‘It opened my eyes’: Félix Auger-Aliassime on tennis, Togo and his father’s journey

The world No 7 on his teenage trip to west Africa, his fundraising efforts and finding his form ahead of the Australian Openith a smile, Félix Auger-Aliassime says: “Well, imagine you’re 13. I had been to Europe. I had been to America. I live in Canada. And then you go to Togo; it’s a little different, you know?”Auger-Aliassime, the seventh best tennis player in the world, was describing the homecoming he enjoyed 12 years ago as he first caught a glimpse of Togo, the country his father, Sam, was born in and emigrated from to Canada before his son’s birth

Why is Stephen A Smith blaming Renee Good for her own death? | Etan Thomas

This past weekend there were hundreds of demonstrations across the United States after Renee Good, an American citizen and mother of three, was shot dead by Jonathan Ross, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, in Minnesota.The anger has permeated throughout the NBA as well. Steve Kerr and Doc Rivers, the head coaches of the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks respectively, described Good’s death as “murder”. Kerr also attacked the Trump administration’s attempts to portray Good as a terrorist.“It’s shameful that the government can come out and lie about what happened when there’s video and witnesses who have all come out and disputed what the government is saying,” Kerr said

The Spin | Nimble or nervous 90s? Cricket maths show best approach to scoring a century

Stats tell us batters have less reason to be anxious in the 90s than common lore suggests, though the pain and fear of falling short is all too realIf you’ve ever been lucky enough to score a century you’ll know how seismic a moment it is when you finally get over the line. Some play the game for a lifetime and never make one, the three-figured kingdom for ever out of reach, a promised land they are destined never to enter. Yet cricket lures you back like a devilish lover. You just can’t quit it. Next time might be your time

Windrush and the rise of wandering Caribbean cricket clubs that fuelled talent in English game

In the early 1980s there were scores of “Caribbean” cricket clubs playing across England, many of them bearing evocative names such as New Calypsonians, Island Taverners, Paragon, Starlight and Carib United.Mostly these clubs operated under the radar – as wandering sides renting pitches on municipal grounds that were outside the traditional league structures. With few physical records of their existence, their history has been in danger of being lost as numbers have plummeted since the late 1990s.Thankfully, though, there are at least a few people dedicated to documenting the players and personalities who made up such a vibrant part of the domestic game from the late 1940s. And now there’s a new book, Windrush Cricket, by the University College London associate professor of history Michael Collins, setting out their origins and impact

Emma Raducanu recovers in Hobart to post first win in over three months

Emma Raducanu offered an impressive demonstration of her resilience at the Hobart International as she ­rallied from an overnight second‑set deficit in her rain-delayed first-round match to defeat Camila Osorio of Colombia 6-3, 7-6 (2).The victory marks Raducanu’s first win since September after struggling with a foot injury in the final weeks of the 2025 season. She had contested just one match this season after being sidelined for much of the off‑season, losing in three sets against Maria Sakkari in the United Cup.Considering those recent challenges, this is a positive start for Raducanu. She will next face Taylah Preston, the 20-year-old Australian wildcard, in the quarter-final after Raducanu’s second-round opponent ­Magdalena Frech withdrew from their last-16 match because of injury

John Higgins and Kyren Wilson win at Masters as curious run of 6-2 scorelines goes on

Kyren Wilson, the 2024 world champion, defeated Si Jiahui in impressive fashion to reach the Masters quarter-finals with the 6-2 result continuing a curious statistic: every match at Alexandra Palace this week had finished with the same scoreline. That record extended in the evening session as John Higgins saw off Barry Hawkins, 6-2, to reach the last eight.After edging the first frame following a run of snookers, Wilson – yet to win a tournament this season having broken his cue at the start of the campaign – looked set to build a maximum in the next, but just missed the 11th red into the bottom corner pocket as he moved 2-0 ahead.Si got on the board with a well-crafted break of 97 before the world No 2, who lost to Shaun Murphy in last year’s Masters final, dug in to re-establish his lead at 3-1 heading into the mid-session interval.Although Si pulled another one back by taking a close fifth frame, Wilson, looking to move on from a disappointing first-round exit to Elliot Slessor at the UK Championship, then took the sixth 82-28 before closing out an impressive victory with successive century breaks of 101 and 105