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Womenâ€s tennis thriving on the court as season wraps but WTA must catch up | Tennis

The final weeks of the womenâ€s tennis season showcased one last twist in the furious race to determine the qualifiers for the WTA Finals. Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, finally caught fire after a year of near misses, bulldozing through her opponents to win a title in Ningbo, China that solidified her spot in Riyadh among the eight best players in the world.

Just as significant as Rybakinaâ€s qualification, though, was its consequences for the player she usurped. Mirra Andreeva, the 18-year-old prodigy who won WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells this year, had seemed like a sure bet to qualify in singles for the WTA Finals. Her failure to do so underscores the fact that this year has been the toughest and most competitive womenâ€s tennis season in years.

At the top, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have further strengthened their claims as the two greatest players of their generation. While Sabalenka put together another supremely consistent year as the best player in the world, winning her fourth grand slam title at the US Open and reaching the Australian and French Open finals, Swiatek captured the one tournament she never imagined she could win, earning her sixth grand slam title at Wimbledon.

Still, the other top players have allowed them no rest and the intense competition has inspired countless epic high-stakes matches throughout the year. It took consecutive colossal performances from Madison Keys against Swiatek and Sabalenka to finally win her first grand slam title at the Australian Open. In Paris, Coco Gauff outsmarted Sabalenka in a dramatic, wind-afflicted three-setter to win her second grand slam title at just 21 years old. Two days earlier, Sabalenka ended Swiatekâ€s three-year reign in another unforgettable duel.

At the US Open, womenâ€s semi-final day turned out to be one of the best days of tennis this year as Sabalenka overcame Pegula in a breathless, high-quality battle before Amanda Anisimova continued her long-awaited breakthrough season by dragging herself past Naomi Osaka to reach a second consecutive grand slam final. Even Swiatekâ€s 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Anisimova in the Wimbledon final turned out to be part of one of the most compelling storylines this year. Two months later, Anisimova showed her toughness by exacting revenge on Swiatek at the earliest opportunity in New York.

Iga Swiatek enters the WTA Finals as a Wimbledon champion. Photograph: Robert Prange/Getty Images

This may have been a great year for womenâ€s tennis on the court, but on the eve of another WTA Finals, the eternal question remains whether the tour can provide its talent with a strong enough platform to turn the sport into a thriving product again. As the WTAâ€s flagship event, in recent years this tournament has reflected the tourâ€s struggles. It should actually be in the middle of a 10-year residency in Shenzhen but the Covid-19 pandemic and the WTAâ€s fleeting objections to the disappearance of Peng Shuai led to the cancellation of their agreement after the first edition in 2019.

The event then bounced between different countries each year, with various difficulties, a period that also left the WTA in a deep financial hole. The WTAâ€s inevitable embrace of Saudi Arabia addressed some of those financial issues and in recent years the organisation has been restructured. In 2023, the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners acquired a 20% stake in the WTAâ€s new commercial arm, WTA Ventures. Last August, the WTA appointed Portia Archer as its new CEO.

For all the recent changes at the WTA, which included a significant image rebrand at the beginning of the year, it remains to be seen if it can put itself on the right path. Aside from changing the graphics of their website alongside a beige new slogan – Rally The World – not so much has changed to its public offering since that rebrand. The WTA marketing budget remains a fraction of the ATPâ€s and it shows in their paltry output on social media and the lack of original content on its YouTube account.

Eight years after initiating its own bespoke subscription-based streaming product, WTA TV, the service still does not have its own app or a global presence. This also starkly contrasts with Tennis TV, the ATPâ€s streaming platform, which suffocates viewers with content. A particularly concerning development at the WTA, which does not reflect well on the organisationâ€s judgement, was the decision to end its WTA Insider initiative, one of the few ways that it effectively showcased the storylines within the sport. Otherwise, the WTA has been dire at marketing its players and their personalities for so long.

At a time when womenâ€s sport is enjoying significant growth and momentum around the world, the WTA should be leading the way. Instead, it is still stunted by its own problems and the path forward is unclear. What is certain, though, is the quality provided by the athletes on the court. As play begins on Saturday, with Gauff attempting to defend her title in a brutal field composed of the best players in the world, there will be more great tennis to come.

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Basketball

NBA Cup: Court designs for Lakers, Celtics and more

The Emirates NBA Cup 2025 is around the corner — games tip off on Oct. 31 — with sleek-styled courts for all 30 teams.

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Each team will play four group-play games on designated “Cup Nights.” Teams have been placed into groups of five — they’ll play two games at home and two on the road. Eight teams — the best team in each group with two wild-card teams from each conference — will advance to the knockout rounds, with a chance to win the NBA Cup trophy.

Continuing a previously established tradition, each team will have a competition-specific court, designed by artist Victor Solomon, containing distinct team gradients and Cup trophy designs on each key and center court.

Team slogans and trademark designs are featured along the sideline for some teams.

Prior Cup champions, the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, will have the year they won the Cup on the base of the trophy at center court.

Here is the 2025 edition of NBA Cup court designs across the league.

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Basketball

Sources: Larry O’Brien Trophy logo returning to NBA Finals court

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    Ohm YoungmisukOct 22, 2025, 03:59 PM ET

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      Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.

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Back by popular demand, the NBA Finals will have the large Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy logo return to center court as well the Finals script logo on the floor, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Wednesday.

The logos will be painted on the court instead of appearing digitally or via a decal, sources told ESPN.

Fans on social media complained during and after Game 1 of the past Finals between Oklahoma City and Indiana when they saw there were no Finals logo decals on the court.

The Larry O’Brien Trophy logo, shown here in 2007, hasn’t been painted on a court for the NBA Finals since 2009. It will be back this postseason, sources told ESPN, after an outcry on social media during last year’s Finals for it to return. AP Photo/Eric Gay

NBA commissioner Adam Silver noticed the discussions during the Finals and said the league would look into potentially bringing back the distinctive logos that came only on the NBA’s biggest stage.

“I’ve seen some of the chatter on social media around on-court decals,” Silver said on ESPN during the Finals. “People don’t realize they went away a decade ago because there were claims that some of the players [were saying] they were slippery when we had the decals on the floor.”

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The last time the large trophy was painted on an NBA Finals court was in 2009.

“Maybe there’s a way around it,” Silver told reporters during the Finals. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought all that much about it until I [saw] it [on social media].

“I’m nostalgic, as well, for certain things. And also, I think for a media-driven culture, whether it’s people watching live or seeing those images on social media, it’s nice when you’re looking back on highlights and they stand out because you see that trophy logo or some other indication that it’s a special event.”

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Athletics

Vicente Modahl: Ex-Olympic athletics coach accused of child sex offences appears in court

Former British Olympic athletics coach Jose Vicente Leiva-Modahl has appeared in court after being accused of child sex offences.

Leiva-Modahl, 65 – who was previously married to former Olympic middle-distance runner Diane Modahl – is facing 19 separate charges including sexual assault of a child, rape and controlling and coercive behaviour.

Leiva-Modahl, who is also known as Vicente Modahl, appeared from custody at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday for a 15-minute hearing in which no pleas were indicated.

District judge Richard Jepson sent the case to Manchester Crown Court, telling Leiva-Modahl that some of the allegations were too serious to be dealt with at the magistrates’ court.

Leiva-Modahl was granted conditional bail ahead of a plea and trial preparation hearing on 18 November.

Among his bail conditions were to reside at an address in the Warrington area, to abide by an electronic monitoring curfew from 21:00 to 07:00 and not to contact witnesses in the case.

He was also ordered to surrender his Spanish passport and not to have any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.

Leiva-Modahl has been suspended by governing body UK Athletics, the court also heard.

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Lakers get first glimpse of what Marcus Smart brings to the court

The Lakers†first practice of the week gave them hope of what they can look like whole when Marcus Smart takes the court.

Smart has been dealing with Achilles tendinopathy most of training camp and has been limited in practice. But coach JJ Redick said after practice Tuesday that Smart “did most of practice, including some live play.”

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Redick said LeBron James and Luka Doncic — along with Maxi Kleber (quad) and Gabe Vincent — did “modified, mostly individual work.â€.

“Marcus participated in some live [practice] and then was out at the end,†Redick said. “Yeah he was awesome. He was awesome. He, I think given the workload of today, I was impressed that he was able to sustain his level of intensity for as long as he did.â€

Redick said Doncic was out for “load management.†Then Redick laughed.

Smart has been one of the NBAâ€s better defenders over his career, winning defensive player of the year for the 2021-22 season while playing for the Boston Celtics and being named to the All-Defensive first team three times — 2019, 2020 and 2022.

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That will be a big part of his role with the Lakers, and during practice they got a glimpse of his defensive tenacity.

“Yeah, he guarded me a little bit at the first of practice,†Austin Reaves said. “You still feel that pressure. You feel the intensity that he brings on the defensive end, and that’s going to be big for us. We need that. We need him to be the best version of himself. With that communication that he brings, especially defensively, he’s been in the league a while. He knows how to win at the highest level. So, very excited to have him.”

After the Washington Wizards bought out his contract, Smart received several calls from Doncic about joining the Lakers.

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Smart eventually signed with the Lakers for two years and $11 million.

At practice Tuesday, Smart left an impression.

“He looked great. He was moving great,†Jarred Vanderbilt said. “But like I said, his main power is that heâ€s vocal. So being able to help the guys. Communicate, thatâ€s a big part of defense also. Being physical is one of them, but also being vocal, being able to communicate. I think he does both at a very high level. So, he can definitely help us on that end of the floor.â€

Vanderbilt is the Lakers†other top defender, his versatility allowing him to guard multiple positions.

He was asked to envision what the Lakers’ defense will be like with himself and Smart together on the court.

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“Aw, man, just causing havoc,†Vanderbilt said. “Not only physically but just vocally. Heâ€s a vocal guy as well, so itâ€s being the anchor of the defense, flying around, setting that tone defensively. Like, Iâ€m excited. I canâ€t wait to share the court together.â€

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At some point after practice, the Lakers were asked if any one texted them about James†cryptic post about “#TheSecondDecision†on Monday.

It left many wondering if James was talking about retiring.

He was not. It was about an ad for Hennessy that was posted on social media Tuesday morning.

“You guys are idiots,†Redick said when asked, laughing as he spoke. “We all knew it was an ad, right? No, I think most people that text me are also aware that it’s probably an ad, so it wasn’t. … Nobody was freaking out.â€

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Still, James is entering his NBA-record 23rd season.

“I just got a couple calls, like, ‘what is this?'” Reaves said, laughing.

Rui Hachimura wanted to know what was going on.

So he contacted James just to be sure.

“I mean, [I got] a couple texts. But I texted him too,†Hachimura said. “But he was using a [weird] emoji. I donâ€t even know. I didnâ€t understand at all. But he loves to do that type of stuff. Surprises, right?â€

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Reigns-Uso, Alexa’s transformation, the Carmella reveal, Otis going to court (85 min.)

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SHOW SUMMARY:In this week’s episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show from five years ago (10-2-2020), PWTorch editor Wade Keller was joined by Mike Chiari from Ring Rust Radio and Bleacher Report. They discuss Smackdown with callers and emails including the Alexa Bliss personality transformation on The Kevin Owens Show, next weekâ€s loaded line-up, Sasha Banks coming up short since Bayley dumped her, the latest with Roman Reigns and Jey Uso, Hell in a Cell build, Shorty G and John Morrison on the losing end of squash matches, Carmellaâ€s reveal, hope for Cesaro, Matt Riddleâ€s future, Jeff Hardy challenges Sami Zayn for the IC Title, Otis going to court, and more with live callers and emails.

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Basketball

Joel Embiid said there is no timetable for his return to court but wants to play ‘consistently’

Nineteen games. The season before, 39.

Thatâ€s how many games Joel Embiid has played since his MVP season. While he remains a dominant force when on the court, he comes into this season off another arthroscopic left knee surgery in April, with no timetable for his return this season, he said at 76ers media day. While that is concerning, Embiid said that there was a plan in place.

“The goal is to play consistently,†Embiid said, via the Associated Press. He later added, “I think going forward, weâ€re just going to listen to the body. Iâ€ll be honest and say itâ€s going to be unpredictable at times, and thatâ€s OK. Weâ€re going to work with that.â€
There was also no timetable for Paul Georgeâ€s return to the court. He had arthroscopic surgery on his knee in July after injuring it during a workout. That said, both George and Embiid are largely expected to be ready to go early in the season (if not opening night).

Embiid and George being healthy is at the heart of the 76ers†potential — if things mostly go right, this team could be a contender in the East. That starts with Embiid, who averaged 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game when he was on the court last season.

“I want to play. I want to play every single game,†Embiid said. “Iâ€ve been pretty unlucky when it comes to that compared to most NBA players.â€
The 76ers opened training camp this week before flying to the United Arab Emirates for two preseason games in Abu Dhabi (against the Knicks).

Philadelphia already had some unlucky injury news to start the season as second-year guard Jared McCain tore a ligament in his thumb and will miss the start of the season. Philly needs McCain to show that his fast start to last season was not a fluke, and it also needs Tyrese Maxey to play like an All-Star, rookie V.J. Edgecombe to provide athleticism and a spark, and it needs its veterans — guys like Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Kelly Oubre and Kyle Lowry — to pump the team up when needed.

However, if the 76ers want to be a threat in the East, what they need most of all is a healthy Embiid.

“Iâ€ve had so many injuries,†Embiid said. “The only thing Iâ€ve always told myself is you canâ€t give up.â€

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Logan Paul files injunction over auction of Jordan-signed court

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    Dan HajduckySep 25, 2025, 09:40 PM ET

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      Dan Hajducky is a staff writer for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities.

WWE star and social media influencer Logan Paul filed an injunction against Heritage Auctions in Texas district court Thursday, alleging authenticity concerns over a Michael Jordan-signed piece of United Center floor that Paul won at auction.

Paul says he was not allowed to investigate the floor’s authenticity before Heritage solicited payment, which was originally due Sept. 25, according to court records. Per court records, Paul was told by Heritage that he would lose his rights to the floor if he did not meet the deadline.

Paul’s winning bid was for $562,555.42 including buyer’s premium.

Josh Bernstein of Akerman LLP, Paul’s counsel, has asked for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction against Heritage Auctions; the TRO was granted on Thursday morning. A court date regarding the temporary injunction has been set for Oct. 9.

“It goes without saying that authenticity is everything in the collectibles community,” Bernstein said in a statement to ESPN. “Collectors like Logan deserve, and are entitled to, proof of authenticity that holds up under scrutiny and addresses glaring holes and inconsistencies.”

Heritage marketed the floor as “the ultimate Michael Jordan display piece.” The listing said it was an 8’x8′ section of “1994-98 United Center Original Game Used Court.” It is signed by Jordan and includes the inscriptions “Air Jordan,” “5X MVP,” “6X Finals MVP,” “10X Scoring Title” and “HOF 2009.”

Heritage’s listing said the floor was “hallowed by three World Championships and the footsteps of the most celebrated athlete in the history of American sports” and that it was “used from the United Center’s debut season of 1994 through the NBA Championship season of 1998” through the 2005-06 season, when the floor was “removed and replaced per NBA protocol.”

The Heritage listing also noted a certificate of authenticity from Upper Deck Authentication, with whom Jordan has had a longtime exclusive partnership, and third-party authentication from PSA/DNA and Beckett Authentication Services.

A spokesperson for Heritage told ESPN it does not believe Paul’s injunction has any merit, adding that the auction house made allowances for Paul “to accommodate any in-person inspection and reasonable efforts for additional review.”

“We stand behind every item that we sell,” Heritage said, reiterating that the floor was acquired directly from the Bulls. “This lot would not have been included for sale at auction unless we were fully confident in its authenticity.”

Paul’s injunction alleges that the court’s condition “does not match the court from 1995-1998, as a result of the court either being replaced or, as Heritage claims, repainted and resurfaced.” According to the injunction, PSA certification says the Bulls logo appears different than in photos from the 2001-05 seasons as well.

Bernstein solicited documentation from Heritage after Paul won the lot. In emails found in court records, Heritage’s director of sports auctions, Chris Ivy, acknowledged there is “no such documentation … matching the court to the 1998-99, 1999-2000 or 2000-2001” seasons and that photo-matching company Sports Investors Authentication was “unsuccessful because the attempted photo matches were only to the Bulls logo itself, not the wood grain — which is what PSA used for their provided photo matches.”

The injunction acknowledges that Upper Deck’s certificate references the years 1995-98 and that PSA/DNA’s photo-matching certificate “claims to have matched the item to” seasons 2001-02 through 2005-06.

Upper Deck, Beckett and PSA could not be immediately reached for comment.

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