Alexander Zverev is guaranteed to finish the 2026 season as the world number one after Carlos Alcaraz’s surprise defeat in the Shanghai Masters.
German Zverev was on course to climb above current world number one Jannik Sinner, who has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury.
Alcaraz still had a mathematical chance of stopping Zverev until he was beaten 7-5 7-6 (7-4) by Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in the third round on Monday.
“It’s been a fantastic season for me. Knowing that I will finish the year on top of the rankings is just a dream come true,” said Zverev.
After losing three major finals, Zverev landed the first Grand Slam title of his career by winning the French Open in June, and followed that with victory at the US Open last month.
The 29-year-old has taken advantage of the injury problems suffered by Spaniard Alcaraz and Italian Sinner – the dominant pair on the ATP Tour in the previous two seasons – to become the world’s leading player.
Zverev cannot overtake Sinner until 2 November at the earliest.
He will become the first German to end the year as number one, and the oldest player to achieve the feat for the first time.
After suffering a serious ankle injury in the 2022 French Open semi-finals which kept him out for seven months, Zverev regained his place in the upper echelons of the sport and been ranked inside the top four continuously since March 2024.
“So much work and effort have been put into achieving this goal, especially after coming back from the ankle injury. I look forward to finishing the season in style,” he said.
AN island in Europe has already lost thousands of tourists after Ryanair axed all flights there earlier this year.
The budget airline previously operated flights to the Azores in Portugal, having launched in 2015.
However, they confirmed last year that they would be scrapping them all with the last flight taking place on March 28.
The cancellations were due to airport fees, Ryanair said, as well as environment taxes in Europe.
The removal of Ryanair flights – which also included a number of routes from the UK – has left just British Airways operating flights, along with European airlines TAP and Azores Airlines.
Most of these operate from mainland Portugal.
And new figures have found that the loss of Ryanair passengers has seen a drop in tourists of 100,000 already.
According to the Regional Statistics Service of the Azores (SREA), passengers arriving at the island airport dropped by 103,766 between April and August.
And there are fears this could increase even more, with projections of up to “391,000 overnight stays” lost a year.
Brits wanting to fly to the island from the UK can now only fly with British Airways, which runes flights from London Heathrow between April and October.
Otherwise alternative routes are to fly to Portugal with a connecting flight from Lisbon or Faro.
Seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, world number one Zhao Xintong and defending champion Mark Williams were knocked out on the opening day of the Shenzhen Open.
China’s Jiang Jun, who is 64th in the world rankings, took the opening two frames before England’s O’Sullivan levelled with breaks of 92 and 52.
Jiang reeled off the next three frames, sealing a famous 5-2 second-round win with a superb break of 108 to set up a meeting with Englishman Zak Surety.
Scott Donaldson stunned 2025 world champion Zhao by winning a final-frame decider.
Scotland’s Donaldson, who is 65 places below Zhao in the rankings, compiled breaks of 77, 105, 50 and 62 as he came from 3-2 down.
Donaldson will take on China’s Pang Junxu in round three.
Welshman Williams lost 5-4 to China’s Fan Zhengyi after fouling on the final pink.
England’s Judd Trump cruised to a 5-0 win over China’s Huang Jiahao and goes into the last 16 after Anthony McGill, his scheduled third-round opponent, withdrew on medical grounds.
In Monday’s other second-round encounters, Australia’s Neil Robertson beat China’s Liu Hongyu 5-2, England’s Chris Wakelin claimed a 5-3 win over Welshman Liam Davies and China’s Si Jiahui swept to a 5-1 success against England’s Oliver Lines.
Belgium’s Ben Mertens also progressed as Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen withdrew for personal reasons.
Wales’ Jamie Clarke, England’s Andrew Higginson, Hong Kong’s Marco Fu and England’s Sam Craigie progressed in the first-round matches that took place on Monday.
It was nearly a half decade ago now that Lincoln Riley, dressed in a slick blue suit and glossy cardinal tie, stood atop the Coliseum’s rooftop deck, grinning as he gazed out across the field below. He’d just been introduced as USC’s new head coach, and in that moment, anything felt possible for the future of Trojan football. Riley, at the time, was one of the most renowned young coaches in college football. And as he surveyed the scene, he painted the picture of a day when the Trojans were back on top and the Coliseum was hallowed ground once again.
“This place,” Riley said that day, “is going to be the mecca of college football.”
But less than five years later, as final seconds ticked away on a 41-27 loss to Oregon on Saturday, fans trudged towards the exits, and that very same stadium sat in hushed disbelief. The Trojans’ season wasn’t over by any means — not after a single loss to No. 20 Oregon — but in that moment, the future that Riley had envisioned felt as far away as ever.
There would still be chances for Riley and his Trojans to make their statement this season. But the stakes on Saturday had arguably never been higher for USC’s coach, who spent all off-season explaining how this season would be different. There were no more excuses, no more explanations for why USC was still falling short — even he seemed to agree to that. Everything he’d been pointing towards in the distance was now here, culminating all at once.
With a gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule ahead, there was no better time for Riley to prove he had USC moving in the right direction and no better matchup to help catapult the Trojans into College Football Playoff conversation than Oregon, its newest — and still maybe most bitter — rival. The whole college football world was watching, waiting to see if USC’s coach could deliver in the most critical of moments.
Instead, the Trojans found themselves in an all-too-familiar, all-too-painful position, one they’d experienced many times before during Riley’s tenure. Mistakes piled up. Ill-timed penalties, too. And worst of all, USC’s defense still couldn’t get a stop. It gave up 505 yards to Oregon, the third-most it had allowed over the past three seasons.
The Ducks would score on six of their last seven drives, almost all of which featured their backup quarterback at the helm. That was after Oregon star quarterback Dante Moore was knocked out of the game early in the second quarter following a brutal hit by USC linebacker Desman Stephens. The hit started a shoving match between players from both teams.
Stephens, who was seen celebrating after the play, was kicked out of the game, but remained on the sideline in the second half.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore is taken off the field on a stretcher before being transported to the hospital after taking a hit from USC linebacker Desman Stephens in the second quarter. Stephens was ejected from the game.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
The play would cast a pall over the whole game, but Raiola managed to throw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against USC’s defense. Jayden Maiava, meanwhile, had 326 yards and two touchdowns, but completed just 23 of 42 passes.
The rushing attack wasn’t much better, as the Trojans averaged a mere 3.6 yards per rush.
The afternoon began on a bitter note for USC. After marching down the field on a 13-play opening drive, a third-down sack forced the Trojans to settle for a field-goal attempt. But Caden Chittenden missed an easy kick wide right. It was just the latest in a string of recent special teams slip-ups for the Trojans.
The defense, however, would hold early. Even after Oregon running back Jordon Davison burst out of the backfield for a 45-yard run on the Ducks’ first play. Oregon finished that drive with a field goal, the only points either high-scoring offense managed in the first quarter.
Unable to get anything going on the ground, the Trojans turned to their stud freshman receiver to pace the offense. Five of Maiava’s first seven completions went to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, one of which came on a 31-yard strike down the seam to the freshman, who reeled in a touchdown in spite of tight coverage.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava passes during the first quarter against Oregon on Saturday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
Oregon was mounting a response when Moore took off on a quarterback scramble. But as he slid, Stephens decked Moore with a direct hit to his helmet, even after he already gave himself up. Moore spent several minutes on the field before being loaded onto a cart and taken to Los Angeles General Medical Center by ambulance.
Raiola, the backup, would take the reins of Oregon’s offense in Moore’s place, leading the Ducks to the doorstep of the goal line. But once again USC’s defense stood tall in the red zone, holding Oregon to a field goal.
It wouldn’t have as much luck in the second half, as Raiola found a rhythm. He led the Ducks on two consecutive touchdown drives in just 11 total plays.
But USC responded with three straight scoring drives of its own, and even added a stop from its defense in between. The third — an 11-yard strike to Tanook Hines — tied the score 27-27 with less than 13 minutes remaining.
USC looked to have Oregon stopped in its tracks on the ensuing possession. Then, on a third-and-long incompletion, defensive tackle Jide Abasiri was flagged for rushing the passer. The penalty gave Oregon just the opening it needed. The Ducks scored five plays later, as Raiola lofted a prayer to the corner of the end zone that was answered by one of his wideouts, Dakorien Moore.
A failed fourth-down attempt for USC would all but end it, as Maiava’s desperation pass was swatted away, along with the Trojans’ hopes.
