SHANGHAI — Rafael Jodar became the youngest semifinalist in Shanghai Masters history after advancing with a victory over Casper Ruud on Friday. The 20-year-old Spaniard was a set down and rallied to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win. It was the fourth straight match at the ATP Masters 1000 event that Jodar had mounted a comeback

Team preview of the Orlando Magic ahead of the 2026-2027 NBA season. Last NBA season: 45-37, lost to Detroit in first round of playoffs. Coach: Sean Sweeney (first-time NBA head coach, hired June 1). Season opener: Oct. 21 vs. Atlanta. Departures: F/C Moritz Wagner, G/F Jett Howard, C Orlando Robinson. Additions: C Nikola Vučević, F

Team preview of the Chicago Bulls ahead of the 2026-2027 NBA season. Last NBA season: 31-51, missed playoffs. Coach: Tiago Splitter (first season with Bulls, second season overall, 42-39). Season Opener: Oct. 21 at Toronto. Departures: G Anfernee Simons, G Collin Sexton, C/PF Nick Richards. Addition: F Caleb Wilson, G Norman Powell, F Dailyn Swain,

MANILA, Philippines—Lyceum found every motivation it could get on Friday night to defeat lowly San Sebastian, 78-77, in the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena. The Pirates endured a difficult stretch in the second and third quarters, losing coach Jamike Jarin to an ejection and captain Gen Aviles to an apparent

Team preview of the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the 2026-2027 NBA season. Last NBA season: 26-56, missed playoffs Coach: Dusty May (first-time NBA head coach, hired June 22). Season opener: Oct. 21 at Houston. Departures: G Klay Thompson, G Brandon Williams, G Ryan Nembhard, F Khris Middleton, F Marvin Bagley III, G AJ Johnson. Additions:

Team preview of the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of the 2026-2027 NBA season. Last NBA season: 49-33, lost to San Antonio in second round of playoffs. Coach: Chris Finch (seventh season, 258-193). Season opener: Oct. 21 at Miami. Departures: F Julius Randle, F/C Naz Reid, G Mike Conley, F Kyle Anderson, F Joe Ingles. Additions: G

Team preview of the New York Knicks ahead of the 2026-2027 NBA season. Last season: 53-29, won NBA championship. Coach: Mike Brown (2nd season with Knicks, 13th season overall, 507-333). Season opener: Oct. 20 vs. Philadelphia. Departure: C Mitchell Robinson, C Ariel Hukporti Addition: C Andre Drummond. What to expect The Knicks have plenty of

Team preview of the Brooklyn Nets ahead of the 2026-2027 NBA season. Last season: 20-62, missed playoffs. Coach: Jordi Fernandez (3rd season, 46-118). Season opener: Oct. 21 vs. Charlotte. Departure: C Nic Claxton, F Ziaire Williams. Additions: F Julius Randle, F Moritz Wagner, F Joshua Jefferson, G Mikel Brown Jr., G Keon Ellis. What to

MANILA, Philippines–Converge gave hapless Macau a rough ending to its two-conference participation as guest team after taking a 162-108 victory in Friday’s 2026 PBA Governors’ Cup action at Ynares Center in Antipolo City. Import Cam Clark scored 32 points, Juan Gomez de Liano had a triple-double for the second straight game, while Justine Baltazar and

MANILA, Philippines—Mapua won yet another overtime game in the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament, defeating Perpetual Help, 65-60, at San Juan Arena on Friday. The Cardinals extended their winning streak to five games—third straight by way of OT—to improve to a 5-3 record in Group A. READ: NCAA: Chito Victolero couldn’t say no when

Team preview of the Milwaukee Bucks ahead of the 2026-2027 NBA season. Last NBA season: 32-50, missed playoffs Coach: Taylor Jenkins (1st season with Bucks, 7th season overall, 250-214) Season opener: Oct. 21 at Washington Departures: F Giannis Antetokounmpo, F Bobby Portis Additions: F Nate Ament, G Brayden Burries, G Tyler Herro, G Kasparas Jakučionis,

Team preview of the Cleveland Cavaliers ahead of the 2026-2027 NBA season. Last NBA season: 52-30, lost to New York in Eastern Conference Finals. Coach: Kenny Atkinson (3rd season with Cavaliers, 7th season overall, 234-238). Season opener: Oct. 22 at Philadelphia. Departures: G Keon Ellis, F/C Larry Nance Jr., F Georges Niang, G Dennis Schröder,

LAS VEGAS— Sebastian Fundora is eyeing a shot at boxing’s undisputed super welterweight title, but the WBC champion knows he cannot afford to look past Saturday night’s defense against unbeaten mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj. Fundora (24-1-1, 16 KOs) enters the bout at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas riding a four-fight winning streak

SAN FRANCISCO— Natalie Nakase throws her arms up to guard Gabby Williams one moment, then moves to defend Veronica Burton the next as Golden State’s high-octane coach gets into it to help the Valkyries gear up for the WNBA Finals. She briefly steps out of the action to observe before jumping right back in to

NEW YORK–Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs were predicted to win the 2027 title with the French superstar taking Most Valuable Player honors in an NBA team general managers survey released on Thursday. In the 25th annual survey, general managers answered 48 questions and could not vote for their own team or personnel. READ:

LONDON— Serbian tennis player Stefan Milićević has been given a 24-year ban for allegedly fixing multiple matches and recruiting other players into a “corrupt network,” the International Tennis Integrity Agency said Thursday. The agency said the 29-year-old Milićević was charged with fixing six matches — including five of his own — and trying to fix

MANILA, Philippines–Alex Eala said one of the most important lessons of her tennis career has been learning that her value as a person should not depend on whether she wins or loses a match. The world No. 18, who talked about the change in her mindset during Maria Sharapova’s “Pretty Tough” podcast, was responding to

WUHAN–Iga Swiatek hit a new milestone on Thursday as she stormed into a second consecutive Wuhan Open quarter-final with a 6-1, 6-4 win over American lucky loser Ashlyn Krueger. The six-time Grand Slam champion recorded the 150th WTA 1000 victory of her career to continue her march towards a 13th title at this level. Since

LOS ANGELES — After 44 years, the Milwaukee Brewers are finally going back to the World Series. Propelled by a lockdown bullpen and repeated comebacks, the young and fearless Brewers swept the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers out of the playoffs Thursday with a 6-4 victory in Game 4 of the National League Championship

The Kia Tigers and the LG Twins, the two teams that have combined to win the past three Korean baseball championships, will renew their postseason rivalry starting this weekend. The two clubs will have their first Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason showdown in 10 years when the first game in their best-of-five semi-final round opens at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Tigers' home, Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul. The Twins are the defending Korean Series champions and they also won the 2023 title. They are trying to become the first team since the 2015-2016 Doosan Bears to capture back-to-back Korean Series titles. The Tigers were the 2024 Korean Series champions but missed the postseason in 2025. The Tigers will host the first two games, with the second game scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Sunday. The series will shift to the Twins' home turf, Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, for Game 3 at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and, if necessary, Game 4 at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. If the series goes the distance, the deciding fifth game will be back in Gwangju at 6:30 p.

Phoenix erased an early 13-point deficit to beat Meralco, 105-101, on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo and secure a spot in the PBA Governors" Cup quarterfinals.

Former Olympic champion Mima Ito has been dropped from Japan’s latest national table tennis squad, replaced by 28-year-old breakthrough player Hitomi Sato, who finished runner-up at the recent WTT China Smash. Across the border, meanwhile, followers of rival powerhouses China have focused their attention on widely circulated Chinese media reports that the Japan Table Tennis Association plans to dismantle the high-profile mixed-doubles pairing of Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto. Under the...

Renz Villegas led Lyceum of the Philippines University past San Sebastian College-Recoletos, 78-77, in a close escape on Friday in the NCAA Season 102 men"s basketball tournament at the Filoil Centre.

Converge annihilated Macau, beating the Giant Pandas, 162-108, in the latter"s final game in the PBA Governors" Cup on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Elite runners Richard Salaño and Edna Magtubo ruled the Manila leg of the Philippine Half Marathon Series, held last Sunday at the Mall of Asia Complex.

Mapua University extended its winning streak to five games after outlasting the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA in overtime, 65-60, in the NCAA Season 102 men"s basketball tournament.

Hong Kong will host a World Fencing League event next year, bringing the sport’s best and brightest to the city for one day in April, sources have told the South China Morning Post. The brainchild of 2016 US Olympic team foil bronze medallist Miles Chamley-Watson, WFL staged its inaugural event in Los Angeles earlier this year, and featured the likes of Hong Kong’s Ryan Choi Chun-yin, who captained Team Shield. Sources said the league was being pencilled in for the penultimate week of April, a...

After ending his homer drought with a massive blast in his final game of the year, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani announced his intention to become a two-way player again next season.

The Philippine Tennis Association on Friday clarified that Alexandra “Alex” Eala"s participation in the WTA 125 Philippine Women"s Open in January “remains uncertain.”

Seventh-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland reached a milestone and moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Ashlyn Krueger at the Wuhan Open on Thursday in China.