Sports
Kostyuk wins Paris opener hours after strike near Kyiv family home
Just hours after a Russian missile struck near her family home in Kyiv, Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk took to the French Open clay Sunday with images of the nearby destruction fresh in her mind.
The 23-year-old, who advanced to the second round at Roland Garros, said she was overwhelmed with anxiety after receiving pictures of the damage close to the house where her mother, sister and aunt were staying.
“I felt sick just for the thought that if it was 100 meters closer, I probably wouldn’t have a mum and a sister today,” Kostyuk told reporters after beating Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-2, 6-3.
“Tennis is a mental game, but today it was something completely different. I didn’t know how my focus was going to be or if I would even be able to control my thoughts.” Kostyuk said the strike came during a night of attacks that lasted several hours and left people exhausted and shaken.
Kyiv and surrounding areas were hit with hundreds of drones and missiles in one of the heaviest bombardments of the Ukrainian capital since Russia’s invasion four years ago.
“It was really difficult to process it so quickly and then go out and play,” said Kostyuk. “That’s why I’m happy I played the first match of the day. I don’t know what the outcome would have been if I had played later.”
Emotional strain
Despite the emotional strain, Kostyuk produced an assured display to move into the next round and even found the composure to attempt an underarm serve during the second set.
“When I have space in the match, I love to do it. It always surprises players,” she said with a smile.
Kostyuk said withdrawing from the tournament never crossed her mind because her family had survived unharmed.
“Everyone is alive. Everything is good,” she said. “If something worse had happened, of course, it would have been much more difficult, but today I knew I had to go out and play.”
The Ukrainian said the latest attack ranked among the hardest moments she had endured since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.
“The beginning of the war was probably the most difficult because of the unknown,” she said. “But this was the closest it has ever been to my house. That’s what makes it so emotional. This was definitely one of the top three worst ones.”
Kostyuk also suggested that support for Ukraine on the tennis circuit had faded as the war dragged on into its fifth year.
“At the start, we had fundraisers and a lot of support. I think people on the tour have adapted and moved on,” she said.
“But I still use my platform whenever I can to remind people of the horror of everyday life in Ukraine. People forget, people adapt, but for us it’s still reality every single day.”
The 15th seed’s opponent, Selekhmeteva, was born in Russia but switched allegiance to Spain ahead of Roland Garros.
Kostyuk faces Katie Volynets of the U.S. next.
The New York Knicks extended their playoff winning streak to 10 games with a 121-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, moving within one win of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 30 points, O.G. Anunoby added 21 and Mikal Bridges contributed 22 on 11-of-15 shooting as New York pushed the Cavaliers to the edge of elimination.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Brunson said. “I thought we fought, most importantly.”
The Knicks seized a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals and could complete a sweep in game four Monday in Cleveland.
No team in NBA history has recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.
“The series isn’t over,” Anunoby said. “Just keep our foot on their necks and just try to win the game.”
Brunson said the Knicks must continue to concentrate.
“Just focus on one possession at a time,” Brunson said.
“The way we’ve been having that mindset these past couple weeks, we have to continue it, if not actually better.”
The Knicks last reached the NBA Finals 27 years ago when they lost to San Antonio. They have not won the NBA championship since 1973.
New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns had 13 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals while Josh Hart added 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals for a Knicks team that has not been beaten in a month.
“Our mindset hasn’t changed,” Brunson said.
“We’re trying to get better every single day. We’re trying to learn from winning.
“There’s a lot of things we can get better at. There’s a lot of things we can control, a lot of mental errors that we need to clean up, but we’re always just looking for ways to try and get better.”
Evan Mobley led Cleveland with 24 points, while Donovan Mitchell added 23 and James Harden scored 19 points.
The Cavaliers, who squandered a 22-point lead to lose the series opener, never led as New York seized command early and dominated.
“I guess you could say momentum carried over (from game one),” Anunoby said.
“We try to play the right way every game, but maybe that momentum carried over a little bit.”
New York started the game 10-of-13 from the floor to seize a 29-19 lead only 8:29 into the contest, Towns delivering 11 points in the run on the way to a 37-27 lead after the first quarter.
Cleveland trimmed New York’s halftime edge to 60-54, but the Cavs committed six turnovers in the first six minutes of the third quarter.
The Knicks were at 91-82 entering the fourth quarter and stretched it to 110-93 in the closing minutes before completing their fifth road triumph in a row.
“It’s just executing the game plan on both sides of the floor, playing the right way, moving the ball, then getting stops on defense,” Anunoby said of New York’s secret to success.
Turkish-owned Hull City celebrated a dramatic promotion to the Premier League on Saturday, capping a turbulent Championship campaign that manager Sergej Jakirovic described as an “incredible journey.”
Oli McBurnie clinched Hull’s 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the play-off final at Wembley, scoring the 205 million pounds ($275 million) tap-in with just seconds left in world football’s richest match.
The Tigers are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2017 after a remarkable renaissance over the last 12 months.
Hull only avoided relegation to the third tier on the final day of last season, with goal difference saving them from the drop, before the club was hit with a damaging transfer embargo.
Jakirovic’s sixth-placed team sneaked into the Championship play-offs on the last day this season before beating third-placed Millwall in the semifinals.
For nearly two weeks, Hull’s final opponent was shrouded in mystery after Southampton, who had beaten Middlesbrough to reach Wembley, were charged with sending a member of staff to spy on their semifinal opponents by filming a training session prior to the first leg.
Southampton were kicked out of the play-off final Tuesday, leaving Jakirovic with just days to prepare his players to face Middlesbrough instead of the Saints.
Jakirovic had claimed Hull were “collateral damage” from the Southampton scandal, while the club’s owner, Turkish media mogul Acun Ilıcalı, threatened to take legal action if his team were beaten by Middlesbrough.
The prospect of an ugly battle in the courts was the last thing Football League chiefs wanted.
In the circumstances, the burly McBurnie’s close-range finish after an error from Middlesbrough keeper Sol Brynn was the ideal conclusion for both the Tigers and the sport’s authorities.
For Hull’s Bosnian manager and his squad, it was just reward for their refusal to be distracted by the Southampton controversy.
“A lot of players were crying with happiness at the final whistle. It’s incredible,” Jakirovic said.
“An unbelievable journey, so many problems, so to achieve the Premier League is incredible.”
‘It was written for me’
Ilıcalı no longer needed to think about calling in the lawyers as he celebrated at Wembley.
Instead, he was planning to send his players on a trip to Las Vegas to mark their triumph.
Scotland striker McBurnie, in his first season at the club after arriving from Las Palmas, said: “I’m speechless for the first time ever.”
“That game summed us up, we knew we weren’t going to have all the ball. It was tough out there with the heat,” he said.
“Middlesbrough are a top team, we knew we’d be up against it, but we felt we’d have one chance and I felt like it was written for me to get it.”
Having been reinstated to the play-offs after Southampton’s punishment, Middlesbrough blew their third chance for promotion this season.
Kim Hellberg’s team were unable to secure automatic promotion despite holding a top-two place for much of the campaign.
They eventually finished fifth and lost to Southampton 2-1 on aggregate before their reprieve ended in heartache at Wembley, where the club is still to win a single match in their history.
“It was the toughest two weeks I’ve been through. Back and forth, back and forth. A very weird situation,” Hellberg said.
“It’s been a roller coaster, a lot of emotions, for everyone at the club.
“Today is disappointing, of course. I think in general, the performance was quite good. You know these games will be tight.
“We stopped them creating almost anything. It felt like we were going into extra-time but they scored from a cross. That’s football.”
The risk of Ebola affecting fans at the 2026 FIFA World Cup is low, according to Dr. Oliver Johnson of King’s College London. However, he cautioned that tighter screening measures and possible travel restrictions could create logistical challenges.
The expanded 48-team tournament, co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, runs from June 11 to July 19.
An Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC has recorded about 600 suspected cases and more than 130 deaths, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern. The disease is Ebola virus disease.
The situation has already disrupted DR Congo’s World Cup preparations. The team canceled pre-tournament events in Kinshasa and relocated plans to Belgium.
U.S. authorities have also barred entry to non-U.S. passport holders who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the past 21 days, forcing Congo-based staff to depart early.
The squad is due to arrive in the U.S. on June 10 or 11 and will be based in Houston.
“If you are a casual visitor to the World Cup from around the world, I think there is a very low risk that you would be at risk of Ebola,” Johnson told Reuters. “Ebola has never really caused transmission in high-income country settings, where there have been very occasional cases.
“That is because it is not airborne. You would normally need direct contact with someone who is quite sick, and there is usually good contact tracing. If a case does occur, it is identified quickly.”
Johnson said the outbreak could still have broader implications.
U.S. authorities have introduced enhanced screening for travelers arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport who have recently been in affected countries, while health agencies are working with FIFA and local officials to manage potential risks.
“It will affect things like airport queues and screening, which will slow things down,” Johnson said. “It is going to add a little extra stress and it is going to cost money for the U.S. to try to organize.
“I think the other possibility is that we hope this outbreak is not going to spread beyond the DRC. That could cause a knock-on effect of travel bans or extra screening, and it could happen quite last minute.”
Fans traveling to the tournament should follow basic precautions such as good hand hygiene and avoiding close contact if unwell, Johnson added. He advised supporters to respect others and avoid stigma, helping preserve the inclusive spirit of the World Cup.
The DRC open their campaign against Portugal in Houston before facing Colombia in Guadalajara and Uzbekistan in Atlanta.
Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic will not meet before the final of the French Open after being placed in opposite halves of the draw on Thursday, while Coco Gauff is on course for a potential semifinal clash with Aryna Sabalenka.
Sinner, the leading men’s favorite in the absence of the injured Carlos Alcaraz, begins his bid for a first Roland Garros title against French wildcard Clément Tabur, ranked 165th.
In the women’s draw, Sabalenka faces a demanding route to the final, with former U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka, rising Canadian talent Victoria Mboko and defending champion Gauff all potential obstacles.
The tournament, which begins Sunday, has been overshadowed by tensions between players and organizers over a pay dispute that has prompted threats of a media boycott.
“We are not going to budge,” tournament director Amélie Mauresmo told reporters at the draw in Paris, adding she was “a little saddened” by the situation.
“We have prize money that has doubled in 10 years and has also increased significantly recently.”
World No. 1 Sinner is slated to meet big-hitting American fifth seed Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals.
Daniil Medvedev is a possible semifinal opponent for the Italian.
The Russian gave Sinner a rare scare in the Italian Open semifinals earlier this month before eventually losing in three sets.
Sinner won his sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title by beating Casper Ruud in the Rome final.
That made the four-time Grand Slam champion only the second man to complete the set of all nine Masters 1000 titles, after Djokovic.
Third seed Djokovic will open his latest bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title against home player Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Second seed Alexander Zverev is a potential semifinal opponent for Djokovic, who turns 39 on Friday.
The German has played Djokovic twice at Roland Garros, losing in the quarterfinals in 2019 and last year.
Djokovic is hoping to break his tie with Margaret Court on 24 major titles, with his most recent Grand Slam triumph coming at the 2023 U.S. Open.
Zverev, still without a Grand Slam title after several near misses, opens against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
The standout first-round match sees in-form French No. 1 Arthur Fils face 41-year-old former champion Stan Wawrinka, who is appearing at the tournament for the final time before retirement.
Home favorite Gael Monfils, a semifinalist in 2008, begins his farewell French Open against fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston.
Possible Sabalenka vs. Osaka matchup
American fourth seed Gauff, who beat Sabalenka in last year’s final, begins her title defense against compatriot Taylor Townsend.
Sabalenka, who has never won Roland Garros, was handed a difficult draw.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka is a potential fourth-round opponent for Sabalenka, although she has never reached the second week in Paris.
Rising Canadian prospect Mboko or fifth seed Jessica Pegula could await in the quarterfinals.
Sabalenka opens against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Gauff may need to get past fellow American Amanda Anisimova, a finalist at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, in the quarterfinals.
Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek, seeded third, could meet Italian Open winner Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals.
Second seed Elena Rybakina, who won the Australian Open earlier this year, is projected to meet Swiatek in the semifinals.
Swiatek opens against 17-year-old Australian wildcard Emerson Jones, while Rybakina plays Slovenia’s Veronika Erjavec.
There is a possible all-Southeast Asian clash in the second round between Indonesia’s Janice Tjen and the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala. If that match happens, it could lead to a third-round meeting with Osaka.
Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton arrived in Montreal chasing pace at the Canadian Grand Prix, but it was football, not Ferrari, that stirred the deepest emotions on Thursday.
The Ferrari driver revealed Arsenal’s long-awaited Premier League title triumph left him in tears, ending more than two decades of waiting for supporters of the North London club.
For Hamilton, the moment carried far more weight than silverware. It took him back to childhood memories in Stevenage, where he said his sister pushed him into becoming an Arsenal fan while most children around him supported rival clubs.
“I shed a tear, to be honest,” Hamilton said, smiling as he recalled the moment. The Briton described growing up as the only Black child in his neighborhood football circle, surrounded by fans of West Ham, Tottenham and Manchester United, before his sister jokingly insisted he back Arsenal instead. Years later, that decision finally delivered a reward.
Arsenal were crowned Premier League champions after Manchester City’s draw with Bournemouth confirmed the title race outcome, ending a 22-year drought and sparking celebrations across English football.
The football conversation quickly spread across the Formula One paddock.
Pierre Gasly, proudly flying the flag for Paris Saint-Germain, wasted little time turning the rivalry toward Europe. The Alpine driver joked that the media session had finally shifted to “real stuff” before backing PSG ahead of their upcoming Champions League showdown with Arsenal. Fresh off another Ligue 1 title, Gasly said he expected a “fantastic game of football” and made it clear he would be fully behind the French giants.
Elsewhere in the paddock, Sergio Perez had international football on his mind. The Mexican driver said he is determined to return home during the season to watch Mexico compete at the World Cup, with matches scheduled in Guadalajara.
Perez admitted the travel schedule would be demanding, requiring a rapid turnaround back to Europe, but insisted the occasion was too important to miss. Hosting a World Cup on home soil, he said, creates belief that anything is possible for Mexico.
Young Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli also joined the discussion, though with mixed emotions. Italy’s absence from the World Cup left the teenager disappointed, but he admitted he still has a soft spot for Brazil and longtime football idol Lionel Messi.
Antonelli described Messi as one of his favorite players growing up and recalled meeting the Argentine star in Miami. While disappointed Italy failed to qualify once again, he tried to laugh off the frustration, calling the situation “a disaster” before saying Italians may simply have to wait another four years.
Hamilton, meanwhile, used the opportunity to shut down growing speculation surrounding his Formula One future.
The Ferrari driver insisted retirement is nowhere near his thinking despite ongoing questions about his form and age. Hamilton, who joined Ferrari from Mercedes last season, has yet to win a race with the Italian team and turns 42 in January. Still, he made it clear he remains fully committed to the sport and to Ferrari’s long-term project.
“I’m still under contract, so everything’s 100% clear to me,” Hamilton said. “I’m still focused, motivated and I still love what I do with all my heart.”
The Briton also pushed back against repeated discussions about his future, saying too many people are attempting to “retire” him from the outside. Hamilton remains Formula One’s most successful driver, owning a record 105 race wins and 104 pole positions.
Montreal also holds special significance in his career. His first Formula One victory came at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve during his rookie season with McLaren in 2007. His latest triumph arrived in Belgium in 2024.
Hamilton insisted he no longer measures success solely through trophies and records, instead focusing on personal and technical progress inside the team.
That mindset has also influenced his preparation for the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Hamilton revealed he deliberately avoided Ferrari’s simulator at Maranello before traveling to Montreal, believing too much simulator work can sometimes mislead drivers once they reach the actual circuit.
Interestingly, he noted he had skipped simulator preparation before the Chinese Grand Prix earlier this season as well, which produced his strongest Ferrari weekend so far and his first podium finish with the team.
Manchester City, Friday, confirmed Pep Guardiola will step down as manager at the end of the 2025-26 season, bringing a defining era in modern football to a close after a decade that reshaped the club’s identity, standards and global standing.
In an official club statement, City announced that Guardiola will depart following the final Premier League match of the campaign against Aston Villa.
The decision ends months of speculation over his long-term future and closes a tenure that began in the summer of 2016, when he arrived from Bayern Munich after already establishing himself as one of football’s most influential coaches at Barcelona and in Germany.
City described his spell as transformative, and the numbers underline that assessment. Guardiola leaves as the most successful manager in the club’s history, having delivered sustained dominance across domestic and European competitions while overseeing one of the most consistent teams English football has ever seen.
His first season at the Etihad was a period of adjustment. Despite high expectations and significant investment, City finished without a trophy in 2016-17. However, that year became the foundation for what followed, as Guardiola reshaped the squad, refined its structure and embedded a positional style built on control, pressing and technical precision.
From 2017-18 onward, the transformation was immediate and sustained. City won six Premier League titles under his leadership, including a record-breaking 100-point campaign and a historic run of four consecutive league titles between 2020-21 and 2023-24. That stretch of dominance effectively reset competitive benchmarks in English football, with City consistently setting standards in points totals, goal scoring and defensive control.
Domestic success extended beyond the league. Guardiola’s City lifted multiple FA Cups and League Cups, regularly reaching the latter stages of competitions even amid congested schedules and squad rotation. The club also secured Community Shield victories that reflected their consistency across seasons.
The defining breakthrough came in the 2022-23 campaign, when City finally captured the UEFA Champions League, defeating Inter Milan in the final to complete a historic treble alongside the Premier League and FA Cup. That achievement placed Guardiola’s side among an elite group in European football history and ended the club’s long pursuit of continental glory.
Momentum did not fade after that landmark season. City added the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in 2023, becoming one of the few English clubs to achieve global dominance in a single calendar year. Across his tenure, Guardiola is expected to leave with approximately 20 major trophies.
Beyond silverware, his influence is deeply embedded in the modern game. Guardiola redefined positional play in the Premier League, introducing tactical ideas that became widely adopted across Europe. His use of inverted full-backs, flexible midfield structures and positional rotations changed how teams build attacks and control space.
He also elevated a generation of players into world-class status. Kevin De Bruyne became one of the most complete midfielders in the world, while Erling Haaland’s arrival added a new dimension to City’s attack. Phil Foden emerged as a key figure from the academy, and Rodri became central to the team’s control in midfield. Bernardo Silva, among others, thrived in multiple roles under Guardiola’s tactical system.
The decision to step down comes after years in which Guardiola has spoken about the intensity of elite management and the need for breaks between long cycles. While he signed an extension in November 2024 running until 2027, sources indicate both parties agreed to an early exit, allowing for a clean transition at the end of this season.
Attention now turns to succession. Enzo Maresca is widely reported as the leading candidate to take over. A former assistant under Guardiola, Maresca is seen as a continuity choice, offering familiarity with the club’s structure and playing philosophy while also bringing his own managerial identity.
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