theSIGNAL SPORT
27 August 2026
"Champions are not made in gyms — they are made from something deep inside them."
Sport

Sky locks up US Open until 2030

Sky Sports is finalising a three-year extension that will keep it as the exclusive UK home of the US Open through 2030. The announcement is expected when the singles draw is released at Flushing Meadows next week, and the deal will guarantee more than 12 hours of live tennis daily — including the new mixed-doubles event already under way this week. The deal matters beyond the court. Sky's tennis audience in 2025 ran roughly 60% female — nearly double its platform-wide average of 31% — making the sport a prized tool for attracting advertisers who rarely appear on its football or rugby coverage.…
  • Does exclusive pay-TV coverage of tennis unfairly lock out younger fans?
Sport

Champions League draw pots confirmed

Thirty-six clubs now know exactly where they stand. Europe's elite have been sorted into four pots ahead of the Champions League draw, with Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona and back-to-back winners PSG all landing in pot one. Aston Villa and Manchester United, both returning after a season away, sit in pot two alongside Dortmund and Porto, while Galatasaray, Napoli and Shakhtar Donetsk feature in pot three — and Norway's Viking face the longest odds of anyone in pot four.
  • Does a pot-one place guarantee easier opponents, or create false confidence?
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Venus and Serena have never lost a major doubles final together.
USTA Wildcard Committee Statement
Photo: Braden Collum / Unsplash
Venus and Serena Williams, two-time US Open doubles champions, reunite on the Flushing Meadows court once more.
Sport

Williams Sisters Return to US Open Doubles Together

Venus and Serena Williams are back as a doubles team at Flushing Meadows, four years after their last Grand Slam pairing ended an era.

The moment tennis fans have been waiting for is confirmed: Venus and Serena Williams will partner each other in the women's doubles at the 2025 US Open. The United States Tennis Association has handed the sisters a wildcard entry — their ticket back to the court where they first won the title together in 1999, and where they repeated the feat exactly ten years later. This is only the third time the two Americans have appeared together at a Grand Slam since their Wimbledon doubles triumph in 2016 — the last of their 14 major doubles titles as a pair. Their previous reunion came at the 2022 US Open, the tournament in which Serena announced her departure from professional tennis.

What makes this comeback even more remarkable is the physical ground both players have had to cover to get here. Serena, now 44, returned to doubles competition at Queen's Club in June, collected the final Wimbledon singles wildcard, but then sustained a knee injury that kept her out of the scheduled doubles alongside Venus. The two did manage to play together at the Cincinnati Open in August, falling in three sets to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns. Venus, 46, has continued to compete sporadically on the WTA Tour and reached the women's doubles quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows as recently as last year, partnering Canada's Leylah Fernandez.

Meanwhile, Serena has already been active at this year's US Open, pairing with Carlos Alcaraz in mixed doubles and winning their opening match before exiting in the quarter-finals. The sisters, who have never lost a Grand Slam doubles final together, are scheduled to begin their campaign on either 3 or 4 September.

🏆
14
Grand Slam doubles titles won together
Discuss
  • Why do you think the USTA chose to award Venus and Serena a wildcard entry?
  • Is it fair for former champions to receive wildcards, or should all players qualify on merit?
  • What does Serena's return from retirement reveal about the nature of athletic identity?
  • How might younger opponents feel about facing two of the sport's greatest legends?
  • Should age limits ever be considered in professional sport, and who should decide?
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theSIGNAL IN THE LAB
1VOCABULARY
wildcard entrysustained
sporadicallydeparturefinalising
prizedback-to-back
2GRAMMAR FOCUS
Participle clauses — present (-ing) and past (-ed)
Participle clauses replace longer relative or adverbial clauses to add information concisely. A present participle (-ing) shows an active or simultaneous action, while a past participle (-ed) shows a passive or completed action.
partnering · sorted · handed · falling · finalising · known · returning
  1. a wildcard entry by the USTA, the Williams sisters will compete together at the 2025 US Open.
  2. Venus reached the doubles quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows last year, Canada's Leylah Fernandez.
  3. The 36 clubs, into four pots, now know their position ahead of the Champions League draw.
  4. The sisters lost in Cincinnati, in three sets to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.
  5. Sky Sports is a deal that will keep it as the exclusive UK broadcaster of the US Open until 2030.
  6. Aston Villa and Manchester United, both after a season away, sit in pot two.
3IDIOMS
Define each idiom in your own words. Then write one sentence of your own using one of them.
  1. repeated the feat (Williams Sisters article)
  2. the physical ground both players have had to cover (Williams Sisters article)
  3. compete sporadically (Williams Sisters article)
  4. the quiet fact hanging over every opponent's preparation (Williams Sisters article)
  5. a prized tool (Sky article)
4CRITICAL THINKING
Sky's US Open audience is nearly 60% female, yet the network's platform-wide average sits at just 31%. What does this gap suggest about how sports broadcasting currently serves — or fails to serve — different audience groups, and what responsibility do broadcasters have to act on that data?
5CREATIVE · HEADLINES
Write a headline for the top story in each of the following styles. One line each, no explanation:
  • TABLOID NEWSPAPER
  • LUXURY MAGAZINE
  • ACTIVIST BLOG
6WRITING
The Williams sisters have never lost a Grand Slam doubles final together. Write a short match report — real or imagined — describing the atmosphere, the key moments, and the crowd's reaction as they win their first title match of this comeback.
7DEGREES OF EXTREMITY
Complete each ladder from mild to strong.
  • played occasionally
  • left the sport
  • interesting
  • lost narrowly
  • useful
  • some chance
8SPEAKING
  1. Which of their 14 titles together means the most, and why?
  2. Can Sky's female-audience success reshape how sports rights are sold?
  3. Does a perfect doubles final record create pressure or freedom?
  4. Which pot-one club faces the toughest path to the final?