It was a weekend full of unexpected victories with Gloucester and Maidstone United upsetting the odds. The Australian Open also came to its conclusion with two riveting finals…
Aryna Sabalenka secured her second Australian Open title in two years by overpowering Zheng Qinwen to retain the women’s title.
Belarusian second seed Sabalenka won 6-3 6-2 to claim her second Grand Slam singles trophy without dropping a set.
With 12th seed Zheng backed by passionate Chinese support, a composed Sabalenka sucked the energy out of her opponent and the crowd in a fast start.
She is the first woman to win back-to-back since Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
On the men’s side of the tournament, Jannik Sinner completed an extraordinary fightback to beat Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final.
Italy’s Sinner, 22, trailed by two sets before recovering to win 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3 in his first major final.
Fourth seed Sinner initially could not cope with the Russian’s pace but imposed himself as the contest wore on.
It was another bitter experience for Medvedev, who also blew a two-set lead against Rafael Nadal in the 2022 final.
Tennis is continuing to focus on sustainability with the recent introduction of the ATP Carbon Tracker.
England produced one of their greatest ever wins by stunning India with a 28-run victory in a exciting finish to the first Test in Hyderabad.
Inspired by one of the all-time great innings by Ollie Pope and a beguiling 7-62 from debutant spinner Tom Hartley, England set India 231 to win, then hustled the hosts out for 202 in the extra half-hour at the end of the fourth day.
England captain Ben Stokes, said, “We have had a lot of fantastic moments as a team, great victories but given where we are, and who are playing, I think it’s our greatest triumph since I have been captain.”
TNT Sports is providing UK coverage of international cricket played in India for the next five years after a new broadcast agreement was recently confirmed.
National League South side Maidstone United pulled off one of the great FA Cup shocks to knock Championship high-flyers Ipswich Town out of the fourth round at Portman Road.
Counter-attack strikes from Lamar Reynolds and Sam Corne – Maidstone’s only attempts on target – earned the non-leaguers an astonishing 1-2 victory over a side 98 places above them in the football pyramid.
Vivianne Miedema scored her first Women’s Super League goal since returning from a long-term knee injury as Arsenal battled to a 0-2 victory at Liverpool.
Miedema strode forward on the hour mark and her thumping 20-yard effort flew in via a deflection off Liverpool centre-back Gemma Bonner.
Arsenal doubled their lead nine minutes later when Beth Mead burst down the right channel before squaring for Caitlin Foord to finish.
Last week, Arsenal FC announced a new partnership with MG Motor UK.
Gloucester ended a club record losing run of nine Premiership games with a bonus point 32-20 victory over Sale.
Gloucester last won in the league on 20 October when they beat Newcastle. They stay ninth in the table as the league breaks for seven weeks for the Six Nations, but move up to 22 points.
Back in October, Premiership Rugby renewed its partnership agreement with Land Rover Defender.
In netball, England slumped to a 69-49 loss to Australia in the final of the Nations Cup at Leeds’ First Direct Arena.
The Diamonds stretched a 10-goal lead by half time and a flat England were unable to chase it down.
Australia continue to set the precedent for world netball, having won every trophy they have contested since 2022.
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