Defending US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz made a winning return after a four-month injury lay-off, defeating Russia’s Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round.
The Spanish star controlled the match from the outset, completing a straight-sets victory in his first appearance since recovering from injury.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Ferrari will run a special Michael Schumacher tribute livery at its home Formula 1 race in Monza, marking the 30th anniversary of the German driver’s first season with the team.
The Ferrari SF-26 driven by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will feature an even redder appearance, with the white section removed from the engine cover. Both drivers’ number decals will use a retro font, while Schumacher’s signature will appear between the numbers and title sponsor HP’s logo.
The car will also feature gold detailing on the BBS wheel rims and Schumacher’s trademark white stars on its nose. Hamilton, Leclerc and Ferrari’s entire trackside team will wear specially designed clothing for the occasion.
The tribute livery draws inspiration from the F310 that Schumacher first raced for Ferrari in 1996. That car will be displayed throughout the Monza weekend alongside his final Ferrari, the 248 F1 from 2006, and the F2002, which became Schumacher’s and Ferrari’s most dominant car.
Schumacher’s former team-mate Rubens Barrichello and close friend Sebastian Vettel, who also drove for Ferrari, will drive the F2002 around Monza on Saturday and Sunday for a lap of honour celebrating his legacy.
“Michael’s time at Ferrari was about much more than just wins and titles: his relentless pursuit of perfection, attention to detail, discipline and ability to be a true team player helped create a culture that became one of the defining characteristics of the Scuderia,” the team stated.
“Thirty years later, that culture remains part of the way Ferrari approaches competition today. Monza is therefore the ideal place to celebrate this legacy, not just by looking back at what was achieved, but by recognising values that remain part of Ferrari today.”
Schumacher is Ferrari’s most experienced driver, having started 179 races for the team between 1996 and 2006. The 57-year-old German is also Ferrari’s most decorated driver, winning five of his seven world championships with the Maranello-based team between 2000 and 2004.
During Ferrari’s highly successful era under Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, Schumacher recorded 72 wins and 58 pole positions for the team.
Source: www.motorsport.com
Hull City have reached a verbal agreement to sign English full-back Brooke Norton-Cuffy from Genoa, according to confirmation from Fabrizio Romano.
The deal is reportedly worth €14 million. Arsenal, who sold Norton-Cuffy in 2024, hold a sell-on clause and are set to receive a share of the transfer fee.
Liam McCracken’s first clear thought after waking from a devastating bus accident was that he was glad to be alive. Three years later, the 25-year-old Liverpool fighter is preparing to compete for a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in Las Vegas.
McCracken was running near his home in Liverpool when he stepped into the road without properly checking for oncoming traffic. He was struck by a bus and dragged underneath it for 18 metres (60ft) over seven seconds before the vehicle stopped.
The Briton says he did not see the bus until the final moment. A couple who witnessed the collision found him unconscious and bleeding heavily beneath the vehicle and believed he was dead.
McCracken says he might have bled to death before an ambulance arrived if not for passers-by on the main road, including a paramedic who had life-saving equipment in their car.
The accident left him with four fractures in his back, two slipped discs in his neck, three broken ribs, a broken pelvis, a broken nose, a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, a torn meniscus and multiple other wounds.
For a long time, McCracken feared he might never walk or compete again. On Tuesday, however, he will fight Mexican lightweight Silvestre Sanchez.
“For the first few days I wasn’t caring about anything else other than the fact that I was alive,” McCracken tells BBC Sport.
“I have a little daughter and apparently the people who found me said that was the first thing I kept speaking about when I regained consciousness. “I kept asking about my little girl while I was on the floor getting seen by people. The main thing was I was glad to be alive.”
McCracken describes the accident and his recovery as some of the most difficult moments of his life, although he recalls the experience with good humour.
“My girl had just turned one. One of the funniest things is she wasn’t walking at the time and literally a day or two after it happened she started walking. I stopped being able to walk while she’d just learned to walk,” says McCracken.
McCracken was unconscious beneath the bus and being burned by its engine. The driver could not switch off the ignition because the suspension would have dropped, potentially causing the vehicle to crush him.
A pedestrian helped the driver move the bus away from McCracken before anyone could treat him.
“A woman was with me holding my hand on the floor and then loads of people started coming over,” said McCracken.
“They came over and saw to me straight away which basically saved my life because I was losing a lot of blood. I had to get multiple blood transfusions.”
At the time of the accident, McCracken had won five of his six professional fights and was being tipped as a future UFC star. Reaching that goal, though, required a long and difficult road back to competition.
Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx built two of the most distinguished careers in motorsport history, achieving success across Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, endurance racing and rally raid. Yet their enduring friendship may be just as remarkable as their racing records.
When the two legends joined Motorsport.com for a special double interview, the video call felt like a reunion between old friends. Andretti and Ickx first met at the 1968 Mexican Grand Prix and later became team-mates at Ferrari in both Formula 1 and the World SportsCar Championship. Nearly six decades later, their admiration and affection remain as strong as ever.
“You have to explain to me how you stay in such good condition, because you look good,” Ickx said of Andretti.
“I understand, yesterday you won [IndyCar’s Freedom 250] and you finished on the podium. You have many reasons to smile. We hope at Genesis to be like you.
“You are amazing, my dear Mario. It brings me some emotions to think that what we did more than almost 60 years ago – yes, almost 60 years ago.
“You are the most famous driver – the celebrated, the iconic Mario Andretti. I had the fortune to share with you, it was yesterday, I believe, 1972, in a Ferrari 312 PB. So thank you very much.”
Clearly touched by Ickx’s praise, Andretti replied:
“No, thank you. You were the best.”
Jacky Ickx, Mario Andretti, Ferrari 312 PB
Photo by: Rainer Schlegelmilch / Getty Images
The mutual respect between Andretti and Ickx helps explain why they became such a formidable partnership. They first shared a garage in 1971, when Ferrari paired them across a dual programme in Formula 1 and sportscar racing.
Reliability limited Ferrari’s results in F1, but both drivers claimed a victory. Andretti, who was not competing full-time, drove Ferrari’s 312B to victory on his debut outing for Enzo’s team.
Their partnership flourished in sportscar racing. Their similar physical dimensions simplified the work for Ferrari’s designers, while their trust and understanding made them exceptionally effective as team-mates. Ickx even allowed Andretti to qualify the car according to the American driver’s preference.
Ferrari dominated the 1972 season, with Andretti and Ickx winning four of the 11 races they contested together. Their victories came at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Brands Hatch. Ferrari skipped Le Mans after deciding that its Formula 1-derived engine was not suitable for a 24-hour race; with the Daytona event reduced to six hours that year, Andretti and Ickx would otherwise have been among the leading contenders at La Sarthe.
Andretti said sharing a car in endurance racing brought the pair closer and laid the foundation for a friendship that has endured ever since.
“Long-distance racing taught me a lot,” he said. “You’re sharing the moment with someone else to do the same thing.
“There’s no bigger pleasure when you’re in victory lane together with your partner. The ones that have accomplished the same thing for you – and with you.
“We all depend on each other to minimise the mistakes – and make no mistakes – to be able to bring it home.
“You’re sharing your victory in a different way when you’re driving in long-distance races. We’re both in the same seat during the race at one time or another and we’re both experiencing exactly the same thing. That’s something that brings you together.
“Jacky, specifically, from the long-distance racing factor, I did most of my long-distance races with him. That’s why I said he’s my best buddy, my best team-mate.”
Following his Ferrari career, Ickx became one of the most successful sportscar drivers ever. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times, along with the Spa 24 Hours and Bathurst 1000, before moving into rally raid and winning the Dakar Rally on his third attempt.
Andretti also achieved nearly every major goal he set for himself. His victories included the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500, while he also won the Formula 1 and IndyCar championships.
Although both drivers have retired from active competition, their passion for motorsport remains undiminished in their 80s. Andretti, patriarch of one of America’s biggest racing dynasties, works as a director for Cadillac’s new F1 team. Ickx is a brand ambassador for Genesis Magma Racing and recently drove the GMR-001 at Paul Ricard.
Their lives are now divided by geography, with Andretti based in Pennsylvania and Ickx spending much of his time in Africa. That distance has done little to weaken their relationship. They continue to follow each other’s careers and want to see the other succeed.
“I’ll be watching with interest,” said Andretti. “I wish you guys all the very best. Whatever your endeavours are, maintain your objectives and always go for the sky.”
“I wish you to enjoy life in your projects,” Ickx adds. “We are in very good company. We are lucky to still be active, to be in good health.
“We are very lucky, Mario. I keep in mind these days the years we have shared together, where we have shared long-distance racing.
“Of course, I follow you in your championships, F1, IndyCar, NASCAR, Midget.”
Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, Ferrari 312 PB
Photo by: David Phipps / Sutton Images via Getty Images
As the interview ended, Andretti and Ickx said goodbye. They could have spent the hour revisiting their greatest victories, but the conversation repeatedly returned to the time they shared both on and off the track.
“You have been a real friend and such a talented driver,” concludes Ickx. “I was tempted to say I love you, but you’re not supposed to say that.
“Mario, stay safe, please,” he adds. “Stay safe. And thank you very much for your friendship.”
We examine the betting market to identify the five drivers most likely to win at Monza.
Source: www.formula1.com
Barcelona midfielder Marc Bernal, who started for the third consecutive game, reflected on last season’s 5-2 victory over Rayo Vallecano and the competition with Rodri.
“We have to keep working, three wins out of three, and try to achieve all our objectives,” said Bernal
“This is Barça, the biggest club in the world.
Rachael Gunn suffered a panic attack in the Olympic village just hours before representing Australia at the Paris 2024 opening ceremony.
Surrounded by experienced athletes, Gunn began to understand the scale of the challenge ahead. Her professional background was as a university lecturer, but she was about to compete in breaking, the breakdancing event making its Olympic debut.
Known as Raygun when competing, the 38-year-old described her anxiety in a new Netflix documentary about her experience at the Games.
“I felt like an imposter,” said the 38-year-old breaker.
She also explained how she reacted after seeing someone she recognised from the Olympic team.
“I just could not stop crying… I had a panic attack. ‘What am I doing? What have I done? Should I be doing this?’” she said.
Just a few hours later, Gunn was sailing down the River Seine alongside the rest of the Australian delegation, waving to onlookers.
Less than a fortnight later, her Olympic journey was over. Gunn lost all three of her round-robin battles at the Games, but said she was pleased with how she had performed.
“Finishing my last round, the world champion Nicka [Dominika Banevic] gave me props for my moves, the MC celebrated my stuff and the vibe was just generally good,” Gunn told BBC Sport.
What she had not expected was the global reaction to one of her routines, in which she introduced unconventional moves including a sprinkler and a kangaroo hop.
The performance quickly became a viral sensation. It inspired memes and a sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Adele referenced it during one of her concerts, while Chris Hemsworth defended Gunn in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. In August 2024, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also spoke out, praising Gunn for having “a crack”.
“It was pretty wild the way I became a topic of conversation in spaces I never thought I would be,” said Gunn.
Alongside the teasing, Gunn faced more serious online attacks, including conspiracy theories alleging nepotism. One claim suggested that her husband and trainer, Samuel Free, had been on the selection committee when she qualified to represent Australia at the Games. He had not been.
“It was really tough when mine and Sammy’s credibility, ethics and motivations were being called into question,” Gunn said.
“You could just spend 30 seconds researching and find plenty of sources to debunk these conspiracies, but that’s not how people use the internet anymore.”
The intense scrutiny took a toll on Gunn’s mental health.
“I felt like my whole life was just kind of crumbling before me.. .and I was just trying to get through the day,” she says in the documentary.
While making a film about that period, Gunn said she had begun to regain a sense of control over her story.
“It’s taken a long time for me to process what happened,” Gunn told BBC Sport.
“It’s really exciting for me to finally have a voice again.”
Marc Casado’s future has reached a decisive stage during this transfer window. The Barcelona midfielder has attracted interest from several clubs in recent weeks, including teams from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as potential destinations in England, Italy and Germany, with RB Leipzig among the options.
Despite the growing interest, Casado has now established his priorities as clubs assess a possible move.
Source: tribuna.com
Naomi Osaka’s performance during Monday night’s session was less polished, but the Japanese 13th seed dug deep to defeat Anastasia Zakharova and reach the second round.
The former world No. 1, who won the US Open at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and 2020, made a strong start before facing a determined fightback from Zakharova.
Osaka broke serve at the first opportunity to move 2-0 ahead in the opening set. Although she could not convert another chance to take a 4-0 lead, she appeared comfortable after moving 5-2 in front.
Zakharova responded with resilience, forcing the set into a tie-break. The 22-year-old also recovered from another early break in the second set, but Osaka’s powerful serve proved decisive.
Osaka established a commanding 5-1 lead in the second tie-break and completed the victory shortly before 00:30 local time, avoiding the need for a deciding set.
Osaka will face Czech Republic player Katerina Siniakova in the second round and promised fans another surprise with her outfit.
“I wanted to play well because I wanted to show you guys some more outfits,” she said.
“I love expressing myself through clothes – because I don’t like talking too much.”
Source: www.bbc.co.uk