 29 balls.

Mandhana, the greatest run-scorer in women’s T20 cricket history, had reached her fifty earlier in the over and sailed on in style, clubbing anything loose to the boundary.

Harmanpreet joined her, and the pair took the score to 141 before the captain holed out to long-off for 19.

Mandhana, looking to accelerate further in the latter overs, skied an attempted six and was out in the 17th over with the score on 163.

Ghosh clattered 49 off 22 balls with three sixes and six fours to take India past 200 in the final over.

Earlier, some late-order hitting by Pakistan captain Fatima Sana set up a 31-run win over Bangladesh in the bronze medal match.

Sana came in with her side rocking at 67-5 in the 12th over but plundered 45 off 30 balls, including three fours and three sixes, and was out off the last ball of the 20 overs after seeing Pakistan to 145-8.

Her 67-run partnership with Aliya Riaz (25) for the sixth wicket proved the turning point, and Bangladesh could only muster 114-7 in reply.

Fuming Real Madrid manager waves printouts of what he believes were clear red-card tackles by Atletico Madrid players following his team’s loss.

Jose Mourinho needed only a sheet of paper to deliver his verdict on ⁠⁠La Liga’s Madrid derby, waving ⁠⁠images of two first-half tackles as he accused the officials of losing control in Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat by Atletico Madrid.

Real were furious that Atletico defender Cristian Romero was not sent off for a stamp ⁠⁠on Jude Bellingham and also complained about a challenge by Lee Kang-in on Federico Valverde, before the visitors were themselves reduced to 10 men five minutes after half-time in the heated capital derby on Sunday.

Valverde finished the match but was later diagnosed with “severe trauma to his left ankle”, the ⁠⁠club said in a statement. The midfielder will undergo further tests, it added.

“We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here,” Mourinho said, holding up the images in what was the start of a near five-minute rant.

“Those were two clear red cards. The difficulties we’ve faced since the sending-off: 11 against 10. Well, we can imagine what 50 minutes of ‌‌11 against nine would have been like if justice had been done.”

Real defender Dean Huijsen was dismissed for bringing down Giuliano Simeone inside the area as the last defender, allowing Alejandro Grimaldo to score with a low spot kick. Jonathan David doubled Atletico’s lead six minutes later, with Antonio Ruediger heading in a free kick late to reduce the deficit.

Mourinho said he could only “hug” his players after what he described as a first half “full of class and great character”, but he aimed sharp criticism at referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias and those who appointed him.

“They’ve put a referee, aged 41, ⁠⁠with no international experience – it’s certainly not because he’s a great referee,” Mourinho said.

“Then the ⁠⁠poor chap has come here and hasn’t been able to cope with the pressure – and it really is intense pressure. I call it ’80s-style pressure’ here in this stadium, which you hardly ever see these days.”

Asked about being six points behind Barcelona, Mourinho offered a pointed reply.

“If they just leave us in ⁠⁠peace and let us compete on a level playing field with everyone else, we’ve still got a long way to go,” he said.

“I don’t want to go so far as to say ⁠⁠this was set up … I want to believe that they simply made a ⁠⁠mistake.”

Asked about Mourinho’s comments, Atletico manager Diego Simeone urged restraint.

“Whoever is speaking – be it me, Mourinho, Hansi Flick or Manuel Pellegrini, anyone – we have to be careful what we say,” Simeone said. “When you step outside the bounds of respect, whoever you are, it’s not on. You can’t cross that line.”

Simeone preferred to focus ‌‌on Atletico’s performance.

“Today we saw a great match; we defended very well against a team that plays very well,” he said.

“We controlled the match when it was 11 against 11. We continued to control it when it became 10 against 11. But ‌‌this ‌‌isn’t just another step towards continuing to grow and improve.”

Atletico climbed above Real to second in the standings on 16 points, five behind leaders Barcelona and one ahead of Real and Real Betis.

JSerra converted on three fourth downs in the second half Friday, allowing the Lions to battle back from a seven-point, first-half deficit to beat host Bishop Amat 37-28.

With the nonleague victory, JSerra improves to 4-1, while Bishop Amat falls to 4-1.

JSerra quarterback Hayes Cloutier, who threw for two touchdowns and rushed for three, engineered all three second-half conversions, two with his legs and one with his arm.

The first, and most impressive, came on the Lions’ first possession of the half. Trailing 28-21 and facing fourth and three on the Bishop Amat 27-yard line, Cloutier zigged and zagged across the field, eluding most of the defense.

After the Lions tied the score, sophomore defensive back Sean Veritch snagged a deflected pass by Bishop Amat quarterback Domenico Doran, and the Lions drove to the Lancers’ 16-yard line. On fourth and 10, Evan Leddy kicked a 33-yard field goal to give JSerra an apparent 31-28 lead, but the Lions accepted a penalty on Bishop Amat that moved the ball to the 11-yard line.

JSerra coach Hardy Nickerson opted to go for it on fourth down, and Cloutier rewarded his gamble, scoring on an 11-yard run. Leddy’s extra point was blocked, and JSerra settled for a 34-28 lead.

JSerra High quarterback Hayes Cloutier leaps as he tries to evade a tackle by a Bishop Amat defenders.

(Nick Koza)

The Lions’ defense, which had given up scores on four of Bishop Amat’s five first-half possessions, then stiffened, forcing the Lancers to punt. With about two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Lions reeled off a 23-play drive, which included four JSerra penalties and ate up more than 10 minutes.

A 22-yard run by Cloutier was key, as was his four-yard completion to Clark Cokely on a fourth-and-two play. The drive ended with a 44-yard field goal by Leddy that gave JSerra a 37-28 lead.

After surrendering 28 first-half points, JSerra held Bishop Amat scoreless, and running back Justin Clinton, who rushed for more than 130 yards, including a 67-yard burst and a 43-yard touchdown, in check in the second half.

“It was a heavyweight fight,” Nickerson said of the first half. “But my defensive staff just put it together in the second. We turned things up and made adjustments.

“We knew that if we could get in the throwing lanes and forced them to have to pass the football … we felt we would have a chance. And those guys went out and executed the second half and it was beautiful.”

Rothesay County Championship, Division One, Headingley (day four)

Yorkshire 212 & 275: Hill 89, Bess 77; Overton 3-44

Somerset 201: Cliff 8-76 & 101: Lammonby 32; Coad 4-33

Yorkshire (19 pts) beat Somerset (3 pts) by 185 runs

Match scorecard

A relentless Yorkshire bowling performance put a significant dent in Somerset’s County Championship title challenge, the hosts consigning the pre-game Division One leaders to a hammer blow defeat at Headingley.

Somerset – chasing 287 – started day four on 73-3, quickly slipped to 79-6 and were later bowled out for 101 just before 12:00 BST to lose by 185 runs.

A third defeat of the season, and a second against Yorkshire, means that Warwickshire now lead Division One by 11 points from second-placed Somerset, who have never won this title. Nottinghamshire will also be in the mix come next week’s final round even if they lose against Sussex later on Friday.

For the mid-table White Rose, they claimed their fifth win in 13 games and backed up May’s success at Taunton. New ball seamers Ben Coad and Ben Cliff starred today, Coad finishing with four wickets and Cliff three.

Outstanding Cliff ended with career best match figures of 11-105, the 13th best match analysis in his county’s first-class history.

Cliff and Coad struck in the space of five balls inside the day’s opening half an hour, putting Yorkshire on course for a 19-point haul to Somerset’s three.

They removed not out batters Tom Lammonby and Tom Abell as Somerset lost two wickets for the addition of only three runs – 76-5.

Lammonby was squared up and caught behind off Cliff for 32 before Abell looped a catch up to backward point off the shoulder of the bat against Coad.

And when Coad struck again almost three overs later, at the end of the 39th, Somerset were in significant trouble, with James Rew caught at second slip on the drive.

Yorkshire came into day four knowing they had the edge, but one wicket they were desperate for was that of Craig Overton, who had broken their hearts back in July here with a stunning 79 not out off 30 balls in the Vitality Blast quarter-final.

Cliff got him caught behind pushing forwards in the 42nd over for five, also trapping Lewis Gregory lbw three balls later.

At 88-8, it was all but game over under an overcast Headingley sky but not quite matching the gloomy Somerset outlook.

The Overton and Gregory wickets were Cliff’s 10th and 11th in the match following his eight in the first innings.

Like Overton, Migael Pretorius had scored a first-innings fifty. But George Hill had him caught behind, leaving Somerset at 92-9.

Matthew Revis then wrapped things up by yorking Jake Ball, with day four lasting only 82 minutes in all.

Somerset face Surrey at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton in the final round of fixtures, which starts on Thursday, while Yorkshire can continue to play the role of spoilers when they travel to face Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

ECB Reporters’ Network supported by Rothesay.

The Rams will be without edge rusher Myles Garrett for at least the next four games.

Will they have Aaron Donald for Monday night’s game against the New York Giants?

“We’ll see how this week goes,” coach Sean McVay said Thursday before practice.

The Rams are coming off an embarrassing 27-7 defeat by the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.

Garrett, who failed to record a tackle or a quarterback hit in the defeat, had surgery on his left knee Monday. He will not play against the Giants, Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills.

McVay noted that Garrett was on crutches Wednesday but walking without them Thursday.

“He’s like Wolverine, healing fast,” McVay quipped, adding that Garrett would not be rushed back.

Donald, 35, ended a two-year retirement when he rejoined the Rams late last month. He did not travel to Australia.

Asked what benchmarks Donald would have to hit before returning, McVay said it was up to how Donald felt after getting more 11-on-11 reps during practice.

“There just hasn’t been a whole lot of opportunities for different reasons … based on the schedule that we’ve had,” McVay said. “But we are hopeful … that he’ll have some good work [Thursday], tomorrow and then hopefully he’s feeling good enough.

“And if he says he’s ready to go, then we’ll be excited to see him rock.”

McVay said the Rams have moved forward from the loss to the 49ers.

“It’s almost like you try and do the ‘Men in Black’ thing,” McVay said, referencing the movie franchise, “where you say all right, ‘hey I don’t remember what happened.’ That was so long ago. We’re not playing in Australia ever again, I hope. Not because it wasn’t a great atmosphere. That will get taken out of context.”

BOSTON — Reid Detmers struck out nine and gave up one hit over six shutout innings, Zach Neto was four for five with a two-run homer, and the Angels beat the Red Sox 6-1 on Tuesday night to end Boston’s five-game winning streak.

Vaughn Grissom and Jose Siri hit RBI singles and the Angels scored twice on double-play grounders, providing ample offense for Detmers (5-8), who got his first win since a 1-0 decision over Kansas City on Aug. 15.

Detmers struck out at least one in all six innings he pitched and allowed only three runners. He retired the last 10 batters he faced after hitting Jahmai Jones with a pitch in the third, then was pulled before the seventh after throwing a career-high 112 pitches.

The Angels outhit Boston 15-4 and won for the just the third time in their last 15 games. They also avoided a potential season sweep, improving to 1-4 against the Red Sox.

Boston went without a hit from Wilyer Abreu’s single in the first until Trevor Story led off the seventh with a double off of José Fermin, who gave up Boston’s run when Nick Sogard drove in Story with a single.

Neto gave the Angels a cushion in the eighth with his 24th homer to left-center off Raymond Burgos.

Patrick Sandoval (1-5) struck out seven in six innings for Boston, but also gave up four runs, 10 hits and two walks. His two-out walk of Mike Trout in the third helped lead to two runs when Siri and Grissom followed with consecutive singles to put the Angels up 3-1.

British number one Katie Boulter endured a “bad day at the office” as she won just one game in a 58-minute demolition by Karolina Muchova in the US Open second round.

The match, originally scheduled to be played on one of the outer courts, was moved to the 14,000-capacity Louis Armstrong Stadium after heavy rain in New York.

But fans who had counted themselves lucky to have gained a third match on their day session ticket may have been left feeling short-changed, as Boulter fell to a swift 6-1 6-0 defeat by the Czech seventh seed.

“Ultimately, it was a bad day at the office – times two,” said Boulter.

“I struggled with the conditions. I struggled with the roof, the noise, I let things distract me.

“I let it get to me. I’m not usually aware of everything going on. It made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. I have to deal with it better.”

Fellow Briton Jacob Fearnley also failed to reach the third round as he suffered a 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-3 loss to Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

But Francesca Jones had better fortune as she returned to win her first-round match against Poland’s Magda Linette after it was interrupted by rain on Tuesday.

Boulter’s serve let her down as she hit eight double faults and no aces, while she won just 33% of points behind her first serve.

Unable to fend off any of the seven break points she faced, the 30-year-old was not helped by an unforced error count of 22 compared to just four winners.

In comparison, Wimbledon runner-up Muchova landed 14 winners and just nine unforced errors as she impressed with smart drop shots and piercing groundstrokes.

“I would be really humbled [if I was Boulter], I would sit down with my team and say ‘OK, we need to change something big time’,” former world number five Daniela Hantuchova told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“First of all, it was very obvious today that it was the serve. I feel like it needs to be cleared up because she was losing the rhythm and not using her legs. That’s the number one thing.

“If I am Boulter, I would be on the practice court tomorrow. If she still wants to invest everything into her tennis then she needs to be on the court.”

Boulter has had plenty to celebrate in her personal life this summer after marrying Australia’s Alex de Minaur, the world number seven, in July.

However, it has been a disappointing tennis season for the world number 62, with just two wins across the four Grand Slam tournaments.

Since suffering a first-round exit at Wimbledon, Boulter has won just two of the six matches she has played.

Vaughn Grissom drove in four runs, rookie Walbert Ureña pitched seven strong innings and the Angels ended a seven-game losing streak with a 10-1 victory over the sloppy New York Yankees on Monday night.

Mike Trout had a two-run single and Christian Moore drove in a pair of runs as the Angels won at home for the first time since Aug. 15. Ureña (9-9) gave up five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Elmer Rodríguez (0-3) failed to make it out of the fourth for the Yankees (78-60), giving up four runs and four hits with three walks over 3⅔ innings. It was the shortest of his six career starts since making his major league debut in April.

Spencer Jones homered for the Yankees, who committed three errors after scoring a combined 25 runs in consecutive wins over the rival Boston Red Sox at home last weekend. New York is three games ahead of Boston for the top American League wild-card spot and 4½ games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.

The Angels (53-85) took a 1-0 lead in the third on Grissom’s run-scoring single. Zach Neto had an RBI single in the fourth after both Oswald Peraza and Tyler Heineman were hit by pitches from Rodríguez with two outs.

Trout added his two-run single in the fourth for his first multi-RBI hit since a two-run homer on July 8.

Jones connected in the fifth to make it 4-1.

Moore had a bloop RBI double in the bottom of the fifth and scored on an errant pickoff throw to second by Michael Fulmer. Neto scored in the sixth for a 7-1 lead when Yankees shortstop José Caballero made two errors on what could have been an inning-ending double-play grounder by Grissom.

In the eighth, Grissom made it 9-1 with a two-run double off the wall in left field and Moore added an RBI single. Grissom finished with three hits and scored twice.

Up next: Yankees RHP Gerrit Cole (7-3, 3.19 ERA) faces Angels RHP Grayson Rodriguez (4-5, 6.03) in the middle game of the series Tuesday.

American wildcard Sofia Kenin beat 46-year-old compatriot Venus Williams 6-2, 7-6(6) in a ⁠⁠US Open first-round match ⁠⁠that began past midnight in New York, the latest start in women’s tournament history.

The match at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday got under way after Novak Djokovic’s loss to Mariano Navone in five sets, with a sizable contingent of fans staying on well past midnight for one more look at Williams, who was playing as a wildcard in her 96th career Grand ⁠⁠Slam main draw appearance.

“It was extremely late,” Williams told reporters. “I’ve never played a match that late before, and I was happy to see that so many people stuck around for that. It was a real honour to play in front of them.”

Kenin broke serve in the opening game and never trailed ‌‌in the first set, racing to a 3-0 lead as both players struggled to find their rhythm, combining for nine double faults.

Williams, cheered on by chants of “Let’s go Venus”, broke back to love to trim the deficit to 3-1 but dropped serve again as Kenin pulled away to close out the set.

Kenin reeled off three straight games to lead 3-1 in the second set, and while Williams showed flashes of the form that earned her seven ⁠⁠Grand Slam titles, she struggled to string points together, with her second ⁠⁠serve proving especially costly.

Kenin saved four break points to level at 5-5, leaving Williams screaming in frustration at handing her opponent another game with unforced errors. However, Williams still found a way to hold for 6-5 before Kenin forced ⁠⁠a tiebreak.

Williams appeared to have the upper hand in the tiebreak but could not convert any of her seven set points, as Kenin dug ⁠⁠in to close out the win.

“It’s not ideal,” Williams said. “I ⁠⁠would have preferred something else, definitely. It wasn’t great for either of us, so I think we both tried our best.

“I just don’t know any other sport where you have to start that late. I definitely think there’s room for improvement there.

“It’s ‌‌not easy to do in the first round. It’s not easy to do it at 1 or 2 in the morning to try to find your rhythm and play your best, ‌‌but ‌‌I tried my best.”

Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, will next face top-ranked American Jessica Pegula.

Medvedev out, Paolini through

Meanwhile, former champion Daniil Medvedev and Pegula ⁠⁠advanced with little fuss earlier in the day, as players began their campaigns to grab a slice of the record prize purse of $108m up for grabs.

Russian Medvedev had crashed out in a chaotic first-round defeat a year ago but was all business on Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, downing French qualifier Hugo Gaston 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to quieten doubts after a frustrating run-up to the tournament.

“The last couple of weeks were not easy,” said Medvedev, who exited the Cincinnati and Montreal tournaments early. “I’m happy that today ⁠⁠I managed to produce high-level tennis.”

Dozens of ticketholders were lined up long before the action kicked off, and the home crowd was rewarded as world number three Pegula beat Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-2 in the first match ⁠⁠at the showpiece stadium.

Twice Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova earlier became the first seeded player to exit the tournament, saving six match points before succumbing to Kamilla Rakhimova 7-6(4), 6-2 on the outer courts.

Italian Jasmine Paolini survived a scare to beat Slovenia’s Veronika ‌‌Erjavec 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the opener at Louis Armstrong Stadium to set up a meeting with compatriot Lucrezia Stefanini.

Czech Jiri Lehecka kicked off the action on the Grandstand with a 6-1, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2 win over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta before Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk swatted aside Australian Storm Hunter 6-4, ‌‌6-1 ‌‌at the same stadium.

Kostyuk was joined in the next round by compatriot Elina Svitolina, who eased past Solana Sierra 6-1, 6-2.

Former champion Marin Cilic and 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud pulled out due to injuries shortly after the tournament got under way.

Moses Itauma vowed “I’ll be back” after failing in his attempt to become the second-youngest ever heavyweight world champion on Saturday.

Britain’s Itauma, 21, tore through his first 14 opponents but his team threw in the towel in the ninth round against Filip Hrgovic at O2 Arena, London.

Having appeared to punch himself out, Itauma was barely able to stand as Hrgovic, 34, applied pressure to end the fight.

“It wasn’t my night, we attempted greatness and just fell short to the more experienced man,” Itauma said on social media.

“I want to say congratulations to Filip Hrgovic on his win. And although I never reached my desired outcome, I believe I gained experience that I’ll take to my future fights.

“God bless, take care and I’ll be back.”