Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz continued his sensational US Open debut by coming from behind to beat German Peter Gojowczyk in five sets and reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

Alcaraz, 18, recovered from two-sets-to-one down to win 5-7 6-1 5-7 6-2 6-0.

The victory sees Alcaraz become the youngest player in the Open era to reach the US Open men’s last eight.

The world number 55 will face Canadian 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or the USA’s Frances Tiafoe next in New York.

Spain’s talented young star Alcaraz announced himself on one of the sport’s grandest stages as he stunned Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a fifth set tie-break in the previous round.

That seismic victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium, after which he thanked the crowd for playing their part, made him the youngest men’s singles player to reach the US Open fourth round in 32 years.

This time out on a packed Grandstand court, the Spaniard fell behind to 32-year-old qualifier Gojowczyk, as the world number 141 battled back from a double break of serve down to clinch a rollercoaster opening set.

Alcaraz, who at 5-4 had served for a first set which featured seven breaks in all, refused to make the same mistake with a dominant display in the second – converting an early advantage by winning four successive games.

The momentum swung again in the third set, as Gojowczyk shrugged off the disappointment of being denied at set point to immediately break back and regain control of the match.

An enthralling contest unfortunately did not get the ending it deserved, however.

Alcaraz once again rose to the occasion, executing a delightful drop shot to break back for 1-1 in the fourth set before conceding just one more game on his way to setting up a decider.

But a struggling Gojowczyk, who received treatment to his right leg before the start of the final set, could offer no resistance as Alcaraz ultimately cruised to victory – becoming the youngest men’s singles quarter-finalist at Grand Slam since 1990 in the process.

He will not be the only teenager in the last eight of the singles competitions. Canadian Leviah Fernandez will face fifth seed Elina Svitolina for a semi final spot as, on the eve of her 19th birthday, she defeated 2016 champion Angelique Kerber.

They could yet be joined by fellow 18-year-old Emma Raducanu, with the Briton set to face American Shelby Rogers on Monday.

Qualifier Van de Zandschulp stuns Schwartzman to set up Medvedev tie

Elsewhere, Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp stunned Argentine 11th seed Diego Schwartzman in five sets.

The world number 117 recovered from losing the third and fourth sets to win 6-3 6-4 5-7 5-7 6-1 and become only the third qualifier to reach the US Open men’s quarter-finals.

Having not previously been beyond the second round of a Grand Slam, Van de Zandschulp will meet second seed Daniil Medvedev for a place in the last four.

Russian Medvedev, the 2019 runner-up, outclassed beat British number one Dan Evans on Sunday and is yet to drop a set after four rounds following his 6-3 6-4 6-3 victory.

The 25-year-old Van de Zandschulp turned professional in 2013 but only qualified for his first Grand Slam main draw at the 2021 Australian Open.

The Dutchman had already put out eighth seed Casper Ruud in round two before this latest statement victory over world number 14 Schwartzman, in which he produced 55 winners and 15 aces in an impressive four-hour-and-20-minute display.

And his reward for four hard-fought main draw victories in New York – in which he has played an exhausting 18 sets – will be a meeting with two-time major finalist Medvedev in the second week.

“I don’t really have words for it,” said Van de Zandschulp, who also had to come through three qualifying matches.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took a dominant victory over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the Dutch Grand Prix to retake the championship lead.

Verstappen, cheered on by 65,000 enthusiastic home fans, led all the way from pole position, comfortably keeping a following Hamilton at bay.

The Dutchman leads Hamilton by three points after his seventh win in 2021.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was third, ahead of Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Mercedes tried what they could to challenge Verstappen, putting Hamilton on a two-stop strategy, then trying to use Bottas to hold him up, but Red Bull always appeared to be in control.

There appeared to be some disagreements between Hamilton and the team on the strategy deployed, but their conversations were a function of the fact that Verstappen just had that bit of extra pace to be able to answer everything Mercedes threw at him.

“They were just too fast today,” Hamilton said over the radio on the slowing down lap.

How did it play out?

After leading from the start, Verstappen was 3.5 seconds ahead of Hamilton when Mercedes pulled the seven-time champion in for a pit stop on lap 20, too early for the predicted one-stop race.

Red Bull responded a lap later with Verstappen, but Mercedes left Bottas out and the Finn took the lead.

As Verstappen and Hamilton closed in, the Finn was told he had to defend if he wanted to try to win the race.

But as soon as Verstappen caught him, Bottas went in too deep at the chicane, allowing the Red Bull to close right in and sweep past down the pit straight.

That was Bottas’ hopes finished, and Hamilton’s were effectively the same, even if the Briton continued to try to put up a fight.

After the first pit stops, Hamilton was less than two seconds behind for 16 laps, which is close enough to try for the under-cut strategy – pit first and try to use the grip from fresher tyres to gain a place.

But Mercedes missed the chance and, in three laps from lap 36 to lap 39, Verstappen pulled a further second clear, at which point Mercedes pitted Hamilton.

Red Bull responded the following lap – fitting hard tyres rather than the mediums Hamilton took at his second stop – and Verstappen retained the lead.

Hamilton complained that Mercedes had stopped him too early, then that his tyres would not go to the end.

When Mercedes suggested he manage them, he asked them whether they were asking him not to race, because he was pushing to close the gap, at which point they told him to keep going.

Hamilton closed in again to just over a second behind Verstappen as they lapped other cars, but dropped back again once they were back on a clear track.

Hamilton’s consolation was a late pit stop to claim the point for fastest lap.

There was an interesting twist, though, when Mercedes pulled Bottas in for a late pit stop and ordered him not to go for fastest lap – only for the Finn to ignore the plea.

Before the end of the lap, strategy director James Vowles came on the radio and asked him to “please abort the fastest lap attempt” but despite that Bottas did post the quickest time – which many will see as an indication that George Russell will be announced as his replacement at Mercedes within the next few days.

Bottas later claimed he “didn’t go for it” – and he did back off in the final sector, to make it easier for Hamilton to reclaim it.

“I knew Lewis was going to stop as well,” Bottas said, “and I knew with a decent amount of lifting in the last sector he will get it, so no drama.”

Hamilton duly pitted on the next lap and reclaimed the point from his team-mate.

Gasly stars again

Gasly matched his highly impressive fourth place on the grid with a comfortable drive to finish in the same place, ahead of Leclerc.

Fernando Alonso drove an excellent, measured, controlled race to pass the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz for sixth place on the final lap.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez recovered from a pit lane start to take eighth place, ahead of the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Driver of the day

What happens next?

The Italian Grand Prix in a week’s time. Hamilton’s engineer said they will bounce back at super-fast Monza, but Verstappen is looking very hard to beat right now.

Already, Finidi George may replace Coach Osho who has confirmed his departure from Enyimba.

Nigeria Professional Football League side, Enyimba International, are in talks with former Nigeria international, Finidi George, who indications suggest could be named Technical Adviser of the club if ongoing negotiations end well.

There have been fruitful talks with the former Ajax winger and an official announcement should be made ‘very soon’ once all the knotty areas are sorted.

“Yes it is true. Fatai Osho has left Enyimba and Finidi George has been contacted to replace him but we haven’t agreed to any deal yet,” a top club official told newsmen in Aba

Already, Coach Osho has confirmed his departure from Enyimba with an appreciation post on his official Facebook page on Thursday.

Osho thanked the People’s Elephant for the opportunity given him to serve; adding that he would remain a dedicated fan of the club with the most league titles in Nigeria.

He wrote: “I use this medium to thank everyone for my journey of two years with this great club and institution which has now come to an end. I want to thank all the players, coaches and management that have made it possible for us to achieve the little we were able to achieve during my time. I remain greatly indebted to your great support and cooperation through thick and thin.

I remain a huge fan of this massive club forever. I appreciate you all. I can’t just thank you enough.”

For varying reasons, including a long list of injuries, Enyimba did not enjoy the best of campaigns last season.

This is evident in their inability to qualify for the CAF Champions League which they have won on two occasions, the only Nigerian club to do so.

Before the discussion with Enyimba,  Finidi, 50, had been linked with handling one of the country’s age-grade teams. But that never happened.

Though Finidi holds a UEFA B coaching license, he has yet to make waves unlike his playing days, when he excelled with several top clubs like Ajax Amsterdam, Real Betis, Real Mallorca and Ipswich Town.

If his appointment is confirmed, the immediate task for the former international will be to guide Enyimba to reach the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup after they placed third on the NPFL table last season.

Media officer for Enyimba, Zazi Bariza, confirmed that talks are ongoing with Finidi but declined further comments.

The senior Nigeria national football team-the super eagles, began their quest for a fourth consecutive qualification for the FIFA WORLD CUP – Qatar 2022, with a comfortable 2-0 victory over west African neighbours, Liberia, in which Kelechi Iheanacho scored both goals in each half.

The match took place at the Teslim Balogun stadium in Lagos and the pitch managers did a great job for the surface to hold up after almost 12 hours of rain on Friday, September 3.

There were no surprises in the starting 11 as Gernot Rohr chose his tried and tested set of players. Moses Simon started ahead of Samuel Kalu, in what was a little tweak to the front three that also had Iheanacho, in a free role behind victor Osimhen.

Here are the players’ ratings for the match:

Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez continued her remarkable US Open run as she beat 2016 champion Angelique Kerber to advance to the quarter-finals.

On the eve of her 19th birthday, Fernandez backed up her win over Naomi Osaka with a 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over Germany’s Kerber.

She battled back from a 4-2 deficit in the second set to force a tie-break and barely let up from then on.

Fernandez will face fifth seed Elina Svitolina for a semi-final spot.

Fernandez doubled over as her victory was confirmed, before she was given a standing ovation by a full crowd on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“I was just glad I was having fun on the court,” Fernandez said.

“I have been working hard since the day I started playing tennis and the day I set my mind to being a professional.

“I expected that one day my tennis game is going to come through and that I’m going to be on the big stage in front of a big crowd and getting the wins.”The kids are alright

Fernandez is one of three teenagers to have broken through at the US Open, registering victories over four-time Slam champion Osaka and three-time winner Kerber.

Fellow 18-year-olds Emma Raducanu of Britain and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz have also advanced to the fourth round, with Alcaraz taking out third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas earlier in the week.

Born in Montreal, Fernandez was cut from the provincial development program at a young age, with the family moving to Florida to build her and her sister’s careers.

Her father Jorge, a former soccer player who turned professional at 13, learned tennis in order to coach his daughter.

It paid off, with Fernandez winning the 2019 French Open girls singles title and breaking into the top 100 the next year.

Despite being the youngest player in the main draw, she won her first WTA title in Monterrey, Mexico in March, and did not drop a set throughout the week.

She showed her fearlessness against Kerber, hitting 45 winners, and showing total composure to battle her way into the last eight.

Fernandez battles back

Fernandez did well to put her first-set disappointment behind her, where she let an early break slip.

She served for a 5-2 lead but was broken by an increasingly belligerent Kerber, with the Canadian winning just two more points in the rest of the set.

Former world number one Kerber used her forehand to great effect in the second set but she too let a break go, with Fernandez hitting a scorching winner out of the air to force it to 4-4.

Kerber was forced to save a set point en route to forcing a tie-break, but Fernandez raced to a 5-1 leave, with Kerber giving her support box a sarcastic thumbs-up at the change of ends.

After Kerber sent a volley long to hand over the set, Fernandez gestured to the crowd to more noise, with most jumping out of their seats to give her an ovation.

Known as one of the best defenders in the women’s game, Kerber’s energy started to fade under the relentless pressure from Fernandez.

Fernandez will now face Svitolina, who is on a nine-match unbeaten streak after her 6-3 6-3 victory over Simona Halep.

Svitolina is the second highest-ranked player left in the competition after the exits of world number one Ashleigh Barty and third seed Osaka.

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka overcame 10 double faults to beat her former doubles partner Elise Mertens 6-4 6-1.