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The United States has withheld almost $6 million from the World Anti-Doping Agency as a row over the non-prosecution of Chinese swimmers ahead of the Paris 2024 Games continues. 

Jai Opetaia is the only man who can challenge heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk says promoter Eddie Hearn, after the IBF and Ring champion exacted the toll of trying to match it with boxing's best from David Nyika.

Australia won a record 18 gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics. But there were many more athletes who didn’t achieve their goals — with some having to deal with backlash in the aftermath. 

After playing a basketball match for 120 hours straight, Alan Morris's side had finally broken a world record. Or at least they thought they had until a paperwork bungle held up official recognition.

A video that appears to show some fans engaging in a racist chant at Melbourne's Boxing Day Test has been circulating online and made headlines in India, with members of Melbourne's Indian community saying the incident was "not appropriate".

Jai Opetaia retains his IBF and The Ring cruiserweight world titles by knocking out David Nyika in the fourth round.

Australia's Rinky Hijikata continues to make the most of his late call-up at the Adelaide International, advancing to the quarterfinals with a tough three-set win over Brandon Nakashima.

At just 18, Maya Joint is through to the last eight for the first time at a top-level event after beating former Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette in Hobart. 

Reports that the ICC is investigating a two-tiered Test league alarms some of the game's stakeholders but others say there is little other choice. 

Nick Kyrgios is in doubt for the Australian Open after pulling out of a pre-tournament exhibition match against Novak Djokovic due to grade one abdominal strain.

As a wildcard entry, local Ajla Tomljanović will hope for a kind start when the Australian Open draw is announced on Thursday.

Jai Opetaia defends his IBF and The Ring cruiserweight world titles against David Nyika at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday night.

Queensland teenager Emerson Jones is the world number one junior girls player and has already impressed a grand slam champion at just 16. Here's what to expect of her grand slam debut.

Veteran Bernard Tomic and 16-year old Cruz Hewitt have both made quick exits from the Australian Open qualifiers as the duo both fell in straight sets in the first round. 

Former Super League stars, rising rookies and reserve grade stand-outs are among the most underrated recruits of the looming 2025 NRL season. 

This year's World Test Championship will see the renewal of one of cricket's great rivalries, and South Africa's Kagiso Rabada has already laid down a marker.

For the second straight night in Acapulco, Alex de Minaur stormed back after losing the opening set against a red-hot opponent. On Saturday, his effort against Tommy Paul earned him the seventh and biggest title of his career at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

The Australian claimed his first ATP 500 crown with a battling 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory, his heart and staying power again making the difference in the Acapulco humidity.

"It feels great, it feels amazing," De Minaur said just before the trophy ceremony. "I know the hard work that's put in to be here and it's good to see the results. It's not always that you win the tournament and you get to finish a week unbeaten, so I'll definitely cherish this going into Indian Wells and Miami."

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After methodically working his way back into the match in set two, De Minaur landed what proved to be a decisive blow by saving five break points in a marathon five-deuce game to open the final set. When De Minaur fought off those chances with a combination of big serves and steely baseline play, Paul could not recover as the Aussie rattled off seven straight games.

"Just to kind of stay in the match, especially in the second set... I just dug deep, managed to scrap my way through it," the 24-year-old said of the turnaround. "And then the first game of the third set was exactly like my semi-final against Holger [Rune]. So I had that in the back of my mind, I just told myself to keep pushing. If I could keep pushing myself and get out of that game, the momentum was going to switch. I'm very happy I was able to get out of that."

Both De Minaur and Paul played physical, three-set semi-finals that ended less than 24 hours before the final, with De Minaur's comeback win against Holger Rune finishing near 3 a.m. But those previous exertions were not apparent in a high-quality match Saturday night — until Paul showed signs of wear late in the two-hour, 27-minute contest, with De Minaur adding to his torment with a slew of drop shots.

Paul started brightly after his three-hour, 25-minute win against World No. 5 Taylor Fritz, keeping tight to the baseline and pulling De Minaur around the court to secure an early break. But the match began to turn when the Aussie escaped a 0/30 hole to go up 3-2 in the second.

As De Minaur began to take the intiaitive in the rallies, he secured his first break on his sixth break point of the match in the following game — only for Paul to snap back and level at 4-4. Still, the tenor of the match had changed, and De Minaur made it count with another break in the set's final game.

While the Aussie dominated the final set, Paul battled until the end, saving two match points and getting on the board with a hold at 0-5. But there would be no stopping De Minaur from becoming the second Australian champion in Acapulco, after Nick Kyrgios' 2019 triumph.

De Minaur moved up four places to No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Ranking this week, leaving him three spots off his career high of No. 15.

"Like everything in my career, it's been step by step," he said of his return to the Top 20. "I just want to keep pushing, keep getting the most out of myself. I know I might not play unbelievable tennis every day but I know I'm going to fight to the end.

"I've got a whole lot of heart in this little body of mine and I enjoy competing, so I'm very happy with it."

Paul, just over a month since his run to the Australian Open semi-finals, is also set to return to the Top 20. He moved up four places to No. 19 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. The 25-year-old was seeking his second tour-level title (Stockholm 2021) in his second final.

After being two points from defeat in their opening match at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler finished the week with another dramatic win to claim the doubles title in Acapulco. It is the third ATP Tour title for the team and their first outside of their native Austria.

The Austrians edged Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 7-6(9), 7-6(3) in Saturday's final, saving six set points in the opening set and another in the second.

"It feels great," said the 26-year-old Miedler. "After winning both titles in Austria, that was our next goal, to win one somewhere else. Mexico will always be in our hearts."

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After missing out on a set point at 5-4 in the first set, Erler/Miedler erased a 2/6 deficit in the tie-break and fought off two further set points at 8/9 before claiming the set. They denied Lammons/Withrow as the Americans attempted to serve out the second set at 5-4, saving a set point at 40/40, and never trailed in the second tie-break.

With the victory, the Austrians extended their perfect record in ATP Tour finals to 3-0. They improved to 20-13 overall and 9-6 on the 2023 season. 

"We are really happy. It was a great week," said Erler, 25. "We're improving on and off the court. It feels really special and we hope to come back next year."

One for the memories ????

Erler and Miedler pose with their trophies in sombreros!@abiertotelcel #AMT2023 pic.twitter.com/TFTB8p02eI

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 5, 2023

To reach the Acapulco final, the unseeded champions upset third seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus in the first round and top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in the semis, both in Match Tie-breaks. The pair, which ended the 2022 season at No. 36 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Teams Rankings, won its previous titles on home soil Kitzbuhel (2021) and Vienna (2022). 

Both Erler and Miedler moved up 14 spots this week in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Live Rankings, to No. 42 and No. 43, respectively. Both men are set for new career highs on Monday in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings.

Asked about their greatest strength as a team, Erler spoke about the pair's complementary games and personalities.

"We are completely different on and off the court," he said. "I think everybody who knows us knows that we are two [different] types of people but that obviously fits very good together. Probably that's our best strength, that if we have some weaknesses the other guy can cover it."

Lammons/Withrow fell to 1-4 in finals as a team, having won the 2022 San Diego title on home soil. The 29-year-olds ended last season at No. 32 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings.

Andrea Pellegrino and Andrea Vavassori won a dramatic doubles final on Saturday to claim the Movistar Chile Open title in their team debut. The Italians saved a match point at 9/10 in a Match Tie-break before closing out a 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 victory against Thiago Seyboth Wild and Matias Soto.

A single break of serve decided both sets before Pellegrino/Vavassori battled back from 0/3 in the Match Tie-break, building an 8/5 lead and ultimately clinching victory on their second match point.

"It was incredible winning with one of my closest friends," the 27-year-old Vavassori said after claiming his second tour-level title. "We are like brothers, so winning a title like this is something special. We worked a lot with my coach and also with my father in the past three months."

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Pellegrino, 25, won his first ATP Tour trophy in his first final.

"Like Andrea says, it's incredible to be here with an ATP title," he reflected. "Winning an ATP title with him is really emotional. I'm really happy for that. This tournament is very nice, they treat us unbelievably. The organisation is something special and I hope to come back next year."

Discussing the back-and-forth finish to the final, he added: "We were a little bit tight but in doubles it's like that with the no-ad and the Match Tie-break in the third set. The matches are very close so you have to be there every point. We were a little bit lucky at the end but we are happy for the title."

Wild cards Seyboth Wild and Soto were also making their team debut this week. After winning three Match Tie-breaks to reach what was a first tour-level doubles final for both, the Brazilian/Chilean pair fell just short on the fourth occasion.

The 22-year-old Seyboth Wild, the 2020 Santiago singles champion, was seeking to become the first player win both the singles and doubles title at the ATP 250. Soto, 23, made his tour-level debut this week on home soil.

Chile's Nicolas Jarry will meet Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the Movistar Chile Open final after both men earned Saturday victories in Santiago.

A resurgent Jarry advanced to his first ATP Tour final since 2019 with a 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 win against Jaume Munar, becoming the first Chilean to reach the ATP 250 final since Cristian Garin won the 2021 title. The 27-year-old is through to his fourth tour-level title match and will seek his second trophy on Sunday.

"It's amazing to be here in Chile and to be able to play a final," he said. "I can still remember when I was a kid watching this same tournament in Vina del Mar. I used to see Fernando [Gonzalez], Nico [Massu], Marcelo [Rios] in this tournament and now I'm here in the final."

Watch the Santiago final Sunday from 11pm CET/5pm ET

Jarry was able to turn the match around after losing eight straight games to fall behind by a set and a break at 0-2 in the second. With strong support from the Santiago crowd, he surged ahead in set two as improved serving helped him grow into the match. While he could not serve out the second set at 5-4, he won it in a tie-break and then raced to a 5-0 lead in the decider, ultimately clinching victory with a love hold.  

"[I was trying] to go point by point, tying to get as much energy in the crowd as possible and for myself," added Jarry, who lost just two points on serve in the final set. He hit nine aces in the two-hour, 37-minute match.

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Each of Jarry's past three matches have gone three sets, including a Wednesday win against fourth seed Diego Schwartzman in a third-set tie-break. The Chilean was playing in his second straight semi-final after coming within two games of beating Carlos Alcaraz last week in Rio de Janeiro.

Earlier in the day, Etcheverry continued his breakout week in Santiago by notching his second Top 50 win in three days at the Movistar Chile Open. In Saturday's semi-finals, the 23-year-old defeated third seed and fellow Argentine Sebastian Baez 7-5, 6-3 to advance to his first ATP Tour title match.

"Really I can't believe it," Etcheverry said of the milestone moment. "This is a dream for me, for my family, for my friends, all the people that helped me to reach my goals. This is amazing. Just [will try] to enjoy tomorrow. That's the key for my first final."

Playing in his first tour-level semi-final, Etcheverry did not face a break point. In a tight opening set, the World No. 76 created the first break points of the match at 0/40 with Baez serving to force a tie-break, ultimately securing the set on his fifth set point. Etcheverry needed only one break point in the second, in its fourth game, to claim a decisive advantage.

"It was incredible today. Also like yesterday," said Etcheverry, who lost three games in his Friday quarter-fnal win against Dusan Lajovic. "It was my first semi-final today so I tried to play aggressive, the same like in the other matches. Right now I feel a lot of confidence that I can play like this. Hopefully tomorrow I continue like this because I've been playing at a good level this week."

Etcheverry earned the second Top 50 win of his career against second seed Francisco Cerundolo, another Argentine, on Thursday. Already up 16 places to No. 60 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, he would enter the Top 50 by winning his first ATP Tour trophy on Sunday. No matter the result in the title match, Etcheverry will reach a new career-high on Monday in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.