SPORTS

Rafael Nadal on Thursday announced he will retire after the Davis Cup finals in November, ending a career which brought 22 Grand Slam titles, global respect and inspired epic, iconic rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

A billion-dollar binge which brought some of football's biggest names to Saudi Arabia's modest league has given way to a more cautious phase, with spending down dramatically this year.

Many amateur French sports clubs are struggling to cope with a wave of enquiries and a boom in wannabee players sparked by the Paris Olympics.

Hardcore supporters of AC Milan and Inter Milan were arrested on Monday for alleged organised crime offences as part of a probe into illegal profits made around matches and the infiltration of mafia gangs into so-called "ultras" groups.

Graham Arnold has quit as coach of the Socceroos, Football Australia said Friday, following a poor start to the third round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

Australian Olympic breakdancer "Raygun" has been ridiculed, written off, and now crowned number one in the world, the sport's governing body confirmed Wednesday.

Australia football head coach Graham Arnold said his side were "extremely disappointed" after their goal-drought continued into a second World Cup qualifier, this time leading to a 0-0 draw with Indonesia in Jakarta.

A production line in a warehouse in western Afghanistan churns out 24 energy drinks every second, feeding a thirst for the tonic used to mask life's hardships and lift wilting spirits.

Hornussen, a centuries-old Swiss sport where a puck is lashed with a stick sending it flying at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour, is embracing modernity with each shot now recorded live via a smartphone app and clips shared on TikTok.

The end of the widely hailed Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this weekend will be greeted with pride and relief, as well as trepidation in a country in the throes of a deep political crisis.

A 14-year-old boy killed four people, including two students, and wounded nine more when he opened fire at a high school in the US state of Georgia on Wednesday, law enforcement said.

Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans.

Russia said Sunday it had repelled a "massive" Ukrainian drone attack on energy and fuel plants in Moscow and 14 regions, one of the largest such strikes since the start of the two and half-year conflict.

Jannik Sinner avoided plunging through the US Open trapdoor which claimed Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz when he stormed into the last 16 on Saturday as fellow world number one Iga Swiatek stayed on course for a second New York triumph.

Novak Djokovic's latest bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title crashed to a halt on Friday as 28th-ranked Alexei Popyrin knocked the defending champion out of the US Open third round.

Jannik Sinner won his 50th match of the year on Thursday to stay on course for a US Open semi-final duel with Carlos Alcaraz while two-time champion Naomi Osaka's colourful return to New York ended in a dispiriting second round defeat.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic reached the third round of the US Open on Wednesday as Laslo Djere retired in the third set, but said he'll have to do better to win a fifth title on the hard courts of New York.

Iga Swiatek began her bid to capture a second US Open title with an uneven straight-sets win over lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova on Tuesday as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz take their first steps towards a potential semi-final blockbuster.

While France basks in the glow of the dazzling Paris Olympics, French football is trying to shake off a hangover from its own disastrous summer as the first Ligue 1 season of the post-Kylian Mbappe era begins this weekend.

France bid a reluctant farewell on Monday to an "enchanted" fortnight of Olympic sport as athletes headed home from Paris praising a dazzling edition of the Games that has breathed new life into the biggest show on earth.

The stands have fallen quiet and the Athletes' Village is emptying. The rented scaffolding from the temporary stands will be dismantled and re-used.

Sifan Hassan completed her mission impossible with a gruelling women's marathon win on the sun-baked streets of Paris Sunday as Tom Cruise is rumoured to give the Olympic Games a Hollywood ending.

The boxing competition at the Paris Olympics is over but the fight now starts for its inclusion at the 2028 LA Games after a damaging gender controversy placed the sport under renewed scrutiny.

LeBron James's USA faced host nation France in an eagerly awaited men's basketball gold medal contest at the Paris Olympics on Saturday while on the track Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the 5,000m after his disappointment at 1,500m.

A thrilling open-water swim in the River Seine kicked off Friday's Olympic action in Paris, which will later see Algerian gender eligibility row boxer Imane Khelif go for gold.

Botswana's Letsile Tebogo snatched a stunning Olympic gold in the men's 200m Thursday to deny Covid-hit Noah Lyles the sprint double as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone smashed the world record to win the 400m hurdles.

After all the doubts, the grumbling and the gloom, Paris has finally embraced the Olympics, with some of its famously cynical residents even returning early from holidays to take part in the fun.

One of the two boxers who have sparked a gender eligibility row won again at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday to ensure she has a shot at a gold medal.

Saint Lucia's Julien Alfred targets an Olympic sprint double on Tuesday, while Nikola Jokic's Serbia made an epic comeback to stay in the basketball tournament.