German Alexander Zverev had a spectator thrown out of his US Open match against Jannik Sinner for shouting “the most famous Hitler phrase”.

A man could clearly be heard yelling “Deutschland uber alles” inside Arthur Ashe Stadium as Zverev prepared to serve.

Zverev, the 12th seed, approached English umpire James Keothovang and said: “He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in the world. It’s unacceptable. This is unbelievable.”

Keothovang turned to the crowd and asked: “Who was the smart guy who said that? Who said that? Put your hand up. We’re going to get him out.”

He then announced to the crowd: “Please be fair and respect the players.”

The man suspected of yelling the slur was ejected by security at the end of the game.

Zverev went on to win the match in five sets and afterwards, the 26-year-old told reporters: “He started singing the anthem of Hitler that was back in the day. It was ‘Deutschland uber alles’ and it was a bit too much.”

Wales boss Warren Gatland has reported a clean bill of health among his World Cup squad heading into the crunch tournament opener against Fiji.

Co-captain Dewi Lake and number eight Taulupe Faletau were among a handful of players who nursed injuries during Wales’ World Cup warm-up Tests.

Number eight Faletau played no part in those fixtures due to a calf muscle problem, while hooker Lake went off after suffering a knee injury during Wales’ defeat against England at Twickenham.

Ryan Elias, Dafydd Jenkins and Gareth Anscombe have also recovered to be available for Sunday’s Pool C clash in Bordeaux.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve had a few niggles – we had eight or 10 players not taking a full part in training,” Gatland said.

“Nothing serious, but just a few bumps. They’ve all been rehabbed and everyone is now fit, which is a positive place for us to be in.

“He (Faletau) has been taking a full part in training for the past three weeks.

“There is no doubt in the first week he was blowing pretty hard in terms of some of the set-piece stuff the boys have been doing for a number of weeks.

“That has taken a little bit of time, but we’ve kept a close eye on his GPS figures and they have been excellent for him.

“Even though he hasn’t been running around, he has done a lot of off-feet conditioning. Some of the work on the side of the pitch is harder than being on the pitch, and he is definitely in contention for the weekend.”

Lake departed during the first half at Twickenham, and the hooker added: “It always plays on your mind when you come off injured 20 minutes into a game.

“I am very grateful to be sat here, to the medical staff who got me through the three weeks at home and the coaching staff for selecting me post-injury.

“A lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes to get me ready for this weekend.”

Wales trained amid temperatures of more than 30 degrees on Tuesday, while the forecast for Sunday’s encounter is for 28 degrees at kick-off, even though the game does not start until 9pm local time.

It is understood that World Cup organisers are considering water breaks during the opening round of pool fixtures.

“We would like the ball on the park as often as we could. We think we’re in pretty good shape physically,” Gatland said.

“In terms of that, we are not going to push back on water breaks if that’s what is decided. We won’t be arguing with World Rugby on that decision.”

It will be a fifth successive World Cup for Wales and Fiji to meet in the pool stage, and Sunday’s victors will take a significant step towards the quarter-finals.

Fiji are fresh from an outstanding away victory over England, and they are fancied by many to defeat a Wales side with just three wins from 13 Tests.

“I thought they were excellent at Twickenham,” Gatland added. “They have got some great athletes, we are aware of that.

“They are a lot more structured now as a team than they would traditionally have been in the past.

“We’ve got to impose our game on them as well. We know they are a good side at the moment, and a lot of their side play in Super Rugby and in France as well. It’s going to be an exciting challenge.

“They have always had incredibly world-class individual athletes who could open up a game. But bringing that organisation and structure makes them more dangerous.

“I think from a coaching perspective, the ultimate pinnacle is the World Cup. It’s the one time in international windows that you get full preparation.

“It feels like you’re working with a club side in having a pre-season. We’ve been able to work on a lot of things in the last few months in terms of the detail and putting together a strategy.”

William Haggas’ Doom became the shortest-priced loser since 1948 when beaten at 1-25 by Karmology in a two-runner race at Ripon.

Doom looked to have been found a great opening in the William Hill Ripon Champion Bonus 2023 Maiden Fillies’ Stakes, her fifth career outing after a juvenile season that saw her finish second to subsequent Oaks winner Soul Sister last autumn.

She had scared off all bar Karl Burke’s unraced Golden Horn filly Karmology, who was ridden by Pierre-Louis Jamin.

At the furlong marker of the one-mile affair victory seemed to be assured for Tom Marquand and Doom, but Karmology began to gain on her outside and streaked past her with half a furlong to run to cross the line a length ahead.

Doom now joins Royal Forest as the shortest-priced loser in British history, the latter being sent off at the same odds of 1-25 for Clarence House Stakes at Ascot in September 1948.

Burke told Sky Sports Racing: “She’s a nice filly but she’s a work in progress, very much one for next year over a longer trip.

“I really only entered her for the race because it was on our doorstep and there wasn’t many entries.

“I said to the owners there were no races over a mile and a quarter for her until the end of the month so we may as well run for the education.

“I think all the Newmarket trainers, apart from William, must have had a late night and never followed the (declaration) tracking so it worked out really well.”

Other prohibitively priced losers in recent years include Tree Of Liberty, beaten at 1-20 in a novice chase at Ludlow in 2018 and Broadspear, who was second at 1-16 at Chepstow last year.

England are ready to start Tom Curry in Saturday’s seismic World Cup opener against Argentina if there are no setbacks in his recovery from an ankle injury.

Curry missed all four warm-up Tests after spraining the joint during training in early August, but is now poised to make his first appearance since the Gallagher Premiership final in May.

The influential 25-year-old is so valuable to England – especially in defence – that they are willing to slot him straight into the back row, most likely at openside flanker.

“It’s great to see Tom out there training, he’s been really good. He’s been excellent,” said defence coach Kevin Sinfield, who revealed the squad has a clean bill of health.

When asked if Curry could be recalled immediately, Sinfield replied: “We’ve got no doubt about that.

“He’s got a number of caps under his belt now and he’s been doing it for years. He can play a number of positions across the back row for us too. We’re delighted he’s available.”

England will need to be armed with every possible string to their bow when they clash with Argentina in Marseille having complied a record of five defeats in six Tests.

Defence has been an alarming area of vulnerability with 30 tries conceded in the nine games since Sinfield took charge as part of Steve Borthwick’s coaching team.

Sinfield pinpoints the recent high injury count, plus the bans issued to Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell for dangerous tackles last month, as two of the reasons for the malaise.

“It really helps having Tom Curry back available. Some of the suspensions that we’ve had over the last couple of weeks haven’t helped. The back row changes we’ve had to make probably haven’t helped too,” Sinfield said.

“I do see a team here that are improving and getting better. I also understand and I’m very realistic that we’ve not been good enough so far.

“We are working incredibly hard to be better this week and I have complete confidence and belief in the group over where we’re going.

“I’ve seen a very slight change in how we’ve gone about our business this week. We needed to have that change and make that adjustment.

“I have to say I’ve really enjoyed my time with the guys. I’ve not been happy with the results and I’ve not been happy with the tries we’ve conceded, but I understand where we are going.

“We’ve just got to better across the board. I won’t hide or shy away from that. We need to be better across the board in our defence. We missed too many tackles last time out and that’s something we’ve got to rectify.

“I’m firmly in there with the players. I’m accountable, I’m responsible.”

Evan Ferguson’s hopes of enhancing his blossoming reputation against France and the Netherlands have been dashed after he was ruled out of the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2024 double-header.

The 18-year-old Brighton striker, who plundered a hat-trick in Saturday’s 3-1 Premier League victory over Newcastle, has been forced to withdraw from the squad with a new injury, and his absence represents a major blow to manager Stephen Kenny.

Ferguson, who has six senior caps and two goals to his name, might have given the French and the Dutch cause for concern ahead of this weekend’s Group B encounters in Paris and Dublin, but instead Kenny will have to come up with a new plan as Ireland attempt to keep their campaign alive.

The news was confirmed in a Football Association of Ireland statement on Tuesday which said: “Republic of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson has been ruled out of the two Euro 2024 qualifiers against France and the Netherlands.

“The Brighton forward sustained a knee injury in the 3-1 home win over Newcastle United on Saturday.

“Ferguson reported for international duty on Sunday, but after assessment from the Ireland medical team, has been ruled out of both fixtures.”

Kenny faces the task of forming a new-look frontline for Thursday night’s clash with Didier Deschamps’ group leaders – who won 1-0 at the Aviva Stadium in March – at the Parc des Princes with Norwich’s Adam Idah, recalled Hull striker Aaron Connolly, Luton’s Chiedozie Ogbene and Will Keane of Preston the remaining specialists at his disposal.

The four have five Ireland goals between them with all but one coming from Ogbene, who was man of the match when the French won a tight affair in Dublin after Benjamin Pavard pounced on a rare error by Josh Cullen to score the only goal.

Realistically, the Republic need to win at least one of the two games – they host the Netherlands on Sunday – to stand any chance of emerging from the group and while that may be a tall order, the former Rotherham man for one remains positive.

Ogbene said: “We’re confident. If we can increase the intensity we played with at the Aviva, we will always give ourselves a right chance, it doesn’t matter who we play. Hopefully we can get the rewards for our efforts early on and have something to hang on to.

“We had great chances and just couldn’t… the keeper had a very good night. We were stunned by that long-range effort from Pavard.

“That’s the difference at this level: one chance and one goal changes everything. Hopefully now the fortune will fall in our hands and we can start with that intensity and get the reward for our efforts.

“Who knows what will happen?”

There was one crumb of comfort for Kenny as the squad boarded their flight to the French capital with Sheffield United defender John Egan able to take his seat on the plane after limping out of the Blades’ 2-2 draw with Everton at the weekend.

Marco Ghiani is confident Mill Stream is capable of providing him with a breakthrough Group One winner in Saturday’s Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock.

The former champion apprentice has built up a good rapport with Jane Chapple-Hyam’s three-year-old, who has won his last two races at Deauville in impressive style.

While Ghiani has ridden at the highest level before, this weekend undoubtedly provides him with his best chance yet of claiming Group One glory.

“I’m looking forward to this weekend. I’ve ridden in the King’s Stand Stakes and the Coronation Stakes so riding in a Group One is not new, but Mill Stream is around third-favourite, whereas the others were outsiders so it makes things a bit spicier,” he said.

“It is quite a big challenge, but I’m ready to take it. It would be like winning at the Olympic games if I won my first Group One on Saturday.”

Mill Stream’s Deauville victories came at Listed and Group Three level and there is no doubt he will face a much sterner test on Merseyside.

“I thought he could win at Listed and Group race level, but I didn’t expect him to bolt up twice. I thought he would have to work a bit harder than that,” Ghiani continued.

“I think for a sprinter it is harder to get them to race the right way around. Sometimes they are keen, and they don’t finish off their races.

“At home he was a bit keen, but now he is settling down and he seems more relaxed. He is in good order, and he has been much more settled in his last two races in France as he wasn’t over racing in the early stages of those race, which has been key to his last two results.”

Standing in his way is the not insignificant threat of fellow three-year-old Shaquille, already a dual Group One winner having landed the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the July Cup at Newmarket.

Ghiani added: “Shaquille is always slow out of the gates, but he finds another gear late at the end. My lad jumps out fast and then he finds another gear at the end so it will be very interesting to see what will happen.

“Obviously Shaquille is a Group One winner, and my horse isn’t yet. If they both find their turn of foot, and my lad is a good way in front, and he stays there, it will be interesting to see what Shaquille can do.

“Shaquille is favourite, but my lad has a good chance. He seems in good order and Jane’s horses are running well. I just have a vision in my head and hopefully that can come to life.”

Shane Lowry believes Europe have the best 12 players available as they bid to regain the Ryder Cup from the United States.

Lowry received one of captain Luke Donald’s six wild cards on Monday having finished 11th on the European points list and eighth on the world points list, with only the top three on each qualifying automatically.

The former Open champion won the first qualifying event – and will defend his BMW PGA Championship title next week – but his sole top-10 finish in 2023 came in February’s Honda Classic.

That has led to criticism of Lowry’s selection, with former British Masters winner Richard Bland among those believing that Adrian Meronk’s consistent form – including May’s Italian Open victory at the Ryder Cup venue – meant the Pole “deserves a pick over an out-of-form Lowry.”

“Well, people have their opinion,” Lowry said ahead of the Horizon Irish Open at The K Club.

“Adrian has had a great year and obviously he’s unfortunate to miss out, but somebody has to miss out.

“I’m not going to sit here and disagree with Luke Donald. It was his decision at the end of the day, if he thinks that somebody else is better for this team than he (Meronk) was.

“If you look at the way the team was picked, there’s not many players playing that weren’t in the top 12, myself included. And that’s why you have six picks, so you have the chance to pick the 12 best players.

“I personally think that’s the right way to go about it and I think we have the best 12 players from Europe coming to play this Ryder Cup, and I think we’re in form.

“A lot of players are in very good form, as you’ve seen over the last few weeks, and I think we’re going to give it a great go this year.

“I’m very confident in my own ability, and I know what I can bring. My form probably has not been the greatest, but in some of the bigger events I’ve played some of my best golf and there’s nothing bigger than the Ryder Cup.

“Hopefully I can go to Rome and show people what I’m made of.”

Lowry also needed a wild card to make his Ryder Cup debut at Whistling Straits two years ago and has unsurprisingly received the backing of the man who picked him then, three-time major winner Padraig Harrington.

“There’s no doubt about Shane, he’s a big-time player,” Harrington said.

“He likes the big occasions, the majors, and at the Ryder Cup he loved it. He was very comfortable, wasn’t like a rookie at all. He loves the pressure-filled occasions.

“It’s strange, I’ve seen the odd thing from people that aren’t in the know saying maybe somebody else should have got picked but it’s not even close.

“If we were playing a small tournament in the middle of nowhere with no adrenaline maybe Shane wouldn’t be the right pick, but when it comes to the Ryder Cup I’d definitely be trusting him.”

Lowry won one point from his three matches at Whistling Straits as Europe suffered a record 19-9 defeat to a home team whose lowest-ranked player at the time was world number 21 Scottie Scheffler.

Scheffler went on to win four times in six starts in 2022, including the Masters, and is the current world number one.

“I think we just caught them on our downturn and their upturn,” Harrington added. “That one extra year due to Covid, our team went from peaking to slightly off.

“Many of the US players were probably at their very peak at that stage and the Europeans are only coming into that now. Europe has got a lot stronger in those two years.

“It ebbs and flows in the game of golf and I think the flow is with Europe now.”

Ireland trio Jack Conan, Dan Sheehan and Dave Kilcoyne have been ruled out of Saturday’s Rugby World Cup opener against Romania in Bordeaux.

Back-rower Conan, who suffered a foot problem against Italy a month ago, was the only member of Andy Farrell’s 33-man squad to sit out training on Tuesday morning.

Hooker Sheehan took part in the session at the team’s training base in Tours but will not be rushed back into action following the foot injury he sustained against England on August 19.

Prop Kilcoyne is returning to fitness following a hamstring issue.

Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell said: “Everyone’s going well, there are a few guys still finishing their rehab and they won’t be involved at the weekend.

“But by and large we’re close to a full bill of health.

“Dan and Jack Conan (will not be involved). David Kilcoyne as well is struggling a little bit but should be OK next week.”

City Of Troy puts his Classic credentials on the line in Sunday’s Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes at the Curragh.

Aidan O’Brien’s colt is favourite for next year’s 2000 Guineas following a scintillating display in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket and is a red-hot market leader to remain unbeaten.

He will face a colt who has achieved more to date, however, in the shape of Adrian Murray’s Bucanero Fuerte, a four-length winner of the Group One Phoenix Stakes.

His only defeat in four outings came at Royal Ascot when third to River Tiber in the Coventry Stakes.

Jessica Harrington’s Givemethebeatboys is also one of 12 entries.

Hamish, Eldar Eldarov and Kyprios are on course to meet in a strong renewal of the Comer Group Irish St Leger.

William Haggas’ Hamish is unbeaten in three this term but would prefer to see an end to the current heatwave, while Roger Varian’s Elder Eldarov needs to return to the form which saw him win the St Leger at Doncaster last season.

All eyes will be on Kyprios, though, with last year’s champion stayer due to make his first outing of the season for O’Brien following injury.

John Quinn’s admirable Highfield Princess heads the betting to repeat her victory of last year in the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Flying Five Stakes.

While she headed there off the back of winning the Nunthorpe 12 months ago, this year she was second at York but she appears to be running up to the same level.

Archie Watson’s Bradsell, third at York but winner of the King’s Stand, is also one of 16 entries, along with Curragh specialist Art Power.

The fourth Group One on the card is the Moyglare Stud Stakes for the fillies for which O’Brien’s unbeaten Ylang Ylang appears to hold all the aces among 18 possibles.

Dermot Weld appears keen to mark the 30th anniversary of Vintage Crop’s famous Melbourne Cup success with a runner in the Flemington showpiece after Harbour Wind appeared among the nominations for this year’s race.

Weld became the first European-based trainer to win the prestigious race – and did it again for good measure with Media Puzzle in 2002.

Since then Alain de Royer-Dupre, Mikel Delzangles, Andreas Wohler, Joseph O’Brien twice and Charlie Appleby have all won the ‘race that stops a nation’ and Harbour Wind is one of 15 international entries out of 132 this year.

The Moyglare-owned Harbour Wind would need to rise significantly in the weights to stand a chance of getting a run but the Listed winner will get the chance to improve his rating this weekend at Leopardstown.

Racing Victoria’s general manager Paul Bloodworth told www.racing.com: “I think Dermot is really keen to have a horse running in the 30th anniversary of him winning the Melbourne Cup with Vintage Crop.

“We went and saw Dermot in Ireland in late July and he actually had a filly that he was interested in bringing in Shamida, who had just won a Group Three race in Ireland.

“He has changed plans for that horse, but he also showed us Harbour Wind and he said ‘Look, he hasn’t done anything yet, but I really like him and he’s going to the Vinnie Roe and we’ll see how we go from there’.”

Bloodworth went on: “He won the Vinnie Roe very impressively, but he probably needs to get his rating up a little higher. He might be a little too low to be confident of securing a start.

“He (Weld) contacted us after he Vinnie Roe and said ‘Where are we?’. We’ve had to wait until the horse got re-rated and he’s still a bit lower than what he needs to be. A win on the weekend would do that and even a placing would probably do it.”

As expected the Willie Mullins-trained duo of Vauban and Ebor winner Absurde, William Haggas’ Desert Hero, owned by the King and Queen, were entered along with last year’s winner Gold Trip, one of 17 entries for Ciaran Maher and David Eustace.

England are ready to start Tom Curry in Saturday’s seismic World Cup opener against Argentina if there are no setbacks in his recovery from an ankle injury.

Curry missed all four warm-up Tests after spraining the joint during training in early August, but is now poised to make his first appearance since the Gallagher Premiership final in May.

The influential 25-year-old is so valuable to England – especially in defence – that they are willing to slot him straight into the back row, most likely at openside flanker.

“It’s great to see Tom out there training, he’s been really good. He’s been excellent,” said defence coach Kevin Sinfield, who revealed the squad has a clean bill of health.

When asked if Curry could be recalled immediately, Sinfield replied: “We’ve got no doubt about that.

“He’s got a number of caps under his belt now and he’s been doing it for years. He can play a number of positions across the back row for us too. We’re delighted he’s available.”

England will need to be armed with every possible string to their bow when they clash with Argentina in Marseille having complied a record of five defeats in six Tests.

Defence has been an alarming area of vulnerability with 30 tries conceded in the nine games since Sinfield took charge as part of Steve Borthwick’s coaching team.

Sinfield pinpoints the recent high injury count, plus the bans issued to Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell for dangerous tackles last month, as two of the reasons for the malaise.

“It really helps having Tom Curry back available. Some of the suspensions that we’ve had over the last couple of weeks haven’t helped. The back row changes we’ve had to make probably haven’t helped too,” Sinfield said.

“I do see a team here that are improving and getting better. I also understand and I’m very realistic that we’ve not been good enough so far.

“We are working incredibly hard to be better this week and I have complete confidence and belief in the group over where we’re going.

“I’ve seen a very slight change in how we’ve gone about our business this week. We needed to have that change and make that adjustment.

“I have to say I’ve really enjoyed my time with the guys. I’ve not been happy with the results and I’ve not been happy with the tries we’ve conceded, but I understand where we are going.

“We’ve just got to better across the board. I won’t hide or shy away from that. We need to be better across the board in our defence. We missed too many tackles last time out and that’s something we’ve got to rectify.

“I’m firmly in there with the players. I’m accountable, I’m responsible.”

Jack Draper has been added to Britain’s Davis Cup team for next week’s matches in Manchester following his run to the fourth round of the US Open.

The 21-year-old again showed his huge potential by outperforming the rest of Britain’s singles players in New York, pushing eighth seed Andrey Rublev to four sets before bowing out on Monday.

Draper has struggled with injuries throughout the season and was a doubt for the US Open because of a shoulder problem so it was encouraging that his body held up through four best-of-five-set matches.

He joins Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Andy Murray and Neal Skupski in the side for matches against Australia, Switzerland and France beginning next Wednesday at the AO Arena.

It is the second time Leon Smith has called up Draper, who stayed on the bench during February’s victory over Colombia.

His inclusion presents captain Smith with a tricky selection decision given Norrie, Evans and Murray are significantly more experienced but none of the trio have had a great season, with British number one Norrie in particular in something of a rut.

Calling up Draper also indicates that Smith will rely on Wimbledon champion Skupski and Evans as his doubles partnership having overlooked Joe Salisbury, who is in the quarter-finals in New York with American partner Rajeev Ram.

Britain need to finish in the top two of the four-team group to make it through to the final stages of the competition in Malaga in November.