Nick Kyrgios previewed the upcoming Cincinnati Open clash between Emma Raducanu and Serena Williams despite admitting he wouldn’t be watching the blockbuster first-round match. The world No 28 rounded off the day session on the main stadium court with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, making way for the popcorn night session clash.

The Wimbledon finalist was asked about the exciting first-round matchup following his victory and admitted it was unlikely he’d be staying up to watch the Grand Slam champions face off, but was full of praise for both women as he gave his verdict on their first – and likely last – meeting.

“I probably won’t to be brutally honest,” he told Greg Rusedski and Marcus Buckland on Prime Video when asked. “Not that I’m not a fan of tennis and those two amazing players.”

The 27-year-old explained why he thought the tennis world would relish the opportunity to watch their match even if he wasn’t as he continued: “Probably got one of the up-and-comers and someone who’s gonna carry the sport a long way, and probably the greatest of all time.

“So it’s definitely a mix of generations there and it’s definitely for tennis fans as hot as it gets.” Kyrgios recently received some support of his own from Raducanu, who tweeted his initials and a magic wand emoji after he reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon last month.

Raducanu faced backlash for her tweet as it came after reports from Canberra emerged stating that Kyrgios had been summoned to court over allegations of assault from his ex-girlfriend. But the British No 1 defended her decision to support him in a recent interview.

“To me, he’s always been very kind and generous,” the 19-year-old told the Evening Standard. “He was supporting me after Wimbledon last year, before the US Open, so the way he’s been with me, yeah, he’s been really nice. People definitely want to watch Nick.”

Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that the ‘truth’ about his Manchester United situation will be heard in a tell-all interview to be conducted ‘in a couple of weeks’. The Red Devils forward is reported to want to leave Old Trafford this summer amid the club’s transfer window woes.

But Ronaldo has hit out at the speculation and accused the media of ‘lies’. The 37-year-old claims to have kept a note of all stories written about him over the last few months, and suggests only five have been correct.

Responding to a fan on Instagram, Ronaldo wrote: “They know the truth when they interview in a couple of weeks. The media is telling lies.

“I have a notebook and in the last few months of the 100 news [stories written], only five were right. Imagine how it is. Stick with that tip.”

It was reported in July that Ronaldo was keen to leave United. A failure to qualify for the Champions League is believed to be key to his decision, but the club’s struggles to strengthen their squad ahead of Erik ten Hag’s first season in charge might have played a part as well.

Ronaldo then returned late to the club’s preparations for the new campaign after holding showdown talks with the Old Trafford hierarchy. It meant that he was not fully fit by the time the club started the Premier League season.

The former Real Madrid star appeared as a substitute during United’s 2-1 defeat by Brighton on the opening weekend of the campaign. He then started the disastrous 4-0 thumping by Brentford and his frustration appeared to boil over after full-time.

Ronaldo stormed off the pitch and appeared to refuse to clap the travelling supporters, unlike the majority of his team-mates.

United have repeatedly insisted that Ronaldo is not for sale and will be part of their squad for the entire 2022-23 season. The Portugal captain has received very few offers from other clubs despite being offered out to the likes of Chelsea, Real Madrid and PSG.

However, reports on Tuesday suggest that the Premier League club’s stance on shifting Ronaldo could soften. Sky Sports have claimed that Ten Hag could decide to sanction a departure if the Dutchman feels that Ronaldo’s exit would be better for the club culture.

United had wanted to keep Ronaldo due to his excellent form last season, in which he was the club’s best player and scored 24 goals across all competitions. Ten Hag has very few alternative options within his squad that can register similar numbers and will almost certainly want a replacement if the star ends up leaving.

Social media star KSI will triple his number of boxing bouts in one evening after announcing he’ll face two opponents on August 27th. In a taunt to Jake Paul, the Englishman has boasted he’ll fight a professional boxer before his rival despite the American having a “three-year head start.”

KSI was already due to face rapper Swarmz after fellow YouTuber Alex Wassabi pulled out of their matchup citing a concussion. But in a groundbreaking twist, he announced on Tuesday that he’ll also take on Bulgarian Ivan Nikolov the same evening.

“Never been done before in YouTube boxing,” said the 29-year-old in a YouTube announcement. “Honestly, I don’t think it has ever been done in normal boxing, especially on pay-per-view.” George Foreman once infamously fought five opponents on the same night in 1975, as an attempted show of intimidation to rival Muhammad Ali, though the derided spectacle was far from pay-per-view standard.

“We asked Bryce Hall, we asked Dax, we asked Vinnie Hacker, we asked Taylor Holder, and they all either couldn’t do it or said ‘no.’ So we decided to fight someone who would beat all of the people I mentioned before.

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“Ladies and gentlemen, I am fighting a pro boxer for my second fight, on the same night. I am fighting Swarmz and a Bulgarian boxer on the same night. Am I insane? Probably. Am I crazy? Probably. Is this ridiculous? Probably. But are you gonna watch it? Probably.”

KSI’s only previous professional boxing match came against the elder of the Paul siblings, Logan, whom he beat over six rounds in November 2019. The Londoner will return to the ring after nearly three years out, dropping more than 30 pounds for the occasion.

“Let me talk about the pro boxer I am facing; his name is Ivan Nikolov, and he can bang,” continued KSI. “This guy is a big boy. I don’t really want to stay on the inside too much with him.

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“I think he’s going to be the most durable fighter I’ve ever faced. He loves to f****g swing, decent head movement. . .he can take bangs. He’s a pro boxer, he knows what he’s doing, he knows how to stay safe. What the f*** am I doing!?”

He later acknowledged Nikolov’s record of 3-16-2 is hardly the most intimidating at the pro level. However, KSI clarified the Bulgarian still has “more [boxing] wins than all of Jake Paul’s opponents combined.”

The event will take place at the O2 Arena on August 27, though the details surrounding the exact order of the main-event matchups remain unclear. KSI will feature in a quarter of the evening’s eight scheduled bouts, with younger brother Deji also set to face another YouTuber, Fousey, on the main card.

The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council have given the green light to regulation changes for the rest of this season and in 2023 in a bid to combat the ‘porpoising’ issue that has plagued the efforts of Mercedes over the course of this year. The Silver Arrows led calls for alterations to be made before the summer break, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell having suffered from the violent bouncing of their cars on long straights since pre-season testing.

Mercedes have now seemingly got their wish, with the FIA approving the changes on Tuesday after several months of discussions behind closed doors. Not everybody is expected to be on board with the new measures, though, and Ferrari have already threatened to protest the ruling in the event of its approval as they believe it would serve to benefit Mercedes.The FIA will measure the levels of porpoising on all cars from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards and will expect teams to operate below a certain threshold in order to be considered safe. Additional restrictions on the stiffness of some parts of the floor will also be introduced, while the floor edges and diffuser throat height will be raised but only in 2023.The changes are expected to mainly aid Mercedes, who have suffered with the issue of porpoising more than other teams. The safety of porpoising has however been called into question by a number of drivers since the start of this year. FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem has since reaffirmed that his main priority needs to be mitigating the health risks faced by those in the cockpit in order to reduce the risk of preventable injuries.

“Safety is absolutely the highest priority for the FIA, and we have devoted significant time and resources to the analysis and resolution of the issue of porpoising,” explained Sulayem.”I have personally discussed this matter with all of the teams and drivers, and while of course there are some differences in opinion owing to varying competitive positions, it is very clear that the FIA has a duty to act and ensure that the drivers are not put at undue risk of injury as a result of this phenomenon.”It remains to be seen whether Ferrari will ultimately decide to protest the changes, which could leave teams with just a few months to alter the ongoing development paths of their 2023 cars. Team principal Mattia Binotto recently suggested that the Italian outfit could take action with regards to the FIA’s new measures when quizzed on the alterations by Motorsport.com.

“I hope there won’t be any changes, I don’t see any real reasons to make changes to the technical regulations for safety reasons, especially if we look at the latest races,” said Binotto.”In addition, if the aerodynamic regulations were to change for 2023 it would be a considerable problem considering the time of year we are in, there would be very little time to change the concept of the new car.”And, I repeat, there are no reasons to introduce changes to the technical regulation by citing safety reasons. So, I think it can’t happen, and if it does, we’ll try to figure out how to stop them.”

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The Glazer family could finally decide to sell Manchester United to a new ownership group at some point within the next two years, according to football agent Jon Smith. The Red Devils have shocked the football world for all the wrong reasons since the start of the new Premier League season, with Erik ten Hag’s side losing at the hands of Brighton before they were subjected to a humiliating four-goal thrashing at Brentford over the weekend.

United’s embarrassing form has intensified the anti-Glazer movement within the club’s fanbase, with a sizeable portion of supporters believing that the current owners are responsible for racking up huge debts, making poor appointments and failing to invest to an acceptable level both on and off the pitch. Smith has insisted that there could soon be major changes at the very top of the pecking order at Old Trafford, though, by claiming that no shortage of potential investors are lining up to pounce on any future opportunities to buy United.

“Manchester United, I believe, will be sold within the next 24 months, there are people circling,” Smith told talkSPORT.

“The fact of the matter is that there are six siblings who are currently in the ownership. That’s a big number to get everyone to walk out in a straight line together, so it may or may not [happen].

“I just get the feeling from the people over there that they get a sentiment that it may be an option. Here’s another addendum to that. Who knows what the Chelsea takeover cost, £2billion a change?

“A lot of the £3bn to £4bn was loan paybacks and various other things that were bolted on, but it was probably £2.5bn, heading towards £3bn, which kind of rerates Arsenal and Liverpool and the others.

“On a global income basis, nothing touches Manchester United, they’re in a league of their own.”

The Glazer family took control of United back in 2005 and have failed to gain many admirers from within the Red Devils support base during their 17-year period at the helm. They came under particularly heavy fire in the wake of last year’s European Super League fiasco, with a large-scale fan protest against them causing United’s match against Liverpool to be rearranged.

Further protests have reportedly been planned in advance of United’s next meeting with their Merseyside rivals at Old Trafford on Monday, with a number of fans set to stage a mass boycott of the event. It remains to be seen whether the Glazers will eventually decide to sell up over the coming months and years, with the external pressure on their shoulders only continuing to grow as time progresses.

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A Ukrainian former pro has responded after it emerged that a fan was forced to leave a qualifying match at the Cincinnati Open when a Russian player complained about her Ukraine flag. Alexandr Dolgopolov issued a fiery statement calling on more tennis fans to bring the flag to Russian and Belarusian players’ matches as he spoke about his country “drowning in blood”.

A security official on Court 8 for the all-Russian clash between Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Potapova became “aggressive” with Lola – the spectator in question – while WTA umpire Morgane Lara said it was “not nice” to have the flag in the stands. The former world No 13 has now hit out at the tours and urged more fans to bring Ukrainian flags to matches.

“To all the people who admired my tennis and planning to visit the US tournaments, I ask to bring a Ukraine flag to all russian or bellorusian matches they watch,” Dolgopolov – who became a military volunteer when the war in Ukraine began – tweeted.

“And I dare the @atptour @WTA to try this step again. Repost please”. The three-time title winner also shared an emotional message about the invasion of his home country as he continued: “Our country is drowning in blood and barbaric violence, no russian will bully a silent supporter wearing a Ukraine flag! Have some respect.”

The tournament failed to respond to the initial issue in question – that a Russian player was unhappy with the presence of Lola’s flag – and it was noted that fans had brought American and Serbian flags over the size limit in the past.

Dolgopolov claimed the tournament was giving a “fairy tale” excuse as he added: “P.s- keep the flags in the policy requirement, so they have no “fairy tale” reason to ask you to leave”. It’s not the first time the former pro has spoken out on tennis’ response to the war in Ukraine.

After Wimbledon banned all Russian and Belarusian players from competing at the tournament this year and had their ranking points removed by the ATP and WTA as a sanction, he blasted the men’s tour and said: “Everyone has to feel [the sacrifice] because everyone in Ukraine is feeling it.

“Our people, our children, are dying and you cannot just close your eyes and be silent and pretend nothing is happening. Everyone has to try and play their role to help and the ATP should have a stronger stance like many others sports. The magnitude of what is happening here is not [reflected] by their actions. Their actions are weaker.”