PARIS (AP) — Jannik Sinner reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in men’s tennis after beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the Paris Masters final on Sunday.
The four-time Grand Slam champion from Italy replaced six-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz at the top as he extended his indoor winning streak to 26 matches, following up victory in Vienna last Sunday with his first Paris title.
The ninth-seeded Auger-Aliassime needed to win the tournament at La Défense Arena to clinch the eighth and final spot for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
But he was unable to trouble Sinner in a one-sided contest which saw Sinner at his clinical best as he won his fifth title of the year and 23rd of his career.
Sinner won on his first match point with a crisp two-handed backhand down the line, tilted his head back and raised his arms. He then patted his heart as he waved his racket to the crowd. ___
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
PARIS — There seems to be no stopping Valentin Vacherot, who reached another Masters quarterfinal by beating Cameron Norrie 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Thursday.
Already this month, Vacherot made a stunning run from the qualifiers to win the Shanghai Masters for his first career title. He downed 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and beat his own cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final.
The 40th-ranked Vacherot, who is from Monaco, beat Rinderknech again in the second round here in Paris, setting up a match against Norrie after the British player eliminated top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
Vacherot had five aces and saved all five break points against Norrie, who dropped serve once. Vacherot faces ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime or Daniel Altmaier in the quarterfinals.
Later Thursday, four-time Grand Slam champion Jannik Sinner continued his bid to reclaim the No. 1 ranking when he faced Francisco Cerundolo.
Sinner will return to No. 1 if he wins the tournament.
Also, defending champion Alexander Zverev played Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and fourth=seeded Taylor Fritz was up against Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. ___
Pete Sampras is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, with 14 Grand Slam titles to his name, including seven at Wimbledon, five at the US Open, and two at the Australian Open throughout his 15-year career. But beyond the trophies and screaming fans, Pete has faced some incredibly tough battles, from the loss of his coach to his wife’s devastating diagnosis. Join HELLO! as we learn all about Pete’s quiet home life with his loving family, and the challenges he overcame to become a tennis god.
As soon as Pete laid eyes on Bridgette Wilson in the 1999 comedy Love Stinks, he knew that she was the one. At the time, Pete was recovering from a leg injury that he had sustained at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis. “There was a bright spot to that otherwise terrible late summer – my injury was directly responsible for my wife and me meeting,” he wrote in his 2008 memoir A Champion’s Mind.
“While I was hurt, I was watching this movie, Love Stinks, with a friend, John Black. Bridgette Wilson, an actress in the film, caught my eye. Actually, she blew me away when I saw her. I thought she was stunning.” He then asked John, who was the LA Lakers Vice President of Public Relations at the time, to reach out to her on his behalf. While their first date had its awkward moments, the duo eventually hit it off and wed in 2000 after nine months of dating.
The tennis great and the Hollywood star welcomed their eldest son, Christian, in November 2002, and their youngest, Ryan, in July 2005. Bridgette revealed to People that her parenting style greatly differed from that of her husband. “We had to give each other permission to be different as parents,” she told the publication. “That’s why there’s a mom and dad with two different approaches because you do need both.”
The duo both decided to retire in the ’00s despite their relatively young ages and soaring careers, in order to be present in their sons’ lives. “For now, I want to be there when [the boys] wake up, and I want to be there to put them in bed,” Bridgette said. Pete later explained to The New York Times that retiring was the right choice for himself and his family.
“I’m in complete control of what I want to do in my life and that’s a great place to be at 39 years old…I knew when I was retired I could pick and choose what I wanted to do,” he said. “So it really is a nice place to be in life. I can spend a ton of time with my kids, take them out to the park during the week, and most guys are working eight to six.”
The family of four was struck by tragedy when Pete revealed in 2023 that Bridgette had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer a year prior. The former athlete shared the news via ATP Tour on X. “As most have come to know, I am a pretty quiet and private person. However, this past year has been an exceptionally challenging time for my family, and I have decided to share what’s been going on,” he began.
“Last December, my wife, Bridgette, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Since then, she has had major surgery, pushed through chemotherapy and continues with targeted maintenance therapy. It is hard to watch someone you love go through a challenge like this,” he continued. “However, seeing our boys step up and be such strong supporters of Bridgette, myself and each other has been amazing. Watching Bridgette continue to be an incredible mom and wife through it all has been inspiring.”
“I have also learned that it is very hard to reach for support when something is simply too hard to talk about. With that said, I will end this by humbly asking for good thoughts and prayers for our family as Bridgette continues to thrive on her healing journey. Thank you,” he concluded.
Pete overcame a major challenge at the height of his career when his longtime coach, Tim Gullikson, was shockingly diagnosed with brain cancer. One of the tennis legend’s most vulnerable moments came during the quarterfinal against Jim Courier at the Australian Open in 1995, when he began to cry and took a moment to collect himself on the sidelines. The star’s coach had collapsed in the locker room ahead of the tournament and subsequently learned of his diagnosis, before he was flown back to the US.
“I think people understand that I’m normal, I have feelings like everyone else,” he later told the LA Times of the emotional moment. “I’m not a robot out there. I’m as normal as the guy across the street, and I think that’s what people have to realize: when they see tennis players, we’re not above everyone; we do the same things everyone else does.” Tim passed away a year later.
Alex de Minaur’s Vienna Open has ended at the semifinal stage, with the Australian falling to world number one Jannik Sinner for the 12th time in as many meetings.
But de Minaur’s ambition to achieve his first win over the Italian will have to wait until their 13th meeting at least, as Sinner downed the Australian 6-3, 6-4 in 90 minutes.
The Sydneysider did become the first player to break Sinner’s serve in the tournament, doing so twice, but it mattered little.
In the first set, he was already 4-0 down having won just four points when he broke. In the second set, he was already a break down, and Sinner immediately broke back.
De Minaur did have plans to change his losing streak, as Sinner recognised.
“He changed a couple of things, which I was ready for today,” Sinner said.
“I don’t want to say [what]. He knows. He knows what to do, how to put [me] under pressure and the moment when you don’t serve very well, you have to play every ball and every point.
“He can get very physical, he changed up with the slice a bit, also the slice down the line today and opening the court. Many small things he has changed.”
But none of them stopped Sinner reaching his eighth consecutive final on the ATP Tour, the first player to do that since Novak Djokovic a decade ago.
“I came here quite late to the tournament, tried to take every day in the best possible way and I’m happy to be here in the final. It was not easy to reach the final here, so I’m very happy,” Sinner said.
“[I was] trying to play some good tennis, trying to serve very well. The first set was very physical, so I’m happy that I won in two sets today.”
Sinner has now won 20 straight matches on indoor hard courts and will contest the 31st final of his career on Sunday, having claimed 21 titles so far.
The Italian will face Alexander Zverev in the final, after the German defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 7-5 in the other semifinal.
“It’s going to be a great challenge,” Zverev said.
“Playing one of the two best players in the world, seeing where my level really is.”
Both players have already won this event, Zverev in 2021, Sinner in 2023.
Ohanian’s paternal grandparents came to the United States as refugees from the Armenian genocide. His mother, Anke, is German, and his father, Chris, was a travel agent and pharmaceutical technician. An only child, Ohanian moved to Maryland when he was a child and his parents kept him tethered to his roots by sending him to Armenian summer camps. Even at a young age, Alexis was already showing promise as an entrepreneur. He was the commencement speaker at his high school, Howard High School in Ellicott City, Maryland, in 2001.
Ohanian has always been passionate about technology. At the University of Virginia he began studying computer science but soon decided to major instead in business, history, and commerce. When he finished college, he and his college roommate, Steve Huffman, launched MyMobileMenu, a food delivery app. While MyMobileMenu didn’t take off, the pair eventually found massive success with their next idea—an online bulletin board that they named Reddit.
In 2006, Condé Nast, which also owns Vanity Fair, bought Reddit for an undisclosed sum of between $10 and $20 million, and Ohanian continued on as a board member. In 2015, Ohanian and Huffman returned to Reddit to run it independently, but Ohanian stepped down from day-to-day management of the company in 2018, while remaining on its board, to focus on his work as an investor. In 2020, Ohanian resigned from the Reddit board and requested to be replaced by a Black candidate in response to the murder of George Floyd. He was replaced by Black entrepreneur Michael Seibel.
Beyond Reddit, Ohanian has invested in other technology companies and founded more over the years as well. In 2020, he was the lead investor of the US National Women’s Soccer League and founded Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm that helps founders of technology companies grow their businesses. In May 2025, Ohanian bought a stake in Chelsea Women FC soccer team and sits on its board of directors.
Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry speaks exclusively to Sky Sports to discuss 2027 free agency
Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry has opened up on his plans for free agency in 2027 after admitting situations change “really fast” in the NBA.
The prospect of Curry, a two-time league MVP and 11-time All-Star, playing for any franchise other than The Dubs is a strange one.
After being drafted with the seventh overall pick in 2009, Curry has gone on to revolutionise the game of basketball, helping himself to four championships, one finals MVP and the NBA record for most three-pointers made with 4,058 to add to his overall tally of 25,386 points.
All while wearing No 30 for the Warriors.
4 x NBA champion
2 x NBA MVP
2022 NBA Finals MVP
11 x NBA All-Star
2 x NBA All-Star MVP
11 x All-NBA Team selection
2024 NBA Clutch Player of the Year
2 x NBA Three-Point Content champion
Most three-pointers made in NBA history
Curry signed a one-year extension with the team in 2024, worth a reported £47.5m ($62.6m) and ending growing speculation around his future in the process, keeping him in San Francisco until 2027.
Two years from now, when that deal expires, the greatest shooter of all time will be 39.
After averaging just under 25 points, six assists, and over four rebounds in his 16th season, as well as longevity being more prominent than ever in the league, it is clear to see that his time in the NBA is far from over.
But could the next chapter in his illustrious career lie away from Chase Center? Do not rule it out.
“What I have learned about this league is that things change really fast,” Curry told Sky Sports while discussing Underrated Golf, a programme set up by the point guard to break down barriers to entry and increase diversity in the game of golf.
Underrated Golf is an initiative led by Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry to create a pathway into the sport for young athletes from underrepresented communities.
The programme aims to break down barriers in the game of golf to give prospects a level playing field, in a bid to create a more inclusive and accessible environment for young golfers.
“What you might feel like in two years from now could be totally different. I try to stay in the moment as much as possible; it’s not the glitziest answer but it allows me to enjoy what is happening now.
“I do want to play for only one team, let’s keep that pretty clear. Being at the Warriors has been unbelievable and I feel blessed to have only played for one franchise and to have accomplished what we have.
“So if I could have the best of both worlds and continue to be championship relevant over the next couple of years, that would be great but this league is wild. You kind of just stay in the moment.”
Despite a decision on his future looming as we approach 2027, Curry’s full focus remains on securing more success with the team he holds so dear to his heart in the upcoming 2025/26 season.
The arrival of six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler in February has shown early signs of promise after the Warriors reached the Western Conference semi-finals last time out, only to be denied the opportunity to show their title-winning credentials following a Grade 1 hamstring strain for Curry in game one against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
A 4-1 defeat in the series would follow but heading into 2025/26, the roster has been bolstered by a new two-year deal for Jonathan Kuminga, as well as the arrival of 2024 NBA champion Al Horford,to run alongside long-term teammate Draymond Green in the frontcourt.
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (left) Stephen Curry (centre) and forward Draymond Green (right)
With Curry now back to full fitness and fresh depth surrounding him, the intentions from the Warriors have been clear from pre-season.
The Dubs are 3-1 in games Curry has featured in, beating the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers twice, with attention now turning to the season opener against the Lakers on October 21, live on Sky Sports.
When asked what aspects of the game still motivate a player who has already achieved so much in the sport as we approach a new 82-game season, Curry added: “I talk about championships, and that drive – it allows every part of the journey to matter.
“Even in the off-season, how you prepare for the year, come in and try and build chemistry with your teammates and how you get through the emotional rollercoaster of an 82-game season.
“All of that is built into being at your peak come playoff time in April.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry during the pre-season game against the Los Angeles Clippers
“Individual accolades take care of themselves. When you win, everybody is rewarded. As long as I’m taking care of championship motivation, everything else takes care of itself. Whether you win or not, you just lay it all out there.
“We have a brand new team again. We’ll all try and stay healthy and try and get to the finish line. That’s our goal.”
The Warriors have won seven championships in total across their 78-year history, with Curry leading them to more than half of that total.
If the franchise is to add an eighth banner to the rafters in 2026, their point guard will be the man to lead them there.
His powers at the highest level are showing no signs are waning, with the 37-year-old looking to replicate the successes of the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant by “redefining” what it is to be playing at a high level towards the latter stages of their respective careers.
“I feel like I’ve got some good basketball ahead of me. I’m trying to redefine what it is to be playing at a high level at this age,” said Curry when the question of his timeline leading the roster was posed.
“I still love the work that goes into it and playing the game; hopefully, that will carry me. I don’t want to put any limits on it.”
Watch the Golden State Warriors against the Los Angeles Lakers live on Sky Sports + on October 21, tip-off 3am UK time.
OSAKA, Japan — OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Naomi Osaka pulled out of her quarterfinal match at the Japan Open on Friday because of a left leg injury.
Her withdrawal ahead of the match resulted in Jaqueline Cristian advancing to the semifinals on a walkover, the WTA Tour said.
Tournament organizers said top-seeded Osaka hadn’t recovered from the injury sustained late in her second-round match. It will be Cristian’s third semifinal appearance of the year and her first on a surface other than clay.
Before the injury, Osaka had wins over Wakana Sonobe and 2024 champion Suzan Lamens.
After splitting the first two sets with Lamens, Osaka took a 5-0 lead in the third. But during a rally with Lamens serving at 0-5 and 30-15, Osaka pulled up with an apparent issue with her left leg. She won the point after Lamens sent a backhand wide but requested a medical timeout after the next point.
Osaka, a four-time major winner, returned to the court with her left thigh wrapped and limitations in her movement but was able to close out on her third match point.
NEW YORK (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka was on a boat. She was lounging by the pool. The reigning U.S. Open champion was anywhere, it seemed, except a tennis court.
When the professional tours moved to North America for the hard-court tournaments ahead of the trip to New York — where the second round wraps up Thursday — the top-ranked Sabalenka instead was on the Greek island of Mykonos.
“It was very important, because the season had been really intense at that point, and I felt like I was really low (on) energy,” said Sabalenka, who skipped an event in Montreal in late July. “I was motivated, of course, but it felt like everything was going really tough. I couldn’t show my best, and the body was really weak. I felt like, ‘OK, I need to take a little break and a little recharge and come back stronger.’”
Many players understand. Their sport’s season is so long, and the offseason so short, that they don’t wait until the end of the year to chill.
Sometimes, they figure, vacation must come during the season.
“Because if not,” Alex de Minaur, an Australian seeded No. 8 at the U.S. Open, said of the grind, “it’s ongoing.”
The tennis calendar is so full that players need in-season vacations
De Minaur’s recent seasons didn’t end until late November because he was playing in the Davis Cup team competition — and the new seasons started in late December.
So de Minaur and his fiancée, British player Katie Boulter, have been getting away from it all, even if it’s just for a week, after Wimbledon ends in July to have what he called “a little bit of a mental reset for the second part of the year.”
Not everyone has the luxury, or even the desire, to do that, for various reasons.
Some US Open players don’t think they can afford to take a break
Sometimes, players are coming back from an injury absence and want to make up for lost time, lest their rankings drop too much. Or perhaps they’ve been playing well and want to keep the momentum going. Or find themselves in a rut they want to play their way out of.
For someone like 37-year-old Adrian Mannarino of France, who in January 2024 became the oldest man to break into the ATP top 20, there is a benefit to embracing a philosophy that essentially amounts to “all work and no play.”
“I’m the type of player who likes to (compete) a lot, so when I retire, that’s when I’m going to take a lot of vacations,” he said. “It’s sometimes hard to get out of the (playing) rhythm: Going on holiday to try to break the stress (of) mental things, then getting back to it, is not easy. And with my game, I feel like I need to play a lot to get the rhythm, and I don’t like to get out of my rhythm.
“There’s a time for work and a time for holidays — and hopefully in the next few years, I’ll have more time for holidays.”
Vacations during the season don’t exist in team sports, but they do in tennis
The idea of taking vacation during the season doesn’t exist in team sports. For players in the NFL, NBA, NHL or Major League Baseball, there is an ample offseason, even for clubs that win a championship, to travel and rest, then begin working out again.
Boulter waited and wonders if it cost her. There was a need to add a tournament this summer to meet the WTA Tour requirement of six 500-level events, knowing she was going to be short one while playing on Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team. She dropped four of five matches coming into the U.S. Open, then was eliminated in the first round.
“The times that I should have had periods of break, I don’t really feel like I chose myself,” Boulter said. “I kind of chose other things bigger than myself, and I think that’s why I kind of ended up at this point.”
US Open players can decide whether or not to hit the beach
Ajla Tomljanovic, who lost to Coco Gauff in the first round in New York on Tuesday night, said the answer is simple: “It’s your choice whether you play or not,” she said. “So for me, if I need a break, and I feel like I want to go on a vacation, I take it.”
She was planning for some practice after Wimbledon. But, like Sabalenka, Tomljanovic decided to hit the beach, instead.
“I felt like there was enough time to sneak that in,” she said. “And also, it’s very good for my body, as well. I have to be mindful of it. I wasn’t complaining about a few days off.”
___
AP Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich contributed to this report.
Valentin Vacherot beat his cousin Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters for the first title of his career after a stunning run from the qualifying rounds
SHANGHAI — SHANGHAI (AP) — Valentin Vacherot beat his cousin Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Shanghai Masters for the first title of his career after a stunning run from the qualifying rounds.
The 204th-ranked Vacherot, an unheralded 26-year-old, was the lowest-ranked tournament winner in ATP Masters 1000 history — and the first from the tiny Principality of Monaco.
It was quite a performance, too.
He stunned 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals to set up a final against the 30-year-old Rinderknech, who had downed four-time major finalist Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, in a remarkable semifinal of his own.
Vacherot produced a serving masterclass in the third set, with three straight love holds and 15 consecutive points before finally losing a point in the eighth game with an unforced error.
Serving to stay in the match at 15-40 down, Rinderknech saved one match point but Vacherot wrong-footed him with yet another blistering forehand winner down the line to clinch victory.
He held his face in his hands in disbelief before walking to the net to hug his cousin and then rushing to his team box to share a long hug with coach Benjamin Balleret, who is his half-brother and is a former tennis player from Monaco.
Balleret’s career highlight was a defeat to tennis great Roger Federer in the early rounds of the Monte Carlo Masters in 2006.
Nineteen years later, Federer was in the Shanghai crowd watching as Rinderknech clinched the first set with an ace.
Vacherot secured an early break in the decider and then missed four break-point chances in the fifth game as Rinderknech got a reprieve. The Frenchman immediately took a three-minute medical timeout for massage treatment on his back and then his left shoulder.
But there was nothing he could do to stop his cousin’s momentum.
They never played each other before on the professional tour, with Rinderknech winning their only meeting at a Futures tournament in 2018. ___
WUHAN, China — WUHAN, China (AP) — Coco Gauff had more struggles with her serve but overcame seven double faults to beat Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-3 and reach the Wuhan Open final on Saturday.
With both top-10 players struggling with their service games, Gauff edged Paolini winning the battle of converted breaks seven-to-five.
The third-ranked Gauff fought back from three breaks in the second set and won the final four games to advance to the final.
Gauff, who changed her serving coach in August, leads the women’s circuit this season with 378 double faults, over 120 more than the next player.
SHANGHAI — SHANGHAI (AP) — Valentin Vacherot earned the biggest win of his career by beating a hobbled Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the Shanghai Masters final — where he could face his cousin.
The 204th-ranked Vacherot, of Monaco, was an alternate in qualifying but is having a career week.
“Is this real? I don’t know,” the 26-year-old Vacherot said moments after defeating the 24-time Grand Slam champion. “To have Novak on the other side of the court was, first of all, an unbelievable experience for me.”
Well, believe it or not, his next court experience could be against his cousin — Arthur Rinderknech.
Rinderknech faces 16th-seeded Daniil Medvedev in the other semifinal on Saturday.
“I will do some recovery of course, but I will not miss it,” Vacherot said of his cousin’s match.
The 38-year-old Djokovic was slowed throughout the match by a sore hip. He took a medical timeout after falling behind 4-3 in the opening set. He won only one point in the next two games.
SHANGHAI — SHANGHAI (AP) — Big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard upset fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-5 and advanced to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday.
Mpetshi Perricard sent down 12 aces, to Fritz’s nine, and took a break in each set as he clinched his first tour victory against the American in one hour and 25 minutes to set up a last-16 meeting with 10th-seeded Holger Rune.
In other early matches Sunday, Rune beat 21st-seeded Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4, Zizou Bergs upset 19th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (1), 6-3 and the 31st-seeded Gabriel Diallo advanced by walkover after David Goffin retired early in the first set.
Jannik Sinner, who won the China Open in Beijing, was scheduled to play Tallon Griekspoor later Sunday in the third round.
Novak Djokovic was also on court later Sunday in his third-round match against Yannick Hanfmann. Djokovic is bidding for a record-extending fifth title at the Shanghai Masters.
Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who won the Japan Open last week, is not in Shanghai due to minor ailments.
Coco Gauff, of the United States reacts during the women’s singles semifinals match against her compatriot Amanda Anisimova, in the China Open tennis tournament, at the National Tennis Center, in Beijing, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Coco Gauff, of the United States serves against Eva Lys, of Germany during the women’s singles quarterfinals match of the China Open tennis tournament, at the National Tennis Center, in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
BEIJING (AP) — Coco Gauff broke Belinda Bencic’s serve to open the deciding set and went on to beat the Swiss player 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Tuesday to advance to the China Open quarterfinals.
The second-seeded Gauff improved her head-to-head career meetings with the 28-year-old Bencic to 4-2.
Three of those matches have come this year, including Gauff’s win at the Australian Open in January. But Bencic won at Abu Dhabi, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist made the Indian Wells quarterfinals and advanced to the Wimbledon semis.
Two men’s semifinals were scheduled later at Beijing in the ATP tournament running concurrently with the WTA 1000 event. Jannik Sinner was scheduled to play Alex de Minaur and Learner Tien took on Daniil Medvedev.
The men’s final was scheduled for Wednesday with the ATP Tour then moving on to the Shanghai Masters for a 12-day run through to the final on Oct. 12.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
BEIJING — BEIJING (AP) — French Open winner Coco Gauff was forced to go the distance against Leylah Fernandez before closing out a tight three-setter 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 on Sunday to advance to the third round at the China Open.
The defending champion and a firm crowd favorite in Beijing overcame a second set stumble and then struggled to serve out the match in the third, before breaking Fernandez in the 12th game of the deciding set to clinch it.
Gauff will next face No. 16 Belinda Bencic or Australian Priscilla Hon in the WTA 1000-series tournament.
In earlier matches Sunday, Eva Lys beat No. 10 Elena Rybakina 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 and American McCartney Kessler was leading Barbora Krejcikova 1-6, 7-5, 3-0 when the Czech player retired from the match.
The tournament is being held concurrently with an ATP 500 men’s tournament.
A day after becoming the latest tennis star to make an apology to Chinese fans, Lorenzo Musetti had a less eventful straight sets victory over tour veteran Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 in a second round match.
Earlier, Learner Tien beat Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-2 to set up a meeting with ninth-ranked Musetti in the quarterfinals.
Third-ranked Alexander Zverev plays Corentin Moutet of France in a night match later Sunday.
MILAN — MILAN (AP) — Italian rapper Fedez has apologized for publishing musical lyrics saying that tennis player Jannik Sinner speaks with “Adolf Hitler’s accent,” which prompted the musician to be accused of inciting racial hatred.
Fedez recently posted an Instagram story featuring lyrics of a new song that said in Italian: “Italian has a new idol named Jannik Sinner. Pure-blooded Italian with Adolf Hitler’s accent.”
A city council member in Bolzano — the capital of the German-speaking autonomous province of Alto Adige in northern Italy where Sinner is from — on Thursday filed a formal complaint with prosecutors over Fedez’s lyrics based on an article in Italy’s penal code that sanctions incitement of racial hatred and propaganda.
“I wanted to take a paradox and it came off terribly, about athletes who are born and raised in Italy but often are not considered Italian due to the color of their skin and apply it to Italy’s top athlete,” Fedez said during a concert in Milan on Friday, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I wasn’t able to pull it off and all I can do is apologize,” Fedez added. “If something like this isn’t understood, it’s because of a mistake made by whoever wrote it. So I take responsibility.”
The reference to “pure-blooded Italian” recalls Italian fascist propaganda from the 1930s, according to Giuseppe Martucci, the city council member, who added that the reference to Hitler was unacceptable.
“I felt it my duty to act and hold up the founding values of our constitution,” Martucci said. “We can’t allow language the evokes racism and hate to be normalized by public figures.”
By winning four Grand Slam titles over the last two years, Sinner has exceeded Italy’s soccer stars to become the country’s most popular athlete. He lost the U.S. Open final to Carlos Alcaraz this month and lost the No. 1 ranking to his Spanish rival.
This is not the first time that Sinner has faced an underlying sentiment that he isn’t fully Italian.
Before he won his first Grand Slam title and opted not to play Davis Cup for Italy in September 2023 — saying he hadn’t recovered in time from tournaments in North America — he was widely criticized.
“Caso Nazionale” (National Issue), said the front-page of Sportweek, the Gazzetta dello Sport’s weekly magazine, in a headline with a double meaning.
Then when Sinner won his first Grand Slam title at the 2024 Australian Open, he was treated as a national hero on his return home and met with Premier Giorgia Meloni at the Chigi Palace.
Sinner and Meloni posed for photos as they held aloft together first the Australian Open trophy and then the Italian flag. Sinner then gave Meloni a warm embrace to end the meeting.
SHENZHEN, China — Jessica Pegula and Taylor Townsend sent the United States into the Billie Jean King Cup semifinals for the first time since 2021 after beating Kazakhstan 2-1 on Thursday.
Pegula and Townsend topped Yulia Putintseva and Elena Rybakina 6-2, 7-6 (1) in the deciding doubles.
In singles, Emma Navarro defeated Putintseva 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (6) and Rybakina evened the quarterfinal by dispatching Pegula 6-4, 6-1.
Townsend, a two-time major doubles champion, created some controversy this week in comments about Chinese food.
The U.S. will play Japan or Britain in the semifinals on Saturday.
Japan and Britain play their quarterfinal later Thursday.
In the other half of the draw, Ukraine faces defending champion Italy in the semifinals on Friday. Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina won singles matches over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Paula Badosa, respectively, to put Ukraine through to the final four. Italy beat host China.
The BJK Cup was formerly known as the Fed Cup, and the United States is the most successful team as an 18-time winner, but not since 2017.
