5:08 PM ET Associated Press Top-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut swept aside French qualifier Gregoire Barrere 6-0, 6-3 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Open Sud de France. The Spanish veteran, who is chasing a 10th career title, won 100 percent of his first-serve points in the first set and broke Barrere’s serve three times
11:34 AM GMT Ireland refreshed their pack for Saturday’s Six Nations trip to Italy and welcomed Johnny Sexton back after the captain missed the loss to leaders France in a disappointing start to the tournament. Ireland boss Andy Farrell has made seven changes from their disappointing start to the tournament. Ronan Kelleher, who scored one
12:55 PM GMT Wales coach Wayne Pivac has opted for midfield muscle and selected Jonathan Davies to play at inside centre alongside George North in the Six Nations clash with England at the Principality Stadium on Saturday. Davies will make his first appearance of 2021 after being recalled to the side, while North, 28, is
11:01 AM GMT England have made two changes for their trip to Wales on Saturday in the Six Nations with uncapped George Martin named among the replacements. Jamie George and Mark Wilson return to England’s starting XV for the match in Cardiff, while Martin could make his England debut if given the chance from the
9:14 AM GMT France’s Six Nations game against Scotland was in doubt again on Thursday after the French rugby federation (FFR) suspended training due to another player testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number infected to 11. The entire squad was now isolating, FFR said. After two days without a new case in the
2:47 PM ET Gabriel Tan It may seem remarkable that at just 16 years old Victoria Lee is preparing to make her professional mixed martial arts debut at ONE Championship’s Fists of Fury on Friday. It is perhaps less surprising considering who her two older siblings are: ONE world champions Angela Lee (atomweight) and Christian
1:48 PM ET The Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday announced a multiyear partnership with UpickTrade, a sports betting recommendation service based in Mexico. UpickTrade.com becomes the Official Sports Pick Service Partner of the Knights and will be featured on the team’s web and social media platforms as well as on the boards around the rink
12:51 PM ET Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas — University of Texas System regents on Thursday approved a six-year, $34.2 million guaranteed contract for new Longhorns football coach Steve Sarkisian. The regents also approved more than $21 million in guaranteed contracts for Sarkisian’s staff. Three of his top assistants got three-year guaranteed contracts worth more than
2:01 PM ET Adrian Mannarino started his Singapore Open in style after beating Italy’s Roberto Marcora 6-3, 7-5 to send himself into the quarterfinals. Marrarino, who is the top-seeded French player at the competition, is due to face off against Moldovan Radu Albot, who beat Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann. “I never played against him [Marcora] before,
1:50 PM ET The burden of fame never faded, but Tiger Woods showed a softer side, a more appreciative outlook in the past few years. Never was that more than the case than in December, where the joy of a father playing golf with his son could not have been more apparent. The PNC Challenge
1:18 PM ET Triller just threw its name in the ring to promote the next fight of one of boxing’s rising stars. The upstart tech company won the rights to promote Teofimo Lopez’s lightweight title defense against George Kambosos with a bid of more than $6 million, a source told ESPN, confirming multiple reports. Triller,
IND vs ENG: India beat England by 10 wickets in the third Test to take 2-1 lead in the series.© BCCI India knocked England out of contention from the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final in June with their 10-wicket triumph in the day-night third Test in Ahmedabad which propelled the hosts to the top of the
8:24 AM ET Free-agent defensive lineman J.J. Watt has received contract offers from multiple teams, league sources told ESPN’s Dianna Russini. Multiple sources told Russini that the most lucrative offer Watt currently has on the table is believed to be worth between $15 million and $16 million. The Browns are among the teams interested in
11:39 AM ET When you think of teams with multiple All-Stars, you think of dominance — the Jazz, the Lakers, the Nets. The Celtics have two All-Stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but after Wednesday night’s blowout loss to the Hawks, Boston is in last place in the Atlantic Division. Team president Danny Ainge
10:53 AM ET Associated Press Rafael Nadal pulled out of next week’s hard-court tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands, because of the bad back that bothered him during the Australian Open. Nadal’s withdrawal from the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament was announced Thursday. The 20-time Grand Slam champion wrote in a series of posts on Twitter that
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen says he is “realistic” about his chances of battling for the title against Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes this year. The Dutchman, 23, said he “did not want to hype things up” after driving Red Bull’s new car for the first time at Silverstone on Wednesday. “Mercedes must be the favourites still,”
Virat Kohli was full of praise of his off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin after emphatic win in Ahmedabad.© BCCI Virat Kohli lavished praise on Ravichandran Ashwin, calling him a “modern day legend” after the off-spinner became the fastest Indian bowler to 400 Test wickets on Thursday. India beat England by 10 wickets and finished the third Test
9:25 AM ET Replacing some of college football’s top quarterbacks will be one of most heavily talked about topics headed into spring football and the fall 2021 season. While Alabama’s and Clemson’s new starting signal-callers will garner the majority of national attention, several other programs will be breaking in starting quarterbacks who were once highly