A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
With Roger Federer missing due to injury, Andy Murray upset in the quarters and Rafael Nadal a fourth-round loser, Djokovic marches on in a quest for a 13th Grand Slam title without his familiar high profile rivals standing in the way.
Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a Europa League night to remember by scoring the first hat-trick of his career as the midfielder inspired them to a 3-1 home win over Belarus champions BATE Borisov on Thursday.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal can take a step closer to a 50th career showdown when they play their fourth-round matches at the US Open on Sunday.
Swimming authorities need to increase the number of doping tests to preserve the sport's credibility and stop fans turning away according to Britain's triple world champion and double world record holder Adam Peaty.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
India's Ayonika Paul wobbled a bit towards the end but still managed to bag the bronze medal at the 8th Asian Air Gun Championship in New Delhi on Monday.
2018 was largely forgettable for Sushil Kumar -- India's only double Olympic-medallist -- and Sakshi Malik -- the country's first and only woman wrestler to win a medal at the biggest stage.
France produced a scintillating show as they put memories of one of the most painful moments in their soccer history to one side by crushing Bulgaria 4-1 in a World Cup Group A qualifier on Friday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
World number 30 Berrettini saved five points in the marathon second set tiebreak and held on to win it 13-11 for his third ATP crown in last 11 months.
Olympian Vinesh Phogat says, albeit in a lighter vein, that uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat was '10 times stricter' than the hanikarak bapu Aamir Khan portrays in 'Dangal', a movie based on the life of the well-known coach and his proteges.
Testers were also routinely obstructed from gaining access to athletes who used military cities as the location for their whereabouts knowing doping control officers would need special permission to gain access. The WADA update also revealed several examples of widespread efforts to avoid testing, including one detailed instance where an athlete tried to use a container inserted inside her body that presumably contained clean urine.
The year-long suffering she faced following the controversial "gender test" in 2014 has hurt promising sprinter Dutee Chand so much so that she still feels that she may get trapped and her resurrected career may be in ruins again. Two years ago, Chand's dreams of representing her country at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games came crashing when an indefinite ban was imposed on her, barring her from taking part in women's competitions due to her higher levels of testosterone (hormones primarily produced by male). Dutee fought the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland which upheld her appeal, citing no clear cut link with higher levels of these hormones with enhancement in performance. She returned to competitions last year and broke the national record in 100m dash recently. "I'm not able to trust anyone. I am scared that I might get trapped again. I hardly have any friends," Dutee told reporters on the sidelines of the GAIL Indian Speedstar event. "I prefer to train alone at SAI camp in Hyderabad. I don't train at national camp at NIS Patiala. Some of the 4x400 relay members don't like me," she added.
Pullela Gopichand salutes P V Sindhu on her superb showing that saw her return with a silver medal from the Rio Olympics.
Chile have never beaten Argentina in open play in 27 Copa America meetings in 100 years yet have twice in 12 months dashed the hopes of Lionel Messi's team of lifting a major trophy.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
The All India Tennis Association may be backing Leander Paes to the hilt in him making the squad for the Rio Olympics, but the veteran star will not be picked in the Davis Cup team despite showing late interest in competing in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie against Korea Republic next month.
Wrestler Bajrang Punia clinched India's first gold medal in the 18th Asian Games after defeating Takatani Daichi of Japan in the men's 65 kg freestyle title bout, in Jakarta, on Sunday.
American Noah Lyles shot to 200 meters world championships gold on Tuesday, providing a bright finish to a day darkened by yet another doping scandal.
In his darkest moments last year when he doubted if he would ever get back to full fitness following his knee injury, Roger Federer clung on to one thought -- he still had the game to maybe sneak another Grand Slam title.
After missing out on Rio Olympics last year due to a knee surgery, a fit-again Parupalli Kashyap is racing against time to regain his place in the Indian team and defend his title at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Eliud Kipchoge ran the quickest recorded marathon on Saturday, crossing the line at the Monza Formula One track in two hours and 25 seconds but missing out on an ambitious attempt to break the two-hour barrier.
Barcelona forward Neymar finds himself at the centre of unwanted media attention in Spain as his struggling team's promising season threatens to unravel after a run of defeats. The Brazilian has not scored in his last five games and is being portrayed as one of the reasons for Barca's woes after three straight La Liga losses has seen them caught by Atletico Madrid, who have also knocked them out of the Champions League. Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia this week focused on the 24-year-old's conduct off the pitch, particularly his "trips away, parties at unadvisable times and commercial commitments". He visited Brazil in March for his sister's birthday party. TV programme 'El Dia Despues (The Day After) on Tuesday showed Neymar arguing with Jordi Ala during Sunday's home defeat by Valencia after the defender chose not to pass to him. Camera footage showed Neymar appearing to swear at his team mate. Barcelona play Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday looking to get their title bid back on track with the cover of newspaper Mundo Deportivo focusing on Neymar, pictured between Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, below the headline 'This cannot go on'.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
US goalkeeper Hope Solo called Sweden "a bunch of cowards" after they knocked the United States out of the Olympic women's football tournament on penalties on Friday.
'I do understand Rohan is disappointed for not getting the award, but it was because he did not meet the criteria for the award in 2016. He should see the criteria before making any comment'
Algeria opened the goal scoring floodgates swamping South Korea 4-2 in a thrilling World Cup Group H clash on Sunday that kept hopes of securing a spot in the last 16 alive and triggered celebrations across the Arab nation.
Divock Origi's late strike earned Belgium a 1-0 Group H win over Russia at the Maracana Stadium on Sunday to seal a spot in the knockout round of the World Cup.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Pooja Ghatkar overcame technical issues to clinch the women's 10m air rifle bronze medal as hosts India opened their account on a positive note in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in New Delhi.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck the winning goal to help Real Madrid become European champions, while Marin Cilic made an impressive comeback after a ban to claim the US Open crown in September. Also, Germany defeated Argentina to become football world champions. Rediff.com brings you the last instalment of the Best Sports Photos of the Year!
Rafael Nadal's path to his Australian Open semi-final against Grigor Dimitrov on Friday has taught the 30-year-old Spaniard one thing -- he's still got it.
Portugal proved they can flourish without their talismanic forward Cristiano Ronaldo, at least on the pitch, in beating France to win Euro 2016. Coach Fernando Santos has been trying to reduce their dependency on Ronaldo and his team's ability to live without their alltime leading scorer and captain faced its ultimate test when he was went off injured after 25 minutes of Sunday's final. They passed with flying colours. Relieved of any obligation to pass to Ronaldo every time he was free or allow him to take free kicks, Portugal's players appeared less inhibited without him on the pitch.
Devastation struck Venezuela when oil prices started collapsing in 1982, following a global oil glut. The country's economy contracted overnight.
Juan Martin del Potro delivered a huge blow to Britain's hopes of retaining the Davis Cup when he beat Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in a five-hour thriller as Argentina grabbed a 2-0 lead in their world group semi-final on Friday.
There was no stopping the gold rush in wrestling as two more were added to the tally by Vinesh Phogat (50kg) and Sumit (125kg) but Olympic bronze-medallist Sakshi Malik (62kg) had to be content with a third-place finish in the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Saturday.
Neeraj Chopra, on Saturday, became the first Indian javelin thrower to claim a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, with a season's best effort of 86.47m in the final, in Gold Coast.
India's teen golfer Aditi Ashok rounded off yet another week with a card of five-over 76 to end her campaign at the 41st spot in the women's golf event at Rio Olympics. Nine of the world's Top-10 took part in the event making it as strong as any Major and ensuring credibility for the sport, which made a re-appearance at the sporting extravaganza after 112 years. For Aditi to hold her own on first two days when her cards of 68-68 kept her in the Top-8 of the field was indeed a big step for Indian golf at world stage.