Weekend sports wrap

The past weekend (15–17 August) delivered a packed sporting lineup, with Johannesburg hosting South Africa’s first international padel tournament, the return of the English Premier League, and high-stakes clashes between South Africa and Australia in cricket and rugby.

On Friday, the Wanderers Stadium staged a historic moment: the continent’s first international padel event, played on the first padel court ever built on a cricket field.

The draw featured world number ones Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia alongside South Africa’s top 24 players.

The tournament comes amid padel’s rapid rise in South Africa, with a recent Playtomic report noting more than 600 courts and 206 clubs nationwide.

Saturday’s focus shifted to the South Africa–Australia contests. In Cairns, the Proteas set a target of 172 in the deciding T20 after losing seven wickets.

But Glenn Maxwell’s late surge, two boundaries and a double, sealed the series for Australia with one ball to spare.

Later that evening, the Springboks’ clash with the Wallabies swung dramatically. South Africa surged to a 22-point lead inside 20 minutes, only to falter as Australia mounted a comeback.

Five second-half tries turned the game around, handing the Wallabies a 38–22 win.

The two sides meet again in Cape Town this coming Saturday.

Premier League season kicks off

The Premier League season started with some Friday night football, which saw last season’s champions Liverpool take on Bournemouth at Anfield. However, Arne Slot’s men sealed an easy victory, starting the campaign with a 4-2 win.

Gameweek 1 also saw Manchester United take on Arsenal at Old Trafford, with the Gunners holding onto a 0-1 lead until the end to claim their first victory of the season.

The weekend’s results were as follows:

Liverpool – Bournemouth: 4-2

Aston Villa – Newcastle: 0-0

Brighton – Fulham: 1-1

Sunderland – West Ham: 3-0

Tottenham – Burnley: 3-0

Wolves – Manchester City: 0-4

Chelsea – Crystal Palace: 0-0

Nottingham Forest – Brentford: 3-1

Manchester United – Arsenal: 0-1

The weekend’s final game will be played on Monday night at 9 p.m. between newly promoted Leeds United and Everton.

Cincinnati Open

This weekend also boasted tennis’ Cincinnati Open, which has been taking place since the beginning of August, enter the final stages of the tournament.

The men’s singles semi-finals saw Italian Jannik Sinner take on Frenchman Terrence Atmane and Alexander Zverev play Carlos Alcaraz.

Sinner and Alcaraz came out on top, setting up a repeat of the French Open and Wimbledon finals on Monday evening at 9 p.m.

In the women’s singles semi-finals, Wimbledon champion Iga Świątek took on former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, and Jasmine Paolini played Veronika Kudermetova.

After winning their respective games, Świątek will be playing Paolini in the final, which will take place three hours after the men’s game at midnight on Monday.

UFC 319

UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis took on Khazmat Chimanaev in Chicago on Sunday morning.

Du Plessis previously beat American Sean Strickland to hold onto the Championship belt in February.

However, the South African failed to maintain his perfect score in the competition, with the judges scoring the fight 50-44, 50-44, and 50-44 in favour of Chimanaev.

This brings his overall mixed marshal arts record to 23 wins and three defeats, with Chimanev remaining undefeated overall and in the competition.