Emma Raducanu rapidly dispatches Janice Tjen in show of US Open force

On her return to Flushing Meadows this year, significant tension and nerves followed Emma Raducanu as she attempted to finally secure her first win since her triumph here four years ago. Two matches in, she has shown that she has never been more ready for the challenges to come.Raducanu continued to demonstrate the fruits of her recent labour by putting together another devastating performance, demolishing the qualifier Janice Tjen 6-2, 6-1 to return to the third round of the US Open.The challenge for Raducanu on Wednesday was figuring out a talented but unheralded opponent whom few players in the tournament have had the opportunity to watch, let alone face in a match.Once again, the British No 1 showed that she is playing her best tennis since winning the title here in 2021 here and that confidence is growing with every victory

‘Really tough decision’: US captain Keegan Bradley does not pick himself for Ryder Cup

Keegan Bradley hopes a selfless act can turn into US points after the Ryder Cup captain resisted strong temptation to combine his role with ­playing duties at Bethpage in September. His confirmation ended the prospect of a first Ryder Cup playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.The US turned to Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, ­Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Young and Sam Burns to back up the six automatic qualifiers in an eagerly awaited announcement made by Bradley on Wednesday.Bradley had finished ahead of Burns, Cantlay and Young on the US points table. The 39-year-old is the No 11‑ranked golfer in the world and eighth among Americans, but ultimately he decided it would be either unreasonable or unnecessary to ­perform two jobs at once

F1 race to the title: Norris and Piastri go toe-to-toe as Hamilton and Verstappen seek uplift

Returning from the summer break and with 10 races to go, there are plenty of targets remaining across the paddock besides McLaren’s shootoutRevitalised after the summer break, 10 races remain between this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix and the finale in Abu Dhabi in December – and it will be Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris going head to head for the title.Only nine points separate the McLaren duo, who are in a two-horse race for the team’s first drivers’ championship since Lewis Hamilton’s triumph in 2008. The advantage has swung between them, at times from one race to the next, in the first part of the season, often with little to choose between the two. Neither driver has been able to definitively claim the upper hand entering the championship run-in. It looks set to remain a nip-and-tuck fight to the wire

Hundred to drop draft in favour of IPL-style auction as new owners’ influence grows

The Hundred will adopt a new system of player recruitment next season, with the draft to be dropped in favour of an IPL-style open auction that gives franchises the chance to make direct signings on multiyear deals.The Guardian has learned that after discussions between the new ownership groups, the new investors have agreed to adopt a hybrid model similar to that used in the Indian Premier League, where franchises are permitted to offer contracts of up to three years that are negotiated directly with the incoming player.The recruitment system will be one of the main items on the agenda when the new Hundred board meets for the first time on Monday, with formal signoff of the updated regulations expected in October and the first auction planned for next February.The England and Wales Cricket Board introduced the draft before the Hundred’s planned launch in 2020, which was delayed by 12 months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with each franchise permitted to sign two players each from seven fixed salary bands, ranging from £30,000 to £125,000 for the men’s competition.While the top men’s salary has increased to £200,000 and other minor changes have been made, – such as introducing 10 retained player slots and allowing each franchise to make one direct overseas signing for the first time this summer – the draft has remained largely unchanged

The Spin | ‘I’ll bat anywhere for England’: in-form Jordan Cox confident of making the step up

Jordan Cox’s timing has been off. Not with the bat – it’s pinged off the middle for some time. The 24-year-old has averaged more than 60 in the County Championship since joining Essex from Kent two years ago, and he has serious white-ball pedigree. He meets the Spin at the Oval four days after his unbeaten 29-ball 86 in the Hundred on this ground. “It’s the best place in the world to play cricket,” he says

A Mets-Yankees-Red Sox super division sounds crazy. Until you think about it ...

It’s been more than a week since MLB commissioner Rob Manfred dropped his latest bomb. Manfred, as we’ve learned, enjoys throwing ideas out into the universe to get his sport some easy pop while seeing how the masses will react. Just a few months back, he scrambled the brains of baseball fans with his idea of a “golden at bat”, which would allow a chosen player to come to the plate, once a game, when it wasn’t their turn to hit. Oh, he got his publicity alright: many of us took the bait. Was it a genuine, bona fide idea? Probably not