Samba beat returns as Sao Paulo ends 25-year WTA exile
The WTA 250 SP Open, scheduled for the week of Sept. 8, replaces Tunisia's Jasmin Open in Monastir and will feature a 32-player singles draw and 16-team doubles competition on outdoor hard courts.
Women's tennis fans in Brazil's largest city have waited since 2000 for the tour's return, when Hungary's Rita Kuti-Kis claimed the singles crown at the Brasil Open while Argentina's Laura Montalvo and Paola Suarez captured the doubles title.
The South American addition comes during a vibrant 2025 season that has already produced 15 different singles champions across WTA 250, 500 and 1000 events, highlighted by Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva becoming the youngest-ever WTA 1000 tournament winner.
This competitive drama, coupled with the WTA's recent brand refresh, has sparked significant audience growth, with social media followers increasing 25% year-on-year through March and video views surging 163% in the first quarter, the WTA said.
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Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
‘Was it illegal? Yes' – Open star's half-blind coach dad let him drink and try drugs as kid and now lives in the jungle
GOLF SHOTS 'Was it illegal? Yes' – Open star's half-blind coach dad let him drink and try drugs as kid and now lives in the jungle Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) XANDER SCHAUFFELE was illegally allowed to try drugs, drink alcohol and smoke cigars as a child - by his own dad. Fast forward 16 years and the pair drank booze out of the Claret Jug after his Open glory. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Xander Schauffele won The Open last year at Royal Troon Credit: Reuters 5 He was congratulated after the 18th hole by his father Stefan Credit: Getty Schauffele, 31, won The Open at Royal Troon 12 months ago - nine weeks after his maiden Major win at the PGA Championship - and arrives at Portrush as the defending champion. And as well as necking red wine and 'clear liquors' from golf's famous trophy a year ago, he admitted in his champion's press conference: 'I hate to say it, but I've had wine, of course, and then I've had tequila out of it, as well.' Schauffele, though, has been consuming alcohol with his old man Stefan since his early teens. His old man would even give French cognac and Cuban cigars to Xander and his childhood friends when they visited their San Diego home in the mid-noughties. Speaking to The Times, Stefan, 61, said: 'In America, the drinking age is 21 but you're allowed to be killed for your country at 18. This is bulls***. 'I told my boys [Xander and his older brother Nico]: I will teach you everything I know and cram in as many life experiences as I can until you're 16, then you're an adult in my mind. 'That included sexual experiences, even drugs. Someone was selling marijuana and cocaine at the middle school when Xander was 14, so you need to confront this. 'I said, 'I don't mind if you try, you just need to be aware it can f*** you up.' 'There were a lot of green faces with the cigars, some accidents with the alcohol, but they all learnt very quickly. 'Was it illegal? Yes. Can they put me in jail for it now? I don't think so.' Xander Schauffele jokes he was 'trending towards an alcoholic,' but he's happy to be back in Scotland Reflecting back on that upbringing, American Schauffele Jr added: 'He wanted to show me what's on the other side if you are successful. 'But maybe he just wanted a buddy to drink and smoke with.' Around the same age, Stefan challenged Xander to a full-on wrestling fight in the bathroom which ended up with a broken towel rail and the youngster in the bath. Xander added: 'Let's just say I didn't win the fight.' Stefan's parenting techniques have certainly raised question marks. But his determination for his son to succeed as a sporting professional is undeniable. And it is personal for Stefan, too. His own grandfather, Xander's great-grandfather, Richard was a 6ft 8ins 'monster' who played as a striker for Stuttgart before turning to athletics. He qualified for the Olympics discus event and was tipped for gold but injured his shoulder and would never reach the same heights again. HORROR CRASH Stuttgart-born Stefan inherited the sporting genes, initially in the long jump and javelin throw before joining the German national decathlon team. However, like his grandad, his career was cruelly ripped away from him when his car was hit head-on by a drink-driver in 1986. After six eye surgeries and two years in and out of hospital, he used the compensation payment to buy a one-way ticket to California, where he met Ping-Yi Chen, Xander's mother. The couple's first child tragically died of sudden infant death syndrome and they spent two years living in Tokyo, where Stefan discovered golf, a sport he found 'boring' but one he could play with his limited eyesight. So when Xander showed an interest in wanting to make a life out of the sport, Stefan was fully on board, regularly handing in sick notes at Xander's school to take him to the driving range. Now Schauffele has had three crowning moments in his illustrious career - and each one has a significant link to dad Stefan. The first was winning Olympic gold at the delayed Tokyo 2020 games four years ago. Xander gave Stefan - still coaching and representing him at the time - his precious medal. Xander said: 'That was a seriously emotional moment.' Stefan added: 'You're going to make me cry just thinking about it. 'He understood how huge the Olympics was for me. We got in the car and he gave me the medal and said, 'This is for you.'' I got some heckles for it but it's all good fun... it's a trophy that car Xander Schauffele Then came the PGA Championship win at Valhalla in May 2024 as Schauffele ditched his nearly-man tag by pipping Bryson DeChambeau by one shot. However, Stefan was not there to see his son become a Major champion. That is because he lives in a 20ft shipping container in the remote Hawaiian island of Kauai where he clears areas of jungle with a chainsaw. The mobile home - Stefan had been a 'complete hermit' before being forced to buy the semi-permanent pad - has no electricity or hot water. But he managed to find some electricity to watch the final seven holes of Xander's fourth round at the PGA. Then two months later, Stefan watched his son crowned Champion Golfer of the Year with his victory at Royal Troon. But despite career earnings about to reach £45million - he is 15th in the all-time PGA list - Xander has not lost touch with his humble roots, by still driving his 2015 Toyota Camry, a nod to his rental motor he would drive to qualifying rounds of tournaments ranked way down at No1,734 in the world. Schauffele - who turned down an offer worth a reported £150m from LIV Golf in 2022 - revealed: 'I drove it to Torrey Pines this year. 'I got some heckles for it but it's all good fun. 'It's a trophy that car. Those moments of despair are very important.' Come Sunday, Xander and Stefan will be hoping to keep hold of the other trophy for another year, too. 5 Stefan certainly had some unusual parenting choices Credit: Getty 5 Xander gave his father his Olympic medal and the Claret Jug for a year Credit: Getty
Scottish Sun
8 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
‘I go mental for an hour' – Scots golf star reveals bizarre tactic cool-down tactic where he BREAKS things
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ROBERT MACINTYRE will be hoping to break Scotland's 26-year barren run at The Open this coming week. And to help him do so, he might physically smash a few things along the way... Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Robert MacIntyre has detailed his unique 'cool-down' tactic ahead of The Open Credit: Reuters The Scots golf ace has revealed he gives himself a "mental hour" to recover from days on the course where things don't go his way. The aftermath of three of his four rounds at the Scottish Open last weekend would have presumably qualified for such a reaction - indeed, he'd already had an outburst on the course that forced Sky Sports to apologise over his use of language. The Oban lefty described his title defence as HORRIBLE as he finished two-over-par at the Renaissance Club, 17 shots behind eventual winner Chris Gotterup. MacIntyre, 28, heads to Royal Portrush with reason for optimism after a T-6 finish there in 2019 in his Open Championship debut. And he's opened up on the power hour that he uses to release the tension, with the bizarre tactic allowing him to break things and reset ahead of his next round. He said: 'I'm pretty good at telling everyone give me an hour. 'I can go as mental as I want for an hour. 'And after that, I just back to life. 'Just anything I want. You can break things. You can literally do whatever I want for an hour. 'After that hour is gone, my job's done. Scottie Scheffler channels inner Happy Gilmore and SCREAMS at ball just days before The Open 'I just back to life. 'If you have a bad day at work, you're going to be annoyed. 'It's been difficult in the past for me to reset, but nowadays, there's so many golf tournaments and you don't know what's coming the next week.' MacIntyre changed clubs at the start of last year and it coincided with him going on to win twice on tour, at the Canadian Open and the Scottish Open. But this year's conditions at North Berwick were vastly different to what he'd been used to before, with the fairways brick hard and the links turf playing much firmer than it did 12 months ago. He said: 'I changed to Titleist equipment at the start of last year, the irons, and they're brilliant 99 percent of the time, but I haven't used them when it was brick hard, firm, when it was hardly any grass. 'Sometimes your ball was setting on just like, I don't know, it was almost dirt-like, it was so firm, so compacted. 'The irons I use are to help me get the club out of the ground because I'm steep. 'Last week, because it was brick hard, the club wouldn't go in the ground. So, it was just the short irons I was struggling with. 'Once we picked that apart Sunday after the round and once I'd spoken to you guys and actually had calmed down and was thinking clear, it was almost like there's a learning curve." Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
Scottish Sun
19 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
World's oldest marathon runner – 114yo Brit Fauja Singh – ‘hit by a car & killed while trying to cross the road'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BRITISH marathon legend has died after he was reportedly hit by a car in India. Fauja Singh passed away at the age of 114 after he spent years making history - including becoming the world's oldest marathon runner at the age of 101. 7 British marathon legend Fauja Singh has died after he was hit by a car in India Credit: Reuters 7 The incredible athlete warming up for the London Marathon back in 2002 when he was a 91-year-old Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd 7 Singh running one of his final ever races at the age of 101 Credit: AP:Associated Press The beloved athlete is still believed to be the oldest runner to ever complete a full marathon. He tragically lost his life after he was smashed into by a car as he crossed the road in his home village of Beas Pind in Punjab on Monday, according to reports in India. Singh - who had lived in Ilford since 1992 - broke onto the global running scene after he started to compete in marathons at the age of 89. He continued to run up until he was 101 years old competitively. read more in celebrity deaths LEGEND GONE Rock legend and Strawbs frontman dies 'peacefully' aged 85 after a long illness During those remarkable years he received a personal letter from Queen Elizabeth II, was honoured by the Guinness World Records and became a torchbearer for the London 2012 Olympics. His London-based running club and worldwide charity, Sikhs In The City, confirmed his death today. Touching tributes were led by Harmander Singh, Singh's coach at the running club. He announced: "Dearest runners. It is with great sadness that we can confirm our icon of humanity and powerhouse of positivity Fauja Singh has passed away in India. Aged 114 years old. "He succumbed to injuries caused by a vehicle accident while crossing the road close to his home. "In lieu of flowers please donate to his Clubhouse Appeal so we can carry on his legacy to encourage the world to keep fit and stay positive." TikTok star Aldo Miranda, 32, found dead at home as heartbreaking final post revealed The running club have planned several upcoming events in London to celebrate his life and achievements. Singh's legacy is made even more impressive due to him suffering from thin and weak legs which meant he was unable to walk until he was five years old. After moving to London in the 90s he only took up running in 2000 after the death of his wife. Aged 90, he ran the London Marathon in six hours and 54 minutes - beating the previous record for anyone over 90 by almost an hour. Singh went on to compete in numerous marathons with his best ever finish being at the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon. It took him just five hours and 40 minutes. When he hit 100, Singh showed no signs of slowing down as he attempted to become the first centenarian to run a marathon in 2011. After finishing the race, Guinness World Records described it as an "inspirational achievement". 7 The moment a 100-year-old Singh crossed the finish line at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2011 Credit: Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 7 Singh passed away from his injuries at the age of 114 Credit: AP:Associated Press 7 The Indian-born runner holds dozens of records Credit: PA:Press Association They were unfortunately unable to register it as an official record due to complications with Singh's birth certificate. He didn't own the proper documents due to his upbringing in India during the early 1900s despite the date of birth on his passport being April 1 1911. After running a few more events, he eventually retired from racing at the age of 101. Other tributes have flooded in since his passing was confirmed. MP Preet Kaur Gill said on X: "Saddened to hear about the passing of Fauja Singh. "I had the honour of meeting him. A truly inspiring man. His discipline, simple living, and deep humility left a lasting mark on me. "A reminder that age is just a number, but attitude is everything. Rest in power, legend." Fellow MP Jas Athwal MP added: "Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Sardar Fauja Singh Ji. "He was legendary - a man who continued running until he was 101. He was a global Sikh icon, that inspired millions across the world. "His spirit and legacy of resilience will run on forever. My heartfelt condolences to all his family and friends. We will miss him. RIP."
