Welcome to the latest Hugh Watches Sports post. In this edition we will look back on the start of the new Women’s Super League season, the opening week of tennis at the US Open, the latest Formula 1 race, a monumental international rugby match-up, plus a big fixture from Italian football’s top division. Let’s get into it.
LONDON CITY LIONESSES VS MANCHESTER UNITED WOMEN (FOOTBALL)
On Friday night the new Women’s Super League season got underway with London City Lionesses hosting Manchester United. It’s been a busy summer for both of these teams with an array of changes at each club. The headline news at London City has been the signing of two-time Balon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas from Barcelona. With ambitions to break into the WSL’s top three and qualify for the Champions League this season, the recruitment of Putellas and other big names such as Mapi Leon and Mary Earps has created a lot of hype surrounding the club for the coming season. Meanwhile Manchester United’s big change during the summer came in the dugout as Marc Skinner departed and was replaced by Eva Olid. Similarly to London City, the goal for United this season is to finish in the top three and return to the Champions League after missing out last year. When the team news was announced at Hayes Lane there was a piece of league history made as London City named the first ever starting eleven which didn’t include a single English player in the WSL. As the game kicked off, the home side made a positive start to assert some authority on proceedings. That positivity was rewarded in the ninth minute when a corner whipped into the penalty area from the right was met at the back post by a combination of Alanna Kennedy and Man United’s Julia Zigiotti and sent into the back of the net. It was the perfect opening to the season for London City as they took an early lead through what was later confirmed to be an own goal by Zigiotti. Full of confidence, the star-studded hosts quickly looked to double their lead. First, an excellent cross from Delphine Cascarino seemed destined to be tapped in at the back post by Rosa Kafaji but a superb interception from Jayde Riviere prevented what would’ve been an almost-certain second goal. Then, two minutes later, London City went close to scoring again as Kafaji found Putellas on the edge of the penalty area and she then worked the ball through to Cascarino whose effort was superbly pushed re the crossbar by United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce. Thankfully for United, they managed to weather the storm and keep their deficit down to just one goal as we reached half time but they were being comfortably outplayed by their hosts. After the interval, the pattern of the game remained the same as London City continued to dominate. On forty-nine minutes, Kennedy lined-up a long range shot which was heading towards the bottom corner of the net before Tullis-Joyce got down well to tip it around the post. The United goalkeeper was called into action again moments later to stop Kafaji’s strike from the edge of the penalty area. It seemed remarkable that the score was still only 1-0 but somehow it was and if United could put an attack together then they still had a chance to rescue a draw. On seventy-eight minutes, the visitors finally had their first shot of the encounter when Monica Jusu Bah’s cross found its way to Jess Park on the edge of the penalty area who took two touches before unleashing a strike which went into the near side netting of London City’s goal. Despite missing, it was finally a sign of attacking intent from United after a dismal showing across the previous seventy-eight minutes. It also increased the necessity of London City to find a second goal and one finally arrived for them in eighty-second minute. A well-worked set-piece routine saw Leon play a short corner to Janni Thomsen who slipped the ball in to Cascarino on the right hand side of the penalty area and her low cross was then directed into the far corner of the net by a wonderful back-heeled flick from Danielle Van De Donk. It was a superb goal for the hosts as they moved 2-0 ahead and within touching distance of their first three points of the season. As we played out the added period of stoppage time at the end of the match, United finally had something to celebrate as Ella Toone’s free-kick caused chaos in the penalty area and the ball fell kindly for Simi Awujo to smash into the net for a consolation goal. Overall though, a convincing display from London City Lionesses saw them clinch a 2-1 victory against Manchester United. It was a well-deserved three points for the newly-assembled team as they made a strong start to the season on home soil.
US OPEN WEEK ONE (TENNIS)
This week saw the fourth and final grand slam of the year kick off. In the chaotic and noisy setting of New York, the world’s best tennis players have been competing for the US Open singles title’s and here is my look back on the big stories from the first three rounds. The most notable theme of the opening week has been the exit of a number of the top seeds in the men’s draw. On day one, Novak Djokovic headlined the night session as he took on Mariano Navone. A very out-of-sorts Djokovic lost out in five sets against the gutsy Argentinian as Navone recorded the biggest win of his career. That marked the first time in over twenty years that Djokovic had lost in round one of a grand slam bringing to an end a phenomenal run. Remarkably that wasn’t even the biggest shock in the first round of the men’s draw as recently-crowned Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils found himself on the end of a 4-6 7-6 6-1 6-4 defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Elsewhere in round one it looked like we could also lose the top seed as well when Alexander Zverev trailed Lorenzo Sonego by two sets to one, although the German was able to recover and win in five sets. Moving into the second round, two more top ten players suffered early exits from the tournament as Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex De Minaur went down in their respective encounters against Karen Khachanov and Botic Van De Zandschulp. There was also a surprise defeat for one of the most in-form players coming into the US Open as Brandon Nakashima was beaten 6-3 6-4 6-4 by Alex Michelsen. Just like in the opening two rounds, we lost another two top ten seed’s in the third round. First, fifth seed Flavio Cobolli lost 6-7 6-3 6-0 6-3 to Alexander Blockx. Then there was a shock on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court as former finalist Taylor Fritz went out after having been two sets up. The American was eventually beaten 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 by Francisco Cerundolo as the Argentinian pulled off an exceptional comeback to reach the fourth round. Looking ahead as we enter the second week, there are only four top ten players left in the men’s draw with Zverev the only one remaining in the top half. Meanwhile, the bottom half is headlined by Carlos Alcaraz who has made a smooth comeback from his injury by cruising through the first week. As it stands the Spaniard is the favourite to win the US Open although fellow top ten seeds Daniil Medvedev and Ben Shelton also remain in the bottom half.
In contrast to the men, the women’s top seed’s have been much more reliable throughout the first week in New York. The top four seed’s Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff all started off with straight set victories in their opening matches. In fact the big two stories of the first round featured unseeded players as former champion Sloane Stephens recorded her first grand slam singles main draw win since Wimbledon 2024 when she got past Clara Tauson 6-4 6-1. Meanwhile, two wildcard entries went head-to-head when Venus Williams faced Sofia Kenin in an intriguing match which was won by Kenin 6-2 7-6 after she had saved seven set points during a thrilling end to the second set. In round two, defending champion Sabalenka was in fine form as she beat Polina Iatcenko 6-1 6-1 in just fifty-three minutes. Similarly, there were also two-set triumph’s for fellow top seed’s Rybakina, Pegula and Gauff. At the conclusion of round two, the top ten seed’s all remained in the draw, however that wasn’t the case by the end of the third round. Firstly, seventh seed Karolina Muchova lost 6-3 7-5 against twenty-sixth seed Emma Navarro. Then ninth seed Elena Svitolina went out of the tournament following a three-set loss to Anna Kalinskaya. Elsewhere, tenth seed and last year’s beaten finalist Amanda Anisimova went down 6-2 7-5 in a great match with Anastasia Potapova. Also in round three of the women’s draw we saw one of the best encounters of the tournament so far as Qinwen Zheng came back from 5-0 down in the third set to defeat Madison Keys 1-6 7-6 7-5. Meanwhile, another thrilling match saw third seed Pegula beat former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 1-6 6-4 6-3 on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. Looking ahead to week two in the women’s draw, there are a lot of potential exciting match-up’s ahead as the top six seed’s all remain in the tournament, alongside former champions Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka as we head into the final four rounds. Whilst we will definitely crown a US Open champion next weekend, we could also see a new world number one as Rybakina will replace Sabalenka at the top of the world rankings if she makes the semi finals. Whatever unfolds across the next seven days in New York, I look forward to rounding it up in next week’s Hugh Watches Sports post.
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX (FORMULA 1)
Formula 1 headed to one of its most iconic circuits this weekend as Monza hosted round thirteen of the 2026 season. Coming into this race, we had an Italian driver at the top of the championship as Kimi Antonelli led the standings, ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Although due to taking new engine parts outside of his initial allocation, Antonelli would serve a grid penalty and start his home race from the back of the order. In qualifying on Saturday, there was a huge surprise as Pierre Gasly incredibly clinched pole position. It was the first pole position of his career and the first his team had achieved since 2009. Furthermore, this was the first time ever Alpine had been on pole, as the team were still Renault back in 2009 when Fernando Alonso was their pole-sitter. That set up a potentially fascinating race on Sunday as Gasly was joined on the front row by Russell with the heavily-supported two Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Hamilton occupying the second row. Behind them was Verstappen in fifth and Piastri in sixth, with the Australian initially qualifying third but then receiving a three-place grid penalty for impeding. Further back the leaders would also need to be wary of the potential threat of Antonelli as he made his way up through the field. After Alex Albon also took a grid penalty for changing engine parts on his car, plus Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson opted to start from the pit lane, Antonelli began the race in nineteenth. As the race commenced, Gasly got away well to hold onto his lead with Russell in second, however the two Ferrari’s squabbled through the first chicane which left Hamilton running wide and into the gravel, dropping him down to tenth place. By the end of the opening lap, Russell was right on the back of Gasly and he pulled off a simple overtake to pass the Alpine for the race lead on the start-finish straight. Later on lap two, Verstappen snuck past Leclerc and into third. However the big moment came at the end of the lap when Leclerc went off the racing line to defend his position against Piastri and lost control which sent his Ferrari spinning into the barrier and out of the race. It was a massive collision and thankfully Leclerc quickly reported he was okay and got out of the car. That incident and the subsequent damage caused the race to be red-flagged and all drivers has to return to the pit lane. In the moments between Leclerc’s spin and the red flag being declared, Franco Colapinto had slipped past Piastri which meant two Alpine’s were now running in the top four as we paused the race. Following a thirty minute stoppage, the race resumed with a second tanning start of the day. This time Russell was at the front, with Gasly, Verstappen, Colapinto and Piastri making up the rest of the top five. It should also be noted that after a stunning opening lap, Antonelli was already up to twelfth in the order. As the five red lights went out to begin lap six of the Grand Prix, Russell held onto his lead whilst Colapinto briefly got ahead of Verstappen and into third. A mistake proved costly for the Argentine though as he ran wide and through the gravel which saw him drop down to sixteenth. Further back, an impressive restart from Hamilton had seen him get past both McLaren’s and up into fourth. As the cars of the top teams’ started to find their rhythm and show their strengths, Gasly saw himself passed by Verstappen, Hamilton, Piastri and Antonelli before the end of lap ten. As we crossed the line to start lap twelve, Verstappen sprung an overtaking move on Russell and he pulled it off into turn one to take the lead. Meanwhile, Antonelli continued to gain positions as he and Piastri got past Hamilton which saw the Italian now into the top four. Out in front, Verstappen struggled to shake off the challenge of Russell and within three laps time the Brit cruised past his Red Bull to re-take top spot. A lap later, it was a case of ‘deja vu’ for Verstappen as he saw Antonelli pass him at the exact same place as Russell had on the previous lap. Sensationally, that out Antonelli up into second on lap sixteen, having gained seventeen places in that period and now he was set to chase down his teammate ahead. Two laps later and Antonelli completed the ultimate climb through the field as he squeezed past Russell going into the first chicane to move into first position. That set off a period of ‘yo-yo racing’ between the two Mercedes’ drivers as they frequently swapped positions across the next five laps before Russell was able to get and stay ahead of his teammate on lap twenty-three. Elsewhere, Alonso came into the pit lane to retire from the race after another tough weekend for Aston Martin. On lap twenty-eight, Lance Stroll stopped on track with an issue which turned out to be a crucial moment in the race. The Canadian’s retirement was met with a virtual safety car being declared and it proved perfect timing for Antonelli and Verstappen to sneak in and make a cheap pit stop for new tyre’s. Whilst that initially dropped them down to sixth and seventh respectively, the advantage of having much fresher tyre’s than all those ahead of them was huge in their quest to win the race. As the virtual safety car period ended and racing resumed, Antonelli quickly made his way past Gasly, Lando Norris and Hamilton to move into third before the end of lap thirty-five. Two laps later, he then overtook Piastri for second place meanwhile Verstappen got past Hamilton to return to the top four. By lap forty-four, Antonelli now had his sights firmly set on chasing down his teammate for the win, whilst Verstappen was up into third after seeing off Piastri. The gap between the top two was four seconds with nine laps to go but Russell was losing time due to tyre degradation whereas Antonelli was comfortably quicker on his fresher set of tyres. On lap forty-nine, Antonelli was right behind his teammate and looked to make a move into turn one but a lock up from Russell distracted Antonelli who then ran wide and dipped his tyre into the gravel, allowing the Brit to hold onto the lead. With a clam head, the Italian re-grouped snd when he attempted another move on lap fifty he comfortably breezed past Russell to claim the race lead. As the Italian shot off down the road and even clinched the fastest lap to round off an incredible drive, there was drama between the two McLaren’s as they fought over forth position, which eventually went the way of Norris with an overtake on the last lap. Ultimately though, as the chequered flag was waved in Monza, Antonelli secured victory at his home Grand Prix for the first time and he did it in style having started the race in nineteenth and finished it in first place. It was a remarkable achievement for the twenty year-old who further demonstrated why so many people in the sport believe he is destined to become one of its great’s. On a day when Ferrari couldn’t live up to the hopes of the home fans, Antonelli provided them with a special experience as they witnessed an Italian driver win at Monza for the first time in Formula 1 since 1966. This victory also see’s Antonelli extend his championship lead over Russell to sixty-six points. Looking ahead, Formula 1 heads from its oldest circuit to a brand new one as we go racing in Madrid next weekend.
SOUTH AFRICA VS NEW ZEALAND (RUGBY UNION)
For the third successive week, the two top nation’s in world rugby went head-to-head on the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour. After a victory for New Zealand in the first of four test matches in the series, South Africa bounced back to win last weekend’s second test and level the series score. Therefore this week’s match-up in Johannesburg took on massive importance as both side’s looked to seal a 2-1 lead going into next Saturday’s final test in Baltimore. As the encounter begun, an early yellow card for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu put South Africa temporarily down to fourteen players. Then, moments later, New Zealand took full advantage of that to open the scoring with Ardie Savea powering the ball over the try line. When Ruben Love then duly kicked the resulting conversion attempt between the posts, the All Blacks established a 7-0 lead. Ten minutes after, with the Springboks now back up to their full compliment of players, a quick sequence of passes saw them work the ball out to Kurt-Lee Arendse on the right wing to run in for their first try. However after missing the following conversion attempt, they remained two points behind New Zealand on the scoreboard. That deficit soon increased when the Savea added his second try of the day for the All Blacks. After a sweeping the ball out to Leroy Carter on the left, Savea then picked up the ball when his teammate was tackled before carrying it in to score. In the final minutes of a closely-fought first half there was a key moment as Love was shown a yellow card and then from the resulting scrum, South Africa were awarded a penalty try. The Springboks’ pushed themselves and the ball towards the try line and the referee spotted an infringement. Initially there was a mini-brawl following the award of the penalty try but that all settled down quickly and after the referee confirmed his decision with the TMO, South Africa moved level with their visitors at 12-12 going into half time. Moving into the second half, it was a tense affair and thoroughly absorbing as a viewer. On fifty-three minutes, New Zealand had a chance to take the lead when Love kicked a penalty towards the posts but the ball headed just wide. Albeit they didn’t have to wait too long for another opportunity to get in front as two minutes later, Carter got on the end of a kick over the top of South Africa’s defence and then laid the ball off for Will Jordan to carry beyond the try line. That put the All Blacks 17-12 ahead although their lead didn’t last long. On fifty-eight minutes, a lovely passing move saw the Springboks move the ball from right to left and into the hands of Jesse Kriel who shoved off his marker and charged over the try line. With Feinberg-Mngomezulu then stepping up to send the ball between the posts and score two extra points, South Africa took the lead for the first time in the match. The hosts extended their advantage on the scoreboard soon after with an impressive example of how to make a maul work for your team as they forced themselves and the ball deep into New Zealand territory before Malcolm Marx popped out and dived the ball beyond the try line. When Feinberg-Mngomezulu successfully kicked the resulting conversion, it felt as though the Springboks finally had some breathing space as they went 26-17 up with just under fifteen minutes to go. As we hit the seventy minute mark, another kick from Feinberg Mngomezulu helped increase their margin of comfort as he scored a penalty to add three more points to South Africa’s total. Despite now having a twelve point deficit to their hosts, New Zealand kept pushing to get themselves back into contention to win the game. As we passed eighty minutes, they were awarded a penalty from which Samisoni Taukei’aho opted to tap and charge towards the try line, where, despite a valiant effort from the South Africa defence, he was eventually able to score a consolation try for the visitors. A successful conversion attempt by Damian McKenzie got New Zealand to twenty-four points but they had to settle for defeat in a phenomenal game of rugby. Much to the delight of the home crowd in Johannesburg, South Africa recorded a 29-24 victory to move 2-1 ahead in the series. Next week the two teams will go head-to-head for the fourth and final time on the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour but this time it will be on neutral ground as Baltimore plays host to South Africa and New Zealand.
JUVENTUS VS AC MILAN (FOOTBALL)
Action from Serie A rounded out the sporting weekend as Juventus faced AC Milan in a huge clash. Coming into this encounter both teams had a perfect record in the league with six points from their opening two matches. However this was the first real test against a fellow top team for either of them to really make a significant statement. Following a cagey and very tactical opening phase of the game where both teams were trying to establish themselves in the game, Juventus started to create some opportunities to score. The best of those came in the twenty-fourth minute when Manuel Locatelli stole the ball from Alexis Saelemaekers inside Milan’s half and found Nico Gonzalez who laid the ball out to Francisco Conceicao on the right hand side of the penalty area where he then cut inside and fired a shot towards goal which was well-saved by Mike Maignan. Later in the half, the home side created another chance for their electric winger Conceicao as he got on the end of a superb chipped pass from Douglas Luiz and hit a first-time strike from twelve yards out which was again magnificently stopped by Maignan. Those two opportunities proved to be the most clear-cut chances either side was able to create meaning that, at the end of a tightly-contested first half, the match was goalless. After the break, Juventus came out on the front foot and looking to open the scoring. In the fifty-fourth minute, Conceicao again went close when his direct low strike from twenty-five yards out beat Maignan but struck the far post and bounced away from the goal. Whilst the hosts were searching for a goal, it was clear that Milan had taken a more defensive approach. They were set up in Ruben Amorim’s familiar three-at-the-back system and seemingly their aim was to focus on keeping a clean sheet and attempt to catch out their opponents on the counter-attack. That tactical plan worked perfectly for them in the sixty-eighth minute as Luka Modric won possession from Randal Kolo Muani just inside his own half and then set Milan off on a swift attack which involved Ruben Loftus-Cheek passing the ball out to Samuel Chukwueze on the right wing who carried it forward before sending a pass across to Alphadjo Cisse on the left hand side of the penalty area who beat his defender, cut inside and then buried a superb finish into the far corner of Juventus’ net. It was an exceptional goal from Milan and finished off exquisitely by Cisse as he curled his shot into the far bottom corner, leaving Juventus goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario with no chance of stopping it. From then on the majority of the match was played inside Milan’s half as they looked to hold onto their lead, whereas Juventus were keen to level the score. In their search for an equaliser, Juventus turned to new singing Nick Woltemade who came off the bench to make his debut. On eighty-three minutes, he had a great chance when the ball bounced kindly for him in a busy penalty area in the aftermath of a blocked free-kick but he sent his attempt high and wide of Maignan’s goal. Nevertheless, Juventus kept putting pressure on Milan’s defence and they finally scored an equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time when Teun Koopmeiners cross from the left was met by Federico Gatti who powered a stunning header past Maignan, off the crossbar and into the back of the net. It was a phenomenal finish from the big centre-back who was playing as a striker in the latter stages of the match as he rescued a point for his side. As the full time whistle blew in Turin, a compelling tactical match-up ended with a point apiece as Juventus and Milan drew 1-1. That keeps both teams unbeaten in the league so far this season ahead of tough fixtures next weekend. On Saturday Milan will head to the capital to face Lazio, meanwhile Juventus come up against Sassuolo on Sunday.
hbopinions 