Author: Shekari Philemon

The 2026 Wimbledon tournament produced ESPN’s most-watched women’s championship match at the grass-court Grand Slam since the network began covering the event, driven by a dramatically contested all-Czech final that averaged 1.9 million viewers on Saturday and benefited from the kind of mid-match collapse and recovery that keeps audiences watching through the closing games. Linda Noskova’s victory over Karolina Muchova reached that viewership total despite Noskova wasting five match points and a 5-2 lead in the second set before ultimately winning the third set to claim the title. The drama of the second-set implosion and the uncertainty it created about…

French tennis player Samuel Bensoussan has had his ban from professional tennis for match-fixing extended to three years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s appeal, more than doubling the original penalty of one year and eleven months he had received for his involvement with an organized crime operation based in Belgium. Bensoussan, 34, had originally been found to have fixed singles and doubles matches in lower-tier events on behalf of the syndicate. His peak ATP singles ranking reached 405 in 2018, placing him in the margins of the professional tour during the…

George Pickens will play the 2026 NFL season on his $27.3 million franchise tender after the Wednesday 4 p.m. deadline for tagged players to sign long-term extensions passed without a deal, an outcome the Cowboys had telegraphed since April when they announced publicly they did not plan to engage in extension talks with the wide receiver. Pickens had already signed the franchise tender prior to the deadline, putting him under contract for the coming season. He said in mandatory minicamp last month that he was prepared to play out the year under the tag and had directed his agent to…

Harry Kane said he was not ready to draw conclusions about his England future following the country’s 2-1 semifinal defeat to Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday, describing the result as another chapter in a recurring story of tournament near-misses and saying the national team remained his greatest source of pride and motivation. England took the lead through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute but conceded twice in the final five minutes of normal time and stoppage time, with Argentina equalizing in the 85th minute and then heading home the winner from a Messi cross in the second minute of added…

Lionel Messi set up two goals in the closing stages of Argentina’s World Cup semifinal against England on Wednesday to complete a stunning comeback at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, sending the defending champions to a final against Spain with a 2-1 victory that carried the weight of one of football’s most emotionally loaded rivalries. England had taken the lead early in the second half and appeared to be managing the game toward a historic result before Argentina’s captain became the story he almost always becomes when his team needs him most. Messi created the equalizer with an assist on a long-range…

Three Philadelphia 76ers players have been personally recruiting LeBron James as his free agency decision extends into a second week, with Tyrese Maxey leading the effort, according to league sources, as the 76ers remain among the frontrunners for the four-time NBA champion alongside Cleveland and Miami. Maxey, 25, has trained with James in the offseason for several years and has publicly described him as a big brother figure. Both are clients of the same sports agency, and the personal relationship between them extends well beyond professional courtesy into genuine friendship. The 41-year-old James would be stepping into a team where…

Charles Snowden, the outside linebacker who signed with the Dallas Cowboys last month following a minicamp tryout, has been suspended for the first three regular-season games of the 2026 season, according to the NFL’s transactions wire. The suspension is connected to a DUI arrest from 2024 that occurred while Snowden was playing for the Las Vegas Raiders. He reached a plea agreement in January, entering a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor DUI charge, paying a fine, and agreeing to attend court-mandated courses. If he completes all terms of the agreement, the charge will be reduced to reckless driving. The NFL’s…

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday that the league’s investigation into alleged salary cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers needs to be concluded before the start of next season, calling the extended timeline longer than he had hoped while reiterating that the league itself was not responsible for the pause in a reported trade that would have sent Leonard to the Toronto Raptors. Silver spoke to reporters following a meeting of the NBA’s board of governors in Las Vegas, addressing several significant issues including the Leonard investigation, the second apron luxury tax rules, and the league’s ongoing…

Thomas Tuchel has spent this week trying to keep his England players focused on what they can control as they approach the most historically loaded fixture in international football, a World Cup semifinal against Argentina on Wednesday in Atlanta that carries the weight of 60 years since England last appeared in a final and all the accumulated emotion of one of sport’s most complex and combustible rivalries. The two nations have not met in competitive football for more than two decades, but the rivalry feels no less intense for the gap. Maradona’s handball goal and one of the most celebrated…

Kylian Mbappe raised pointed questions about France’s tactical decisions and midfield setup after Spain eliminated the defending World Cup finalists 2-0 in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday, a defeat that ended France’s attempt to reach a third consecutive World Cup final and left Mbappe reflecting on a game he felt his team failed to approach correctly. Mbappe was held scoreless for the first time in the tournament and finished the competition with eight goals, the same total accumulated by Lionel Messi across Argentina’s run, leaving the two in a tie at the top of the Golden Boot race heading into the…