TURIN, Italy: Top-ranked Jannik Sinner added another big title to his tremendous year, beating US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday for the ATP Finals trophy before his home fans — and before a final verdict is reached in his doping case.
Sinner won his first two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and US Open in 2024 and had already clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking.
“It’s the first title in Italy and it means so much to me,” said Sinner, who also won the Next Gen ATP Finals — an event for the top under-20 players — in Milan in 2019. “It’s something very, very, very special.”
Sinner, however, has off-court issues after he tested positive in two separate drug tests in March. A decision to clear him of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in September. A final ruling is expected from the Court of Arbitration for Sport early next year.
Sinner’s explanation was that the banned performance-enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.
Sinner maintained his recent mastery over Fritz, having also beaten the American in the US Open final in September and in the group stage this week at the elite event for the year’s top eight players.
By sweeping all five of his matches en route to the trophy, Sinner earned $4.8 million — the largest winner’s prize on the men’s tour.
Sinner became the first Italian to win the finals and he went one step further than last year, when he lost the championship match to Novak Djokovic, who withdrew this time. And he did so without dropping a set – which was last accomplished by Ivan Lendl in 1986.
“I just tried to understand whatever works best for each opponent,” Sinner said. “It was a very high-level tournament from my side. At times, I couldn’t play better.”
The crowd inside Inalpi Arena included multiple clusters of fans wearing orange — a tribute to Sinner’s red- and orange-colored hair, and how he once ate carrots during a match. There were orange carrot costumes, orange wigs, orange hats, jackets and plenty of other orange items, too.
Some fans even had carrots in their mouths.
The crowd broke into its customary chant of “Ole, Ole, Ole; Sin-ner, Sin-ner” when Sinner produced a drop-shot winner to break for a 4-3 lead in the first set.
Sinner faced a break point while serving for the first set but saved it with a big serve out wide that Fritz couldn’t return. Then he served an ace — his 10th of the set — to close it out.
Another break by Sinner early in the second and the match was virtually over.
Sinner extended his winning streak to 11 matches. He’s won 26 of his last 27 matches and ends the ATP season with eight titles and an overall record of 70-6.
Fritz was attempting to become the event’s first American champion since Pete Sampras beat Andre Agassi in the title match 25 years ago.
Still, Fritz will rise to a career-high No. 4 in the rankings on Monday after beating No. 2 Alexander Zverev in a third-set tiebreaker in the semifinals on Saturday. That will make him the highest-ranked American man since Andy Roddick was No. 4 in August 2007.
It’s the latest in a series of achievements for Fritz, whose run in New York made him the first American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009.
At the start of the week, Fritz told The Associated Press that his “career has always been a very steady progression and just improving a little bit each year.”
Both Sinner and Fritz will conclude their seasons representing defending champion Italy and the United States, respectively, in the Davis Cup finals, which start Tuesday in Malaga, Spain.
The German duo of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz beat Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) to win the doubles title.
Sinner beats Fritz to win ATP Finals and add another big title with his doping case still pending
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Sinner beats Fritz to win ATP Finals and add another big title with his doping case still pending
- Sinner won his first two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and US Open in 2024 and had already clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking
AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez joins Saudi side Al-Hilal
- The 27-year-old French defender joins Al-Hilal on a three-year deal
Paris: Saudi club Al-Hilal on Thursday signed AC Milan’s French full-back Theo Hernandez on a three-year contract.
The 27-year-old leaves the Serie A side in a deal worth 25 million euros ($29.2 million), Italian media report.
Hernandez has played 38 times for France with two goals, and figured in the last World Cup, including the defeat by Argentina on penalties in the 2022 final in Qatar.
Moving to the Saudi Pro League a year before the next World Cup could be considered a risk for his chances of getting called up again by coach Didier Deschamps.
But he can take encouragement that Deschamps selected N’Golo Kante for Euro 2024 whilst he was playing for another Saudi club, Al-Ittihad.
Theo is the younger brother of Paris Saint-Germain and France defender Lucas Hernandez.
Swiss move through to Euro 2025 quarterfinals with late Xhemaili goal
- Switzerland, who needed only a draw to advance based on goal difference, finished second in Group A behind Norway to go through to the knockout round for the first time
- The desolate Finland players collapsed to the pitch in tears at the final whistle, while the Swiss lingered after the game’s end to pose for pictures
GENEVA: Switzerland’s Riola Xhemaili scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a dramatic 1-1 draw with Finland on Thursday that sent the joyous hosts through to the quarterfinals at Euro 2025, and heartbroken Finland home.
Switzerland, who needed only a draw to advance based on goal difference, finished second in Group A behind Norway to go through to the knockout round for the first time, and will face the winners of Group B, which would be world champions Spain as things stand now.
“I think we set ourselves a goal on the pitch, to write history, to go into the knockout stages, which we’ve never done before,” Swiss captain Lia Walti said.
Finland looked to be heading for the knockout round after Natalia Kuikka scored a penalty in the 79th minute, awarded after Viola Calligaris’s foul on Emma Koivisto. Center-back Kuikka calmly slotted home a low shot as Swiss goalkeeper Livia Peng dived the wrong way.
But, roared on by the home crowd, the Swiss kept up the attack in the breathless dying moments and Xhemaili, a second-half substitute, scored in the 92nd minute when Geraldine Reuteler mis-hit her shot on goal and Xhemaili was there to tap it in, blowing the roof off at Stade de Geneve.
“I really have to say that I didn’t think that we’re going home because I really believed in this team, until the last second, and I knew we were going to score,” Xhemaili said.
“I knew that Geraldine Reuteler, she will hit the target, of course, because she’s one of our best players, so I was like, just stay on the right spot in the right moment and wait until the ball is coming and it did.”
The desolate Finland players collapsed to the pitch in tears at the final whistle, while the Swiss lingered after the game’s end to pose for pictures and their famed manager Pia Sundhage wrapped her assistants in huge hugs.
But for most of the nervy night, the game was far from a classic, with desperation showing in both sides with the stakes sky high.
Switzerland started brightly and put Finnish goalkeeper Anna Koivunen to work early with a couple of chances. But momentum shifted midway through the half to quiet the nervous crowd and Peng made a huge save on the goal-line seconds before the break to preserve the draw.
Intensity picked up over the second half and Sundhage threw virtually every attacker on her bench into the game in search of the equalizer, with the Swiss ending the night with 15 shots to Finland’s six.
“I am going to dance tonight,” a smiling Sundhage told SRF.
Kuikka said Switzerland were the better team on the night.
“They came to the game like they wanted to win and it kind of showed,” she said.
Healy wins hilly 6th stage, Van der Poel takes yellow jersey from Pogacar at Tour de France
- The 24-year-old Healy had won a stage on the Giro d’Italia before, but this was his first victory at cycling’s showcase race
- The Slovenian star accelerated at the end of the stage but could not quite do enough to stop the yellow jersey going to the 30-year-old Dutchman Van der Poel, who is not considered a race contender
VIRE NORMANDIE, France: Irish rider Ben Healy won a hilly sixth stage of the Tour de France after a long solo breakaway on Thursday and Mathieu van der Poel took back the yellow jersey from defending champion Tadej Pogacar by one second.
The 24-year-old Healy had won a stage on the Giro d’Italia before, but this was his first victory at cycling’s showcase race.
“A stage win in the Tour is just unbelievable, it’s what I’ve worked for,” he said. “I grew up watching the Tour and wishing one day I could just be there. Participating in the Tour is already an achievement and to win a stage is just so so amazing.”
American rider Quinn Simmons finished 2 minutes, 44 seconds behind Healy in second place and Australian Michael Storer was 2:51 back in third spot.
Van der Poel finished eighth, and Pogacar was a little further back in ninth.
Stage 6 took riders over 201.5 kilometers (125 miles) from Bayeux to Vire Normandie, featuring six minor climbs before a sharp uphill finish with a 10 percent gradient.
The Slovenian star accelerated at the end of the stage but could not quite do enough to stop the yellow jersey going to the 30-year-old Dutchman Van der Poel, who is not considered a race contender.
“I would have loved to have a bit more than one second but I’m happy to have it again,” said Van der Poel, who struggled with the heat. “I’ll try my best to recover as good as possible and then we’ll see tomorrow, but first I’m going to enjoy the yellow jersey. I will probably only have it for one day.”
Two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard finished 10th, just behind Pogacar, and is fifth overall.
The route favored allrounders and an experienced-looking eight-rider breakaway, including Stage 2 winner Van der Poel and Giro d’Italia champion Simon Yates, pulled away from the yellow jersey group around three-time Tour winner Pogacar.
Riding through rolling countryside they opened up a four-minute lead with 40 kilometers to go, which is when Healy decided to go for the stage win and pulled away from his rivals, who could not follow.
“Today’s stage really suited me, I had circled this day from the start,” Healy said. “I knew I needed to get away from the group, I think I timed it well and I caught them by surprise a little bit. Then I knew what I had to do: just put my head down.”
Friday’s stage is also hilly
Stage 7 is 197 kilometers long, starting from the port city of Saint-Malo and finishing with a climb up Mûr-de-Bretagne in Britanny’s picturesque Côtes-d’Armor department.
“When you see how Tadej is riding,” Van der Poel said, “if he attacks tomorrow, or Jonas as well, it will be very difficult not only for me but for the whole bunch to follow on this climb.”
Wenger defends Club World Cup amid Klopp criticism
- Wenger: Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and I don’t share Jurgen Klopp’s view at all. I feel that a Club World Cup, a REAL Club World Cup was needed
- Wenger also pointed to the unexpectedly high attendance figures as evidence of the competition’s success
NEW YORK: Arsene Wenger has dismissed Jurgen Klopp’s criticism of FIFA’s revamped 32-team Club World Cup, calling the tournament a “fantastic competition” and emphasizing the support it has received from participating teams, players, and managers.
Klopp, the former Liverpool manager, described the expanded summer competition as “the worst idea ever invented” in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt two weeks ago. Wenger, now FIFA’s chief of Global Football Development, countered these remarks on Thursday during a FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) briefing in New York.
“Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and I don’t share Jurgen Klopp’s view at all,” Wenger told reporters. “I feel that a Club World Cup, a REAL Club World Cup was needed. If you make an inquiry today with all the clubs who were here at this competition, I’m basically sure that we have 100 percent of answers of people who want to do this again. So that’s basically the best answer.”
Wenger also pointed to the unexpectedly high attendance figures as evidence of the competition’s success. “The decisive question is, do the fans like it? Attendance projections were low, but in reality, they were much higher. The answer is there,” he added.
The tournament has provided FIFA with a testing ground ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will take place across North America. Wenger acknowledged that the summer heat in the US posed challenges but said FIFA has learned valuable lessons to address these issues.
“The heat in some games was a problem,” Wenger admitted. “We tried to combat that with cooling breaks and watering the pitches during breaks. We learned a lot on that front.”
He singled out Orlando as one of the venues where pitch conditions proved difficult, though he praised the quality of natural grass pitches overall. Philadelphia’s surface, he said, would serve as a benchmark for future competitions in the US.
Looking ahead, Wenger said FIFA is considering using covered stadiums in cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Houston to host early matches in next year’s tournaments. He also revealed that FIFA analysts have studied the impact of heat on player performance, finding that temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) affect high-speed running and sprints more than overall distances covered.
“Certainly next year, there will be more roofed stadiums as we have to follow the TV schedule. We are learning to be better equipped to deal with these conditions,” Wenger said.
The inaugural 32-team Club World Cup concludes on Sunday, with Paris St. Germain taking on Chelsea in the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Tottenham signs forward Mohammed Kudus from West Ham
LONDON: Tottenham completed the signing of Ghana forward Mohammed Kudus from West Ham on Thursday and was reportedly close to adding Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White as well.
Tottenham did not disclose details of the deal for Kudus but British media said it was worth 55 million pounds . The 24-year-old Kudus scored 19 goals in 80 appearances for West Ham during a two-year spell after joining from Ajax.
Tottenham is rebuilding under new coach Thomas Frank and Gibbs-White was reportedly set to have a medical at Tottenham ahead of a proposed 60-million transfer.
Gibbs-White joined Forest in the summer of 2022 following their promotion to the Premier League and was instrumental in delivering European football to the club for the first time since 1996, with seven goals and eight assists in 34 Premier League games this past season.
