CNN – Sports

By Issy Ronald, CNN Last year’s champion, Rafael Nadal will open the men’s draw at the Australian Open, though he will play a deceptively difficult opponent in the first round in Britain’s Jack Draper. In the women’s singles, the USA’s Coco Gauff will step out into the Rod Laver Arena first, playing the first match

By Issy Ronald, CNN Francis Ngannou will be released from his contract and is no longer the UFC heavyweight champion after he turned down a contract that would have made him the highest-paid heavyweight fighter in UFC history, UFC President Dana White said in a press conference on Saturday. “We offered Ngannou a deal that

By Wayne Sterling, Homero De la Fuente and Kevin Dotson, CNN Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin tweeted Sunday that he will be watching from home as the Bills open their playoff campaign against the Miami Dolphins in Orchard Park, New York. “My heart is with my guys as they compete today!” Hamlin tweeted. “Supporting from

By Issy Ronald, CNN For years, Manchester United ruled over English football, collecting 13 Premier League trophies between 1992 and 2013, as well as the world’s best players and legions of fans. But since the retirement of legendary manager Alex Ferguson in 2013, United fans have watched their kingdom crumble, as another was being built

By Hannah Brewitt, CNN The NFL Playoffs have finally arrived. On Saturday night, the San Francisco 49ers and Jaguars punched their tickets to the divisional round. By Monday evening, four more teams will join them and be one step closer to the NFL’s biggest stage. Here’s what to expect on Sunday and Monday: Miami Dolphins

By Matias Grez, CNN The first grand slam of the new tennis season gets underway on January 16 in Melbourne and the 2023 Australian Open is set to provide no end of intriguing storylines. Chief among them is the return of Novak Djokovic one year from his deportation debacle, as the Serb looks to match

By Jacob Lev and Travis Caldwell, CNN After an improbable streak of five victories at the end of the regular season to send the Jacksonville Jaguars to a division title and a berth in the NFL postseason, what could have been next in store as they faced the Los Angeles Chargers in the opening Wild

By Aimee Lewis and Wayne Sterling, CNN The board of directors for English Premier League club Everton were told to not attend Saturday’s home league game against Southampton because of a “real and credible threat to their safety and security,” the club said in a statement. Everton said the directors had “reluctantly accepted” the advice

By Hannah Brewitt, CNN The NFL Playoffs have finally arrived. The highly-anticipated Wild Card Weekend kicks off with two games on Saturday. By the end of the weekend, three teams will be eliminated and three teams will be one step closer to the NFL’s biggest stage. Here’s what to expect on Saturday: Seattle Seahawks at

By Ben Church, CNN From Netflix shows such as “The Queen’s Gambit” to its rock and roll superstar Magnus Carlsen, the popularity of chess has never been stronger. As the game embraces the digital world, chess has only continued to grow and is now eagerly consumed by all generations. Online platform Chess.com says it now

By Andy Scholes, CNN The NFL playoffs are where legends are born and incredible moments happen leaving us in awe. From the Music City Miracle, to Kurt Warner, to David Tyree, to the Philly Special, the NFL always seems to deliver the drama in the postseason. And I can’t wait. One month from now, here

By Matias Grez, CNN Described by her new team Angel City as a “generational player,” teenage sensation Alyssa Thompson made history on Thursday by becoming the first high school student to be drafted in National Women’s Soccer League history. Being drafted No. 1 overall is another big step in what has been an already impressive

By Homero De la Fuente, CNN The San Antonio Spurs set the NBA single-game attendance record for a regular-season game with 68,323 fans on hand on Friday against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Playing at the Alamodome for the first time since May 12, 2002, Spurs Hall of Famer David Robinson announced the newly-set

By Matt Foster, CNN The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) found figure skater Kamila Valieva violated anti-doping rules but bore no “fault or negligence” for the transgression, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The ruling in effect clears Valieva of wrongdoing and administers no punishment beyond the disqualification of her results from December 25, 2021

By Matt Foster, CNN A small group of demonstrators gathered outside the NCAA Convention in San Antonio on Thursday to protest the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s college sports. The protest was attended by former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who competed against University of Pennsylvania transgender athlete Lia Thomas in last year’s

By Ben Morse, CNN Shaquille O’Neal is many things, but you cannot say he goes back on his promises. Before Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship game, O’Neal bet fellow “Inside the NBA” panelist Ernie Johnson that Johnson’s alma mater, the Georgia Bulldogs, would not beat the Texas Christian University’s Horned Frogs (TCU). The stakes?

By Alasdair Howorth, CNN NFL quarterback Derek Carr announced his departure from the Las Vegas Raiders after nine years with the franchise in an emotional letter to the team’s fans. “It breaks my heart I didn’t get an opportunity to say goodbye in person,” Carr wrote. “We certainly have been on a roller coaster in

By Ben Morse, CNN Teenage sensation and high school student Alyssa Thompson was selected with the No. 1 overall pick of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Draft on Thursday. Thompson was picked by Angel City FC, who later described the 18-year-old as a “phenom and generational player.” “She’s a player who can make an