Sports
Italian Open 2026: Sorana Cirstea reaches Rome semi-finals in her final season before retirement
When Cirstea announced 2026 would be her farewell after a 20-year career, not even her dreams would have suggested the reality of how it has panned out.
Announcing her retirement has led to playing with new-found freedom, as well as a feeling of having nothing left to prove.
This liberated mindset has produced some of the best results of her career – particularly on clay where she has won 10 of her 12 matches so far.
Earlier this week, she became the oldest player to beat a world number one after taking out Aryna Sabalenka in the Rome third round.
If Cirstea manages to beat Coco Gauff or Mirra Andreeva in the semi-finals, she will also break another notable barrier – finally cracking the world’s top 20.
Having forged a solid career which has included four WTA titles and two Grand Slam quarter-finals, Cirstea has never gone higher than a peak of 21st – which came way back in 2013.
Given she is playing some of the finest tennis of her career, it has prompted many people to ask whether she could reconsider her decision.
Cirstea remains committed to hanging up her racquet, although she has added a caveat as her run in Rome continued.
“Maybe if I win the tournament, I promise I’ll think about it,” she laughed.
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Sports
Matt Fitzpatrick on Open de France victory, his ‘best period of golf’ ever and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship hopes | Golf News
Matt Fitzpatrick believes he is currently playing the best golf of his career, ahead of the world No 4 teeing it up alongside his father at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Fitzpatrick registered a fourth worldwide win of the season with a three-shot victory at the FedEx Open de France on Sunday, having already won three times on the PGA Tour during an impressive campaign.
The Englishman failed to finish higher than 14th in any of the majors in 2026 but still had six worldwide top 10s along with his victories, with Fitzpatrick proud of his season and contending so frequently.
“This is the best period of golf I’ve played for sure,” Fitzpatrick told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. “2022 was right up there, but I’ve had three wins and obviously a fourth now. I think just the sustained consistency has been the big thing really.
“Obviously that [a disappointing major season] is a disappointment. It’s the goal of anyone’s at the start of the year to contend in the majors – those are what mean the most and those are what matter.
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“It’s disappointing not to do that this year. Just felt a couple days off pretty much during three of the four, then in the last one I just didn’t play great and I got my strategy wrong.
“At the same time, that doesn’t really take anything away from the season as a whole. I have contended a lot in a lot of golf tournaments and that’s all you could ask for in a year.”
Fitzpatrick’s latest victory moved him top of the Ryder Cup qualification standings and inside the top 10 in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai rankings, while the 32-year-old could move to a career-high world No 2 with a strong showing in Scotland.
When asked on whether there are areas where he can still improve, Fitzpatrick added: “I think there’s various bits and pieces that we’ve looked at. We’re coming to the year end and making those decisions on what the off-season plan needs to be.
“There’s a few things that we’ve got down already to go to – it’s just about how you go about that and how that’s structured.”
Fitzpatrick previously won the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with his mother Sue as his partner in the pro-am team event, with Fitzpatrick teaming up with dad Russell for this year’s contest.
“I think he might get a few more strokes – he’d probably say that himself!” admitted Fitzpatrick, who also won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside his brother Alex Fitzpatrick in April.
“We’re going to need a big few days I think, to get us in some form of position. Hopefully, Johan [Rupert, tournament organiser] doesn’t cut his handicap too much after this past week!
“I think he’s been playing quite nicely, so you never know – when the pressure’s on, it can be a little bit different, but we’re there to have a good time and enjoy ourselves.”
Listen to the full Matt Fitzpatrick interview on the latest edition of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, hosted every week by Jamie Weir. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Spreaker, while vodcast editions can be found on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.
Who else is playing the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship?
Matt’s brother Alex is partnering mum Sue in the team element of this year’s event, played across Carnoustie, Kingsbarns Golf Links and the Old Course at St Andrews.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre returns as defending champion, while Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose are other Ryder Cup players in the field, with Brooks Koepka and Cam Smith among the past major winners also in action.
Who will win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship? Live coverage begins Thursday from midday on Sky Sports Golf. Get latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW.
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Sports
Leaked video: Man City CEO Soriano sends message to staff and players

Sky Sports News has obtained a video of Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano that has been sent to internal staff and players at the club after the guilty verdict in relation to allegations of serious breaches of financial rules.
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Sports
'Has he lost his mind?!' Rock throws bull-one-bull for 101 and Mardle loses it!

Josh Rock went a slightly different route to usual as he attempted to checkout 101, leaving Sky Sports’ Wayne Mardle with a lot to say!
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