* Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka broke through for his maiden ATP singles title on Sunday (Sep 30), outlasting seasoned Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in a grueling final of the Shenzhen Open.
* Australian Bernard Tomic won his first tournament in three years on Sunday (Sep 30), saving four match points to triumph at the Chengdu Open. The 25-year-old defeated top seed Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7) in a thrilling three-setter in southwest China, where he was a qualifier.
* World number one Simona Halep was forced to retire in the first round of the China Open on Sunday after aggravating a back injury. Halep lost the first set to Tunisia's Ons Jabeur 6-1 on Sunday before deciding she could not continue and said she would have a scan to assess the full extent of the damage.
* Cardiff City missed a chance to move out of the Premier League's bottom three by conceding two poor goals in a 2-1 home defeat by Burnley on Sunday (Sep 30).
* Max Verstappen celebrated his 21st birthday in style on Sunday with the Red Bull driver carving from the back of the Russian Grand Prix grid to first in the space of 19 laps. He then stayed out in front until pitting 10 laps from the end to finish fifth.
* Jonathan Bamba hit a second-half penalty and struck at the death as Lille stunned Marseille 3-0 on Sunday (Sep 30) to move up to second place in France's Ligue 1.
* Spain's Ana Carrasco on Sunday (Sep 30) became the first woman to win a world motorcycling title when she triumphed by a single point in the Superbike Supersport 300 division.
* The United States women's basketball team, who have not lost an international match for more than 12 years, swept to a third successive world title on Sunday (Sep 30) with a 73-56 victory over Australia. The six-time Olympic champions also took their winning streak to 51 matches.
* Spanish midfielder Suso scored a brace to end his Serie A goal drought as AC Milan got back winning after three consecutive draws with a 4-1 success which thwarted Sassuolo's bid to go second in Serie A on Sunday (Sep 30).
