Ten Hag future up in air after draw

Manchester United’s winless run in all competitions extended to five games after a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday, leaving manager Erik ten Hag’s position uncertain heading into a two-week international break. Ten Hag arrived at Villa Park under huge pressure with United having lost three of its six league games and the club’s minority owner, Jim Ratcliffe, failing to say he had faith in the Dutch coach when asked specifically on Friday. However creditable gaining a point at Villa is, it might still not be enough for Ten Hag — especially with United’s new leadership having two weeks to weigh up his future before the team’s next game. United is in 14th place in the 20-team league. Playing in front of Ratcliffe and the rest of United’s hierarchy, the visitors came closest to scoring when Bruno Fernandes struck a free kick against the crossbar in the 68th. “We are all on board, together, on one page,” Ten Hag said of his relationship with the club’s leadership. “We know what we are working toward — it is a long-term project and we have to keep improving the process.”

Gauff cruises in China Open final

Coco Gauff won her second title this season with a lopsided 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karolina Muchova in the final of the China Open on Sunday. Aged 20, the sixth-ranked U.S. player became the youngest China Open champion in 14 years. She is also the second American champion in Beijing, following Serena Williams’ title runs in 2004 and 2013. “Honestly, it means a lot when I saw that the last American woman to win this was Serena Williams,” Gauff said. “Anytime my name is mentioned in whatever sentence hers is, it’s a huge honor.” It was Gauff’s eighth career title. She improved her record in tour finals to 8-1 and has now a 7-0 record in hard-court finals, a feat never achieved before in the Open Era. “That’s pretty cool,” Gauff said. “I hope somebody else breaks it. I think records are meant to be broken, honestly.” Gauff wasted no time and took the opening set in just 31 minutes. She dropped just five points on her first serve, hit 24 winners and broke Muchova five times. Gauff’s win in Beijing improved her chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals for the third consecutive year.

Bruins’ Swayman signs 8-year deal

The Bruins signed goalie Jeremy Swayman on Sunday to an eight-year contract that will pay him $66 million, ending a second straight summer of contentious negotiations just two days before the season opener. The deal comes a year after the team took Swayman to arbitration and less than a week after Bruins president Cam Neely told reporters: “I have 64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now.” Swayman’s agent, Lewis Gross, denied that the team had offered the 25-year-old from Alaska $64 million. But in the end they did, avoiding a holdout that threatened to derail the season for the Original Six franchise that has had six (non-pandemic-shortened) 100-point seasons in a row but hasn’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs since 2019. The $8.25 average annual value makes Swayman, who has never before worked a season as a team’s sole top goalie, among the top five highest-paid goalies in the NHL. Only the Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky, the Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck make more. —Associated Press