Carlos Alcaraz says the French Open final against Jannik Sinner was “the most exciting match that I’ve played so far”.Spain’s Alcaraz saved three championship points in the fourth set before securing a 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-2) win after five hours and 29 minutes.READ MORE: Sinner and Alcaraz thriller proves rivalry here to stay

Getty ImagesLorraine McKennaBBC Sport Journalist2 hours ago6 CommentsShai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 123-107 in game two of the NBA Finals to level the series at 1-1.The Pacers snatched victory in the final second of the opening game on Friday week, but on Sunday the Thunder dominated from start to finish.Gilgeous-Alexander’s first basket at Paycom Center in Oklahoma took him to 3,000 points for the season, making him the 12th player in NBA history to reach the milestone.Game three of the best-of-seven series takes place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 01:30 BST on Thursday, the first time Indianapolis has hosted a finals game in 25 years.”They play a full 48 minutes and you can’t just throw the first punch,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “You’ve got to try to throw all the punches all night.”That’s what we did. We threw enough punches tonight to get a ‘W’.”Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, added five rebounds and eight assists.The Thunder’s Jalen Williams scored 19 points, Aaron Wiggins had 18 and Chet Holmgren recovered from a disappointing six points in game one to score 15 points with six rebounds.The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton was limited to 17 points, three rebounds and six assists.”It’s still a race – first to four,” he said. “We are going to our home court tied 1-1.”Haliburton walked out of the post-game news conference with a slight limp.Seven Pacers players scored in double figures, including Myles Turner with 16 points and Pascal Siakam with 15.Related topicsBasketball

SNSThomas DuncanBBC Sport Scotland in Vaduz3 hours agoInternational friendly: Liechtenstein v ScotlandVenue: Rheinpark Stadium, Vaduz Date: Monday, 9 June Kick-off: 17:00 BSTCoverage: Watch live on BBC Scotland, iPlayer and BBC Sport website & app, online text updates, listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & SoundsA friendly game against one of international football’s smallest nations and worst teams is always a bit of a no-win. But after Scotland’s painful defeat by Iceland, the friendly away to Liechtenstein is not just a must-win, but must win well for Steve Clarke before September’s World Cup qualifiers.The Scotland head coach has come under fire since Friday’s 3-1 loss after fielding a strong side – presumably to build some much-needed confidence – only for things to unravel dramatically with goalkeeper Angus Gunn limping off just a few minutes in.Cieran Slicker’s unfortunate debut as Gunn’s replacement took the headlines, but as Clarke himself has said, there was much more to the disheartening defeat than that.Losing a home friendly after a long season against a decent Iceland side was not in itself the issue, but rather the grim nature of the performance from a squad that has shown it can be much better.The wider picture – Scotland have won just six games since the amazing Oslo comeback in June 2023 – also came into sharper focus after another home humbling.It leaves Clarke and Scotland needing to build positivity, momentum and confidence on the back of one game against the world’s 205th- ranked side.But how?Lowly Liechtenstein strugglingFor context, only five sides are ranked lower than Liechtenstein in the world.One of those is San Marino, who beat them home and away in the recent Nations League. The tiny nation, with a population similar to Greenock, only have a handful of professional players.They played away to Wales on Friday night in World Cup qualification and lost 3-0, failing to fire a shot, or even get a touch in the Welsh box.After that defeat in Cardiff, the Liechtenstein players were not afforded a chartered plane, but flew home via Amsterdam to Zurich, mixing and mingling with the Tartan Army in the departure gates and stingy economy class seats.’Honestly lads, just shoot from anywhere,’ was the gist of some of the patter, a gallows nod to Scotland’s injury crisis in the goalkeeping department.The Liechtenstein squad were even hauling massive boxes of kit and luggage from the belts themselves and on to trolleys, wheeling it all out of Zurich airport.A far cry from the elite end of the game.Liechtenstein will sit deep and look to frustrate Scotland on the narrow Rheinstadion pitch. It’s going to be a battle in the heart of the Alps and one that feels more meaningful than it was four days ago.Fresh faces? Or experienced heads?The excitement from a Scotland point of view has to mean goals – and perhaps some meaningful minutes for some fresh faces. At his pre-match media conference, Clarke said he would freshen things up.With winger Ben Doak absent through injury, Scotland’s attacking spark and width was gone against Iceland as they toiled in a back three formation.Could Clarke go to a back four again? Play with two strikers?It is a year since a striker last scored for Scotland, so could Middlesbrough’s Tommy Conway, the joint fourth top scorer in the Championship, get a start?Although Scotland are well stocked in midfield, Motherwell’s Lennon Miller did not look out of place when he came off the bench in the second half.More impressive minutes from him or Conway, or Kieron Bowie in a good victory might just bring some positive vibes back.Regardless, it feels like Scotland need their holidays and Clarke might just want to get a much required win and forget about this window, hitting the reset button for the trip to Copenhagen in September.This head coach and group of players have recovered from poor summers before to reach major finals. The competitive games are what matter.Still, though, for those following the national team something more than just a win might be needed to stir the soul before the quest for the World Cup begins.Related topicsScottish FootballFootballScotland Men’s Football Team

Getty ImagesStephan ShemiltChief Cricket Reporter39 minutes agoBeau Webster is on honeymoon. Sort of.Married to Maddie in April, the newlyweds only had time for a few days away in Tasmania before Australia all-rounder Webster began his stint at Warwickshire. Maddie joined him in Birmingham.From there it is this week’s World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s, then three Tests in the West Indies. Webster could be back playing in the UK before the season is out. Only then, and before an Ashes summer back home, might the couple fit in a proper break.The schedule is an indication of how Webster’s life has changed, and how his career accelerated up to and beyond a Test debut in January at the age of 31.From club cricket in Cheshire and Birmingham, to T20 leagues in Canada and the Cayman Islands, there was a time when Webster thought he would simply “eke out a steady career”.As a youngster, Webster was a good enough Australian Rules Football player to have considered entering the draft. He was offered terms to become a professional cricketer with Tasmania at 18, then had to wait almost 11 years after his first-class debut to progress to the highest level.”There was a period when I thought I was stagnating,” he tells BBC Sport.”I was resigned to my goal of getting a baggy green not being there. If it didn’t happen, I was OK with that. I was happy with the fact I might just be a good first-class cricketer and would hopefully win some silverware with Tasmania.”Webster had thoughts of what life after cricket might look like. His father was once a builder, so Webster dabbled with an apprenticeship “on the tools”. He started and failed to finish university courses in journalism and business, then had more success with mortgage broking. He may do a diploma in the next year or so.His immediate task is to hold down a place in the Australia team at number six, a role that revealed itself when Webster learnt to use his 6ft 6in frame to become a more than handy seamer.Previously a batter who had been everywhere from one to eight in the Tasmania order, Webster would send down some part-time off-breaks if needed. From a young age he messed around in the nets attempting to bowl pace, but found the resulting back soreness had a negative impact on his batting.It was only during the Covid pandemic, when ‘Tassie’ needed a seam-bowling all-rounder, that Webster took it seriously and was helped by renowned pace-bowling coach Adam Griffith.”It was just lack of technique, feet and arms everywhere,” says Webster. “Unless you get the right run-up, technique and your back and legs are used to it, you can have some soreness.”I never had a run-up. Until you have a run-up, you do it in the nets and stutter in until you feel like you can hit the crease. You probably bowl at about 50% without a run-up. Once I sorted a run-up with Griffo and was able to focus on the other end, rather than the end where I was landing, it grew from there.”When Webster was ready to unleash his new skill in the middle, there was the issue of being taken seriously.”When you bowl off-spin for long enough, then you start coming off the long run, everyone starts looking at it as a bit of a gimmick,” he says.”I spoke to Usman Khawaja about it. We played Queensland, I got the ball and came off the long run and Uzzy thought, ‘What’s going on here?'”I bowled a couple and he thought, ‘Gee, that’s actually not too bad.’ I think I got him out caught at gully and it wasn’t until 12 to 18 months of bowling seam that I lost the stigma of it being a gimmick.”To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedWebster was developing into anything but a gimmick. Like a host of all-rounders, success in one discipline fed the other.In the 2023-24 season, his 938 runs were by far the most in the Sheffield Shield, supplemented by 30 wickets. Only one other player in Shield history had managed 900 runs and 30 wickets in a single season: the greatest all-rounder of them all, Sir Garfield Sobers.Webster was getting noticed, but from a recognition point of view, his timing was horrific. Australia have not historically been blessed with seam-bowling all-rounders, but were in a bountiful period with Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh.It took a back injury to Green and a dip in form by Marsh for Webster to get his chance in the fifth Test against India at the beginning of this year. His parents, Rod and Tina, were so caught off guard by his selection that they had to make a short-notice trip to Sydney and their plea for a house-sitter in Tasmania hit the headlines.With the series still alive, he top-scored with 57 out of 181 in the Australia first innings and followed up with an unbeaten 39, including the winning runs, in the second. He also took a wicket and two smart slip catches. In the two Tests that followed in Sri Lanka, Webster dusted down his off-spin to show his versatility.Green is fit again, albeit only as a specialist batter. Webster is hoping there’s space in the Australian XI for both of them at Lord’s, then in the Caribbean and the Ashes.”It breeds the best in me when I’m up against guys and competing,” he says. “I’d welcome the challenge. I can only keep scoring runs and taking wickets to keep my place in that XI, but no doubt it will only become harder and harder.”The marriage to Maddie came after the Sri Lanka tour.”Coincidentally with the seam-bowling stuff, Maddie came into my life at the same time as my career took off, so she’ll probably claim some credit,” says Webster.”Everything that goes with being a professional cricketer – there are more bad days than good – she’s my biggest fan.”I’m sure we’ll do something for a honeymoon. We’ll find a window at some point in the next few months.”Webster has already ticked off an Australia debut and a wedding. Now there is a World Test Championship final to win and an Ashes urn to retain.”That would be the perfect 12 months.”Related topicsWarwickshireAustraliaCricket

Getty ImagesHarry PooleBBC Sport journalist33 minutes agoA first major final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the two best players in the world, always promised to deliver.But even the most optimistic could not have anticipated it would reach the heights it did during a breathtaking five hours and 29 minutes.The two generational talents played out an instant classic at Roland Garros, in which Spain’s Alcaraz recovered from two sets down – and saved three championship points – to retain his French Open title after a fifth set match tie-break.Alcaraz is only the third man to win a major final after saving a championship point since the Open era began in 1968.It was a fifth major triumph for Alcaraz, 22, who has now shared the sport’s past six major titles with Italy’s world number one Sinner, 23.Sunday’s blockbuster, which broke the record for the longest French Open final in history, was the first Grand Slam men’s final to feature two players born in the 2000s.If any doubt remained, this was confirmation of the dawn of a new era in men’s tennis.Getty ImagesFor more than two decades the men’s game was dominated by Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.But Djokovic, the only remaining active member of the trio, admitted he could have played his last French Open after his latest bid for a standalone record 25th Grand Slam title was ended by Sinner in the semi-finals.As the excitement surrounding Alcaraz and Sinner’s rivalry entered the stratosphere in Paris on Sunday, the question of who could rise up and fill the void at the end of the ‘Big Three’ era has been answered.Seven-time major winner Mats Wilander, who won the previous longest Roland Garros final in 1982, said on TNT Sports: “Federer and Nadal played a couple of good finals, but nothing comes close to this.”I thought ‘this is not possible – they’re playing at a pace that is not human.'”These are two of the best athletes the human race can put forward and they happen to be tennis players. I’m not speechless often, but what a wonderful day.”This was the first meeting in a major final between two familiar foes who have become the standout performers on the ATP Tour.Italy’s Sinner, who served a three-month doping suspension between February and May, has shown remarkable consistency over the past 20 months, losing just 10 of 121 matches since the Beijing Open in September 2023.But half of those defeats have come in his past five meetings with Alcaraz. In fact, Sinner has lost just three of his past 50 matches – all to the Spaniard.”I think every rivalry is different,” said Sinner.”Back in the days, they played different tennis. Now it’s very physical, but you cannot compare. “I was lucky enough to play against Novak and Rafa. Beating these guys, it takes a lot.”I have the same feeling with Carlos and some other players. It’s very special. I’m happy to be part of this.”Alcaraz, who will begin his Wimbledon title defence in just three weeks, now leads the head-to-head with Sinner 8-4.In becoming the first man to win his first five Grand Slam singles finals in the Open era, Alcaraz ended Sinner’s perfect record in major finals and his pursuit of a third-straight slam.”Every match I’m playing against him is important,” Alcaraz said.”This is the first match in a Grand Slam final. Hopefully not the last because every time we face each other, we raise our level to the top. “If you want to win Grand Slams, you have to beat the best tennis players in the world.”With seven of the past eight slams going to Alcaraz and Sinner – a streak of dominance punctuated only by Novak Djokovic’s 24th major title at the 2023 US Open – it remains to be seen if any other players can challenge the newly established status quo.L’EquipeAlcaraz emulated his childhood hero Rafael Nadal – a record 14-time champion at Roland Garros – by winning his fifth major at the exact same age of 22 years, one month and three days.Sinner, meanwhile, is the youngest man to reach three consecutive Grand Slam singles finals since 14-time major winner Pete Sampras in 1994.Such statistics offer a strong indication of the trajectory they both find themselves on.So, where does their rivalry go from here? The pair both have titles to defend at the two remaining slams in 2025 – Alcaraz at Wimbledon and Sinner at the US Open.Alcaraz, who leads Sinner 20-19 in career titles, has reduced Sinner’s lead at the top of the world rankings to 2,030 points.But the reigning champion has 2,000 points to defend at Wimbledon, compared to just 400 for Sinner after his quarter-final exit last year.”I’m sure he will learn from this match and come back stronger next time we face each other,” Alcaraz added.”I’m sure he’s going to do his homework. I’m going to try to learn how I can be better [and] tactically hurt his game. “I’m not going to beat him forever, that’s obvious. So I have to keep learning from the matches I play against him.”Related topicsTennis

Getty ImagesSean KearnsBBC Sport1 hour agoRevenues for Women’s Super League (WSL) clubs soared by 34% during a record-breaking 2023-24 season, despite a drop in attendances.The 12 teams in the WSL amassed a combined revenue of £65m, with each club generating more than £1m for the first time.Analysis from the Deloitte Sports Business Group found revenues grew from £48m in the 2022-23 season to £65m the following campaign.The increase was driven by growth in commercial revenue, which increased by 53% from the previous season and now accounts for 40% of WSL clubs’ total revenue. The revenue increases were largely driven by four clubs, with Arsenal (£15.3m), Chelsea (£11.5m), Manchester United (£9.2m) and Manchester City (£6.6m) accounting for two-thirds of the money made across the league. Matchday revenue increased, despite a 10% drop in attendances from the previous year.The average league attendance dropped to 6,642. The drop, which followed England reaching the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, contributed to pre-tax losses of £28m – up from £21m in 2022-23. However, Deloitte is forecasting revenues to top £100m across the league at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, helped by the upcoming Euros in Switzerland, “Women’s football in England is evolving rapidly,” said Tim Bridge, lead partner in the Deloitte Sports Business Group.”While challenges remain, it is clear there is potential for a passionate and engaged fanbase to drive the game’s development.”Capitalising on major international tournaments is important at specific points in time, but sustainable growth hinges on the domestic league’s organic development.”Bridge added that a “competitive balance is a key priority” if the WSL is to sustain long-term growth, with the gap widening between the top-earning clubs and the lowest-earning clubs in the league. Head here to get involvedRelated topicsFootballWomen’s Football