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Ex-Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy and former Southampton boss Russell Martin discuss defender Trent Alexander-Arnold being jeered by Liverpool fans after confirming he will leave Anfield this summer.

READ MORE: ‘Not nice to hear’ – were jeers ‘shocking’ or ‘understandable’?

Watch Match of the Day 2 on BBC iPlayer

PHOENIX — At the end of a grueling 10-game trek around the country, and in search of their first winning trip this season, the Dodgers got exactly what they needed Sunday afternoon.

A strong start from right-hander Tony Gonsolin. A huge performance from the top of their lineup. And a thorough 8-1 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks, splitting a four-game series at Chase Field this weekend to return home from this week-and-a-half-long trip with a 6-4 record that keeps them in first place in the National League West.

In a battle of two former All-Stars on Sunday, Gonsolin outdueled Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen, tossing five scoreless innings to earn his second win in three starts since returning from Tommy John surgery — and a back injury that forced him to miss the first month of the season — this year.

Gonsolin faced little stress Sunday, scattering three hits and two walks while striking out four. Only twice did the Diamondbacks get a runner in scoring position against him, stranding two runners aboard in the first and third. After that, Gonsolin finished his 84-pitch outing — one shortened given his recent return from injury, and because he was the first Dodgers pitcher this year to make a start on four days’ rest — by retiring six of his final seven batters.

Gallen, on the other hand, had trouble with the superstars at the top of the Dodgers’ lineup.

In the first inning, Mookie Betts singled and scored all the way from first on a Freddie Freeman double in the gap. In the fifth, Shohei Ohtani and Betts led with consecutive singles, setting up Freeman for a sacrifice fly and Will Smith for an RBI single through a drawn-in infield.

The next time the top of the order came up, with a runner on third and two out in the sixth, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo went to his bullpen, summoning left-hander Joe Mantiply to face Ohtani. It didn’t work, with Ohtani roping an RBI single to right to make it 4-0. When Mantiply returned to the mound in the seventh, it was Freeman’s turn to tee off, hitting his ninth home run of the year into the Chase Field pool for a 5-0 lead.

In a three-run ninth, Betts tacked on another home run before Freeman completed a four-for-four day with a single, later scoring on Smith’s RBI double.

In all, the Dodgers’ Big 3 went nine-for-14 with six runs scored and five runs driven in. Freeman’s four hits raised his batting average to .376 and his OPS to 1.171 — both second in the majors, among hitters with 100 at-bats, behind only Aaron Judge.

Snell, Glasnow check-ins

When Blake Snell accompanied the Dodgers on this 10-game trip, the expectation was that he would begin a throwing progression after missing the last month with shoulder inflammation.

But, after having the start of his catch play pushed back once last week because he was feeling under the weather, Snell did not play catch as expected Sunday, either, because of continued discomfort in his left throwing shoulder.

“We felt that it was best to let him see our team doc before we make any other moves,” manager Dave Roberts said.

That check-in with head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache will come Monday, in what had been a pre-scheduled evaluation. Tyler Glasnow, who is also on the injured list with shoulder inflammation but did begin playing catch again this week back in Los Angeles, will have a check-in Monday, as well.

Since first getting hurt, Snell attempted to restart his throwing program once last month, but stopped because of continued shoulder pain. He had one pain-relieving injection after that, but has evidently not improved enough to begin working his way back to action yet.

Asked if his concern with Snell’s injury has risen amid the pitcher’s continued shoulder pain, Roberts was coy.

“I guess I’ll know more [after tomorrow],” Roberts said. “I can answer that question more once he sees our team docs.”

Bayern Munich have no plan to raise their offer to Leroy Sane, Napoli slient on move for Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and Arsenal’s Jakub Kiwior on radar of Inter Milan and Juventus.

Bayern Munich do not intend to improve their contract offer to Germany winger Leroy Sane, despite the new agents of the 29-year-old – who is out of contract in the summer – submitting a fresh proposal to the Bundesliga champions. (Florian Plettenberg, Sky Sports Germany), external

Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna is remaining silent about a move to sign Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, 33, on a free transfer when he leaves Manchester City at the end of his contract this summer. (Calciomercato – in Italian) , external

Canada striker Jonathan David will be a free agent when his deal with Lille ends in the summer and the 25-year-old is another target for Napoli. (La Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external

Bayer Leverkusen chief Fernando Carro believes there is a 50-50 chance of 22-year-old Germany midfielder Florian Wirtz, who has been linked with Bayern Munich, staying with the club. (Sky Sports Germany), external

Arsenal centre-back Jakub Kiwior is on the radar of both Juventus and Inter Milan as the 25-year-old Poland defender weighs up his long-term future. (Football Insider), external

Real Madrid are looking to agree a deal with Liverpool worth about £1m for 26-year-old England full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold to join them before the Club World Cup. (Football Insider), external

Former Everton and Burnley manager Sean Dyche is among the candidates to take over at Leicester City, with the Foxes expected to part ways with current boss Ruud van Nistelrooy. (Talksport), external

Brazil midfielder Douglas Luiz says he misses playing for Aston Villa as he struggles for first-team football at Juventus, who signed the 27-year-old from the Midlands club last summer. (Twitch, via Birmingham Mail), external

Brighton are among a number of clubs interested in 21-year-old defender Diego Coppola, who plays for Serie A side Hellas Verona. (Fabrizio Romano), external

AC Milan are keen on Feyenoord centre-back David Hancko but face competition from Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus for the 27-year-old Slovakia international. (Calciomercato – in Italian), external

Infielder Eddie Castorena, 75, wore two braces under his Old Spice uniform, one for his knee and one for his back.

Big Red catcher Tony Spallino, 67, was moving pretty well behind the plate, hoping he won’t need a second hip replacement.

His teammate Agustin Quezada, 83, limped through the dugout between innings, leaning on his bat as if it were a cane.

“When I first started, it was like, man, it smells like Bengay here,” said Big Red utilityman Ruben Enriquez.

But there is no glory in compromise, and no thrill like blasting a ball into the gap and circling the bases, no matter how many paramedics it might take to get you home. So the games go on every Thursday at Smith Park in Pico Rivera, home of the Go-Getter softball league.

“I never played baseball before. Never. I learned here, and I love it,” said Isabel Enriquez, 73, who plays several positions for Big Red and made a sure-handed catch of a towering fly ball to left in a game against the Force.

Reflexes are generally good and the bats still have some pop in them, for the most part, especially for players closer to 50 than 80. When it comes to chasing after a ball or sprinting the basepaths, the effort is there, even if the feet can’t always deliver what the heart desires.

Big Red hitter Tony Spallino, 67, walks away in frustration after making an out during a game against the Force in the Go-Getter league.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I hope when I’m their age … I’ll be flexible and be able to run down the basepath like that,” said Pico Rivera Mayor Johnny Garcia, who stopped by to take in some of the action in a league that’s more than 30 years young.

Lorenzo Sanchez, who pitched Rolling Thunder to a 14-2 win over the Warriors, wore a boyish smile and looked nothing like 83. He said that in 15 years of lacing up his cleats, he could only recall one minor muscle pull.

“I’m in good condition,” Sanchez boasted.

“I try to emphasize to my new players, go out with the grandkids, do some running and throw the ball back and forth,” said Rolling Thunder manager Gil Perez, 76. “Some of them do and some of them don’t.”

Perez and his wife, Deborah, 71, who plays catcher, work out regularly.

“I’m doing 2½-minute planks,” said Deborah, referring to the exercise in which you get into a push-up position and hold it for as long as you can. “So my core is pretty tight.”

Several players encouraged me to get out of the press box and onto the field.

I’d love to, I said. But I’ve had two knee replacements.

That drew a sharp, one-word response from Dichosa “Dee” Quezada, Agustin’s wife and a loyal spectator who watches every game from a lawn chair behind the backstop.

“So?” she asked with a withering glare.

A game in the Go-Getter league.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

I wouldn’t be the first, Dichosa told me, saying there was a guy with two knee replacements on a team from Anaheim.

In years past, one former Go-Getter used a walker to get to the field, swung a mean bat, and let a pinch-runner take over after she banged out a hit.

And then there’s Spallino, with the hip replacement, who told me he tried to come back too soon after his 2017 surgery. A little more rest did the trick and that hip is still holding up, Spallino said, “but I’m having problems with the other one now.”

The players have a sense of reassurance in knowing that former softballer Lupe Diaz, a retired registered nurse, comes to all the games with her first aid kit. Once, several years ago, there weren’t enough tools in that kit.

1

2

1. Rolling Thunder pitcher Lorenzo Sanchez, 83, watches the flight of the ball while batting during a Pico Rivera Co-ed Senior Softball League game at Smith Field. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 2. Deborah Perez, Rolling Thunder catcher, sets up behind the plate at the Pico Rivera Co-ed Senior Softball League at Smith Field. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Diaz said. “I was catcher, and I was getting ready to throw the ball back when I saw this player lying on the ground in the outfield.”

Diaz raced out and began CPR on the fallen fielder, whose heart had given out, while someone called 911.

“I brought him back and they carried him to the dugout,” she said.

The player recovered at the hospital but died about two weeks later, as Diaz recalls.

On Thursday, Big Red outfielder Art Montano, 77, swung at a pitch and missed. He ended up hammering a sharp single to right, but he was still frustrated by the earlier whiff.

“My vision’s not like it used to be,” Montano said, and sometimes the brain isn’t reacting quickly enough to messages sent by the eyes. “Let’s say the ball is pitched, and you’re waiting on it, and the brain is telling you it’s right there, but you can’t pull the trigger.”

Big Red pitcher Agustin Quezada, 83, faces off against the Force at Smith Park.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

In the Rolling Thunder rout of the Warriors, outfielder Uvaldo Davila showed off a slick glove and a strong arm, and after banging out a hit, he scampered around the bases to score. But back in the dugout, he said he’s been battling a big challenge.

“I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s about eight years ago,” said Davila, 64, who told me his hand tremors are getting worse, and his neurologist told him he may soon have some balance issues.

“I’m taking medicine,” Davila said, and he intends to keep playing as long as he can, because softball is “better than medicine.”

The Force, this season’s strongest team, showed no mercy on Thursday, routing Big Red by a score of 21-1 to improve to 8-0.

“We have a lot of good hitters and no drama,” said Force journeyman Lee Wabash, 75. “In the past, there were a lot of arguments. But this team has it together.”

At one point, with nobody on base, a Force batter hit a routine grounder. Big Red’s second baseman fielded it cleanly, but threw to second instead of first.

“Senior moment,” a disappointed Big Red teammate muttered in the dugout.

In the sixth inning, several Big Red players noticed that their pitcher had gone missing. They looked around and spotted him in the parking lot, pedaling away on his bicycle.

“Rick!” one player called out, to no avail.

“He’s going home,” said another.

Agustin Quezada often uses his bat as a cane. At 83, he pitches and plays infield in the Go-Getter league.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

But two games remain in the regular season, so there’s still time to find a groove. And then all six teams qualify for the playoffs.

Anything can happen, said Ruben Enriquez, and just showing up to get some exercise and be with friends is a victory in itself.

“Better to play,” he said, “than to rot away at home.”

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Steve Lopez

Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.

Arsenal were without England international Declan Rice who was ruled out through injury while Jurrien Timber, although named on the bench, was not fit enough to feature.

“We missed half of the team again and you can still [come back] from 2-0 at Anfield,” Arteta said.

“We played the way we played, came back and maybe should have won it, and at the end maybe lost it with something that was in our hands.

“If we want to really win it, the consistency level [has to be there] for 95 minutes. I don’t like to talk about the players that are not here and excuses. I am disappointed.”

Arsenal have now won just one of their last six Premier League matches and need to pick up points across their final two fixtures to secure second place. Two points are also needed to be certain of a top-five finish and Champions League qualification.

After missing out on the title to Manchester City by two points last season, the Gunners are 15 points adrift of champions Liverpool this time.

Having reached 84 points in 2022-23 and 89 points in 2023-24, Arsenal will end this campaign with a maximum of 74 points. Arteta admitted earlier this week that his side have gone backwards in the league.

“I have full trust in all my players and we have full clarity in what we want to do,” Arteta added.

“It will be a tough game [against Newcastle] and we want to secure the Champions League and the second spot as well. It is a big opportunity.

“If you cannot be the best, then you have to be the best of the rest.

“That is very important. Again today we played with 10 men, half of our team injured, and some of them playing when they should not, and still we performed in a way we have done for seven or eight months.

“That is what we have to demand from ourselves.”

A look at the top 25 high school baseball teams in the Southland at the end of the regular season

Rk. School (Rec.); Comment; ranking last week

1. CORONA (26-2); Likely No. 1 seed for Division 1 playoffs; 1

2. CRESPI (22-2); Jackson Eisenhauer, Tyler Walton are formidable one-two duo; 2

3. HUNTINGTON BEACH (24-4); The Grindlinger brothers can deliver playoff success; 3

4. ST. JOHN BOSCO (23-4); Young players are hungry to show they belong; 4

5. AQUINAS (25-2); Terrific regular-season performance; 5

6. ORANGE LUTHERAN (22-6); If the defense can come through, beware; 6

7. HARVARD-WESTLAKE (19-9); Sophomore Justin Kirchner went 8-0 as a pitcher; 7

8. LA MIRADA (21-6); Matadores have been preparing for weeks; 8

9. CYPRESS (18-10); 12 straight league titles for coach John Weber; 10

10. SUMMIT (25-3); 22-game winning streak going into playoffs; 11

11. VILLA PARK (22-6); Spartans will turn to Jake Nobles in playoffs; 9

12. NEWPORT HARBOR (22-4); Second place to Huntington Beach was pretty good; 12

13. NORCO (20-8); Beware of freshman Jordan Ayala in playoffs; 13

14. VISTA MURRIETA (22-5-1); Vaughn Neckar (0.73 ERA) is ready to roll on the mound; 14

15. EL DORADO (20-8): There’s lots of pitching to cause trouble; 15

16. MIRA COSTA (26-2); Great regular season but much to prove in playoffs; 16

17. ARCADIA (25-3); Looking to surprise in Division 1 playoffs; 17

18. SANTA MARGARITA (16-12); Potential playoff spot announced on Monday; 18

19. LOS ALAMITOS (17-9-2); Griffins trust left-hander Tristan Dalzell; 19

20. SERVITE (15-13); Lots of positives if Friars make playoffs; 22

21. ARLINGTON (21-7); Went 14-1 to win league title; 20

22. LOS OSOS (19-8); Baseline League champions; 23

23. PALM DESERT (24-4); Welcome to the desert for playoff action; 24

24. SIMI VALLEY (22-5); Pioneers win Coastal Canyon League title; NR

25. BISHOP AMAT (22-6); Del Rey League champions; NR

Great Britain’s Jack Draper beat Vit Kopriva to reach the last 16 of the Italian Open but his frustration boiled over during a straight-set win.

Although the fifth seed won 6-4 6-3 in Rome, he was made to work hard to close out the victory and at one point hit the court multiple times with his racquet.

Draper, who came into the tournament on the back of reaching the Madrid Open final, held serve throughout and took the first set in 41 minutes, saving one break point.

But it was by no means plain sailing in the second as Czech qualifier Kopriva saved four break points to cut his deficit to 3-2.

After Draper gave him the game by sending a drop shot into the net, he struck the clay four times with his racquet before slamming it on to the floor by his chair.

The 23-year-old left three divots in the centre of the court – and his racquet in tatters – and received a warning from the umpire.

Kopriva went 40-0 up in the following game but the world number 92 spurned the chance to break back as he sent a straightforward backhand long.

Draper regrouped to hold his serve and take a 4-2 lead, before setting up the chance to break Kopriva for the second time in the set – and the third overall.

Again Kopriva proved stubborn opposition by saving two match points, the second after a bad bounce on one of the divots left by Draper forced an error from the British number one.

But Draper clinched victory at the third time of asking, having hit twice as many winners as Kopriva (21-10), although Draper did notch up more unforced errors (37-27).

Draper will next play France’s world number 83 Corentin Moutet, who upset ninth seed Holger Rune in the last 16 in a match lasting nearly four hours.

Even on Mother’s Day — the day dedicated to relaxation and pampering for moms — the Sparks will take the hardwood in Torrance, sweating through defensive sets, refining footwork and hitting jumpers.

It’ll be a shortened practice, but practice nonetheless. There’s no time to pause. The WNBA season opener is less than a week away. The grind of pro basketball never lets up, and neither does the grind of motherhood.

Odyssey Sims’ latter role often kicks in when she steps off the court. When the final whistle sounds, her 5-year-old son, Jaiden, usually waits nearby — her best friend, “Mama’s baby.” He shares her wide grin. They move as one, even at the Sparks’ training camp.

“I’m used to bringing my son with me all the time,” Sims said. “He loves coming to the gym. … He has his moments where he’s like, ‘Mom, I’m ready to go.’ I’m like, ‘Son, it’s 10 o’clock, we haven’t even started.’”

Balancing a career and family requires strategy, support and sacrifice — a daily reality for moms nationwide. For Sparks players Sims, Dearica Hamby, Emma Cannon and Maria Kliundikova, that balancing act plays out under the public eye and pressure of elite competition.

With limited hours in the day and demands pulling from all sides, the two worlds inevitably intersect. Children at practices and games are common, as are FaceTime calls squeezed in during late-night hotel stays.

Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, left, poses beside daughter Amaya before the 2025 WNBA draft in New York.

(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)

“There’s a lot of pressure,” said head coach Lynne Roberts, who has two twin boys, 9-year-olds Miles and Henry. “To be as good as they are, it doesn’t just happen in practice. They’ve got to do it all the time and juggling being a mom, I’m in awe of them.”

Compared with most WNBA teams, the Sparks feature an unusually high number of mothers — a rarity in a league in which about 10% of the 156 active players are parents. For those few, having children reshaped their perspective on life, career and the game itself.

“They changed me, made me a better person,” Cannon said. “Life without them is crazy to even imagine. I’m grateful enough to even be called a mother.”

Cannon wears her children on her sleeve — literally. Her left leg is a canvas of tributes: Dior, her 3-year-old son, is inked behind her knee in flowing cursive. Above that, the initials of her newborn twins, Sage Ja’Nae and Suede Ja’Cole, are paired with their birth date. Crowning it all is a tender portrait — three small hands clasping hers, a portrait of family and togetherness etched in ink.

“All three were in the tattoo parlor with me when I got them done,” Cannon said.

At 35, Cannon is a 14-year basketball veteran — yet still a newcomer to parenting. She and her wife, Tia, had always discussed having children after basketball, but that reality came sooner than expected. As the seasons passed, the urge to wait faded. Before long, their family began to grow.

Emma Cannon arrives to the arena in Las Vegas with one of her children before an Aces game last season.

(David Becker / NBAE via Getty Images)

“Once we had Dior, we wanted him to have siblings because we were raised with siblings as well,” Cannon said. “So once that happened, God blessed us with twins.”

But amid the joy are the nonstop demands of a professional basketball career. Each player admits to feeling some degree of “mom guilt” — the emotional weight and anxiety of striving to meet the expectations of parenthood, even when they’re doing their best. That guilt intensifies under the strain of juggling multiple roles, trying to give both their families and careers the attention they deserve.

“To be honest, I feel guilty whenever I don’t have my child,” said Sims, a single mom who finds comfort in bonding with Jaiden. “It’s guilt in a sense because I feel like you cherish every moment, kids are growing up fast. So that couple of hours away feels like a day, days sometimes feel like a couple of months.”

This feeling of guilt is not unique to Sims.

Cannon, too, felt the emotional weight of separation during the team’s first preseason game in San Francisco on Friday — her first time traveling this season without her newborn twins and son. The absence was disorienting, but regular calls home provided some comfort, allowing her to stay connected despite the distance.

At the heart of this guilt is often separation anxiety — a reality shaped by the travel demands of playing in the WNBA. The Sparks will play 24 games on the road this season, logging thousands of miles by air and ground. The team tries to minimize time away, typically flying out the day before a game and returning immediately after — unless they’re on an extended trip.

Yet, despite the best efforts to stay close, the distance is always deeply felt.

In the beginning, being apart was emotionally challenging for Hamby. She and her daughter share a deep bond, training and walking red carpets while matching outfits. When Hamby left for trips, Amaya would ask, “Why are you leaving? Why go?”

“Every day,” Hamby said, reflecting on the guilt. “Amaya is texting me like, ‘Come home.’”

But as Amaya has grown older, she’s become more understanding of her mother’s commitment to basketball.

Hamby also acknowledges that, despite the pressures of her job, being a professional athlete offers unique opportunities to be present in her children’s lives. In the offseason, she’s hands-on — packing lunches, getting them ready for school and showing up for every practice and game. It’s her way of making up for the time basketball takes away.

For many, stepping away from their careers, even briefly, and especially during their prime, is a difficult decision, complicated by the perception that motherhood and athletic success can’t coexist.

While the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement provides some rights and benefits for players with children, many still measure progress against how far they’ve yet to go. Despite protections, players continue to face skepticism from coaches, teams and sponsors, with their commitment questioned simply because they chose to have a family.

Hamby acknowledges that the league has become more supportive of players with a family — a shift from when she had her first child, Amaya, eight years ago. Back then, she felt supported by the then-San Antonio Stars, from coaches to the front office. However, her second pregnancy revealed the challenges that still remain.

After announcing she was expecting her second child, Legend, during the Las Vegas Aces’ 2022 championship parade, Hamby said tensions grew with the organization. She believes her subsequent trade to the Sparks in January 2023 was retaliation for her pregnancy. This allegation prompted a WNBA investigation.

The league determined the Aces violated rules on impermissible player benefits, resulting in the forfeiture of their 2025 first-round draft pick. Head coach Becky Hammon was also suspended for two games without pay “for violating league and team Respect in the Workplace policies.”

In August, Hamby filed a lawsuit against the Aces and WNBA, alleging team officials questioned her commitment and implied she had agreed not to become pregnant during the term of her contract extension. Before her trade, Hamby publicly shared on social media that the ordeal left her feeling “lied to, bullied, manipulated and discriminated against.

Sparks forward Dearica Hamby takes photos with her 8-week-old son Legend during 2023 media day at El Camino College.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“There’s this misconception — and times are starting to change — but the narrative is still there that you can’t do both, can’t be a successful parent and be successful at your career at the same time,” Hamby said, addressing the stigma that motherhood compromises commitment. “In our sport, you’ve seen that reality change. … My story is an example of that — and so many more moms.”

Sims’ experience was a bit more positive. While with the Minnesota Lynx, Sims became pregnant before the 2020 season and waited several months before telling her head coach, Cheryl Reeve, of her pregnancy in the offseason. Reeve and the organization responded with support, opting not to make the news public and leaving it up to Sims to decide when she wanted to share it.

Neither Sims nor Hamby missed the season after giving birth.

Sims had Jaiden in April 2020, just before the start of the bubble season. After recovering from a cesarean section and sitting out for two months to allow her stitches to heal, she returned to play two weeks into the season in August.

Hamby gave birth to Amaya in February 2017 and was back on the court six weeks later. When Legend was born in March 2023, she halved her recovery time, returning after three weeks — one of the few players in league history to give birth twice and return to play.

Even with her negative experience, Hamby has noticed a growing shift in support under the current CBA, which is set to expire after this season. This includes the improvement of benefits for current and future mothers, aimed at supporting them through different stages of family planning and parenthood.

Players are guaranteed their full salaries while on maternity leave. Teams provide two-bedroom units for players living with their children under 13, and nursing mothers are entitled to “comfortable, safe, private” accommodations.

Family planning benefits are offered to players who choose to focus on their careers during their prime competitive years, postponing children until their late 20s or early 30s. Players with at least eight years of service are eligible to receive up to $20,000 annually — with a lifetime cap of $60,000 — to help cover fertility services such as egg freezing and infertility treatment, as well as adoption or surrogacy.

Still, Hamby feels the agreement isn’t without flaw. Currently, these benefits are only available during a player’s active career. Hamby hopes to see pregnancy-related support extended to include recently retired players — particularly for veterans who chose to prioritize their careers and start families later.

“There are people that want to have kids and they want to do it when they’re done playing, and it’s counterintuitive,” Hamby added. “They think, ‘Hey, we give you these benefits while you’re playing, but when you’re done playing, they’re no longer accessible.’ I don’t think that’s right, because when you decide to do it while you’re playing, you’re frowned upon.”

Additionally, fertility benefits remain out of reach for many: Heading into this season, only 38 players meet the eight-year service threshold, and just 12 have played 11 or more seasons — enough to access the maximum reimbursement. She expects that to change with a new contract.

Other financial increases, particularly regarding childcare, would be a welcome sight for players.

“More money for nannies, man,” Cannon said emphatically. “That $5,000 — that’s one thing I feel has to change, especially if you have multiple children.”

Currently, the childcare stipend is capped per household rather than per child — a limitation that doesn’t reflect the true cost of care. The average weekly cost of a nanny is $827, while daycare averages $343 per week, according to a nationwide survey by the caregiving site Care.com. In high-cost cities like L.A., those numbers are among the highest.

Odyssey Sims carries son Jaiden into the arena before playing a game with the Connecticut Sun in Las Vegas.

(Brandon Todd / NBAE via Getty Images)

Avoiding the thought of out-of-pocket costs when asked, Cannon added with a laugh, “Oh, man, I don’t even want to talk about it.”

The goal is that the next CBA will strengthen support for mothers across the board. That push comes as women’s basketball is projected to generate more than $1 billion globally in 2025, driven by new media rights deals and an uptick in ticket and merchandise sales, according to a March report from financial services and consulting firm Deloitte.

For now, life as a WNBA mother remains a patchwork of challenges and triumphs. Despite the ongoing tug-of-war, none regret embracing motherhood. And when practice ends, each will head off to different Mother’s Day activities. Some have brunch reservations, while others have scheduled photo shoots or nail appointments. Regardless of the activity, the children remain by their sides.

“Being a professional athlete and a mother at the same time has its challenges,” Sims said. “But when you look at your kid every day, when you wake up and realize you’re a parent, it just makes everything worth it.”

Lions: Quan Horn; Richard Kriel, Henco van Wyk, Bronson Mills, Edwill van der Merwe, Kade Wolhuter; Nico Steyn, Morgan Naude; Jaco Visagie (capt), Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Ruan Venter, Ruan Delport, JC Pretorius, Renzo du Plessis, Jarod Cairns.

Replacements: PJ Botha, SJ Kotze, RF Schoeman, Darrien Landsberg, Sibabalo Qoma, Layton Horn, Lubabalo Dobela, Rynhardt Jonker.

Scarlets: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Ellis Mee; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Alec Hepburn, Marnus van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Alex Craig, Sam Lousi, Vaea Fifita, Josh Macleod (capt), Taine Plumtree.

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Kemsley Mathias, Sam Wainwright, Dan Davis, Jarrod Taylor, Archie Hughes, Ioan Lloyd, Macs Page.

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)

Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (SARU), Stephan Geldenhuys (SARU)

TMO: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

Sin bins: Lousi, (5) D Davis (33), Pretorius (53)

Servite High football coach Chris Reinert is running around spring practices teaching fundamentals. If he ever takes a moment to look over at the offensive linemen and remembers that four are currently freshmen with varsity experience, he just might smile.

He knows that Elisha Mueller, Brody Black, Keiden Lokeni and Trey Iosua are a building block to make Servite a legitimate player in the tough Trinity League.

Mueller, in particular, could be Servite’s next NFL prospect in the mold of first-round draft pick Mason Graham. He’s 6 feet 4 and closing in on 300 pounds. He’s fierce, competitive and a team player.

“He’s everything you want in an offensive lineman,” Reinert said. “He’s big, physical, nasty and has an attitude.”

Servite doesn’t have its track and field athletes out for spring ball. They’re busy trying to win a CIF championship with all their speed, but come summer, beware. Servite will be competing in seven-on-seven tournaments on June 28 at St. John Bosco and July 12 in the Battle at the Beach at Edison. And remember the people up front will be very good. …

The Southern Section will release its baseball and softball pairings on Monday. …

It’s a big weekend ahead for championships in Southern Section lacrosse and boys’ volleyball. The City Section will hold its volleyball championships on Saturday.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Great Britain win gold in the women’s 4x100m at the World Relay Championships as they stun a Jamaica team including Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson.

WATCH MORE: Jamaica bid ruined as Forte suffers injury in 4x100m

Available to UK users only.

Through 48 years of covering high school baseball in Southern California, watching so many prolific pitchers develop into legendary pro players has been one of the funnest parts of being a prep sportswriter. I’ve learned to always look for someone who can throw strikes.

There was Jack McDowell of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Bret Saberhagen of Cleveland in the 1980s. They became Cy Young Award winners for the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals, respectively.

In the 1990s, there was Jeff Suppan of Crespi, Russ Ortiz of Montclair Prep and Randy Wolf of El Camino Real. In the 21st century, there were Cy Young winners Gerrit Cole (Orange Lutheran), Shane Bieber (Laguna Hills) and Trevor Bauer (Hart); and standouts Paul Skenes (El Toro), Hunter Greene (Notre Dame), Jack Flaherty (Harvard-Westlake) and Max Fried (Harvard-Westlake).

Bringing up these names is to remind everyone how stunningly good Seth Hernandez of Corona has been this season as he prepares for the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs and heads off to be the next great pitcher from the Southland.

In 42 1/3 innings, he has struck out 88 batters while walking only three. Never has there been someone throwing a 98 mph fastball as a teenager with so much pinpoint control. In fact, he’s only hit one batter all season. Teenagers who throw in the 90s normally hit and walk lots of batters.

Not Hernandez. His command is freakishly good.

“That was his goal,” coach Andy Wise said of improving over his junior season. “What are we going to do to get better and that was his No. 1 thing to do.”

Hernandez has never suffered a pitching defeat since he started playing high school baseball. He went 9-0 and had 15 walks in 56 innings last season. This season he’s 8-0 with an 0.17 ERA. Showing off his athleticism, he has also hit five home runs.

As comparison, probably the pitcher closest to having a season with this much control was Flaherty in 2013, when he walked 10 in 89 innings, struck out 112 and went 13-0 as a junior. But he didn’t come close to Hernandez’s velocity. Greene was throwing 101 mph fastballs and had 10 walks in 55 2/3 innings in 2016, his junior season.

Greene’s coach at Notre Dame, Tom Dill, said of Hernandez, “You take an arm like that with the ability to throw strikes and the upside is fantastic.”

The Washington Nationals have the first pick in this summer’s amateur draft. Their general manager attended a Corona game to see Hernandez pitch.

Attending high school baseball games is free, so the best ticket around might be going to watch Hernandez pitch when he’s expected to be on the mound next Tuesday in Corona’s playoff opener. The pairings will be released on Monday, and Corona is expected to have a first-round bye when the playoffs begin on Thursday.

It’s not only his control and fastball that are impressive, it’s his poise and his breaking pitches. He really does have all the qualities scouts want in a pitching prospect, from work ethic to competitiveness to the ability to deal with pressure situations.

If opponents want him to autograph a ball during the playoffs, that wouldn’t be acting silly. That would be someone understanding they are in the presence of someone they’ll be watching from their living room one day pitching at a major league stadium.

Wood was returning to the ring after a 19-month break, but following wins over Cordina and Josh Warrington, Cacace has now beaten three two-time champions in succession.

“I don’t know if I fought the best Leigh Wood, but I fought Leigh Wood as again he’s another two-time world champion,” he said.

“He’s beaten some really good names. It was a fight he’s been asking for, a fight that he’s been telling everyone he was going to knock me out.

“It just shows you that I’m better than what I look like sometimes and I hit harder than my records suggest.”

Cacace will turn 37 in February but, after his late rise through the division, said he has to “keep going”.

“Never in my wildest dreams, genuinely, did I ever think that I would be where I’m at and that’s the truth,” he added.

“We’re living in dreamland compared to two years ago.

“I can’t just stop now, can I? I’ll have to keep going. I don’t have many miles on the clock.”

The basketball coaches at Santa Monica College had this kid.

A wisp of a player at 5 feet 3, he wasn’t a particularly strong shooter and didn’t score much. What he lacked in skill he more than compensated for by diving on the court, taking charges, stripping the ball from the guy he was defending.

The basketball coaches at Santa Monica College had this other kid.

A sturdy 6-5, he could score and was the sort of splendid physical specimen often selected first in pickup games. But he’d often lose those games because he lacked other qualities such as grit, hustle and determination.

In a “Scholastic Coach” magazine article, Andy Hill outlined what he called the Team Contribution Index, what became the popular plus-minus statistic.

(Andy Hill via Scholastic magazine)

As he pondered the differences between the players in 1976, Andy Hill, then the team’s assistant coach, searched for a way to reward the overachiever while trying to extract more out of his less selfless counterpart.

“I sat there thinking about all the things as a coach you try to get guys to do — dive on the floor, talk on defense, take a charge — and I’m going, that stuff makes you win,” said Hill, a veteran of valuing the team over the individual after three national championship seasons as a reserve guard at UCLA under coach John Wooden. “And literally in that moment, a lightbulb moment, it’s like, it’s the scoreboard, right?”

In other words, how did a player’s team do while he was on the court? Did the team increase its lead? Lose its lead? Keep the score the same? For instance, if his team outscored its opponent by nine points while he was on the court, the player was given a plus-nine. If his team lost six points off its lead, it earned him a minus-six.

Under this metric, the tally for each player reflected his influence on the team. Trumpeting the concept in an article in the January 1977 issue of Scholastic Coach magazine, Hill called it the Team Contribution Index.

Over the years, the basketball community went on to call it something else. Look at any box score or listen to almost any broadcast, and even the most casual observer will notice references to what was essentially Hill’s invention — the plus-minus.

“I just wish,” cracked Hill, who turns 75 in July, “I got a nickel every time an announcer or analyst mentions plus-minus.”

Mick Cronin stood in a hallway inside Purdue’s Mackey Arena studying the box score after a tough late February loss. UCLA’s inability to generate enough stops left its coach searching for answers.

“Will’s plus-five, everybody else is minus,” Cronin said, referring to center William Kyle III as he scanned the page. “We’ve got guys minus-10, minus-19, so we didn’t get the job done defensively.”

UCLA’ coach Mick Cronin talks to his players huddled around him during a timeout on Jan. 30 at Pauley Pavilion.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Cronin is among an army of coaches who routinely mention plus-minus figures as a gauge of how their players influence winning. Lakers coach JJ Redick agreed that the metric was “in general a useful tool” but cautioned that lineups and other factors needed to be taken into consideration.

“You can feel like a guy has a huge impact on the game and a huge impact on winning in a 10-point win and he’s a minus-nine,” Redick said. “And you can say, ‘Oh, this guy really cost us tonight’ and he’s a plus-seven. I think game to game, it doesn’t always tell the full story.

“But I think in the aggregate, it’s something as you can normalize things with lineups and with minutes you can see. For example, our team, Dorian Finney-Smith impacts winning when he is on the court.”

At plus-268 in his 43 regular-season games since arriving in a trade from Brooklyn, it’s Finney-Smith, a part-time starter — and not superstars Luka Doncic or LeBron James — who led the Lakers in season-long plus-minus. Austin Reaves ranked second on the team at plus-195, followed by Doncic (plus-176) and Rui Hachimura (plus-158).

A nine-year NBA veteran, Finney-Smith said he didn’t think about plus-minus until his coaches kept telling him that good things happened when he was on the court and encouraged him to keep playing his winning brand of basketball. What sorts of things were those coaches talking about?

“Just talking, being communicative, knowing my guys around me, being in the right spots for spacing — anything,” Finney-Smith said. “You know, me being a shooter with this team, being a stretch five, puts defenses at a disadvantage because now the center is out on the three-point line where now LeBron and Luka can get in the paint and get easy points, so I’d say it’s a whole bunch of things — playing hard, doing all the little things.”

Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith sprints up court against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 2 at Crypto.com Arena.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Some metrics savants aren’t as sold on plus-minus. Ken Pomeroy, one of basketball’s most widely respected statistical analysts, pointed to a December 2022 game involving the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks. Doncic, then with the Mavericks, tallied 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists on the way to finishing plus-seven. Teammate Dwight Powell, who logged two points, no rebounds and one assist in 30 minutes, finished plus-10.

But even going back to his original article, Hill has long acknowledged the limitations of his concept and its increased significance given a larger sample size. Just check the NBA’s leaders in season-long plus-minus — Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (plus-918) and Denver’s Nikola Jokic (plus-594), two of the top candidates for the league’s most valuable player award.

Many of the traits that make Finney-Smith a plus-minus phenom also applied to one of those Santa Monica College kids. Katsumi “Kats” Chinen would pour every ounce of his 5-3 frame into defending taller counterparts who would invariably post him up, often to their great regret.

“He spent a lot more time getting posted up than any of the guys who were posting him up had spent on their low-post game,” Hill said, “and he’d strip ‘em clean, he’d be dribbling so fast the other way, your head would spin.”

Meanwhile, 6-5 forward Falstaff Hawkins might have caused eyes to roll by his singular focus on scoring.

“Here was a guy,” Hill said, “who, you know, a dunk and a date is a lot more important than whether we win.”

Andy Hill, who played for UCLA legendary coach John Wooden, displays photos and memorabilia in his home.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

That dichotomy made Hill wonder how he could convince his boss, coach Jim Wagner, to motivate Falstaff to do more while rewarding Chinen with more playing time.

Studying for his master’s degree in education, Hill devised what became his de facto thesis: the Team Contribution Index. Using a typewriter at UCLA’s Moore Hall to write an article about the concept, he sent a copy to Scholastic Coach, wondering if he was onto something new or just regurgitating a system that coaches had been using for years.

Hockey had employed a plus-minus system since the 1950s, though it had little relevance to basketball given the low-scoring nature of its game. Hill’s Team Contribution Index involved seemingly countless ways that players could help their team.

“Perhaps more important than cold numbers are the ‘intangibles’ that make up the ‘winner’ — guts, leadership, pride, toughness, concentration, attitude, etc.,” Hill wrote in his article. “It’s those little things that win for you — playing good defense, taking the charge, setting a solid pick, diving after a loose ball and encouraging teammates. It’s easy to find a shooter; it’s much harder to find a winner. Yet most of the statistical reinforcement is for the shooter; the player who does the little things has to be satisfied with a pat on the rear.”

If anyone could render a verdict on Team Contribution Index, it was Wooden, recently retired after a record run of 10 national titles in 12 years. Nervously, Hill went to see his old coach at his modest office inside the Morgan Center.

“I walk it down to coach and my heart’s going boom-boom-boom,” Hill said, tapping his chest with his hand. “Why am I doing this? But he reads this article, very thoughtfully, quite attentively, and he looked up and said, ‘That’s a great idea.’ ”

It was their first positive interaction in years.

Hill arrived at UCLA in 1968 with hopes of becoming the team’s next great point guard.

An All-Los Angeles City Section player who had averaged 27.2 points per game at University High, he lived up to his billing on the Bruins’ freshman team while earning co-MVP honors alongside Henry Bibby.

Their careers diverged from there. Bibby went on to become a starter on three national championship teams while Hill played sparingly off the bench as his backup, averaging 2.1 points in 69 varsity games.

“I thought Andy was better than I was,” Bibby said, “but sometimes people can be better than you but the coach sees something different in you and they go in your direction and I think they went in my direction. I saw Andy as a superior player than me — he just knew basketball and I didn’t know basketball, I just had probably more talent than he did, athleticism.

“But as I look back now, if I hadn’t known Andy Hill was going to be the point guard with me, I wouldn’t have probably gone to UCLA. I thought Andy was that good.”

Andy Hill, who played for UCLA legendary coach John Wooden, displays a photo of him with Wooden, left, and a basketball signed by UCLA star Bill Walton in his home.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Hill played so little that a golfing buddy later joked that he was “the man who starts 5,000 cars” because when he entered the game everyone left. In truth, even one eventual star thought he should be playing more only to learn he couldn’t until he fit into the larger group.

Sidney Wicks, who would go on to become one of college basketball’s all-time greats at power forward in his final two seasons, lagged behind others in the rotation as a sophomore even though he could have made a case for being one of the best players on the team.

“He was awesomely talented,” Hill said, explaining Wicks’ delayed emergence, “but awesomely talented fitting in within a system was unbeatable.”

One of Hill’s most enduring memories of playing for Wooden was the coach yelling his name in half the time it took others to say it, reflecting his level of agitation. Feedback was limited about why he wasn’t playing more.

“Coach just shut himself off,” Hill said, “and as a young person, my thought understandably was, he just doesn’t see it, he doesn’t care, whatever. And I felt really bad.”

Many years later, sitting in the den of his Encino condominium, Wooden relayed a story that explained the way he had handled the situation. When he was a sophomore in high school, Wooden was forced to come off the bench as the sixth man even though he knew he was the best player on the team. The humiliation of not starting prompted Wooden to strip to his jockstrap and storm out of the gym.

It was another lightbulb moment for Hill.

“I said, ‘Wow,’” Hill said, recalling his reaction. “It wasn’t that you didn’t know [what it felt like]. It’s just that you couldn’t deal with it.’ And he apologized, he [said he] should have done better, but it’s so human — I understand; I mean, you’re crushing this kid’s dream and you know it, and it was like, ‘Oh, OK, you just couldn’t deal with it.‘”

The men reconciled their differences long before Wooden died in 2010. After Hill left coaching following his brief stint at Santa Monica College, he enjoyed immediate success in the entertainment industry. Rising from a movie and television executive to head of his own production company to president of CBS Productions, Hill presided over some of the most successful shows of the 1990s, including “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Touched by an Angel” and “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.”

Realizing that Wooden’s teachings about collaboration and teamwork had fueled his achievements, Hill called his old coach — with a considerable sense of dread — to share this revelation. Would Wooden take the call? Would he even remember him?

Hill’s apprehension dissolved when Wooden not only picked up as Hill spoke his name on the answering machine but also asked him to visit, leading to an instant reconnection. They went on to co-author the bestselling book “Be Quick — But Don’t Hurry!”

It took awhile before Andy Hill’s plus-minus stat began to catch on widely in college basketball.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

After the publication of his article, Hill charted the Team Contribution Index with his Santa Monica College players in what turned out to be his final year of coaching.

The concept made a limited impact with the team because his boss didn’t believe in its usefulness.

“The guy I was working with,” Hill said, “was far less impressed than John Wooden.”

Hill didn’t think much about it again until several years ago, when he started hearing broadcasters routinely mention plus-minus and seeing it listed in box scores. While the NBA adopted the metric in its box scores in 2007, college basketball started using it in 2018.

“At that point,” Hill said, “I kind of went, whoa, this has really turned from something off to the side and become totally mainstream.”

Ultimately, Hill considered plus-minus an ode to a beloved friend.

“This is all really a Coach Wooden story, in my mind, you know you dial it back to sort of who he was and what he was about,” Hill said. “If the assignment was, summarize coach, it’s a pretty good summary because the underlying principle was, it is about doing all these little things right.”

Manager Leif Smerud has left relegated Crystal Palace 10 weeks taking over the Women’s Super League team.

Smerud was appointed on 1 March and leaves Palace after they finished bottom of the WSL with two wins from their season in the top flight.

“While we didn’t get the outcome we hoped for, I’m proud of the work we’ve done together,” Smerud said.

“I’m grateful to Steve Parish and the board for their trust and for the opportunity.”

Chairman Parish added: “Leif joined us during a challenging period, and we are grateful for his contribution and the professionalism he has shown during his time at the club.

“We wish him every success in the future.”

SOUTHERN SECTION LACROSSE PLAYOFFS

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION 1

Loyola 11, Foothill 9

Mater Dei 11, Santa Margarita 8

DIVISION 2

Dos Pueblos 13, Oaks Christian 4

San Clemente at Aliso Niguel, Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

DIVISION 3

Riverside King 10, West Ranch 9

Agoura 9, Grace Brethren 5

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

At Fred Kelly Stadium, times TBA

GIRLS FINALS

DIVISION 1

Mira Costa vs. Foothill

DIVISION 2

El Segundo vs. St. Margaret’s

DIVISION 3

Trabuco Hills vs. Oaks Christian

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

At Fred Kelly Stadium, times TBA

BOYS FINALS

DIVISION 1

Loyola vs. Mater Dei

DIVISION 2

Dos Pueblos vs. San Clemente / Aliso Niguel

DIVISION 3

Riverside King vs. Agoura

Jack Della Maddalena dethroned Belal Muhammad via unanimous decision to become the UFC welterweight champion in Montreal.

Two judges gave the victory at UFC 315 to Della Maddalena by slim 48-47 margins while the third saw it 49-46 in his favour.

The 28-year-old, who came into the fight in Canada off the back of a year-long lay-off, said: “It’s exactly how I thought it would feel, it feels good.”

Muhammad hadn’t lost a fight since January 2019 going into the contest but in his first title defence was left bloodied and wobbling after the Australian landed 200 strikes.

“He brings the pressure, so I had to be smart on my feet,” Della Maddalena added.

“Coming in there against someone like him, I had to be smart. I couldn’t spend too much time on my back. When I did, I waited until I could get my energy back and made a move.

“I wanted to take him out of there. I was gunning for a late finish. But he’s tough to put away.”

Della Maddalena becomes the third Australian in history to hold a UFC title, alongside current featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski and former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker.

SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

POOL PLAY

DIVISION 1

#6 Newport Harbor d. #7 Redondo Union, 18-25, 25-18, 26-24, 25-12

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION 2

Mater Dei d. St. Francis, 25-17, 25-20, 25-17

Peninsula d. St. Margaret’s, 13-25, 25-23, 25-16, 27-25

DIVISION 3

Tesoro d. North Torrance, 25-17, 25-19, 25-16

Orange Lutheran d. Warren, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 25-14

DIVISION 4

Santa Barbara d. Corona Santiago, 25-21, 25-16, 30-28

Sage Hill d. Crean Lutheran, 3-0

DIVISION 5

Esperanza d. Newbury Park, 25-12, 25-17, 19-25, 21-25, 16-14

Kennedy d. Vista Murrieta, 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 25-22

DIVISION 6

Quartz Hill d. Village Christian, 3-2

El Toro d. Laguna Blanca, 3-2

DIVISION 7

Brea Olinda d. San Jacinto, 3-1

Brentwood at San Gabriel Academy, Monday at 4 p.m.

DIVISION 8

Katella d. Lancaster Desert Christian, 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21

Wildwood d. Avalon, 3-2

DIVISION 9

California Academy of Math & Science d. San Jacinto Valley Academy, 3-2

Beverly Hills at Downey, Monday at 5 p.m.

Note: Finals in Division 1 Friday, May 16 at 7 p.m. at Cerritos College; Finals in Divisions 2-9 May 16 or 17 (sites and times TBA).

Jannik Sinner said it was an “amazing feeling” to be back on court after beating Argentina’s Mariano Navone at the Italian Open in the first match since his doping ban.

The 6-3 6-4 victory was the world number one’s 22nd in a row – a streak interrupted by the three-month suspension he agreed with the World Anti Doping Agency (Wada).

Sinner wrote ‘Che bello’ (How beautiful) on the camera lens at the end of the match, as chants of ‘Ole’ rang around the stadium.

The Italian said the reaction from the home crowd was the best he had ever experienced.

“It has been amazing to go again on court after such a long time, having a great support also in the last days,” Sinner said.

His parents were among 10,500 people who offered him a full throated welcome onto the Campo Centrale, but Sinner showed little emotion as he walked on hand in hand with a child mascot.

“From the first day I came here, it has been amazing. I was waiting for this moment quite a long time,” he added.

“The whole match, even when it seems quite comfortable, it’s a rollercoaster, no?

“Inside we feel that, especially the beginning of the match having, again, the nerves of serving for the first time, trying to move in the best possible way you can.”

It was all green and white at the City Section swim championships on Saturday at Valley College.

Granada Hills won both the boys and girls titles for the second straight year thanks to its overall depth and several standout individual efforts.

Junior Ryan Zheng defended his titles in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events and anchored the victorious 4×50 and 4×100 freestyle relays. Senior Kenneth Devis won the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke for the third year in a row and led off the 4×100 freestyle relay as the Highlanders amassed 473 points to far outdistance runner-up Palisades.

Zheng clocked a personal-best 1 minute, 42.23 seconds in the 200 freestyle to beat teammate Kyle Lee, who finished second, by more than four seconds. In the 500 freestyle, Zheng clocked 4:42.33 to win easily while Christopher Goodman of Palisades (4:55.05) edged Lee (4:55.18) for second.

Granada Hills senior Kenneth Devis wins the 100 breaststroke for the third straight year in 56.35 seconds at Saturday’s City Section swim finals.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

In one of the closest races of the day, Zheng held off a last-lap surge by Taft’s David Abarbanel to clinch the Highlanders’ 200 freestyle relay win by 65 hundredths of a second, posting a time of 1:29.12. In the final event, Zheng outdueled Cleveland sophomore Aleksander Fadipe to secure the Highlanders’ first-place finish in 3:16.79. The Cavaliers were second in 3:18.02 and Palisades was third in 3:32.44.

“Freestyle’s my specialty — that’s pretty much all I do,” Zheng said. “I’m really proud of us winning the 200 [relay]. That was the big one. As for the two individual events, hopefully next year will be my three-peater. Fingers crossed!”

Devis has dominated his two individual events since his sophomore year and on Saturday he won the breaststroke, his favorite event, in 56.35 seconds and the butterfly in a personal-best 49.59 seconds.

“My goal is to swim Division I in college,” said Devis, who competes for Rose Bowl Aquatics during the club season.

Also contributing to the boys’ win was senior Jean Darbo, who took first in the 100 backstroke in 51.91.

Taft’s Itay Goudz (47.94) edged top qualifier Riley Amis of Palisades in the 100 freestyle and clocked 22.37 for second behind Palisades’ Roi Levertov (21.96) in the 50 freestyle.

Granada Hills sophomore Isabella San Jose dives off the block to begin the anchor leg of the Highlanders’ victorious 4×100 freestyle relay.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

On the girls’ side, the Highlanders won their third straight crown and ninth overall, racking up 426 points to outscore runner-up Palisades (252), the team with whom they shared the title last spring.

Granada Hills won all three relays and sophomore Isabella San Jose won the 200 individual medley in 2:08.62 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.69, then anchored the 4×100 freestyle relay. Her senior sister, Ava, swam the second leg in the 4×50 freestyle relay and the third leg in the 400. Freshman Meygen Flores picked up valuable points by placing third in the 200 freestyle in 1:58.21 and winning the 100 butterfly in 57.75.

GALA’s Jordyn Hale won the 50 freestyle in 24 seconds flat and finished second behind Iris Paek of LACES (52.93) in the 100 freestyle in 53.57.