AsiaLogue - Women's Sports

Oct 13, 2026

US Open champ Zverev set to claim world No. 1

SHANGHAI, China — Men’s tennis confirmed it will crown a new world No. 1 as Germany’s Alexander Zverev was ensured the year-end honor on Monday after Carlos Alcaraz lost his third-round match in Shanghai. The career-first will cap a stellar season for the 29-year-old, the current world No. 2, after he won the French Open in June and the US Open in September. The French Open was his first-ever Grand Slam title. “It’s been a fantastic season for me winning in Paris and New York and knowing that I will finish the year on top of the rankings is just a dream come true,” Zverev said in a statement shared by the ATP Tour website. “So much work and effort have been put into achieving this goal, especially after coming back from the ankle injury,” Zverev added. He suffered a career-threatening ankle injury in his French Open semifinal in 2022. Zverev will be the first German male player to finish his season as top-ranked in the world, and the oldest to lift the trophy, set to be presented in November, for the first time. Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Steffi Graf have both been the year-end No. 1 women’s tennis player. Zverev’s achievement comes in a year where the previous two players to hold the top ranking, Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Alcaraz, have skipped months of competition due to injury. Sinner, the current No. 1, has not competed since Wimbledon where he beat Zverev in the final. He announced last week his season was over due to a knee injury. Alcaraz, ranked third, was sidelined for months with a wrist injury from April until the US Open. Zverev, 6-foot-6 (1.98 m), had been destined for the top from a young age, hailing from a tennis family where his mother and father both played the sport to a high level in the former Soviet Union. But he plays in the shadow of domestic violence allegations made by two former partners, which he has strenuously denied. The ATP Tour investigated one claim and found insufficient evidence to punish Zverev. Another led to a 2023 penalty order and fine from a German court which later dropped the case after a settlement was agreed in June of 2024 — hours before he was due to play in the French Open semifinals.

Oct 13, 2026

Spoelstra excited by new-look Heat’s potential

MIAMI — Klay Thompson didn’t sleep particularly well before his first training camp practice with the Miami Heat. It wasn’t nerves, wasn’t a bad hotel room, wasn’t anything like that. The problem was Erik Spoelstra. And it was a good problem to have. The Miami coach — entering his 19th season with the Heat, by far the longest current tenure of any coach in the NBA — always addresses his team on the night before the start of camp. And what Spoelstra said in this season’s kickoff speech had Thompson so fired up that getting rest proved difficult, if not impossible. “He cares,” Thompson said. “And it’s good to be around a head coach who doesn’t mind to kind of get into you. He respects your work, but he also wants to get the most out of you. And he doesn’t believe in ‘you’re past your prime’ or ‘your best years are behind you.’ He believes that you can still be effective at any stage you want — as long as you’re willing to work.” That part, the commitment to the work, never changes. But a run to the NBA Finals in 2023 was followed up by first-round exits in 2024 and 2025. And last season, when Miami wildly changed its offense but didn’t have anywhere near enough chemistry, the playoffs were missed entirely. So, change did happen. Norman Powell, Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kel’el Ware — four of last season’s top seven overall scorers for Miami — are gone, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bobby Portis and Thompson in their place. And based on early returns, it’s easy to see why Spoelstra is firing people up when he talks about this season. “We all know what we’re here for,” Spoelstra said. “Everybody understands what they’re signing up for. There’s not any confusion about the agenda. There’s more an excitement about trying to commit to doing something collectively that’s really hard to do and hopefully ends in something so special at the end of the year. “You want to have that feeling as a coaching staff and as a front office, you also want the players to have the same type of feeling,” he added. “And it’s early right now, but it just feels like those things are aligned.”

Oct 13, 2026

Brewers down Dodgers to extend playoff lead

LOS ANGELES — William Contreras homered and drove in three runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-4, to take a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series on Monday (Tuesday in Manila). The Brewers’ victory, powered by a Milwaukee bullpen that did not give up a single hit over five innings, left the back-to-back defending champion Dodgers with a mountain to climb to reach a third straight World Series. Hopes were high among Dodgers fans that starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Most Valuable Player of last year’s World Series, would get their team back on track in the best-of-seven series. But Yamamoto, who pitched complete games in last year’s NLCS showdown with the Brewers and in the World Series, did not even complete three innings. He was hooked after throwing 75 pitches to Milwaukee’s obdurate offense, giving up three runs on four hits. The Dodgers’ star batter Shohei Ohtani continued to misfire — now 3-for-20 in the playoffs, with no home run since August — but was not alone struggling against a near-perfect Milwaukee bullpen showing. “Our mentality is to stay focused. It doesn’t matter what the game state is, if we’re ahead, if we’re behind, we’re gonna stay on the aggression and stay focused,” said Contreras. “I think we’ve been able to do a really good job of that as a team.” The Brewers, who led Major League Baseball with 103 regular-season wins, need two more wins to reach their second-ever World Series, 44 years after their previous appearance. A rollercoaster game began with Teoscar Hernandez’s sacrifice fly scoring Mookie Betts, but the Brewers replied in their first inning with a Contreras RBI single. The Dodgers capitalized on a throwing error by pitcher Logan Henderson, who tried to pick off Betts at first base. His spiked throw allowed Tommy Edman to cross home plate. An epic Brewers third inning put Milwaukee back in front. Captain Christian Yelich’s bases-loaded single scored David Hamilton and Brice Turang. By that time Yamamoto had thrown 36 pitches in the inning, and 12 solely in Jake Bauers’ tenacious, seven-minute at-bat. He was promptly withdrawn. The Dodgers retook the lead in the fifth, thanks to another Henderson throwing error on a Tommy Edman bunt. Kyle Tucker, who had hit a lead-off double, raced home, and this time Henderson was withdrawn.

Oct 13, 2026

PVL: Mylene Paat not leaving anything behind in 10th season

MANILA, Philippines — Mylene Paat-Rezanova is treating every game of her 10th season in the Premier Volleyball League as if it’s her last. Paat-Rezanova entered the new season showing flashes of her old lethal form with a different mindset. The former league MVP made the most of her opportunity off the bench, leading Farm Fresh

Oct 13, 2026

PVL: Nxled blanks PLDT to kick off All-Filipino Conference bid

Nxled leaned on a collective effort to sweep PLDT, 25-16, 25-20, 25-18, and open its 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference Siklab Series campaign on a winning note Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Oct 13, 2026

PBA: Meralco spared from major breakdown after holding off Blackwater

Meralco let its advantage slip away but still managed to find ways to fend off Blackwater's fightback for a 120-115 victory in the PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup on Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Oct 13, 2026

Michael Jordan jersey sets $14 million record for basketball memorabilia

MIAMI — A game-worn, autographed Michael Jordan road jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals has been privately sold for $14 million, an auction house announced Monday, calling it the highest price ever paid for a piece of basketball memorabilia. Pennsylvania-based Hunt Auctions announced the private treaty sale and identified the buyer as Miami real estate

Oct 13, 2026

Family of Baterbonia bars vloggers from his gravesite

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur — As construction begins on his mausoleum, the family of the late basketball standout Rene Baterbonia has appealed to online content creators to stop filming and taking photographs at his gravesite in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur. In a public statement posted on social media, Baterbonia’s mother, Rovelyn, requested vloggers and

Oct 13, 2026

Asian Para Games: PH vows strong campaign despite chess absence

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines is aiming to improve on its medal haul at the 5th Asian Para Games in Japan despite the absence of chess, which accounted for eight of the country’s 10 gold medals in the 2023 edition in Hangzhou. Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo said he remains confident in the 69-athlete delegation competing

Oct 13, 2026

PBA: TNT crushes Macau by 55 points as Rondae Hollis-Jefferson makes resounding return

TNT unloaded a huge second quarter to pull away and pull off a 142-87 win against Macau and mark Rondae Hollis-Jefferson's return in the PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup on Tuesday.