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Clinical Pegula dumps defending champion Keys out of Australian Open

A clinical Jessica Pegula dumped defending champion and good friend Madison Keys out of the Australian Open on Monday to surge into the quarter-finals.

The sixth seed dominated the all-American showdown 6-3, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena to set up a clash with either United States fourth seed Amanda Anisimova or China’s Wang Xinyu.

Pegula, who is chasing an elusive Grand Slam title after reaching the US Open final in 2024, made three consecutive Melbourne quarters between 2021-2023.

But the 31-year-old has never gone further.

Beating Keys was bittersweet with the pair close off court, sharing a podcast, “The Player’s Box”, together with fellow Americans Desirae Krawczyk and Jennifer Brady.

But it was well-deserved with Keys, who stunned heavy favourite Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s final for her maiden Slam title, tense and out-of-sorts.

She made 27 unforced errors to Pegula’s 17, and fired down six double faults.

“I’ve been playing really well, seeing the ball, hitting the ball really well this whole tournament,” said Pegula, who has dropped just 17 games in her four matches so far.

“And I wanted to kind of stay true to that, and then just lean on a couple things that I felt like she would do, and I felt like I came out kind of doing it pretty well.

“I really had to focus on where I was serving, and be smart and kind of take some risk on some second serves, change up the pace as much as I could,” she added.

Pegula opened with a serve to love then worked two break points as she dictated the early rallies, earning a 2-0 lead when Keys blasted a forehand into the net.

She consolidated by holding to take a firm grip on the set with Keys winning just three points in three games.

Keys finally woke up to hold serve, but was mixing some classic shots with horrible errors, including a serve that almost hit the baseline and a badly shanked volley.

A clean-hitting game earned Keys a break back and some hope, but the serving wobbles returned and Pegula broke once more then served out for the set.

Both players were distracted by an air show in the skies over Melbourne Park to mark Australia Day, and three double faults on Keys’ opening serve gifted Pegula the advantage again in set two.

Despite mustering some late fight there was no way back for the deflated defending champion as Pegula emphatically sent her packing.

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‘Winning is the best way’ as captain Sabina leads unbeaten Bangladesh in futsal triumph

Futsal success has offered Sabina Khatun both a new stage and a timely reminder of her enduring value to Bangladesh football.

The 32-year-old captain led Bangladesh to the title in the inaugural SAFF Women’s Futsal Championship 2026, finishing as the tournament’s only unbeaten team with five wins and a draw in the seven-team competition held in Bangkok, Thailand.

The triumph added another chapter to Sabina’s leadership legacy, following back-to-back SAFF Women’s Championship titles in 2022 and 2024 under her captaincy.

“Winning always brings happiness and it is the best way to earn laurels for the nation, especially after battling hard against opponents,” Sabina said in a voice message to The Daily Star from Thailand on Sunday.

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Bangladesh’s dominance in the new format was shaped decisively by their captain. Sabina not only adapted seamlessly to futsal but also led from the front, finishing as the competition’s top scorer with 14 goals — seven more than the joint second-highest scorers, her teammate Krishna Rani Sarkar and India’s Khusbu Saroj, underlining how her level was a cut above the rest.

“My role has always been to score goals, whether in football or futsal,” she said.

“It feels good to score in both versions, but scoring is never easy. It takes skill and constant effort.”

Sabina joined the futsal squad with limited preparation time and yet believed the team could still make an impact if experience was used wisely.

“If my inclusion helps the team, then there was no reason not to join,” said the Satkhira native. “We didn’t have much time to prepare, but I felt that bringing in a few experienced players and giving them one or two months of training could produce something positive.”

Despite her success in futsal, Sabina remains unwilling to revisit the controversy surrounding her apparent exclusion from the national women’s football team following a rift with English coach Peter Butler.

“There are many questions about the coach, but I don’t want to comment,” she said.

“It’s an old issue and I don’t want to raise it again, especially when the women’s team has an important tournament coming up in March. Everyone should wish them the best.”

She also called on continued public support for the women’s game. “The people of the country have always stood by women’s football, and I hope they will continue to do so in the coming days.”

Sabina, however, is prepared to accept scrutiny that comes with her profile.

“Criticism is part of being a professional. Players are praised during good times and criticised during bad times. Accepting both should be a professional’s character.”

On and off the court, Sabina believes her responsibility remains unchanged.

“I try to be the same person everywhere — friendly with others and always trying to inspire the team.”

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Carrick says Man Utd must ride wave of confidence

Manchester United’s stand-in manager Michael Carrick continued his dream start to his second stint in the position with victory at Arsenal on Sunday and said his team must ride the wave of confidence that has swept away the Old Trafford gloom.

Former midfielder Carrick answered United’s call in the wake of Ruben Amorim’s sacking this month and his two games in charge have seen a 2-0 win against Manchester City and a thrilling 3-2 victory at Premier League leaders Arsenal.

“We’ve got to ride it and use the emotion, you have got to use the energy and use the confidence,” Carrick, whose team moved up to fourth in the table, said.

“You’ve got to be humble enough to understand how we could just achieve these two big results. It doesn’t just come easy, so we need to continue that and bottle it and use it again.”

United had to dig deep on Sunday as Arsenal bossed the opening half-hour and led through a Lisandro Martinez own goal. But Bryan Mbeumo was gifted an equaliser and stunning goals by Patrick Dorgu and Matheus Cunha in the second half sealed a first United league win at Arsenal since 2017.

“The goals were fantastic goals and some of the football was good, and we looked dangerous at certain times,” Carrick, who won multiple league titles in United’s midfield, said.

“Other times we had to defend, but it was just a performance with a bit of everything, really.”

Carrick was also unbeaten in his three-game stint as caretaker manager in 2021, including a 3-2 win against Arsenal before handing over the reins to Ralf Rangnick.

With Carrick placed in charge until the end of the season this time, he has the chance to stake his claim for the role on a permanent basis and his stock has risen rapidly.

“What happens next I’m not going to be answering it every week. I’m enjoying it and I’ll continue to do what I can,” the 44-year-old said when asked about his ambition.

“I know from our perspective it’s just about moving forward to the next game. It’s been less than two weeks that we’ve been together, so it’s just keep getting good habits and good routines. The boys have been fantastic with that.

“But I don’t think we can look too far ahead. We’ll finish where we finish by getting the results.”

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Milan held by Roma to leave Inter five clear at Serie A summit

AC Milan’s title hopes suffered a blow as they were held to a 1-1 draw by AS Roma in a rain-soaked clash in the capital on Sunday that left Inter Milan five points clear at the top of the Serie A standings.

Second-placed Milan moved to 47 points, while Roma climbed to third on 43, level with Napoli, who suffered a 3-0 defeat earlier on Sunday.

Inter had cranked up the pressure in the title race with a 6-2 comeback win against Pisa on Friday.

Roma had several chances to grab the opening goal in the first half, but Milan keeper Mike Maignan was in inspired form, producing a reflex save on the line to deny the hosts just before the break, with his performance earning him the Man-of-the-Match award.

After a difficult first half, Milan made the breakthrough in the 62nd minute when Koni De Winter rose to glance home a header from a cross, sparking wild celebrations on the visitors’ bench.

However, the home crowd were roaring 12 minutes later when Davide Bartesaghi was penalised for handball and the referee pointed to the spot, with Lorenzo Pellegrini making no mistake to level for Roma.

Neither side could break the deadlock in the closing stages, with Roma dominating possession and Milan waiting for an opening on the counter.

The visitors had a late scare when the ball struck Christian Pulisic’s arm. The incident, however, was waved away by the referee as his arm was tucked against his body, and the sides shared the spoils.