Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and new Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner are slated to participate in an exhibition event in Saudi Arabia in October, the kingdom's latest move into tennis.

Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune are the other players involved in what is being touted as the "6 Kings Slam" in Riyadh.

Phil Foden grabbed the spotlight from fit-again Manchester City superstars Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne by scoring a hat trick in a come-from-behind 3-1 win at Brentford that moved the champions two points behind Liverpool in a congested English Premier League summit on Monday.

City's opponents might be able to stop Haaland from scoring or close down the space for assist king De Bruyne, but there will always be a top-class player somewhere in the team to inflict the damage.

Look for Lionel Messi to play on Wednesday in Tokyo where Inter Miami meets Japanese club Vissel Kobe in a friendly.

And don't look for another public relations disaster as happened on Sunday when Argentina's World Cup-winning captain sat on the bench for an entire match against a selection of players from the Hong Kong league, angering thousands of fans who demanded refunds.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry gained a 10th NBA All-Star nod and Lakers star Anthony Davis a ninth as reserves for the mid-season showcase were announced on Thursday.

A Los Angeles Lakers team missing superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis barreled past the NBA-leading Boston Celtics on Thursday as Tyrese Maxey scored 51 points to lead Philadelphia over Utah.

With all eyes on the Paris Olympics, the World Aquatics Championships feel more like a nuisance than the second-most important event on the swimming calendar.

Given the unusual timing — a lingering fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic — many of the biggest names have decided to skip the meet in Doha, Qatar.

What was billed as a potential final meeting between longtime rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo didn't materialize, but there was no doubt which of the superstars enjoyed Al-Nassr's 6-0 rout of Inter Miami more on Thursday.

Messi spent all but the final seven minutes on the Miami bench looking increasingly glum as Al-Nassr, cheered on by an appreciative Ronaldo sitting high in the Kingdom Arena stands recovering from a calf injury, ran riot in this friendly and scored three goals in the first 12 minutes.

Damian Lillard's emotional return to Portland opened with an ovation and ended in defeat as the Trail Blazers held off the Milwaukee Bucks 119-116 on Wednesday.

Lillard was playing his first game in Portland since the September trade that sent him to Milwaukee after he spent his first 11 NBA seasons as a Blazer.

Erling Haaland is available again for Manchester City after nearly two months out with a foot injury, manager Pep Guardiola said Tuesday.

The Norway striker will return to the squad for City's English Premier League game at home to Burnley on Wednesday.

The highest court in sports sanctioned Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for doping violations at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The ruling means U.S. skaters will receive gold medals after they finished second behind Valieva and her teammates in the team competition.

The case rocked the Olympics when, about 24 hours after she led Russia to the victory in the team event, details about a sample taken six weeks earlier at Russia's national championships revealed there was a banned heart medication in her system.