By Mark Gleeson

CAPE TOWN, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Leading African football administrators have sent messages of support to embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino as he looks to the continent’s 54 members for backing in a bid to keep his job.

Five of the continent’s influential football leaders have issued statements that offer Infantino support while also welcoming the decision to drop his controversial plan to sell a stake in future World Cup revenue.

Their messages came ahead of a meeting of the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee on Thursday at which they will discuss the abandoned plan to raise $4.2 billion from a new commercial rights body.

While Asia, Europe and CONCACAF, which runs the game in North and Central America and the Caribbean, all said over the weekend they had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership, CAF has kept its counsel, offering Infantino hope he can count on the support of its large membership as he looks to hold on to power at next March’s FIFA presidential election.

CAF only released a statement last Wednesday saying it would study Infantino’s FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative, but he abandoned the project under intense pressure on Friday.

It remains an item on the agenda for the CAF meeting, although there is no guarantee African football’s governing body will take any stand on Infantino’s future.

But leading committee members say they are backing Infantino, including CAF Vice President Fouzi Lekjaa from Morocco and fellow FIFA Council members Hany Abo Rida (Egypt), Hamidou Djibrilla (Niger) and Ahmed Yhaya (Mauritania).

There has also been a statement of support from Veron Mosengo-Omba, recently elected president of the football federation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and former CAF general secretary, who studied at university in Switzerland with Infantino.

All released similarly worded messages welcoming Infantino’s decision to abandon the project before praising him and expressing support.

African countries helped Infantino to his election success in 2016 on the back of his promises to more than double development money dispensed to FIFA’s member associations.

It is this largesse that has helped keep him popular among African members, many of whom struggle financially and now largely depend on FIFA money to compete.

“Our problem is how to obtain money. Right now, we have no sponsors. So how do we compete? The richest nations can train players, have infrastructure and equipment, and it’s no coincidence that they then achieve results. Most European countries don’t have these problems,” said Saïd Ali Athouman, the president of the Comoros Football Federation.

“Our government is not able to make sure that they have medical supplies in hospitals and at the same time to look at football. Malawi needs money. Malawi needs stadiums,” added Fleetwood Haiya, president of the Football Association of Malawi.

FIFA baseline funding guarantees each of its 211 member associations $8 million over a four-year cycle, plus CAF also now offers an annual grant to its members.

GIFTING GRANTS

Gifting grants to member associations was first floated by Infantino’s predecessor, Sepp Blatter, when he stood for election against Lennart Johansson in 1998, and he won with backing from most African countries, who had never before received financial help from world football’s governing body, even though CAF formally endorsed the Swede, who was then UEFA president.

Infantino continued Blatter’s idea, although he renamed it from the Goal Project to FIFA Forward, and exponentially increased the monies.

Motsepe was effusive in his praise for Infantino days before the World Cup sell-off scandal broke.

“I personally support Gianni Infantino,” he said. “He’s not just a good friend. He’s a loyal friend. He’s loyal to Africa. I come from a background where when people have been loyal to you, you never stab them in the back.”

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

By Stephen Nellis

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Two former Intel executives have teamed with sports industry veterans to launch an online platform designed to help amateur athletes catch the attention of college recruiters and professional scouts.

Renée James, the former Intel president who co-founded and sold Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion, on Tuesday launched Rule42 Sports Technology Group. Also joining is Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who left Intel earlier this year after serving as chief executive of Intel Products.

Their business model is straightforward: give aspiring athletes a free digital stage to showcase their abilities, and charge college recruiters and professional scouts to identify the next standout prospect.

In an interview with Reuters, James said the idea grew from experiences with her son, who was drafted this year by the Toronto Blue Jays. The process required expensive travel to reach the right scouts at the right time.

“That’s the problem I want to solve. I want to solve it for the kid that’s in El Paso, Texas, whose parents work to get by and is not spending $1,000 to fly to Florida and then another $1,000 to stay for five days and another $1,000 to be in the tournament,” James said. “That kid might be the greatest outfielder in the history of mankind, but you’re not going to find him.”

The company, which James self-funded, is launching with baseball and softball before expanding into other sports. It has recruited Tara Henry, a former collegiate champion softball outfielder and current coach of Great Britain’s women’s national softball team, as well as Jed Lowrie, a 14-season Major League Baseball veteran.

James is adamant that Rule42, named for the answer to the ultimate question of life in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and for Jackie Robinson’s jersey number, will neither be a social network nor a sports gambling platform.

She sees particular opportunity in women’s sports, where scholarship opportunities are growing faster than time-strapped coaches can fill them.

“We can be a tremendous assistance to the growth in women’s sports because there’s really no infrastructure for women at all,” James said.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San FranciscoEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

By Nick Mulvenney and Rohith Nair

Aug 4 (Reuters) – The crisis triggered by FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s abandoned proposal to sell off a stake in the World Cup deepened on Tuesday with influential figures publicly distancing themselves from the project while scrambling to contain the damage.

After three days of unprecedented civil war in the world of soccer administration last week, Infantino backed away from his plan to raise $4.2 billion from a new commercial rights body late on Friday night.

The 56-year-old apologised for how the proposal, which would have brought private investment into the World Cup for the first time, had divided the game, but his once unassailable bastion of power at the top of the global governing body was shattered.

FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom sent an internal message to staff lamenting the “sad and reproachable series of events” that led to the project being “permanently abandoned”, two sources said.

“We have all been thrown into the middle of a turmoil, which is difficult to comprehend and accept,” Grafstrom wrote in the letter without mentioning Infantino by name.

“But, as Secretary General, I urge you to remain focused on what has always united us: serving football and serving our 211 Member Associations, hand in hand with all relevant stakeholders and in full compliance with the FIFA Statutes and FIFA Regulations.

“Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue, and that is why we should always keep our professionalism, sense of perspective and composure.”

Arsene Wenger, the Chief of Global Football Development at FIFA and technical adviser to soccer’s rule-making body IFAB, said he was not involved in the proposal and only learned about it through media reports.

“The decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question, because I firmly believe in an independent FIFA that serves our game with commitment, transparency, and integrity,” Wenger said in a statement.

FORCE INFANTINO OUT OF OFFICE

One media report suggested three regional confederations had united to try to force Infantino out of office.

Five European national associations, including England’s FA, have formally withdrawn their backing for his re-election at the FIFA Congress in Morocco in March, while Denmark’s said it was never going to vote for him in any case. 

The federations of Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Sri Lanka have publicly declared their continued support for the Swiss-Italian, who has run FIFA since 2016 and wants to stay on until 2031.

Infantino has also attempted to boost his own image by amplifying their statements on Instagram while FIFA dismissed as “pure fiction” a report that he had sought support from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to stay in power.

The numbers with firm public positions are small — 211 national federations will vote at Congress — but blindsiding major stakeholders in the game with his proposal has clearly lost Infantino allies among the regional confederations.

Powerful European confederation UEFA and CONCACAF, which runs the game in North and Central America and the Caribbean, issued strongly worded statements on Saturday saying they had lost confidence in his leadership.      

The usually loyal Asian confederation (AFC) did not go so far in its criticism but called for institutional reform at FIFA after declaring the lack of consultation over the plan “totally unacceptable”. 

According to a report in the Times of London on Monday, UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC are determined to force Infantino out of office by paralysing FIFA and even starting up their own competitions if he refuses to go.

CONCACAF, the AFC and FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. UEFA said it had no comment. 

UEFA has confirmed that it has sent a “document preservation letter” to FIFA for all material related to Infantino’s plan, although it is still mulling whether to start legal proceedings over it.   

INFANTINO POWER BASE PUT TO TEST

Infantino’s immediate concern will be to avoid the calling of an Extraordinary Congress, which would be triggered if 43 or more FIFA member associations make a formal written request for one.

Beyond that, he will have seven months to rebuild damaged relationships with his supporters and shore up his position against challengers.

Infantino, like his two immediate predecessors as president, Joao Havelange and Sepp Blatter, built his power base outside of Europe, where less wealthy associations rely on FIFA funds.

It was at those associations that his controversial proposal was pitched, with promises of a dividend of $20 million to $40 million at the start of next year for each national body which backed the scheme. 

Infantino’s opponents will need to find a candidate before the November 18 deadline for nominations for the FIFA election who can speak to those interests as well as the more prosperous associations in the traditional heartlands of the game.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, Rohith Nair, Suramya Kaushik and Shrivathsa Sridhar, editing by Peter Rutherford and Ed Osmond)

Alec Burleson hit three two-run homers for the St. Louis Cardinals, who rallied for a 13-7 victory over the host New York Yankees after squandering a six-run lead on Monday night.

Burleson capped a seven-run eighth inning by hitting a 2-2 slider from Angel Chivilli (1-1) into the second deck in right for a 418-foot drive. He went deep off Cam Schlittler in the first and off Tim Hill in the fourth.

Rookies Nathan Church and Jimmie Crooks also homered in the eighth off Chivilli as the Cardinals matched their season high with five long balls. Gordon Graceffo (7-1) tossed two shutout innings for the victory.

Ryan McMahon, Jose Caballero and Luis Garcia Jr. (in his Yankees debut) homered to give New York a 7-6 lead in the seventh.

Phillies 6, Nationals 3

Derek Hill hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning to highlight Philadelphia’s comeback victory over visiting Washington.

Bryce Harper also homered for Philadelphia, which has won three in a row. Aaron Nola allowed three runs and six hits in six innings for the Phillies before Kyle Backhus (2-1), Orion Kerkering and Jhoan Duran (25th save) closed it out.

The Nationals received a strong effort from Andrew Alvarez, who was recalled from Triple-A Rochester earlier in the day. The left-hander allowed two runs on three hits before exiting after 6 1/3 innings. Abimelec Ortiz and Daylen Lile homered for Washington, which has lost six consecutive games.

Cubs 10, Dodgers 5

Seiya Suzuki, Kevin Alcantara, Carson Kelly and Michael Busch homered for Chicago in a win against visiting Los Angeles.

Busch also delivered a two-run single in the opener of a three-game series, and he and Kelly produced three RBIs apiece. Pete Crow-Armstrong scored twice for the Cubs. Matthew Boyd (7-1) pitched at least six innings for the sixth straight outing. He allowed five runs (four earned) and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernandez homered while Hernandez, Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker each had two hits and a run for the Dodgers, who have lost four in a row to match their longest skids of the season. Justin Wrobleski (11-3) surrendered four home runs for the second straight start. He gave up seven runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings.

Blue Jays 3, Astros 1

Shane Bieber pitched effectively into the sixth inning, Alejandro Kirk slugged his fourth home run and visiting Toronto snapped Houston’s six-game winning streak.

After completing six trades over the past two days in the runup to the trade deadline on Monday, the Blue Jays rode a resilient effort from Bieber (3-2) to their fifth victory in seven games. Bieber allowed one run on nine hits over 5 2/3 innings as Toronto won for the fourth time in five games.

Astros right-hander Cristian Javier (1-2) gave up three runs on seven hits over six innings.

Pirates 4, Brewers 3

Spencer Horwitz drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double, Bubba Chandler pitched effectively into the sixth inning and visiting Pittsburgh held on to edge Milwaukee.

Pittsburgh led 4-0 after four innings, but Milwaukee rallied within 4-3 with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth. The Brewers, who entered with the best overall record in the majors, dropped to 1-6 this season against the division-rival Pirates.

Chandler (4-8) allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits in 5 2/3 innings for his first win since June 25. Brendan Sproat (3-7) allowed four runs on five hits in three-plus innings with three wild pitches for the Brewers.

Giants 5, Rangers 1

Jung Hoo Lee had two homers and three RBIs and Logan Webb tossed six shutout innings to lead San Francisco to a victory over Texas in Arlington, Texas.

Lee had three of his team’s six hits. Webb (7-7) struck out a season-best eight while giving up five hits for the Giants, who halted a three-game slide.

Ezequiel Duran homered and had four of the Rangers’ seven hits. Texas committed a season-high five errors while extending its season-worst losing streak to six. Cal Quantrill (4-4) gave up three runs (one earned) and four hits over six innings.

Rays 13, Rockies 9

Junior Caminero hit two home runs, Jonathan Aranda had four hits and Tampa Bay beat Colorado in Denver.

Richie Palacios also went deep among his two hits, Chandler Simpson, Cedric Mullins and Taylor Walls had two hits each and Ian Seymour tossed six strong innings for Tampa Bay. Seymour (8-3) allowed two runs on seven hits, fanned nine and didn’t walk a batter.

Ezequiel Tovar homered and singled three times, Mickey Moniak also went deep and tripled, and Kyle Karros, Cole Carrigg and Willi Castro had two hits each for Colorado. Michael Lorenzen (3-10) allowed seven runs on seven hits in three innings.

Diamondbacks 5, Padres 1

Brandon Pfaadt won his sixth straight decision, Tim Tawa had three hits including a three-run homer, and Arizona beat San Diego in Phoenix in a game matching National League wild-card contenders.

Pfaadt (6-1) gave up five hits and one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings. He is 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA in seven starts since being recalled from Triple-A Reno on June 30. Tawa homered with one out in the fourth, after Ketel Marte walked to open the inning and Adrian Del Castillo singled with one out off Michael King (6-8).

Luis Campusano had two hits for the Padres, who had won three in a row and eight of nine. King gave up three runs and five hits in five-plus innings.

–Field Level Media

Aug 4 (Reuters) – Few young players on the WTA Tour have experienced the level of expectation and support Alexandra Eala has received since she earned a place on the elite women’s circuit, and on Monday the Filipina showed what all the fuss is about by winning the Washington Open.

Eala capped her breakthrough run by rallying to defeat top seed Jessica Pegula 4-6 6-4 6-0 in a rain-interrupted final that began on Sunday, becoming the first woman from her country to claim a tour-level singles crown.

Along the way, the 21-year-old beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, last year’s winner Leylah Fernandez, second seed Elina Svitolina and four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, victories which will mark her out as a dangerous outsider for the upcoming U.S. Open.

“It’s an incredible milestone for me,” Eala told reporters.

“At the beginning of the week, there’s no way I’d have thought that I’d be holding this trophy. These things creep up on you, and I hold these moments really close to me.

“It was a very steep hill. Coming into the tournament, I knew that the competition was super strong and my draw was quite tough. Every match was a different set of obstacles. I’m really proud.

“I ended the tournament in better shape than I started. Each match I kept improving and kept learning things about myself. So it definitely gives me a lot of confidence.

“It’s really nice to see all the things I’ve been working on off court or during training being implemented in matches.”

PROGRESS CLOSELY WATCHED

Eala’s progress has been closely watched since her U.S. Open junior triumph in 2022. Reaching the Eastbourne final last year and making the fourth round at Wimbledon last month signalled steady improvement.

As Eala’s reputation grew, so too did her following, with large groups of Filipino fans packing the stands at tournaments around the world to back a player many see as a pioneer for tennis in their country.

Her popularity was evident in the final of the WTA 500 event on Monday, with Eala’s opponent Pegula impressed by the level of support on show.

“It’s amazing that you guys showed up and again, to all the Filipino fans that came out, you are helping grow tennis around the world,” she said.

“I appreciate that being a female athlete and being in tennis, we love to see that grow.”

Eala can expect that support to continue at this week’s Canadian Open in Toronto before she heads to New York for the U.S. Open beginning on August 30.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Hours after bolstering their outfield at the trade deadline, the New York Yankees stayed within the organization to make a change to their infield.

Shortstop Anthony Volpe was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the team’s Monday loss, and New York reportedly will call up its top prospect, 21-year-old George Lombard Jr., according to multiple media outlets.

Lombard is expected to become the Yankees’ regular shortstop. The position had been manned by Jose Caballero, who homered on Monday in the Yankees’ 13-7 loss to the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, and Volpe.

In 56 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, Lombard batted .268 with a .405 on-base percentage, a .440 slugging percentage, six homers, 21 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

Slowed by a shoulder injury at the start of the campaign, Lombard played 78 games overall in the minors this year at three levels, hitting .284/.411/.498 with 12 homers, 33 RBIs and 14 steals.

His father, George Lombard Sr., played for the Atlanta Braves (1998-2000), Detroit Tigers (2002), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003) and Washington Nationals (2006) and is now the Tigers’ bench coach.

Volpe, 25, won a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2023 and was an everyday player for New York for three years before sharing the role with Caballero this year. He hit .240/.325/.322 with one homer and 19 RBIs in 56 games in 2026.

Caballero, 29, is batting .245/.298/.396 with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs in 97 games.

Following the Monday defeat, the Yankees also optioned outfielder Jasson Dominguez and reliever Angel Chivilli to Triple-A.

Dominguez, 23, hit .230/.270/.380 with six homers and 14 RBIs in 53 games for New York in 2026. His departure clears a spot on the active roster for outfielder Heliot Ramos, acquired in a trade with the San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Chivilli, 24, blew a lead in the eighth inning on Monday, serving up three homers, five hits and six runs in one inning. He went 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in 15 games with the Yankees.

–Field Level Media

Brandon Pfaadt won his sixth straight decision, Tim Tawa had three hits including a three-run homer, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 5-1 in Phoenix in a game matching National League wild-card contenders Monday.

Pfaadt (6-1) gave up five hits and one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings, with three strikeouts and one walk. His streak of 18 consecutive scoreless innings ended when the Padres scored on Nolan Arenado’s throwing error in the seventh.

Pfaadt is 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA in seven starts since being recalled from Triple-A Reno on June 30 when injuries opened a spot in the rotation. He has given up seven earned runs in his last 40 2/3 innings.

Tawa homered with one out in the fourth, after Ketel Marte walked to open the inning and Adrian Del Castillo singled with one out off Michael King (6-8).

Geraldo Perdomo had two hits for the Diamondbacks, who have won five of six and remained tied with Philadelphia for the final two NL wild-card spots.

James McCann had an RBI double and Jorge Barrosa hit a sacrifice fly in a two-run eighth.

Luis Campusano had two hits for the Padres, who had won three in a row and eight of nine.

King gave up three runs and five hits in five-plus innings, leaving after walking Arenado to open the sixth. He struck out five and walked four. He had been 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA in five career starts against Arizona, giving up three earned runs in 25 2/3 innings.

The Padres knocked out Pfaadt in the seventh, after Ty France drew a one-out walk and Luis Rengifo hit a two-out single. Campusano hit a grounder between third base and shortstop that Arenado fielded but threw past first for an error. Campusano was given an infield hit.

Juan Morillo struck out Xavier Bogaerts to end the inning and pitched around a single in the eighth before Brandyn Garcia had a 1-2-3 ninth.

Arizona catcher Gabriel Moreno was a late lineup scratch to attend the birth of his second child.

–Field Level Media

NEW YORK (AP) — Alec Burleson was so relieved to stay with the St. Louis Cardinals that he produced one of the best power displays in team history.

After the frenzy of Monday’s trade deadline, Burleson hit a trio of two-run homers off three different pitchers, including a drive into the second deck in right field that capped a seven-run eighth inning as St. Louis outslugged the New York Yankees for a 13-7 victory despite blowing a six-run lead.

“He’s human and there’s a lot of conversations around it, but he was able to kind of stay focused on the things he could control,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “I’d give him credit for prepping the way he did today, knowing that his name was still being thrown around and having the type of night that he did.”

Burleson had the biggest night of his five-year career after the Cardinals traded outfielder Lars Nootbaar to Arizona and pitchers Dustin May and JoJo Romero to Milwaukee. About an hour before the first pitch, Burleson met with Marmol in his office and learned he was staying with the young Cardinals (56-57), who were nine games over .500 on June 16.

“He kind of messed with me a little bit,” Burleson said. “He kind of brought me in like I was being traded and just said, ‘Hey, you’re staying here’ and just shook my hand. He just kind of messed with me a little, and he just told me to be myself.”

Burleson had the first three-homer game by a Cardinals player since catcher Iván Herrera did it April 2, 2025, against the Angels. The 27-year-old became the first Cardinals first baseman with a three-homer game since current Yankees slugger Paul Goldschmidt on May 7, 2023.

On a muggy night when the teams combined for 10 homers and 18 of the 20 runs were scored via longballs, the left-handed-hitting Burleson used the short porch in right field to his advantage.

Three batters into the game, he pulled a 1-2 fastball from hard-throwing Yankees starter Cam Schlittler into right-field seats for a 350-foot drive. In the fourth, Burleson sent an 0-1 sinker 15 feet further into the right-field seats off reliever Tim Hill.

After the Yankees took a 7-6 lead on a two-run homer by newcomer Luis García Jr. in the seventh, the Cardinals scored seven times in the eighth for their second-biggest inning this season. Following a go-ahead, three-run homer by Nathan Church and a two-run drive by fellow rookie Jimmie Crooks, Burleson fouled off three straight pitches before connecting on a 2-2 slider from Angel Chivilli and launching it 418 feet to right for a 13-7 advantage.

Burleson became the 15th player in St. Louis history with a three-homer game. He also became the eighth visiting player to do it at the current Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009. The previous one was Jordan Diaz for the Athletics on May 9, 2023.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz lifted his first trophy since June 2025 when he swept Spanish up-and-comer Rafael Jodar 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the final of the Mubadala DC Open on Monday afternoon in Washington.

The final was rescheduled to Monday due to inclement weather in the region on Sunday. Both players will now have a quick turnaround to travel to Montreal for the ATP Masters 1000 event that began there on Sunday.

Fritz had lost his past four tour-level finals since collecting a pair of titles in June of last year at Stuttgart, Germany, and Eastbourne, England. Fritz won the match on his fifth championship point of the final game, saving one break point along the way.

Fritz won 39 of his 48 first-serve points (81.3%) and had a 6-5 edge in aces over Jodar, the 19-year-old rookie who was seeking his second title of the season.

“It was a really tough final and you are having an amazing season and at 19, on your first season on Tour, what you and your dad are doing is just incredible,” Fritz said to Jodar. “You are so young and are only going to get so much better.”

National Bank Open

Hometown favorite Gabriel Diallo rallied from a set down to upend French qualifier Kyrian Jacquet 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2 in the first round at Montreal.

A wild-card entrant who grew up just minutes from IGA Stadium, the 24-year-old Diallo posted his first main-draw victory in his hometown and the 50th tour-level win of his career.

“From the jump, I thought I played amazing tennis,” said Diallo, who broke Jacquet’s serve three times but was not broken on his own serve.

Diallo will return to action Tuesday against No. 19 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy.

Fellow Canadian Alexis Galarneau did not fare as well, as the wild-card entrant lost his rain-delayed first-round match 6-4, 6-4 to Czechia’s Vit Kopriva.

American Alex Michelsen prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff. A pair of Michelsen’s countrymen, Aleksandar Kovacevic and qualifier Michael Zheng, both lost in straight sets, to Portugal’s Nuno Borges and Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, respectively.

France’s Gael Monfils, Corentin Moutet and Titouan Droguet; Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann and Daniel Altmaier, Colombia’s Nicolas Mejia, Argentina’s Mariano Navone, Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie, Australia’s James Duckworth and Croatia’s Marin Cilic won their first-round matches.

–Field Level Media

After guiding his alma mater to the College Football Playoff’s national championship game last season, Miami coach Mario Cristobal agreed to a long-term contract extension on Monday, multiple media outlets reported.

Cristobal, a 55-year-old Miami native, is entering the fifth year of a 10-year deal slated to run through 2031. A new contract has yet to be announced.

In Cristobal’s fourth year at the helm, Miami won a school-record 13 games and tied a program mark with seven AP Top 25 victories.

In each season under Cristobal, the Hurricanes’ win has total increased, from five in 2022 to seven in 2023, 10 in 2024 and 13 in 2025. He is 35-19 at Miami after spending four seasons as Oregon’s coach.

After falling shy of its sixth national title in a loss to Indiana in January, Miami was voted as the overwhelming favorite to win the ACC championship in the preseason media poll last week.

Miami kicks off the 2026 season with an ACC matchup at Stanford on Sept. 4.

–Field Level Media