Championship titles are constructed on a bedrock of solid sessions interspersed with the occasional spectacular one – and Hain and Barnard’s efforts were the epitome of solid.
Resuming on 130-4, already five runs in front, they added 51 without loss in a morning session truncated by bad light.
Hain and Barnard did exactly what their team required, advancing steadily to lay the platform for a big lead and potential innings victory.
The Bears’ fifth-wicket pair continued to concentrate hard after lunch until, with the lead already 126, Barnard departed livid with himself at edging a big drive at a wide ball from Ben Green – just 12 shy of a century.
Chris Woakes chipped his second ball to mid-on, but Kai Smith and Manny Suthar enjoyed useful cameos before also falling to the persevering Hull.
They had accompanied the excellent Hain towards his century which was greeted by a standing ovation from the big audience, then Bamber added further useful runs before being bowled by a beauty from Patel.
Even then the Foxes’ frustration went on as last pair Hain and Olly Hannon-Dalby added 35.
Leicestershire opener Sol Budinger then came out firing, hitting 43 not out off 36 balls, But Bamber struck twice in three balls, trapping Sheridon Gumbs and then flattening Rishi Patel’s off-stump two balls late.
After a bad-light interruption, Woakes then pinned Steve Eskinazi lbw in the gloom to leave Warwickshire maybe only one strong session away from the title.
Great Britain became World Team Cup champions for the fifth time as Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid joined forces to secure a 2-1 victory over Japan in Florida.
Japan were the defending champions of the competition, which is the wheelchair tennis equivalent to the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.
However, Hewett and Reid ensured Britain got their hands back on the trophy with a 6-1 6-2 win in the deciding doubles match against Tokito Oda and Daisuke Arai.
“We’re really happy to get the title back,” said Reid, who was also part of the World Team Cup-winning squad alongside Hewett in 2015, 2019, 2023 and 2024.
Hewett added: “It’s the first time it’s come down to the deciding doubles for us, so I’m just really happy that we got over the line.
“It’s always a privilege to play for your country and there’s been a great atmosphere and team spirit again this week between all the lads.”
Reid got Britain off to a winning start on Saturday with a commanding 6-2 6-2 victory over world number 21 Arai, who he has now beaten in all five encounters between the pair.
The start of the second singles match was then delayed because of extreme heat in Orlando, with Hewett and Oda returning to court six hours later when temperatures had cooled.
Just a week after beating the world number one in the singles final of the US Open, Hewett was unable to repeat his feat as he fell to a narrow 6-4 7-5 loss.
“I’m a bit disappointed that it wasn’t a 100% day after my loss in the singles, but it was a really high-level match and just came down to a few points in both sets that could have gone either way,” he said.
However, Hewett bounced back in the doubles alongside Reid as Britain, who also had 21-year-old Ben Bartram in the team and were captained by Martyn Whait, backed up their wins against South Korea and the Netherlands earlier this week.
Alexandre Pantoja did not tap Joshua Van’s glove before the fight began. Nine months after an injury ended his reign as flyweight champion in just 26 seconds, the Brazilian returned to the Octagon to try to reclaim the belt that slipped away.
This time, no injury clouded the result. Pantoja came out determined to impose his style from the opening seconds, but Van found a way to keep him at a distance, counter with his boxing and survive the former champion’s take-down attempts.
After five rounds, the judges awarded the fight to the Van by unanimous decision, with scores of 49-46, 49-47 and 50-45.
Van retained the 125-pound title in the main event of UFC 331, held Saturday at Crypto.com Arena in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,357 fans. UFC CEO Dana White said the event generated $8.3 million in box office revenue, the highest in the arena’s history.
The result also vindicated Van’s claim to the championship.
In December 2025, Pantoja threw a high kick that Van caught. The Brazilian lost his balance and braced his left arm on the canvas to break his fall, but his elbow dislocated. The fight ended after 26 seconds and Van was awarded the belt.
Joshua Van punches Alexandre Pantoja during their UFC 331 flyweight championship bout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
Both fighters had much to gain during their return to the Octagon.
The animosity that had built up was evident from the start. As the fight began, Pantoja went straight for Van. The Brazilian scored an early takedown and sought to keep the champion on the mat, attempting to turn the fight into a grappling and ground-and-pound battle.
Van resisted and managed to get back to his feet. The lack of action during some early stretches prompted the first boos from the crowd.
But the pace changed.
Van began to find openings with his hands and Pantoja had to absorb strikes while continuing to seek takedowns. The champion also showed better defense against the Brazilian’s advances as the rounds progressed.
In the second round, the fight had to be briefly stopped after Pantoja claimed a headbutt. The strike was reviewed and determined to have been accidental, so the fight continued.
“I don’t even know why he was getting worked up. He came at me throwing punches, and I was just trying to counter, and he simply hit me in the head,” Van said. “I guess … I have a tougher head. So then he started complaining and all that. He was saying, ‘You headbutted me, you’re cheating.’ And I told him, ‘You hit me!’ So… um … that was it.”
Van began to take greater control of the fight during the second and third rounds. His boxing allowed him to keep Pantoja at a distance and respond when the Brazilian tried to close in to take him down. Pantoja kept pressing, but he could no longer control the fight on the ground for extended periods.
The fourth round allowed the former champion to regain some of the control he’d lost. Pantoja managed to take Van down to the canvas again and worked from the top for much of the round, showing that he could still trouble the champion when he managed to impose his style.
Van, however, ended the fight on a high note.
“I knew I hurt him — you know, I knew I hurt him,” Van said. “He’s a mental giant, you know. He just didn’t want to go down. He doesn’t want to show that he’s hurt, but I know deep down he was hurt. But like I said, man, that’s why I respect him so much.”
In the fifth round, the champion landed a powerful right-hand punch that knocked Pantoja down. The Brazilian managed to recover and continue until the end, but the blow ultimately tipped the fight in Van’s favor.
Alexandre Pantoja tries to pin Joshua Van on the ground during their UFC 331 flyweight championship bout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
Ahead of the bout, Van defended his title in May against Tatsuro Taira, winning by technical knockout in the fifth round. Pantoja, on the other hand, hadn’t competed since his elbow injury against Van.
“There’s nothing to prove, man,” Van said. “Like I said, I knew I was going to win the first fight, too. So it’s like: ‘OK, do you guys want to see me win again?’”
Before the fight, tensions between the two had escalated. Van had insisted that his first victory wasn’t solely due to Pantoja’s injury, while the Brazilian argued that the December result didn’t show who was truly the better fighter.
The answer, this time, came after 25 minutes.
Tsarukyan knocks out Ruffy
Arman Tsarukyan celebrates after earning a knockout win over Mauricio Ruffy during his UFC 331 lightweight bout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
The co-main event of the night also ended sooner than expected.
Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy arrived at Crypto.com Arena with a five-round bout scheduled and key positions in the lightweight division on the line. Ruffy accepted the fight with just four weeks of preparation after Charles Oliveira was pulled from the card.
Ruffy came out ready to trade blows and showed speed in the opening minutes. Tsarukyan, as he had done for much of his career, sought to use his wrestling skills to change the pace of the fight.
Tsarukyan managed to drive Ruffy against the cage and began landing elbows. At the 4:56 mark of the first round, Tsarukyan landed two elbows that knocked Ruffy out and forced the referee to stop the fight.
“I came to Los Angeles to enjoy the city,” Tsarukyan said. “But I also came to win. I owe those elbows to one of my coaches who taught me how to use them.”
Joshua Van earned a unanimous decision (49-46, 49-47, 50-45) win over his Brazilian opponent to cement his reign.
Published On 20 Sep 202620 Sep 2026
Joshua Van put on a striking masterclass to secure a unanimous-decision win over Alexandre Pantoja and retain his flyweight title in UFC 331 in Los Angeles, as the 24-year-old from Myanmar settled the score with the former champion after their first fight ended with a freak injury.
Undisputed flyweight champion Van cemented his reign atop the 125-pound (56.7kg) division, defeating the Brazilian via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-47, 50-45) in the main event on Saturday night.
Pantoja had suffered an accidental elbow dislocation 26 seconds into their first fight in December last year, resulting in Van becoming the UFC flyweight champion without an outright win over the Brazilian, who had reigned over the division for at least two years.
Van, the first UFC champion from Myanmar, defended the belt against Tatsuro Taira in May but was left waiting to seal his status as the best in the division as 36-year-old Pantoja recovered from the injury.
“A lot of people said that was an accidental win … well, doubt me now,” Joshua said after his second title defence, which extended his professional MMA record to 18 wins and two losses.
Pantoja took Van down in the first round before landing heavy punches and knees in a fiery exchange, as Van retaliated with a slicing elbow.
“You’re too good to brawl with this guy,” Van’s coaches told him during the break, suggesting a more tactical approach.
Joshua Van punches Alexandre Pantoja in their flyweight championship bout [Luke Hales/Getty Images via AFP]
Van peppered Pantoja with left-handed jabs in the second round and rocked the Brazilian with a fluid combination of punches in the third. Pantoja controlled the fourth round as he took Van down but was unable to submit him.
In the final round, Van stalked Pantoja and knocked him down with an overhand right, securing the win on the judges’ scorecards.
In the co-main event, Armenian contender Arman Tsarukyan staked his claim for a shot at the lightweight title when he pinned Mauricio Ruffy to the cage, rocked him with a left elbow and knocked him out with a right elbow with four seconds to spare in the first round.
“I knew my time would come, so I was patient,” said Tsarukyan, who extended his win streak to six fights, as he called for a bout with champion Justin Gaethje.
In featherweight action, former four-time, two-division Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull (38-9 MMA) earned his first UFC stoppage win, dismantling South Korea’s Dooho Choi via total knockout (TKO) within three minutes and 28 seconds of the opening round.
Brazil’s Pitbull overwhelmed Choi with sharp volume striking before landing a devastating right hand that forced the referee to step in and stop the contest. Pitbull snapped a three-fight finishing streak for Choi, a promotional mainstay who has competed under the UFC banner since 2014.
In the heavyweight division, Sean Sharaf pulled off one of the year’s most stunning upsets, needing just 12 seconds to shock Gable Steveson with a first-round TKO.
Steveson entered the Octagon as a massive betting favourite, but Sharaf caught him immediately in the opening exchange, unleashing a blistering flurry of strikes that forced a lightning-fast stoppage. The 12-second finish marked the third-fastest knockout in UFC heavyweight history.
A visibly frustrated Steveson refused to remain inside the Octagon as Sharaf had his hand officially raised, while Sharaf celebrated the landmark victory in front of an electric crowd.
Joshua Van retained his flyweight title with a commanding win over Alexandre Pantoja in their rematch at UFC 331 in Los Angeles.
The 24-year-old from Myanmar beat Brazilian Pantoja in December 2025 after Pantoja suffered an accidental elbow dislocation 26 seconds into the fight.
Van, the first UFC champion born in the 2000s, defended the belt against Tatsuro Taira in May but can now claim to be the best in the division after soundly beating 36-year-old Pantoja again.
“A lot of people said that was an accidental win, well, doubt me now,” Van said after extending his professional MMA record to 18 wins and two losses.
Pantoja took Van down in the first round, before landing heavy punches and knees in a fiery exchange, as Van retaliated with a slicing elbow.
Van, who moved to the United States when he was 12, then peppered Pantoja with left-handed jabs in the second round, and rocked the Brazilian with a fluid combination of punches in the third.
Pantoja controlled the fourth round as he took Van down but was unable to submit him.
In the final round, Van stalked Pantoja and knocked him down with an overhand right, securing the win in the judges’ scorecards.
Scottish fighter Casey O’Neill also won on the night, beating Eduarda Moura with an armbar submission.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Thirteen division titles in 14 seasons, and in the year they didn’t win, they had 106 victories. We don’t have a lot to complain about.
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Division titles and Ryan Ward
—The Dodgers won the division title again, clinching it Thursday with their win over the Reds. Remember the olden days of yesteryear when winning the division was a huge deal? Now it is blasé. Dodgers fans live in a time where they have an embarrassment of riches,
Let’s look at how many NL West titles each team has won since divisional play began in 1969:
Dodgers, 24 San Francisco, 9 Cincinnati, 7 Arizona, 5 Atlanta, 5 San Diego, 5 Houston, 2
There was no official winner in 1994, which was ended by a labor dispute.
I guess I’m feeling extra nostalgic today, but I remember growing up the Dodgers’ biggest divisional rival was the Cincinnati Reds, who moved to the Central division in 1994 and have since won a grand total of zero division titles.
If we narrow NL West titles since 2000, we get:
Dodgers, 16 San Francisco, 5 Arizona, 4 San Diego, 2
Poor Colorado.
—The Dodgers made room for pitcher Kris Bubic on the 40-man roster by designating outfielder Ryan Ward for assignment. Ward has been a favorite of newsletter readers for a couple of seasons now, but he really had no place on the team anymore. He’s too old (28) to really be a prospect and his best triple-A season came in his third season at that level. His numbers declined in triple-A this season (you can see his numbers here).
He’s not great defensively, and the team already has corner outfielders who aren’t great defensively. They passed him over for Josue De Paula when they needed someone to fill in for Shohei Ohtani, and there are several outfielders in the system who are considered better than Ward.
In all likelihood, another team will pick him up and give him more playing time in the majors, something he wasn’t going to get with the Dodgers. Hopefully we see him next season in the “There names seem familiar” section of this newsletter.
Evidence of Dave Roberts’ growth
One of the knocks on Dave Roberts has always been his poor postseason managing. But his postseason managing has dramatically improved the last few seasons, and I’m not just saying that because they won the last two World Series. His decisions appear to not always be guided by analytics, like they are during the regular season. And it appears Roberts has indeed learned some things during his tenure. He recently appeared on the 6-1-1 podcast, hosted by former major leaguers Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, and had this to say:
“When you’re talking about winning 11 games in October, I couldn’t believe more that it’s about people, and players you can bet on,” Roberts said. “The heartbeat that the analytics doesn’t line up with. I think that early on, my mistake was I continued to use that same method of the regular season in the postseason….
He also had high praise for two of his players.
“Mookie has said to me, ‘Doc, we wouldn’t have won the World Series if it wasn’t for Shohei and Yamamoto. And his point was, the discipline that they had every single day, how they worked with intention every single day … it raised the level even higher for our guys.”
Forgotten Dodger: Pete Reiser
Pete Reiser in 1941.
(Associated Press)
Pete Reiser never met an outfield fence he didn’t like crashing into and it may have cost him a Hall of Fame career.
Harold Patrick Reiser was born on March 17, 1919, in St. Louis. He loved westerns and as a child often walked around wearing a cowboy hat and carrying toy guns, so people started calling him Pistol Pete, which stuck with him throughout his baseball career.
After playing in 58 games with the Dodgers in 1940, Reiser came into his own in 1941 when he hit a league-leading .343 to go with 117 runs, 39 doubles, 17 triples, 14 homers and 76 RBIs. He also played great defense in center. That got him second place in NL MVP voting behind teammate Dolph Camilli (Reiser should have won). Reiser led the league in nine categories.
He followed that by hitting .310 with 33 doubles and 10 homers in 1942, leading the league with 20 steals and making his second straight All-Star team. However, on July 18 of that year, he crashed full speed into the center-field fence, which was made of concrete, while chasing a fly ball. He ended up with a separated shoulder and fractured skull. In those days though, you didn’t let little things like a fractured skull slow you down. He returned to the lineup a week later, but he wasn’t the same. He hit .244 the rest of the season.
He then enlisted in the Army and spent three years there. In 1944, after a long march in below-zero weather, Reiser was diagnosed with pneumonia. The Army decided to put him in Fort Riley, Kan., so he could play for the camp’s baseball team. With Reiser on the team, they were virtually unbeatable and Reiser was given his own room and excused from all other duties.
Reiser returned to the majors in 1946 and broke his leg while stealing second. He crashed into the fence in St. Louis and missed some time. But he still led the league with 34 steals, though his batting average dropped to .277.
In 1947, he was chasing another fly ball when he crashed into the wall face first. This caused another fractured skull. He was given the Last Rites by a priest in the hospital before making a miraculous recovery. He ended up playing 110 games that season.
He was a bench player the following season, as he had put on a little weight and had been slowed tremendously by his numerous injuries. The Dodgers traded him to the Boston Braves after the season for Nanny Fernandez and Mike McCormick.
By unofficial count, Reiser’s injuries over the years included four fracture skulls, multiple dislocated shoulders, two broken ankles, torn ligaments in both knees and and two beanings. He was carried off the field on a stretcher eleven times—five times when he was unconscious.
He retired after the 1952 season and came back to the Dodger organization as a roving minor-league hitting instructor. He joined Walter Alston’s coaching staff in L.A. in 1960 and helped tutor Maury Wills on how to steal bases. In an interview with this newsletter a few years ago, Wills made sure to give praise to Reiser as being a big part of his 104-steal season.
Reiser had a heart attack in 1965, went on to coach for other teams. He smoked a pack of cigarettes a day throughout his adult life and died of emphysema in Palm Springs in 1981. He was only 62.
The postseason race
Here are the postseason seedings as of Thursday’s games. The three division winners get the top three seeds, followed by the three teams with the best records. The top two division winners get a first-round bye. Milwaukee and the Dodgers have clinched division titles.
Remember, there are no extra games to break ties anymore. It all comes down to tiebreakers. Atlanta and Milwaukee have the tiebreaker over the Dodgers. For the wild card, the Cubs have the advantage over the Phillies, having won six of seven games against each other. The Diamondbacks and Padres have split 10 games, but their final three games this season are against each other, so that very well could determine the final wild-card spot.
These names seem familiar
How notable players who were with the Dodgers the last couple of seasons are doing with their new teams (through Wednesday). Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page:
Anthony Banda, Twins: 2-0, 4.46 ERA, 2 saves, 34.1 IP, 31 hits, 15 walks, 33 K’s, 95 ERA+, out for the season
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
From Maddie Lee: Longtime Dodger Max Muncy blinked away beer and champagne as he stepped away from his alcohol-doused SportsNet LA interview in the visiting locker room at Great American Ball Park. But he was a veteran of these celebrations, too.
He stepped right into the next interview without missing a beat.
“It’s not something that I ever take for granted,” Muncy said after the Dodgers clinched the division Thursday with an 8-2 win against the Reds. “This moment is as special as it gets. You get to pop bottles with the boys, celebrating. This is a long season.”
Sheets of plastic had been place in the Great American Ball Park visiting clubhouse since the day before, attached to the ceiling with binder clips and folded up above the lockers, ready to be unfurled after the game for the Dodgers’ celebration.
With their victory Thursday, the Dodgers clinched the NL West division for the 13th time in 14 years. It was never much of a contest. The Dodgers maintained their division lead at nine games even after the Padres beat the Rockies Thursday afternoon.
“What’s funny is Los Angeles has always been looked at, as far as sports, a Laker town,” manager Dave Roberts said this week. “I don’t know, I think we might have market share now in Los Angeles.”
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
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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.
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.”
Drew Doughty was named captain of the Kings on Wednesday, inheriting the leadership position left vacant by Anze Kopitar‘s retirement.
Doughty is the 15th captain in team history. He served as an alternate captain since 2016-17, when Kopitar replaced Dustin Brown as captain.
The 36-year-old Doughty is the franchise leader among defensemen in numerous categories, including goals, assists, points and games played and was a key piece in their Stanley Cup victories in 2012 and 2014. He will start preparations for his 19th NHL season when the Kings open training camp on Thursday.
“Being named captain of an NHL team is something I’m truly honored by, and it’s something I take great pride in,” Doughty said in a statement released by the team.
From Ryan Kartje: On Oct. 20, 1928, the William & Mary Indians and Catholic University of Washington Cardinals met under the lights at Cary Field in Williamsburg, Va. Just a year earlier, in 1927, the two football programs made history, taking part in the first night college football game played on the East Coast. Thousands had come to watch that night and marvel at the temporary lights illuminating the field.
Their rematch, by comparison, was largely lost to history. William & Mary used “a thrilling avalanche of forward passes” and “set their teeth grimly to stage a gigantic comeback” in the third quarter, according to a Newport News story at the time. But Catholic blocked the final extra-point attempt and prevailed 13-12.
The significance of their 1928 meeting, nearly a century later, really had nothing to do with the result. In fact, it wouldn’t be fully understood until much later, when the great-grandson of two men on opposite sides of that matchup emerged as one of college football’s most promising freshmen.
Best the Wafles can tell after sifting through family documents last year, Ferris Wafle had just begun playing at William & Mary in 1928, as an offensive and defensive lineman. He’d taken a year off college, to work, before William & Mary recruited him. He’d wrestled for the Indians in addition to his playing football.
Mike Trout hit a tying RBI single in the 10th inning, and Wade Meckler followed with a RBI single to give the Angels a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.
Minnesota rookie Walker Jenkins hit a two-out, two-run homer in top of the ninth for a 3-3 tie, and the Twins (71-82) took a 4-3 lead in the 10th on Brooks Lee’s RBI single.
Kody Clemens’ sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out, but Angels left-hander Blake Weiman (1-1) got Josh Bell to pop to second and, after intentionally walking pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers, struck out Royce Lewis to end the inning.
Automatic runner Jose Siri took third on pinch-hitter Vaughn Grissom’s fly to left to open the bottom of the 10th. Zach Neto walked, Trout singled off Yoendrys Gomez (2-4) for a 4-4 tie, and Meckler singled off left-hander Kody Funderburk for the win.
Paige Bueckers scored 19 points, Jessica Shepard had her fifth triple-double of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Dallas Wings beat the Sparks 97-77 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.
Both teams were returning from the break for the FIBA World Cup in Germany, where Bueckers helped lead the United States to the title.
Dallas (25-16) tied the franchise record for wins in a season set by the 2003 WNBA champion Detroit Shock (25-9). The Wings have three games remaining in the regular season.
1899 — The Cincinnati Open begins. It is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States still played in its original city and is now known as the Cincinnati Masters & Women’s Open.
1938 — The Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 2-0. Left end Dick Plasman tackles Arnie Herber in the end zone in the fourth quarter for the win.
1946 — Joe Louis knocks out Tami Mauriello in the first round at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.
1960 — Goose Gonsoulin intercepts four passes to lead the Denver Broncos to a 27-21 win over the Buffalo Bills.
1965 — In his first collegiate game, quarterback Billy Stevens of Texas-El Paso gains 483 total yards in a 61-15 rout of North Texas State. Receiver Chuck Hughes has 349 of those yards.
1966 — Baltimore quarterback Johnny Unitas throws four touchdown passes in 38-23 win at Minnesota to surpass Y.A. Tittle as NFL’s career leader with 212; finishes career with 290 TD passes.
1967 — U.S. yacht Intrepid beats the Australian yacht Dame Pattie in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.
1977 — U.S. yacht Courageous beats the challenger Australia in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.
1982 — In a rare father-son matchup, coach Jack Elway leads San Jose State to its second consecutive upset of quarterback John Elway and Stanford 35-31 in Palo Alto, Calif. John Elway completes 24-of-36 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns. Spartans quarterback Steve Clarkson, throws for 285 yards, three touchdowns and scores on a three-yard keeper for the win after a Cardinal fumble. Stanford reaches the Spartans’ 26-yard line, but Elway gets sacked on four consecutive plays to end the game.
2005 — Green Bay’s Brett Favre joins Dan Marino and John Elway with 50,000 yards passing and also breaks Elway’s single-stadium NFL touchdown record of 180 with a 4-yard toss to Tony Fisher with 4 seconds left of a 26-24 loss to Cleveland at Lambeau Field.
2011 — At 16, Lexi Thompson becomes the youngest player to win an LPGA Tour event. The 16-year-old Floridian closes with a 2-under 70 to win by five strokes over Tiffany Joh at the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala. Thompson shatters the age record for winning a multiple-round tournament held by Paula Creamer, who won in 2005 at 18.
2011 — Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton sets an NFL rookie record by throwing for 432 yards against the Green Bay Packers. Newton, who tied the record by throwing for 422 yards in last week’s loss at Arizona, completes 28 of 46 passes with one touchdown in the 30-23 loss to the Packers. Newton’s 854 yards passing is also the most yards for a player in his first two games.
2013 — American Jordan Burroughs earns another wrestling world title. Burroughs, a gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics, extends his undefeated streak to 65 matches with a 4-0 victory over Iran’s Ezzatollah Akbarizarinkolaei in the 163-pound category at the Laszlo Papp Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1903 — Philadelphia’s Chick Fraser pitched a 10-0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader. The Cubs won the opener 6-5. Fraser struck out five and walked four. Peaches Graham, normally a catcher, was the loser in his only major league decision.
1908 — Bob Rhoads of the Indians pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox for a 2-1 victory in Cleveland.
1930 — New York pitcher Red Ruffing hit two home runs as the Yankees edged the St. Louis Browns 7-6 in 10 innings.
1954 — The Cleveland Indians clinched the American League pennant with a 3-2 triumph over the Detroit Tigers.
1963 — The New York Mets lost their last game at the Polo Grounds — 5-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies before a crowd of 1,752.
1968 — Ray Washburn threw a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, one day after the Giants’ Gaylord Perry tossed a no-hitter against Washburn’s St. Louis Cardinals.
1980 — Minnesota’s Gary Ward hit for the cycle in a 9-8 loss at Milwaukee. It was Ward’s 14th career game and the home run was his first in the major leagues. The Brewers won the game in the bottom of the ninth on Gorman Thomas’ two-out two-run homer.
1984 — The Detroit Tigers clinched the American League East Division with a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, making the Tigers the fourth team in major league history to lead from start to finish. The other three teams were the 1923 New York Giants, 1927 New York Yankees and the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.
1984 — Montreal’s Tim Raines became the first player in major league history with four consecutive seasons of 70 or more stolen bases by swiping four in the Expos’ 7-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
1985 — Boston catcher Rich Gedman hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs as the Red Sox rout the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-1.
1987 — Detroit’s Darrell Evans became the first 40-year-old player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season as the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6.
1996 — Roger Clemens equaled his own major league record, fanning 20 batters and pitching a four-hitter to lead Boston over the Detroit Tigers 4-0.
2003 — Atlanta clinched its 12th straight division title when second-place Florida was mathematically eliminated from the NL East race after a 5-4 loss to Philadelphia. The record title streak started in 1991, when the Braves won the NL West. They moved to the East Division in 1994 and trailed Montreal by six games when the strike stopped the season in August.
2006 — The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four consecutive homers in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run homer in the 10th lifted Los Angeles to an 11-10 victory over the San Diego Padres.
2011 — Erick Aybar went 4 for 4, with four extra-base hits and tied a franchise record by scoring five runs, leading the Angels to an 11-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
2012 — Dusty Baker managed his 3,000th game, guiding the Cincinnati Reds against one of his former teams, the Chicago Cubs.
2020 — Garrett Crochet becomes the first player in over a decade to go straight to the majors when the No. 11 pick from the 2020 amateur draft makes his maiden appearance pitching in relief for the White Sox against the Reds. After working out at the Sox’s alternate training site in Schaumburg, IL since being signed, he impresses by striking two of three batter he faces and regularly hitting 100 mph on the radar gun with his fastball.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
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.
When Matchroom hastily arranged an event to officially announce Brown’s signing in 2024, around 300 fans turned out to catch a glimpse of the highly touted amateur.
But persuading 2,000 people to sit in a chilly Planet Ice in Altrincham on a Friday night may be an even better example of Brown’s potential drawing power.
Saturday’s fight was originally scheduled to take place there too but support from his fanbase meant a larger venue was required.
“Altrincham will always have a place in my heart, especially with people moaning how cold it is in there,” Brown said.
“The only downfall are the changing rooms are quite small. I’m quite tall and the ceiling is a bit low, so it’ll be nice to be in a big, open changing room.
“I used to go to that ice rink when I was a kid. To think I’ve actually headlined there on my debut – I can look and smile.”
Brown, who has stopped all six of his opponents with four of his wins coming inside two rounds, has fast established himself as a prospect. He is also aware that, with Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury in the twilight of their careers, British boxing is craving its next star.
“It’s nice, but I never look at it and crave it,” he said.
“People will either like me or they won’t. I’m never going to change, so if it comes and the country is getting behind me, that’s brilliant.”
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.
NEW YORK: Alexander Zverev won his second major championship and kept American men without a Grand Slam title since 2003, beating Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday in the US Open final.
Zverev finally broke through in the majors by winning this year’s French Open and followed up by finally adding the title in New York that he so painfully let slip away in 2020.
The No. 1 seed in a Grand Slam for the first time, he capitalized on Shelton’s shaky start in his first major final, played a nearly flawless tiebreaker on serve and then turned back Shelton’s comeback attempt in front of a crowd that desperately cheered him on.
Shelton was trying to win the first title by an American man since Andy Roddick won in Flushing Meadows in 2003, as well as the first by a Black man since Arthur Ashe in 1968.
But Zverev was too good in majors this year and apparently didn’t even know how good he was. He finished the match on his serve but didn’t seem to realize it, dropping back behind the baseline as if set to return. Only a few moments later did he figure out he had won, raising his arms in celebration.
Alexander Zverev used his greater experience to beat home hope Ben Shelton in the US Open final and quiet a partisan crowd hoping to laud a rare American men’s champion.
German top seed Zverev lifted a heavy burden by winning his first major title at this year’s French Open and has quickly added another with a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-2 victory over Shelton in New York.
At the start of the season, there were question marks over whether 29-year-old Zverev would ever win one of the sport’s biggest prizes.
Now he is celebrating becoming a multiple Grand Slam singles champion, having seen the path to glory partially cleared by injuries to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Sinner and Alcaraz swept the board between them at the majors in 2024 and 2025 – and Zverev has taken full advantage against the rest of the field in their absences.
Big-hitting Shelton has long been identified as a player who can win the most prestigious titles, but ultimately came up short in his first Grand Slam final against a rejuvenated Zverev.
Eighth seed Shelton was aiming to become the first American man to win a major title since Andy Roddick in 2003, but losing serve in the first game of the match set the tone as Zverev controlled the opening two sets.
The momentum shifted in the third set, however, as Shelton finally started applying serious pressure on Zverev’s serve.
Taking his third break opportunity provided encouragement to the 24,000 home fans on Arthur Ashe Stadium, but Zverev quickly reasserted his authority early in the fourth to extinguish American dreams.
Zverev did not initially know he had secured victory when Shelton hit a return long on championship point, only breaking out into a broad and slightly surprised smile after his team pointed out the score to him.
LAS VEGAS — After taking 10 years to win his first world championship, Ryan Garcia needed only 4 minutes and 25 seconds to finish off Conor Benn on Saturday night in the first defense of his WBC welterweight title.
“I kind of figured he would just come at me crazy,” Garcia said. “Second round, I said I’m tired of him coming forward; I’m gonna stand my ground a little bit … and then he got caught with a hellacious one.”
Garcia’s sharp right hand to the jaw put Benn on the canvas early in the second round. Moments later, with the Englishman on the ropes, Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs) served a flurry of punches that prompted referee Thomas Taylor to step in and end the contest at the 1:25 mark and send the announced sold-out crowd of 18,855 into a frenzy.
”He’s exactly what I thought he was; he went in and tried to fight me. I think he needs to be a little bit more patient,” Garcia said. “I don’t think he has enough experience. I think he will be back. I have a new level of respect for him.”
Garcia closed -300 at BetMGM, meaning bettors would have had to put down $300 to win $100.
WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia celebrates after defeating Conor Benn in the second round Saturday.
(Steve Marcus / Getty Images)
The bout was more than another high-profile main event, as it marked a career-defining crossroads for both fighters.
For Garcia, he solidified himself in the 147-pound weight class as a durable, legitimate titleholder rather than a gifted attraction whose career has often been defined by controversy, inconsistency and unrealized potential.
The convincing victory positioned Garcia for a lucrative welterweight fight against the division’s other leading names, including Teofimo Lopez, who was ringside, or another major showdown with Devin Haney, who was also in attendance.
For the 29-year-old Benn (25-2), it’s likely back to the middleweight division after failing in his first world-title opportunity and a chance to escape the considerable shadow of his father, former two-division champion Nigel Benn.
Benn was transported to a hospital after the fight for observation.
In the co-main event, Jai Opetaia (31-0, 24 KOs) patiently weathered several cagey rounds before stopping Noel Mikaelian in the ninth round of their scheduled 12-round lineal cruiserweight championship fight.
Opetaia stunned Mikaelian (28-4) with a multi-punch combination and two crushing hooks, then sent him backward into the ropes with a powerful right hand. Referee Harvey Dock administered a standing eight-count before determining Mikaelian could not continue, ending the competitive fight by TKO at 1:30.
Da’Mazion Vanhouter (13-0, 10 KOs) wasted no time in his scheduled eight-round heavyweight bout, delivering a crushing right hand at the 1:58 mark of the first round for a knockout of Raphael Akpejiori (19-4).
In the 10-round lightweight bout that opened the main card, Andres Cortes (26-0) retained his belt with a unanimous decision over Mark Magsayo (29-3), with all three judges scoring the fight 97-93.
Rybakina rarely shows emotion on the court but there was a brief flash of a smile as she clinched her second major victory of an outstanding 2026 season.
That illustrated the sense of satisfaction she felt after winning a title few had predicted – not only because she had never previously gone beyond the last 16 in New York but the circumstances coming into the final major of the season.
With her penetrating serve and thunderous groundstrokes, Rybakina has a brand of first-strike tennis that can take the racquet out of anyone’s hands.
Therefore it has been a surprise she has not enjoyed greater success on the Flushing Meadows hard courts, perhaps a result of her personality not being particularly suited to the brash nature of New York.
“I was coming here for the last 10 years and it was never successful. I’m falling in love with New York more and more,” Rybakina, 27, said.
What makes the second seed’s victory even more remarkable is that she was unsure if she would be fit enough to even play.
Rybakina was unable to walk for several days after injuring her ankle in the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, putting her chances of competing here in serious jeopardy.
Not only was Rybakina able to play, but she cruised through her opening four matches thanks to a huge service game that rarely allowed opponents to get into points.
Rybakina’s next two wins over China’s Zheng Qinwen and home favourite Coco Gauff required more work after losing the first sets, proving she had the durability to come through tough battles.
Against Sabalenka, she showed both facets of her game, bullying her from the baseline and digging in when necessary to leave her only a French Open title away from the career Grand Slam.
“Some magic is happening. I was unlucky with injury and just going day by day,” Rybakina told Sky Sports.
“We didn’t know how it was going to be so I’m super happy and still can’t believe it.”
NEW YORK: Elena Rybakina won her first US Open title and punctuated her climb to the top of women’s tennis by beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 on Saturday.
Rybakina had already been guaranteed to replace Sabalenka at No. 1 in the rankings next week and for good measure took the US Open title that Sabalenka had won the previous two years.
“It’s tough to find words right now, honestly,” Rybakina said. “I don’t expect nothing like this coming to this tournament. I’ve been dealing with a little bit with an injury, but somehow everything aligned together on my side.”
It was the third Grand Slam title for Rybakina and the second this year — both against Sabalenka on hard courts. She opened the season by beating Sabalenka for the Australian Open title.
This time, she stopped Sabalenka’s 19-match winning streak at the US Open, where she hadn’t lost since falling to Coco Gauff in the 2023 final.
“I really felt like home here and cannot wait to come back next year,” Sabalenka said. “I wish I could perform a little bit better but I guess next year.”
Rybakina earned $5.5 million, the largest prize in Grand Slam history, and tied Sabalenka and French Open winner Mirra Andreeva with a tour-high three titles this season.
Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, left, and Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, right, hold up their trophies after Rybakina won the women’s singles final of the US Open tennis championships Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP)
Sabalenka took home $2.8 million but it was clear how little that meant to her, as she smashed her racket after a brief hug with Rybakina at the net.
Sabalenka was trying to become the first person since Serena Williams from 2012-14 to win three in a row at Flushing Meadows.
Rybakina dethroned the champ without even having her best stuff. The WTA Tour leader in aces got less than half of her first serves in but instead put Sabalenka under constant pressure with a strong return game, racking up 12 break chances and converting three, which was all she needed.
The third meeting of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in a US Open women’s final since 2000 was the first to go the way of the challenger. Williams was the top seed for the other two, beating her sister Venus in 2002 and Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
The numbers didn’t signify much this time, because they are going to flip Monday. Sabalenka has held the top spot for 99 consecutive weeks, but Rybakina gained enough points to unseat her simply by reaching the semifinals.
She didn’t stop there.
The 27-year-old who was born in Russia but represents Kazakhstan won her first major title at Wimbledon in 2022 and now needs just the French Open to complete the career Grand Slam.
And it’s clear her power — and her ability to absorb her opponent’s — was something that unnerved Sabalenka.
A native of Belarus, Sabalenka sometimes swings from her heels, like a golfer trying to unleash a 300-yard drive, grunting “Aaaaahhhh!” as she takes her mighty cuts.
Rybakina’s power comes more easily. There is little sound coming from her side of the net besides the squeaking of her sneakers, and she rarely shows any hint of stress.
“I think Elena is probably — not nonchalant, I don’t want to say that, because she’s not nonchalant — but just no reaction ever,” Gauff said after losing to Rybakina in the semifinals.
Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka reacts during her women’s singles final match against Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina. (Reuters)
Rybakina did show some frustration after pulling a backhand wide with a break point in the opening game of the third set, but soon she had taken charge of the match for good.
Sabalenka had won the two other meetings this season, on the hard courts at Indian Wells and Miami, and leads their rivalry 10-8.
But her season then took a strange dip after those victories. Sabalenka fell to Naomi Osaka in the fourth round at Wimbledon, then returned to action with consecutive fourth-round exits in Toronto and Cincinnati.
Rybakina had to take a brief break after she was forced to stop playing in her quarterfinal match against Iga Swiatek in Cincinnati because of a foot injury, but she was healthy in time for a tournament where she had never done particularly well, failing to advance past the fourth round until this year.
“I honestly was coming here for the last 10 years, and it was never successful — nothing close to that,” Rybakina said. “It’s just incredible. I’m falling in love with New York more and more.”
Arthur Ashe Stadium, meanwhile, had been Sabalenka’s house, with four straight trips to the final and six to at least the semis. Whatever troubled her during the summer seemed forgotten once she was back in New York — until Saturday.
Sabalenka repeatedly looked toward her coaches’ box with her palms up, wondering why everything was going so poorly, and showed much more frustration than that when she double-faulted to hand Rybakina a 3-2 lead in the first set. Rybakina hit the serve back and the ball bounced directly to Sabalenka, who whacked it into the crowd, earning a warning from the chair umpire.
Sabalenka eventually began putting consistent pressure on Rybakina in the second set. She picked up two break points with a chance to end the set with a 5-4 lead, and though Rybakina won four straight points to get out of that jam, Sabalenka got another chance in the next service game and this time capitalized, stepping into a return to set up a miss by Rybakina.
NEW YORK: Big-serving Ben Shelton overpowered US compatriot Frances Tiafoe in four sets on Friday to reach the first Grand Slam final of his career, booking a US Open title showdown with Alexander Zverev.
Eighth-seeded Shelton blasted 20 aces on his way to a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
Top seed Zverev held off 50th-ranked Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6) to reach his third straight Grand Slam final – a run that delivered his maiden major at the French Open and saw him finish runner-up at Wimbledon.
Shelton – who took down defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals – will now have the chance to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam title since 2003, when Andy Roddick triumphed at the US Open.
“It’s a lot of emotion,” Shelton said in an on-court interview. “My dad, my mom have sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position today. My dad lost his mom earlier this year, and she’s the reason that he was able to play tennis.
“Without her, there’s no Ben Shelton standing here today. So this one is for her. And I’m gonna need you guys on Sunday to bring the energy. I’m going for it. I’m gonna leave it all on the court.”
Zverev is eager for the chance to play spoiler.
“Hopefully I can not make the American dream come true on Sunday,” the German said.
The pulsating all-American semi-final played out in front of a star-studded crowd, with tennis legends including Serena Williams, Stan Smith and Lindsey Davenport on hand along with actors Ben Stiller and Rami Malek and New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson.
Tiafoe claimed the first set after Shelton uncharacteristically double-faulted to trail at 5-4.
They traded breaks early in the second, but Shelton took advantage of Tiafoe’s increasingly erratic serve to break for a 5-3 lead and level the match.
The momentum was all with Shelton, who broke for a 3-2 lead then seized the set with a break in a marathon ninth game that went to deuce seven times.
The tension was mounting in the fourth set, but Shelton kept his composure as Tiafoe raised his level and gained the crucial break in the final game.
On Sunday he’ll be up against an experienced opponent in Zverev, who after laboring through two five-setters to open the tournament has steadily upped his game.
‘Anything but straightforward’
Zverev doused Khachanov’s hopes of reaching a first Grand Slam final, although the Russian – who fell to Zverev in the Olympic gold medal match in Tokyo in 2021 – put up a spirited challenge in the second and third sets.
“Straight-set win, but anything but straightforward,” Zverev said. “He played incredibly well, fought incredibly well.”
Khachanov denied Zverev on two set points in the second set tiebreaker with a thumping forehand and a brilliant backhand down the line before Zverev closed out the set.
Neither player mustered a break point in a tense third set. But when Khachanov took a 6-4 lead in the tiebreaker he surrendered both set points with forehand errors. Zverev came up with his 15th ace and sealed the win when Khachanov sent a forehand long.
“Second and third set I think it’s more than obvious that they could have gone both ways,” Zverev said. “I just played a few points better here and there.”
A somber note was struck during the national anthem ceremonies of both the day and night sessions on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks that brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.
“It’s a difficult day to be out here playing,” Shelton said in his remarks to the crowd. “My thought and payers go out to all the families affected by 9/11.”
The women’s final is on Saturday, when Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina will try to deny Aryna Sabalenka a third straight title just days after ending the Belarusian’s near two-year reign atop the world rankings by reaching the semi-finals.
NEW YORK: Aryna Sabalenka moved a win away from her third straight US Open title, beating Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 on Thursday night.
Sabalenka blasted her way out of what was a dead-even match for most of the first set, pouncing on Pegula’s second serves and turning the second set into perhaps her most impressive stretch of tennis in the tournament.
“No complaints,” Sabalenka said. “I’m just super happy that I was able to pull out such tennis.”
The No. 1 seed will face No. 2 Elena Rybakina or No. 4 Coco Gauff on Saturday, needing a victory to become the first player to win three in a row in Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams from 2012-14.
Rybakina will replace Sabalenka atop the women’s tennis rankings next week, and Sabalenka said this week she would be fine ceding No. 1 after she held it 99 consecutive weeks if it she was able to win another US Open trophy.
It will be hard to prevent that if she hits the ball Saturday the way she did against Pegula.
Sabalenka pounded 29 winners to Pegula’s 12, turning their third straight meeting at the end of the US Open into a rout, after her victory in the 2024 final and 2025 semifinals were tight most of the way.
“I was so desperate for the win, I wanted it badly,” Sabalenka said.
She has won 19 straight matches at the US Open since losing to Gauff in the 2023 final.
Sabalenka began the match in cruise control, breaking in sixth seed Noskova’s opening service game and racing into a 5-2 lead, before being broken as she served for the set.
Although she dominated the subsequent tie-break, the double fault she hit in her last service game – one of four in the match – would prove a feature of her performance, as would her failure to convert break points.
She wasted three early in the second set before conceding a break in the sixth game with a double fault at 30-40 as Noskova forced a decider.
After hitting two more double faults to be broken for a third time, she looked down and out after Noskova held to love for a 4-2 lead, but won the next three games to turn the match around.
She then won the tie-break – for a 10th successive time at the US Open, in a run dating back to 2021 – to complete her comeback, sealing the victory with a nerveless second-serve ace.
This was only Sabalenka’s second quarter-final victory since March, with the top seed unable to replicate her early season hard-court success – which included titles in Brisbane, Indian Wells and Miami – on the clay or grass.
She suffered last-16 exits in Toronto and Cincinnati in the build-up to the US Open, but has rediscovered something approaching her best form at the tournament where she is yet to lose a quarter-final in six attempts.
For Noskova, this defeat, during which she hit more winners, fewer unforced errors, and saved seven of her nine break points, ends a run of 11 consecutive singles wins at Grand Slams.
EW YORK: Aryna Sabalenka kept alive her hopes for a third straight US Open championship by fighting off Linda Noskova 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) on Tuesday in a thrilling quarterfinal matchup of major champions.
Sabalenka finished off the match with a second-serve ace to turn back the Wimbledon champion and reach the semifinals in Flushing Meadows for the sixth straight year.
Sabalenka — who needed to win to maintain the No. 1 ranking — will face either No. 3 Jessica Pegula or No. 26 Emma Navarro on Thursday in the semifinals.
Noskova, the No. 6 seed, won her first major title at the All England Club and narrowly missed becoming the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to follow a title on the grass by reaching the final four on the hardcourts of New York.
Known for being ‘The GC’ on screen and larger than life, viewers will see a different side to Gemma Collins in her new Sky documentary series.
Gemma Collins has not had a lot to celebrate whilst making her Sky series.
Gemma Collins admits she has had “the worst year of her life” which corresponded with a time she had cameras following her every move.
The former TOWIE star, also known by her celebrity persona ‘GC’, and was due to get married to partner Rami and start a family during filming for Sky documentary series called ‘Gemma Collins: Everything. All At Once’. The series was originally called Four Weddings and a Baby, but as Gemma admits “things didn’t go to plan”.
Her relationship with Rami has had issues, the pair have also been sadly unable to conceive, and worst of all Gemma’s beloved mum Joan died at the end of July after several years of health issues. Admitting her life and TV series hasn’t been going to plan, 45-year-old Gemma said: “Mum’s been unwell for sixteen years and I’ve been dealing with that on the side, but her health started going downhill during filming and she passed away last month[actually July 2026].
“My fiancé Rami has also been struggling with his mental health and using alcohol to cope, and on top of that we had fertility issues. It was like drowning. It was the worst year of my life. I couldn’t keep hiding it.
“Being The GC was escapism. I could put the make-up on, get the hair big, and forget what was going on in the real world. But there’s been a real turn in media where people want to see the real me again. They’re sick of the bluff. I’m not afraid and I know I don’t need to deal with all this on my own.”
In the eight part series viewers will see Gemma embark on her fertility journey, and she questions whether she has left things too late, putting her career before having a family. On trying for a baby Gemma says: “Rami and I went to the Portland, and I started thinking maybe there could be a miracle. We could get an egg donor and make it work. But, as you’ll see on the show, it got increasingly difficult.
“I still have Tristan, and my nephews. I’ve known Tristan since he was three: I did his nappies, I gave him his bottles. I love that boy. With my mum gone, I’m going to be the mum of the family now, the matriarch, and I’m really happy and excited for that. If it’s meant to happen, my mum will send it to me, and a miracle will happen. If it doesn’t, I’m at peace with that.”
Gemma admitted she found filming on some days very hard but insisted she had to continue. The other deeply personal issue in the series is the loss of her mum Joan, and Gemma allows the cameras into moments like when she deals like this and when the bravado she usually uses on screen drops.
She said: “The camera crews are at your house and you’re thinking, ‘This is my life, it’s so s**t. How can I let people see it?’. But unless you go through hard times, I don’t think you grow as a person. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s also the thing I’m most proud of.”
On her mum Gemma added: “My mum passed away peacefully, and we were all in the room. She’s come back to me in so many ways already, which gives me great comfort. She comes back to me in spiritual ways and sends me signs. There was this butterfly in the house towards the last few days of my mum living, and it wouldn’t go away. When she passed, Tristan went to me, ‘There’s Nanny’. He went, ‘Nanny, if that’s you, flap your wings ten times,’ and it did.”
* Gemma Collins: Everything. All At Once launches 15 September on Sky and streaming service NOW.
The Ojo de Agua campesino council joined the 2018 “Admirable March” to demand justice in the countryside. (Cacriphotos)
Caracas, September 4, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Dozens of campesino families in Bolívar State, southeastern Venezuela, are calling for support from the acting Delcy Rodríguez government after their land title was arbitrarily revoked.
“This should not happen. We have worked the land which we fought for and secured legally,” campesino spokeswoman Zurima Carvajal told Venezuelanalysis.
Carvajal belongs to the “Ojo de Agua Las 3 Raíces” campesino council, which brings together 41 families in a 470-hectare land estate with the same name located in the Padre Pedro Chien municipality of Bolívar state.
The rural organization denounced that their collective land title was arbitrarily revoked in 2024 but local authorities did not give any notice for more than two years. In recent weeks, the campesino families have denounced intimidation and attempts at eviction.
“A few days ago there were shots fired against my house,” Carvajal stated. “Local police came and wrote a report, but then nothing happened.”
The campesino leader denounced that a local family who claims to own the land has ties to military officials, National Assembly legislators, and Bolívar State Governor Yulisbeth García. Carvajal added that she has received recurring threats and that a group of men hired to intimidate the campesino council destroyed a fence, causing the families to lose five heads of cattle which ran into nearby fields.
“We urge national authorities, from Acting President Delcy Rodríguez to Agriculture Minister Vladimir Padrino, as well as the Land Institute (INTI), to investigate this case and restore our land deed,” Carvajal concluded. “There has to be a mechanism to protect those who work the land.”
The Ojo de Agua campesino council began its struggle in 2016, reporting to authorities that vast tracts of land were abandoned in the Padre Pedro Chien municipality. Shielded by Venezuela’s Land Law, which protects rural collectives who occupy and produce in idle estates, the campesino families began to settle in the area in 2018.
Carvajal recalled that the organization immediately faced intimidation and violence from would-be landowners who could not produce any property deeds after the INTI opened an investigation. However, they repeatedly destroyed the campesinos’ crops, while bringing legal charges that led to the jailing of several activists.
The Ojo de Agua organization had a decisive breakthrough after joining the 2018 Admirable Campesino March that saw hundreds of rural activists march for hundreds of kilometers to demand that the Nicolás Maduro government address agrarian issues, including landowner violence and the judicial persecution of local organizers.
With support from other campesino organizations, Ojo de Agua received its land title from the Maduro government in 2020. Carvajal affirmed that the land has been permanently productive, with a variety of crops including corn, sugar cane, beans, and vegetables, as well as a small herd of cattle.
Land struggles have recently intensified in rural Venezuela, with a growing number of rural collectives denouncing the arbitrary revocation of titles. Opposition party Vamos Vamos Venezuela, backed by agroindustrial and cattle rancher lobbies, has campaigned for the repeal of the landmark 2001 Land Law, approved by former President Hugo Chávez, in order to turn Venezuela into “a country of property owners.”
Campesino movements have vowed to fight to defend the popular gains in the countryside.
The Venezuelan acting government and parliament have yet to comment on a potential reform to the Land Law. However, the National Assembly preliminarily approved a law to “protect cattle rearing activities,” with legislature President Jorge Rodríguez publicly criticizing the nationalization of large land estates under Chávez.
In parallel with land issues, Venezuelan rural organizations have also denounced that national production is at risk due to unrestrained imports of foodstuffs such as corn, rice, and sugar. Small-scale producers have pointed the finger at agribusiness corporations for resorting to imports during harvest season in order to drive down crop prices.
The US is the second largest source of agricultural imports to Venezuela by volume, totaling $758 million in 2025. Researcher Felipe Pacheco reported that corn imports from the US more than quadrupled in the first five months of 2026, compared to the average of the prior five years.
Viewers tuning in to the new series of The Grand Tour have been left curious about the title card
The Grand Tour’s new series has finally landed on Prime Video(Image: PRIME VIDEO)
The Grand Tour fans have been left intrigued by a title card featured in one episode.
The six-part series premiered on Prime Video today (September 4) with a fresh set of hosts: Francis Bourgeois, James Engelsman and Thomas Holland. The trio replace veteran stars Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, who gladly handed over the baton to the newbies.
The new series of The Grand Tour even saw the former Top Gear trio make appearances throughout the episodes. Jeremy appeared in the opening episode as he gave some blunt advice to the newbies, while Richard helped to judge a competition to find the toughest car, and James hosted the line-up in his pub.
Episode five of The Grand Tour featured an exciting race between Thomas in a hypercar against Francis and James on a train as they tried to get from the UK to the Belgian Grand Prix. The instalment titled A Relaxing Spa Weekend also featured James delving into the incredible history of the BMW Isetta and its Cold War history.
The episode ended with a title card which featured two images of Klaus-Günter Jacobi, who built the smallest-ever escape car used to cross the border between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Many are curious about the figure mentioned in the title card. Here’s what you need to know.
Who is Klaus-Gunter Jacobi?
Klaus-Günter Jacobi was a mechanic who helped his best friend escape from East Berlin into West Berlin, crossing the heavily guarded border crossing of Checkpoint Charlie. He hid his best friend Manfred Koster in a tiny and concealed compartment in the BMW Isetta.
Manfred was trying to escape East Germany as he was set to be drafted into the army. Thankfully, his friend Klaus came up with the cunning plan.
Klaus-Günter modified the Isetta, reduced the fuel tank to a bare minimum and managed to build in the hiding space. He had also removed other unnecessary components and provided heat protection.
However, they only had an hour to cross the border before it closed for the night. The men were delayed and almost didn’t make it, with sniffer dogs checking for anything suspicious.
If they had been caught, the pair might have paid with their lives for trying to leave. The guards inspected the vehicle thoroughly and let Klaus through without suspecting what he was carrying.
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Klaus’ story was immortalised in the mini-film The Small Escape, which was produced by the BMW Group. After word spread of the escape, the Isetta was used by other defectors to escape East Berlin.
The BMW Isetta was conceived post-WWII by Italian refridgerator company boss Renzo Rivolta and his company Iso Spa. The car essentially had the engine of a scooter, the door of a fridge and seating for two people. BMW was on the verge of bankruptcy when they licensed the design from Iso Spa and set about making it more into one of their cars, thus saving the firm from ruin.
After sharing the unbelievable true story, James then asked Thomas to try and get into a similar-sized space. Despite his best efforts to assume a foetal position, Thomas was unable to get into the space and this illustrated just how tiny this compartment was.
Later in the episode, the two men stopped at a pedestrian crossing as Klaus walked across and waved at them. He now serves as a tourist guide at the Berlin Wall Museum in Friedrichstrasse.
