From tennis to golf to motorsport, there was plenty to keep sports fans glued to their screens this last weekend.
It was an exciting weekend of sport here and abroad, with Bafana Bafana beating Lesotho in a World Cup qualifier, but there were losses for the Springboks and Proteas men’s team. The Bok Women also lost.
Internationally, there was plenty of high-quality action, with the finals taking centre stage at the US Open and golfer Rory McIlroy winning the Irish Open. Here are the best sporting stories of the weekend.
Sabalenka, Alcaraz triumph
Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz were the last two standing at Flushing Meadows in New York at the weekend, both triumphing in the finals of the year’s last Grand Slam.
Sabalenka beat American Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6 for her first major of the year, after stumbling at the three other Grand Slams, while this was Anisimova’s second straight defeat in a Grand Slam final, after losing to Iga Swiatek 6-0, 6-0 at Wimbledon.
Alcaraz was too good for Jannik Sinner, winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to capture his second US Open crown and sixth Grand Slam title, avenging his defeat by Sinner at Wimbledon in July.
Alcaraz has now won seven of the past eight meetings and is 10-5 overall against Sinner.
Alcaraz and Sinner have shared the last eight Grand Slams on offer, winning four apiece to assert their superiority over the rest of the sport including Novak Djokovic.
Rory roars in Ireland
Rory McIlroy won the Irish Open in a thrilling play-off against Joakim Lagergren on Sunday for his first triumph since his Masters victory in April.
McIlroy made a stunning eagle three at the 72nd hole to force the play-off, with Lagergren, who himself made an eagle at the 16th at the K Club near Dublin.
After the first two additional holes were tied in birdie fours, Sweden’s Lagergren found the water third time around to allow McIlroy to win with two putts.
Victory gave Northern Ireland’s McIlroy, four shots off the lead heading into the last round, his second Irish Open title, nine years after his first.
Pedersen wins Vuelta stage 15
Mads Pedersen sprinted to Vuelta stage 15 victory on Sunday as pro-Palestinian protestors again made an impact on the race.
Spanish cyclist Javier Romo fell with 56 kilometres remaining amid a disturbance caused by a protestor who slipped on the side of the road as he ran towards a group of riders, with Romo then appearing to run after the person before mounting his bike and continuing with the race.
Local media reported that 10 protestors were arrested for public disorder offences, and some tussled with police near the end of the race.
Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard retained the red jersey as overall leader, maintaining his 48-second lead on Joao Almeida.
Danish Lidl–Trek rider Pedersen scored his first victory of this year’s race with a blistering burst past Marco Frigo on the home straight of the hilly stage, running 167.8 kilometres from A Veiga to Monforte de Lemos.
Frigo, riding for Israel-Premier Tech, the team targeted by the protests, came in third behind Orluis Aular.
Max power at Italian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen won an Italian Grand Prix typically full of drama and incident, with record-breaking speed and nearly another setback for the unfortunate Lando Norris.
Monza fully lived up to its rapid reputation over the weekend with Sunday’s race the fastest ever in the history of F1, with Verstappen taking the chequered flag in one hour, 13 minutes and 24.325 seconds.
Verstappen put on an F1 clinic as he attacked Monza with a series of rapid laps and bold manoeuvres which showed why he has won the last four drivers’ championships.
The 27-year-old had the better of second-placed Lando Norris in the record-breaking qualifying session and then showed bravery and skill with the daring overtake on lap four which decided Sunday’s race.
He ended up finishing over 19 seconds ahead of Norris but was keen to downplay the chances of similarly dominant displays in the final eight races of the campaign.
Alex Marquez cruises to victory at Catalunya
Alex Marquez comfortably held off his brother Marc to claim the Catalunya MotoGP on Sunday, snapping his older sibling’s winning streak of seven straight victories.
The 29-year-old’s triumph on his home circuit, meant standings leader Marc Marquez, who finished second by 1.740s, cannot seal a seventh world title next weekend at Misano.
Ducati rider Marc Marquez leads the overall standings on 487 points, with Alex trailing by 182 after his second career victory and the second of this season.
Enea Bastianini came in a further 5.562s behind on his KTM to finish third.
