Britain’s Tom Aspinall has vacated his UFC heavyweight title because of complications in his recovery from an eye injury, but says he has no plans to retire.
The 33-year-old has not fought since October 2025, when the first defence of his title against Ciryl Gane ended in a no-contest following several eye pokes.
Aspinall was diagnosed with a rare eye condition, and has had persistent double vision and several operations.
“I am absolutely gutted. I have chased this dream since I was 10 years old,” he said in a statement.
“I know what it’s like to have your career put on hold and I want the other fighters to have the opportunity to compete for the title.”
In June Aspinall said he had returned to full training for a rematch with France’s Gane and suggested they could fight in September.
In August Aspinall rejected reports that he would leave the UFC.
“I am not done. Stepping away from the title is not stepping away from the sport or the dream,” he said on Monday.
“I will continue doing everything I can to get healthy, get cleared and get back to competing as soon as possible.”
UFC president Dana White hinted over the weekend that Aspinall could be stripped of the title.
This month Valentina Shevchenko vacated the women’s flyweight title because of persistent injuries.
When it comes to Shohei Ohtani‘s injury management, it’s tempting to dwell on the what-ifs.
What if the Dodgers forced him to give up pitching duties in July, when he needed a lubricant injection to alleviate irritation in his left knee?
It was clear by then that Ohtani was playing through multiple injuries. A right biceps problem popped up for the second time on July 3 — the last time he pitched in a game. The Dodgers said his knee inflammation was only aggravated by pitching and the biceps tightness was tied to hitting. And yet, they were confident that the MLB All-Star break would give Ohtani enough time to bounce back.
If the Dodgers had been more proactive, instead of starting and stopping Ohtani’s throwing program until his injuries forced a shutdown, would he be in the lineup Friday against the Miami Marlins instead of the 15-day injured list?
Maybe.
Or maybe one or both injuries were far enough along by then that they would have affected him down the stretch regardless. Maybe seeing if he could return to the mound was worth the risk.
Maybe not.
“Anyone can do that, and say, ‘What could you have done better or different?’” manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week when asked if he had any regrets about Ohtani’s injury management. “That’s something going forward we’re going to look at, absolutely. But, it’s certainly not a blame-game thing. It’s learning from what happened and getting better.”
Parsing through the alternative outcomes from decisions made months ago could take time. But the fallout from this past week is clearer.
What if instead of resting Ohtani four days, and bringing him back Monday, the Dodgers had put him on the IL right away?
“I think if we look right now, here today, I would love to go back and put him on the IL,” Roberts said. “But at that moment in time, we all felt that giving him four days was sufficient. He was agreeable. Getting him out there on Monday with the hope that he would be able to play [again Wednesday]. But where we’re at right now, sure.”
Two weeks without Ohtani is hard to swallow. As a two-way player, he’s eligible for the 15-day IL instead of the 10-day for position players.
The Dodgers tried to avoid it. But when he returned to the lineup Monday, he “didn’t feel great” on a swing, Roberts revealed.
So now the Dodgers can only backdate Ohtani’s IL stint to Tuesday, rather than Sept. 3. At minimum, Ohtani will be out until the final five games of the regular season.
“The most important thing is him being as healthy as possible, not compromising his swing, and kind of bet on that,” Roberts said.
He acknowledged that Ohtani wouldn’t be back to “100%” even with the two weeks off.
But plenty of players push through injuries in the playoffs. October becomes a test of pain tolerance before addressing ailments in the offseason.
“I want to make sure that when I look back [on] this season,” Ohtani said Monday through interpreter Will Ireton, “that I used this as an experience, a learning experience and make sure that I use that as something to improve upon for next season.”
So, does that mean Ohtani feels like he could be more up-front with the team about his physical well-being, regardless of whether he thinks he can play through aches and pains?
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani celebrates with teammates after a win over the Reds at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s hard to say now with the season still going on,” Ohtani said. “It’s something that I’m going to reflect back on during the offseason. I’m just making sure that I’m focusing on the now and finishing strong.”
The Dodgers, for the first time navigating what was expected to be a full season of two-way play from Ohtani, leaned on his expertise while managing his workload. In retrospect, they might have put too much stock in his self-evaluations.
Baseball has a long tradition of players downplaying injuries, out of a desire to play and a belief in their own perseverance.
“What can I learn?” Roberts said this week. “I think that sometimes, potentially trying to get ahead of managing his workload — it always feels good to run him out there offensively as a DH. Always feels good when you pencil him in as a starter — for me, it’s just really trying to be mindful of the long season.
“And I guess it’s under the thing of, ‘you don’t know until you know,’ and it’s important to learn from experiences. And I think it’s good for all of us to kind of appreciate that he’s not supernatural, as much as we think he might be at times.”
Roberts said he didn’t learn until Tuesday night, after giving Ohtani a day off for the fifth time in six games, that a swing on Monday had bothered him.
So, Ohtani didn’t return to the lineup Wednesday as planned. And the team arranged for No. 1 prospect Josue De Paula to meet the team in Miami, called up straight from double-A for his MLB debut on Friday.
“It was more just really huddling up and saying, ‘Hey, how are you going to feel on Friday? How are you going to feel on Saturday, talking to the doctors and training staff?’” Roberts said. “There was not much certainty that he’d be in a much better place. With that, just taking it off the table seemed like the best course of action.”
De Paula wasn’t otherwise guaranteed to debut this season, although the Dodgers would have needed to eventually put him on the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
The Dodgers see him as a major-league ready hitter, but he still has work to do on the defensive side for the team to feel comfortable playing him in the outfield regularly. An early taste of the big leagues, even with his playing time expected to come mostly in the DH spot, could be beneficial for the 21-year-old’s development.
For Ohtani, the ramp from the IL to postseason play will be short. But his recent offensive struggles emphasized the importance of having a healthier version of him in the lineup come October.
If anyone can make it work, it’s Ohtani. He may not be supernatural, but he also isn’t just any player. And if he performs in the postseason, that will drown out any lingering what-ifs.
Times staff writer Kevin Baxter contributed to this report.
It was more than three minutes outside her best time for the course and well outside her British record for the distance of 1:05:43.
Britain’s Jack Rowe missed out on a record fourth consecutive victory in the men’s race, finishing in second place, 14 seconds behind Birchfield Harriers’ Kadar Omar Abdullahi, who won in a time of 1:01:51.
Britain’s David Weir defended his title in the men’s wheelchair event, winning the race for the fifth time in its nine-year history in a new record time.
The 47-year-old, who retired from Paralympic competition in 2024, knocked 45 seconds off his own record for the course, which he set last year, winning in 46:13.
Eden Rainbow Cooper won the women’s event in 52:47 to defend her title.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sent a text message to Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday night informing him that he wasn’t going to be in the lineup Thursday in the series finale against the Cardinals.
Ohtani responded with a salute emoji, Roberts said.
“At the end of the day, he wants to be in there,” Roberts said. “But I’m not going to just put him in there because of the name on the back of his jersey.”
That could be a push-and-pull situation for the rest of the season, as Ohtani continues to manage lingering pain in his right biceps and left knee.
The uncertainty surrounding Ohtani’s health — even though Roberts called an injured list stint “unlikely” — raises questions about the team’s plans.
It’s difficult to fully map out the Dodgers’ rotation plans without knowing whether Ohtani will pitch again this season. And the offense won’t be at its best until he has shaken his slump — Ohtani has just two hits in his last six games after hitting just .241 in August.
“I think great players always feel that their X percentage is better than the next person and they want to be available,” Roberts said. “There is a kind of trusting the player versus taking it out of their hands.
“I’ve had a lot of practice with Clayton [Kershaw]. And Shohei, I think it’s just more of trying to weigh the downside and what potential harm that could do for him and the ballclub versus it’s something that is what it is. That’s just trying to get as much information as we can from the training staff and hear what Shohei has to say.”
Ohtani, who was not made available to speak to reporters before the game Thursday, has not given an interview in over two weeks. He declined requests for comment through a Dodgers spokesperson twice last weekend.
Though Ohtani’s left knee has been the biggest impediment in his return to pitching — his last pitching start was July 3, and his throwing program has stalled twice since receiving an injection to address swelling and soreness — his right biceps is now a problem.
Ohtani reported that the area from his biceps to his neck was bothering him Wednesday night, Roberts said. That was why he kept shaking out his arm.
“It feels like an ebb-and-flow type thing,” general manager Brandon Gomes said of Ohtani’s biceps issue, which has flared at least two other times this season. “It’s hard to recover in August and September, so it’s like just being mindful of if he needs a day here and there, and having those conversations. He’s just one of one, and you can’t say, ‘Well, this guy feels this, therefore Sho’s going to be the same.’ So we have to treat it as a unique case.”
Shohei Ohtani strikes out against the St. Louis Cardinals in the 10th inning Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Both the biceps and knee injuries have lingered for months. But Ohtani hasn’t missed two games in a row all season, let alone landed on the IL.
“I think it’s just really hard to say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna knock something out in X amount of days,’” Gomes said. “But l think not having Shohei in the lineup for 10 days, or whatever it would be, is something that we would prefer not to do, and it really hasn’t even been something that we’ve discussed.”
Gomes also pushed back on the assumption that Ohtani’s struggles at the plate are connected to his physical ailments, even though the two have coincided.
“I just think there’s also just ebbs and flows of the season, and what to attribute things to and what not to is just too hard to say,” Gomes said. “We haven’t had any indication that he’s not feeling good enough physically to go out and play.
“I also think he’s a victim of his own greatness, of … if Shohei struggles for a bit and then it’s up in arms. Like I said, I don’t think there’s anything overly concerning at this point. We’ll continue to monitor and have conversations and see how he feels.”
If the Dodgers don’t put Ohtani on the IL, giving him consecutive days off could make sense. Roberts said he’ll make that decision Friday, after discussions with Ohtani and the training staff.
The Dodgers also have put off a decision regarding whether Ohtani should pitch again this season. But Roberts said this latest development would be “part of the math.”
Said Gomes: “Once again, we’ve got to see how he continues to feel. At some point, if it’s a, ‘Hey, the upside outweighs the downside,’ then we shut it down. Doc has said this, we’ll continue to say it: We’re not going to … compromise [his offensive performance]. But right now, not feeling that that’s necessarily a thing. We just don’t have enough information to feel strongly on that.”
Though it’s not a huge sample size, Ohtani restarted his throwing progression with catch play on Aug. 8. In 23 games since then, he’s posted a .704 OPS during his worst offensive month of his season.
The addition of left-hander Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline also took some of the pressure off Ohtani to return to pitching.
“It was an opportunity that our guys saw, and grateful that a deal was worked out,” Roberts said. “You look at where Shohei’s at, and Roki [Sasaki is] throwing a bullpen tomorrow but on the IL with the blister, so having a [frontline] starter [in Skubal] is huge. And then also getting to know the player, and how he has already impacted our guys, we’re very fortunate.”
Donald, a future Hall of Famer two years into retirement, noticed.
His thought: “OK, I wish I was still out there playing right about now.”
On Sunday, there he was.
Hours after ending months of speculation that kept the NFL world at rapt attention, Donald, 35, agreed to terms with the Rams, donned his No. 99 jersey and practiced with the team for the first time since 2023.
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Future Hall of Fame defensive lineman Aaron Donald officially came out of retirement Sunday to rejoin the Rams for their Super Bowl title push.
“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes,” Donald said after the workout. “Do I feel like I can still be myself? 100%.
“If I didn’t feel like that I wouldn’t be here.”
Rams coach Sean McVay is happy to have him. Since the Rams traded for star defensive end Myles Garrett in June, McVay had said he would welcome Donald’s return — and subsequently stressed that any decision would be Donald’s and on the eight-time All-Pro’s timeline.
Donald said that he and McVay communicated “damn near every day” as he worked out and pondered his decision.
“He and I both had kind of an unspoken understanding, like, ‘All right, once we get the roster down, where are you at with it?’” McVay said. “We wanted to make sure he felt good about doing that.
“When he does something, he does it all-in. And that’s kind of what led to getting it done.”
When he retired, Donald had $30 million left on his contract. Under the new agreement, he can earn $20 million during the regular season on a one-year deal that could be worth as much as $30 million, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because the contract had not yet posted.
On Sunday, Donald went through individual drills with defensive linemen, and then headed to the training room. McVay indicated the Rams would handle Donald’s ramp-up conservatively as they prepare for their Sept. 10 opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.
“Whether or not he’s available and whether or not we think it’s best to be able to play him in Australia, I think the best way to do it is to take it one day at a time,” McVay said.
That is how Donald approached it during what he said was a 13-week decision process. He worked out in the gym, did speed and agility workouts on the field and also did sessions of football drills.
Donald recorded every workout. Every movement and every cut, to see how he stacked up against his earlier self, the one who won three NFL defensive player of the year awards.
“In my opinion, I don’t see no difference,” he said. “If not, it looked a little cleaner to me.”
Still, Donald said “it really wasn’t an easy decision.” That it was “on and off for a while.” But after many conversations with his wife, Erica, and others, he said he knew for the last two weeks that he wanted to return.
Aaron Donald reacts after tackling Cleveland running back Jerome Ford during a game at SoFi Stadium in December 2023.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
It initially felt “weird” to arrive at the Rams’ Woodland Hills facility as a player rather than a visitor, he said, but he quickly acclimated after sitting through an 80-minute team meeting, getting to know new teammates and walking onto the field for practice.
Before the Rams went through stretching exercises, Donald sat on a red exercise ball, taking in the scene and focusing his thoughts for the workout ahead.
Though teammates insisted that he go first, he put himself at the back of the lines.
“Whatever my role is, I’m going to earn it,” he said.
Donald, who helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium at the end of the 2021 season, aims to help the Rams win another championship at SoFi Stadium this season.
The Rams piqued his interest when they traded for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, and then dealt edge rusher Jared Verse to the Cleveland Browns for Garrett.
“I already thought it was a stacked D-line with Verse,” Donald said. “Obviously, things transpired and happened, and then you bring in a guy like Myles Garrett, a generational talent, and it’s like, ‘That could be fun.’”
Donald said that before seeing him on Sunday, he had texted several times with Garrett.
“Hopefully,” Donald said, “we can do some special things together.”
For a player who has been so improbable, the Dodgers must now do the impossible.
When it comes to pitching, they must shut Shohei Ohtani down.
Despite suffering a knee ailment and biceps soreness this season, Ohtani is slowly trying to take the mound for the first time in more than two months.
Stop. Just stop.
The Dodgers have no business sticking Ohtani back on the mound. He belongs out there no more than Kiké Hernandez does.
There’s no two ways about it — the Dodgers should not plan on jamming Ohtani back into the starting rotation.
The Dodgers should thank him for his passion, applaud him for his 1.79 ERA in his first 14 starts, promise to return his resin bag next season, and ask him to go to work on that bat.
As much as the fans want to see all Ohtani, all of the time, the next couple of months are not about celebrating a novelty, they’re about winning a championship, and Ohtani can best get that done by avoiding another injury to himself on the mound and directing all of his efforts at the plate.
Recently, his hitting needs all the help it can get. After Saturday’s loss in Detroit, it had been a startling nine games since Ohtani homered or collected an RBI. During that span he had more than twice as many strikeouts as hits (13-5).
In this final month he needs to concentrate on getting his swing right and not worry about bullpens or openers or piggy-backs or any of the numerous machinations involved in getting him back on the mound.
Bottom line, the Dodgers need him more at the top of the order than in the middle of the diamond, and for now, he shouldn’t be in two places at once.
Bottom, bottom line, there is a sense that the Dodgers agree.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani follows through on a pitch during a game last month at Dodger Stadium.
(Harry How / Getty Images)
Ohtani threw about 20 pitches in a bullpen session Friday and wasn’t 100%, and that set off alarm bells with the Dodgers’ bosses.
While guessing that Ohtani’s balky left knee would not allow him to be 100% by October, manager Dave Roberts openly wondered Saturday whether a pitching comeback is worth the effort.
“Obviously, where we’re at right now with the pitching, the starting pitching certainly being a strength, his value offensively is hugely important, and so we can’t compromise that in any fashion,” Roberts told reporters in Detroit. “So, if throwing potentially cuts into that, that’s not worth the squeeze. So that’s something for me. Very, very bullish on making sure we don’t compromise the hitting.”
Did you hear that? Not worth the squeeze? Exactly.
Are you listening, Ohtani? He’s always been the ultimate team player, so if the Dodgers asked his permission to shut him down, he would agree, right? Right?
Keeping Ohtani off the mound for the rest of the season is a radical view, certainly — c’mon, you’re paying the dude $700 million to hit and pitch! — but it’s a view backed by common sense.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani prepares to bat during a game earlier this month as Dodger Stadium.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Point One: The Dodgers won a World Series in 2024 with Ohtani strictly hitting, so it can be done.
Point Two: Last postseason, even with his three-homer, 10-strikeout gem in the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani had a playoff ERA of 4.43.
Playing in the postseason is hard. Pitching and hitting in the postseason is nearly impossible. That magical Brewers clincher was his only shining moment.
Point Three: They recently acquired Tarik Skubal specifically to reduce the need for Ohtani, and they now have a nearly unbeatable rotation without Ohtani.
With Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow having returned strong from injuries, they have four starters who easily can dominate a series.
Check out the current seven-game span of games started by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Skubal, Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
They gave up as many as three runs only twice. They pitched less than six innings only once. Their ERA was 2.38.
Point Four: The struggling Dodgers offense desperately needs Ohtani to get right at the top. Who is going to get the big hit if he doesn’t? Entering the last month, the candidates are few.
Not a slowing Mookie Betts. Not psyched-out Kyle Tucker. Not aging Teoscar Hernández. Maybe Freddie Freeman, but he hasn’t hit a home run since July 4. And maybe Max Muncy, if they pitch to him.
Will Smith will be returning this week after a prolonged absence, and that will help, but not enough.
If anything happens to sideline Ohtani the hitter, the Dodgers are sunk, period.
And if he pitches, lots could happen to him.
The knee. The elbow. Whatever it was that has kept him off the mound since July 3. So much can go wrong if he’s pitching, and any pitching injury could have the double whammy of sidelining him as a hitter.
“I think 100% for me as far as an offensive player, that’s very important,” Roberts said. “As a pitcher, for me, given the strength of our staff, our team, I don’t think that’s as important. I think it’s important for us not to compromise his health in any capacity. But for me, it’s just his presence in the batter’s box is hugely important to him.”
Yes, Ohtani wants to pitch. Yes, the Dodgers promised him he could pitch. But that was before the injuries and the acquisitions and the slump.
Everything is different now. The landscape has changed.
The Dodgers no longer need the arm so badly that they can risk the bat.
Barely 20 bullpen pitches at the end of August? He’s clearly not going to be 100% by October, so shut him down and let him swing.
Shohei Ohtani is 32 and finishing his ninth season. He’s not a kid anymore.
He’s not infallible anymore.
Having him pitch and hit for a second consecutive October indeed would be a great story.
But having him use his bat to lead the Dodgers to a three-peat would be a better one.
USC sophomore defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart, who was spotted over the weekend sporting crutches and a boot on his injured right foot, is expected to miss the Trojans’ season opener against San Jose State, coach Lincoln Riley said.
Losing Stewart for longer than that would be a bitter pill for USC to swallow at the start of a highly anticipated season. But while reports have suggested that Stewart is likely to miss USC’s entire nonconference slate with the injury, Riley suggested Tuesday that he could debut as soon as the following Friday, when USC takes on Fresno State in its second game of the season.
“What he’s dealing with right now is minor,” Riley said. “The plan is to probably hold him and I think he’ll be able from that point forward. But it’s certainly not long term. A little precautionary right now.”
Stewart played through a stress fracture in his foot throughout his freshman season after suffering the injury in August. He missed the season opener then as well, but elected not to have surgery, in order to keep contributing to the team.
“I could have got surgery, but I wouldn’t have felt comfortable,” Stewart said earlier this month. “I wouldn’t have felt complete as a human, knowing that I still had stuff in the tank that I could have gave to my team.”
Stewart ended up getting surgery on his foot in December. But when Stewart spoke to reporters during camp, he said his foot felt “1,000%”
But the concern now, as Stewart continues to deal with a foot issue, is whether this injury could continue to linger beyond just a game or two of his sophomore season.
Riley was not sounding that alarm Tuesday. But he also didn’t rule out the possibility that USC may be managing the situation throughout this season.
“We just gotta watch it,” Riley said. “Everybody is different in terms of their size, their biomechanics in terms of how they run and especially guys like Jahkeem who are pretty violent in the way they move and transfer energy on the ground — like there’s some force going into the ground. So yeah, I think some of these injuries are freak things that happen from time to time in this game, that’s part of it. And then there are things that as guys go, and as their bodies evolve and get bigger and stronger, you have to make adjustments on and they have to make adjustments on.”
USC was especially cautious with Stewart’s injury during the week last season, which led Stewart to sit out a significant number of practices. He still played in 11 games, missing the opener and the bowl game. But on average, Stewart played just 21 snaps per game as a freshman.
He was still named a freshman All-American, in spite of the difficult circumstances. All signs pointed toward him taking a major leap as a sophomore.
This latest injury could throw a wrench in that. But Riley expressed confidence in the depth of USC’s defensive interior, which was not something he could’ve said even this time last year.
“We’ve had some young guys emerge in that room, especially who are going to command some looks and some opportunities to play and go prove themselves on Saturdays here right away, and then you combine it with the experience we have in that room,” Riley said.
“We’ll have a good healthy rotation and be able to withstand any dings along the way.”
Dave Bautista will take over as the lead in the Amazon Prime live-action TV series based on the widely revered video game franchise of the same name.
“Sons of Anarchy” alum Ryan Hurst had initially landed the role of one of the most famous dads in video game history, but in June he suffered an injury on-set while performing a stunt.
Hurst was announced as Kratos in January, and in a social media post he said that he used to play as Kratos. “Now I get to be him,” he wrote. “Grateful to pick up the axe, and honored by the fans who made this story legendary.”
Hurst needed surgery after severely tearing his bicep, and the recovery time would push production into 2027, which reportedly conflicted with filming schedules. Earlier this year, Hurst completed filming on four episodes of the first season of the highly anticipated show, but those will be scrapped and reshot with Bautista stepping in, and production resuming in the fall.
“God of War,” based on PlayStation’s ancient-mythology themed video game, follows Kratos — a Spartan by birth who later becomes the Greek god of war — and his son, Atreus, as they set off on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. Along the way, Kratos tries to help mold his son into a better god, and Atreus teaches his dad how to be a better man.
Bautista, a WWE wrestling champ turned movie star of Greek and Filipino descent, will join a cast that includes Callum Vinson as Atreus, Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Ed Skrein as Baldur, Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Jeff Gulka as Sindri, Danny Woodburn as Brok, Sonya Walger as Freya, Island Austin as Thrud, Ben Chapple as Magni, Louis Cunningham as Modi, and Evelyn Miller as Gna.
Emmy-winning director Frederick E.O. Toye, known for “Shōgun,” “The Boys” and “Fallout,” is helming the first two episodes of the forthcoming series.
Iga Swiatek moved into the semifinals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters as Elena Rybakina was forced to retire with a heel injury less than half an hour into their clash on Thursday.
Rybakina’s withdrawal raised concerns over the fitness of the world number two Kazakh just 10 days before the start of the US Open.
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Trailing 4-1 in the opening set of Thursday’s Cincinnati quarterfinal, Rybakina suddenly pulled up short at 40-all, heading to her bench and consulting with the trainer.
She went back out and played one more point before quitting.
“I was feeling anxious watching the whole situation,” said her opponent Swiatek. “I hope she will be fine. Health is always the priority.
“This is an important tournament, but the US Open is the US Open. I hope she is ready for that,” she said, referring to the major which begins in New York on August 30.
“It was a shame she was injured, we were having a good match.”
Had two-time Grand Slam winner Rybakina reached the Cincinnati final, she would have risen to number one in the world for the first time in her career, following incumbent Aryna Sabalenka’s shock exit to 20-year-old Sara Bejlek.
Defending Cincinnati champion Swiatek said she had “gained a lot of confidence in the last weeks,” which have also included her victory over Rybakina in the final of this month’s Toronto event.
“I feel great, ready to play my game … I’m happy to be playing the tennis that I am.”
Poland’s Swiatek now plays a semifinal against Jessica Pegula, who is reportedly carrying a hip niggle after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4).
Sixth-seeded Anisimova converted all five of her break points against Pegula, breaking her three times in the second set, before the world number three rebounded to win.
Pegula is setting WTA records at age 32. She is the fourth player since 2009 to reach five or more Masters 1000 quarterfinals after turning 30, along with Li Na, Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Pegula needed just 34 minutes to pocket the opening set.
But Anisimova struck back in the second, earning a double break for 4-0.
After Anisimova squared the match at one set each, Pegula regrouped with an opening break in the deciding set.
They would each be broken twice as they went to the tiebreaker, where Pegula sealed the win on her first match point.
Pegula’s win was her sixth without a loss to Anisimova.
“I know I have a good record against her, but literally every single match is like it was today,” she said.
‘Sweet’ victory
In the men’s draw, Flavio Cobolli advanced to the final four with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Tommy Paul, gobbling down a handful of sweets for an unorthodox boost midway through the match.
The Roland Garros runner-up asked for the candy to be brought to the court and seemingly took energy from the pause before dispatching Paul, who had himself eliminated top seed Alexander Zverev 24 hours earlier.
“A sweet with chocolate makes me happy,” Cobolli said. “I’ve tried it in doubles so why not singles?”
Cobolli mounted the comeback after dropping the opening set.
With the match tied at a set apiece, Paul needed an extraordinary effort to hold serve for 4-3 in the final set, battling through five deuces and saving four break points.
But Cobolli ignored the showing and closed out the victory.
“It was a difficult day,” the winner said. “I’m proud of my effort, my game and my mental strength. It is all good practice for the US Open.
Cobelli will play for a place in the final when he faces Arthur Fils, who defeated Thiago Tirante 6-3, 6-2 in just 64 minutes — the shortest men’s match of the event.
Fils, the eighth Frenchman to reach Cincinnati semi-finals in the Open Era, said he was impressed by the weight of his opponent’s big game.
“He has an unbelievable serve; I was surprised by the speed of his ball,” he said.
“I tried to make him play a bit more. I stayed solid in my head and it worked pretty well for me.”
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is set to make his return at the US Open after missing four months with a wrist injury.
The 23-year-old triumphed at the Australian Open in January to become the youngest man to win all four Grand Slam titles.
However, the Spaniard has not played a competitive match since 14 April after injuring his right wrist at the Barcelona Open.
The news was confirmed by football influencer Fabrizio Romano in a joint post with Alcaraz on Instagram.
Seven-time major champion Alcaraz also wrote “here we go!” – Romano’s catchphrase – in a post on X, external with an emoji of the American flag and a plane.
As well as playing singles, Alcaraz could also enter the mixed doubles competition that takes place the week before the US Open, with three wildcards still to be handed out.
Alcaraz played in the revamped event last year alongside Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who is out of this year’s tournament with injury.
Alcaraz has been replaced as world number two by Alexander Zverev after being unable to defend his Cincinnati Open title.
Rival Jannik Sinner is well clear at the top of the world rankings, having won Wimbledon in July, while Zverev won the French Open and finished runner-up at SW19.
Sinner – as he did at Wimbledon – will go into the US Open with no match time on a hard court after withdrawing from Cincinnati with a knee injury.
The US Open singles event begins on Sunday, 30 August in New York.
England all-rounder Sam Curran has been ruled out of the remainder of the English season with a groin injury, ending his hopes of a potential Test comeback this summer.
Surrey’s Curran, 28, last played a Test in 2021 but had been considered for a recall for the series against Pakistan as England look to balance their side after the retirement of Ben Stokes.
Selector Marcus North suggested Curran could have been picked for the ongoing first Test had he not been managing his fitness through The Hundred and said he would come into contention for the third Test on 9 September.
Further assessment has revealed Curran requires surgery on the groin issue, however.
He will have an operation on Friday, ruling him out of the remainder of the season with Surrey and England’s white-ball matches against Sri Lanka in September.
In March, Curran pulled out of this year’s Indian Premier League with a groin issue.
The MI London captain missed one of his side’s Hundred matches and did not bowl his full allocation in four of their other seven group games.
Without Curran, Stokes or another seam-bowling all-rounder, England opted not to pick a frontline spinner for the first Test against Pakistan at Headingley.
They instead attempted to balance their side by picking Dan Lawrence to bat number six and fill the role of spin bowler with his part-time off-spin.
England all-rounder Will Jacks, who filled a similar role in the Ashes last winter, is also absent from Surrey’s squad for Thursday’s County Championship match against Nottinghamshire after having an operation to remove his appendix.
His availability for the T20 and ODI series with Sri Lanka will be assessed.
DENVER — The imaging Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz underwent in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning revealed a “best-case scenario,” manager Dave Roberts said before the series finale against the Rockies.
“There were no findings, so that was good,” Roberts said. “MRI was clean. It doesn’t change the fact that he had this sensation in his neck. But I think to keep working on it, give it some rest as far as throwing the baseball.”
Díaz officially went on the IL for “neck inflammation,” but early theories on the injury, before he went to a specialist on Wednesday, suggested the issue could be related to the area around the trapezius, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Roberts said Wednesday that the results suggested the injury was more muscular, rather than nerve related.
“I think he’d been feeling the tightness in his neck,” Roberts said. “But I think where it went to the other night, he hadn’t felt that sensation. So that’s what really checked him up.”
Roberts said he didn’t know exactly how long Díaz would be shut down from throwing, but he estimated that it probably would be only a couple of days.
The bullpen shuffle continued Wednesday, when the Dodgers activated right-hander Brock Stewart (right shoulder discomfort) from the 15-day IL. In a corresponding move, they designated right-hander Jonathan Hernández for assignment.
