Sports
French Open 2026 results: Stan Wawrinka beaten in first round of final Roland Garros campaign
Wawrinka will retire as a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won his first major at the 2014 Australian Open aged 28.
He had ended Djokovic’s run of 14 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals by winning the deciding set of their quarter-final 9-7, and then beat a hindered Rafael Nadal in the Melbourne final.
The Spaniard had hurt his back in the warm-up – but those who thought Wawrinka had got lucky and was unlikely to repeat the trick were soon reconsidering.
After his Paris triumph, the final part of the trilogy came in New York in 2016, when Wawrinka again beat Djokovic from a set down to win the US Open.
Just five minutes before the final, a tearful Wawrinka was shaking with nerves in the locker room, and he declared he was “completely empty” after the gruelling showpiece.
He played 27 sets across that fortnight and spent 21 hours and 49 minutes on court, including saving a match point against Britain’s Dan Evans in the third round.
He calmed his nerves, he said, by giving himself a blunt pep talk – a move typical of the man who inspired many GIFs with his trademark pointing of the finger towards his temple.
Some players spurn alcohol during their careers. Wawrinka was not one of those, and may well not have been the same player had he tried to suppress a natural inclination to enjoy the company of others from time to time.
“I think we are all different,” Wawrinka said, as he pointed out that Djokovic – who once denied himself even a square of chocolate for an 18-month period – is a 24-time Grand Slam champion and still playing at 39.
“When you sacrifice so much for your tennis, when you do so much hard work to get there, I think if you like to celebrate, you should celebrate, and that’s what I did after winning Slams.
“If you don’t celebrate after winning a Slam then you will never celebrate, because tennis never stops.”
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Sports
Premier League predicted and xG table 26/27 – latest Sky Sports supercomputer standings for title, top four, relegation | Football News
Who will finish where in the 2026/27 Premier League season? Check the latest expected and predicted standings, according to the Sky Sports supercomputer.
Our predicted table – updated after every match round – is based on 10,000 simulations and factors including player availability, rest, fixture congestion, historical performance and betting odds.
Keep track of the latest projected standings to see who is tipped to win the title, finish in the top four or suffer relegation.
You can also see the latest expected table – how the current standings should look based on xG – expected goals scored and conceded.
Expected (xG) Premier League table
Predicted final Premier League table
Sky Sports predicted before a ball had been kicked that Arsenal would be crowned champions for a second year running.
Our supercomputer gave them an expected points haul of 85.2 – putting them nearly four points clear of Manchester City. But how have results so far impacted our pre-season verdict? Here’s the final table as predicted today…
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Sports
Novak Djokovic: Former world No 1 wins China Open title without needing a match point in semi-final and final | Tennis News
Former world No 1 Novak Djokovic won his seventh China Open title without needing a match point in his semi-final and final.
Djokovic, who was awarded a win after his semi-final opponent Daniil Medvedev was disqualified after hitting a spectator with the ball, claimed the 102nd title of his career following the retirement of De Minaur in the final.
De Minaur, who left the court for a medical timeout after the first set, continued playing with a heavy bandage on his left thigh. But he could not continue after winning the first game of the second set.
Djokovic narrowly won the first set, with the match poised at 7-6 (7-3) 0-1 when De Minaur retired.
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Daniil Medvedev was defaulted against Novak Djokovic during the China Open after hitting a ball at a spectator
“It’s been 11 years since I last played here,” Djokovic explained during the trophy ceremony. “I always have high expectations of myself and always want to visualise myself with the trophy, particularly here in Beijing, a place where I have never lost. But I was also aware that reality is a little bit different these days.”
The 102nd tour-level title of Djokovic’s career moves him within one of Roger Federer’s 103 for second-most in the Open Era, behind only Jimmy Connors’ 109.
The 39-year-old Serbian also extended his perfect record at the ATP 500 event to 34-0.
It has also significantly strengthened his hopes of returning to the Nitto ATP Finals this year.
The two had gone toe to toe in the first set, targeting the baseline to pressure each other.
De Minaur almost broke Djokovic in the fifth game but the Serbian saved the break point with a full-stretch backhand down the sideline.
The Australian held firm but the 27-year-old’s error count increased during the tie-break to hand the first set to Djokovic.
An exhausted Djokovic also needed treatment during the break and the 39-year-old was surprised when De Minaur signalled the end of the match.
“This year has been quite challenging for me: Lots of physical and health issues” Djokovic said.
“I was just trying to find a good feeling on the court. I know that I’m feeling well and striking the ball well, I can compete at the highest level. This week has been evidence of that.”
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Highlights of Djokovic against De Minaur in the China Open final
“I want to say sorry to all the amazing fans who came to watch this match,” said De Minaur, who last retired from an official match in 2017 when he was a teenager. “I didn’t want to finish like this, so I’m really sorry. To my team – those who are here and also back home – thank you. It’s been a great week and I’m sure there’s plenty more to come.”
‘We do not want to see matches end in retirement’
De Minaur was close to tears after having to retire in Beijing
“It’s just the anticlimactic nature of it,” a shocked former British No 1 Johanna Konta told Sky Sports Tennis. “You don’t have the release of emotions.
“Djokovic was the best player this week because you can only ask a player to deal with the challenges that are presented to them and he dealt with the challenges that were ahead of him and that’s all there is to it.
“We do not want to see matches end in retirement and Djokovic himself probably wouldn’t want that either. However, I’m sure he was pleased that he wasn’t necessarily stretched to his physical limits but he will be pleased with the good things that he did do this week.
“I would have been less surprised had Novak Djokovic retired.”
Stream tennis with no contract on NOW and the Sky Sports App. You can watch the WTA/ATP China Open and ATP 1000 Shanghai Masters live on Sky Sports.
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