General Sports 24 Hours

Last updated: August 31, 2026, 12:26 AM ET

US Open Tennis

The 2026 US Open is underway in New York, with expert picks highlighting Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Ben Shelton and others as title contenders. Third-ranked Pegula shook off nerves to beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse in straight sets in her opener. Meanwhile, Alex Eala — drawing comparisons to Manny Pacquiao and Maria Sharapova — carries significant hype into her campaign. British qualifier Toby Samuel earned his first Grand Slam win with a dominant victory over Tomas Machac, while a "nervous" Cameron Norrie exited early. In a full-field ranking of contenders, analysts break down everyone from the favorites to the underdogs. Aryna Sabalenka could lose the No. 1 ranking depending on her results, while Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz loom large.

In a ceremony that brought the crowd to its feet, a tearful Roger Federer was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, calling it "one of the greatest honours" of his life. The Swiss legend was moved to tears multiple times during his induction speech on Saturday. Elsewhere, Britain's Arthur Fery was beaten in his first ATP Tour final, falling to Ignacio Buse in straight sets at the Winston-Salem Open.

College Football

College football made its annual restart in Ireland, where Bill Belichick's North Carolina upset TCU in the Dublin College Football Classic, with local color mixing with Carolina blue and TCU purple. North Dakota State, the former FCS powerhouse with 10 national titles, won its first-ever FBS game 33-7 over Jacksonville State behind Nathan Hayes's two touchdown passes. In a tragic development, William Jewell College junior running back Micah Jo Barnett died after experiencing a medical emergency on the sideline during the Division II school's season opener.

Indiana broke a 30-year gap between first-time champions last season, and 20 teams are now positioned to join that club. There's renewed optimism for Cal football under head coach Justin Wilcox, with university buy-in fueling belief the program can be taken seriously. In a historical oddity, Missouri's rogue 1896 trip to Mexico — added to the schedule at the last minute — got the program in trouble with authorities, a little-known story from college football's past.

NFL

The Dallas Cowboys are waiving running back Jaydon Blue, opting to go with Malik Davis as the backup to starter Rico Dowdle. In New Orleans, kicker Charlie Smyth was waived by the Saints after losing a kicking competition with Dan Carlson. Former TCU safety Jacob Fields is facing an assault charge stemming from his alleged punching of a teammate that led to his dismissal from the squad.

Baseball & Golf

Curaçao won its second Little League World Series title, routing Nevada 11-2 in the championship game Sunday. In fantasy baseball, our Week 22 forecaster offers pitcher rankings, hitter ratings and schedule observations for the first week of playoff matchups.

On the golf course, Justin Rose aced the par-3 ninth at East Lake Golf Club from 208 yards during the final round of the Tour Championship. Joe Dean, a former supermarket delivery driver, stormed to the British Masters title with a nine-under-par final round of 63 at The Belfry, coming from seven shots back to win his first DP World Tour event.

Cricket

England powered to a series win over Pakistan, winning by 194 runs on the fourth day of the second Test at Lord's. Ollie Robinson produced his best Test performance in 12 months, while Joe Root continued to struggle with LBW dismissals. Root remains calm about his form, saying he has "14,000 runs for a reason." Pakistan will have an audience with King Charles this week, days after a threat to cancel their tour of England was made following an interview with the sons of Imran Khan. In Division Two, Durham beat Gloucestershire by 10 wickets, needing just six balls to complete the win. And in a bizarre incident, a team in Northern Ireland was forced to concede a match because of a broken printer.

Cycling & Rowing

Spain's Enric Mas outsprinted Britain's Oscar Onley to win stage nine of the Vuelta a España, asserting his claim to the red jersey with a commanding performance. In mountain biking, Tom Pidcock won his second cross-country world title at the World Championships in Italy, dedicating the triumph to Fin Tarling. Ireland closed out the World Rowing Championships with two silver medals on the final day at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam.

Boxing & Rugby

British heavyweight Moses Itauma was handed a harsh world-title lesson in his defeat to Filip Hrgovic for the IBF heavyweight title, but Shakur Stevenson and Tony Bellew still believe the 21-year-old has what it takes to become a world champion. In rugby, rising star Stella Orrin reflected on her emotional Wales debut, targeting a first cap in the autumn internationals. Wales faces injury concerns ahead of the Nations League, with Joe Rodon limping off during Leeds United's draw with Brentford and Dylan Lawlor unlikely to be available for matches in Portugal and Denmark.