TENNIS

Rybakina wins WTA Finals

Elena Rybakina won the WTA Finals after producing a nearly flawless performance to beat No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (0) on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The sixth-ranked Rybakina struck eight aces and converted the sole break of the match on the indoor hardcourt in Riyadh. “It’s been an incredible week. I honestly didn’t expect any result and to go so far is just incredible,” Rybakina said about a title run that included wins over No. 2-seeded Iga Swiatek, Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula. It was a second loss in the final of the season-ending tournament for Sabalenka after the four-time Grand Slam winner lost to Caroline Garcia in the 2022 title match. Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, was playing her first title match in her third consecutive WTA Finals appearance. She collected $5.23 million after going 5-0 at the event featuring the top eight women. The WTA said that was the largest payout in the history of women’s sports. Sabalenka earned $2.7 million as runner-up. Rybakina broke for a 4-2 lead in the first set, and Sabalenka then saved four break points in the second to force the tiebreaker. The Belarusian entered the match with a 22–2 record in tiebreakers this year, but was shut out in this one – hitting a backhand return long on match point. Rybakina recorded her tour-best 45th hardcourt win of the season. The 26-year-old Kazakhstani became the 10th straight first-time winner of the WTA Finals. She will finish the year at a career-high No. 5 in the rankings after a 58-19 record that included three titles. Sabalenka will finish ranked No. 1 for a second straight season. This year, she won four titles, including the U.S. Open, and had 63 match wins. She also reached the finals of the French Open and Australian Open.

Djokovic to skip ATP Finals

Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the ATP Finals for the second year in a row, shortly after beating Lorenzo Musetti in a near three-hour final to win the Hellenic Championship on Saturday in Athens. Djokovic said a shoulder injury would prevent him from playing in the season-ending event for the top eight men’s players that starts Sunday in Turin, Italy. The decision means Musetti will take his place, even though his loss to Djokovic initially handed the final qualifying spot to Felix Auger-Aliassime. Djokovic has won the ATP Finals seven times but the 24-time Grand Slam champion also missed the tournament last year because of an injury. On Saturday, the Serb rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Musetti to clinch his 101st career title.

MOTOR SPORTS

Norris increases points lead

It’s shaping up to be a big weekend for Formula 1 leader Lando Norris and a frustrating one for four-time champion Max Verstappen. The McLaren driver widened the gap to teammate Oscar Piastri to nine points by winning the sprint race of the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday in Sao Paulo and followed it up by also taking pole position for Sunday’s grid. Verstappen all but gave up hope of earning a fifth straight F1 title after only finishing 16th in qualifying. With three races left after this weekend, he is 39 points behind going into Sunday after coming fourth in the sprint race. “I can forget about that,” Verstappen said when asked about his title chances. Norris beat Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in qualifying by 0.174 seconds at the partially wet Interlagos track. Piastri will start from fourth position. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start from third position, with teammate Lewis Hamilton only managing 13th. Rain had been forecast for Sunday as well, but with those predictions now changing some drivers opted to use soft tires that they will now have to keep for the race. A year ago, the qualifying was moved to Sunday due to torrential downpours. Norris finished ahead of Antonelli and Mercedes’ George Russell in a sprint race that was marked by crashes, including a hard hit of Sauber’s home-crowd favorite Gabriel Bortoleto on the final lap. Antonelli finished only 0.845 second behind Norris after the McLaren driver lost some of his lead due to soft tires.

GOLF

Rai leads in Abu Dhabi

Aaron Rai will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship as he seeks a first title on the European tour in five years. On a low-scoring day at Yas Links, Rai shot 6-under 66 in the third round Saturday to move to 20-under par for the week in the next-to-last event of the 2025 season. Nicolai Hojgaard (65) and Tommy Fleetwood (67), the winner in 2017 and 2018 when the event was held at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, were tied for second place and Nacho Elvira (65) was a shot further back. No. 2-ranked Rory McIlroy, the leader of the season-long Race to Dubai standings, surged toward contention with six birdies in his first 11 holes but his round stalled down the stretch as the wind picked up and he posted a 66 for 14 under, six strokes off the lead. Rai’s second and most recent win on the European tour came in 2020 at the Scottish Open. The 30th-ranked Englishman won the Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour in August last year. “This is one of the biggest events we have on the DP World Tour,” Rai said. “To win this week, to have a chance going into the weekend, is great. Still a long way to go and a lot of really good players.” He birdied five holes on his front nine and picked up more shots on Nos. 11 and 14 before three-putting for bogey at the 17th and parring the par-5 18th. Likely Rai’s biggest threat is Fleetwood, whose late-season run has included winning the Tour Championship for his first PGA Tour title – and picking up $10 million as the FedEx Cup champion – as well as the India Championship and starring for Europe in its Ryder Cup triumph at Bethpage Black.

BASKETBALL

Ex-NBA, WNBA coach dies

Richie Adubato, a former coach of the Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, New York Liberty and Washington Mystics, has died, his family said. He was 87. Adubato died Thursday, his family posted on social media on Friday. “Let’s remember him as the funny, smart, energetic, genuinely warm human being he always was,” Adubato’s daughter, Beth, wrote on social media. Adubato took the New York Liberty to the WNBA Finals three times in his six years coaching the team from 1999-2004. He still holds the franchise record for games coached with 178 and is second for career wins in New York behind Sandy Brondello. He had 100 victories in New York while coaching future Hall of Fame players Teresa Weatherspoon and Becky Hammon. Adubato was the interim head coach of the Magic in 1997 after serving as an assistant for a few years. He was also was the team’s radio analyst from 2005-20. He was also an interim head coach in Detroit during the 1979-80 season and later was the head coach in Dallas from 1989-93. Before coaching in the NBA, Adubato spent 18 years coaching high school and college basketball in New Jersey.

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