Novak Djokovic has received his trophy after securing the year-end No. 1 ranking for a record-extending eighth time.

Djokovic needed only one match win at the ATP Finals to be sure of keeping the top spot and the 24-time Grand Slam champion secured it in his opener, beating Holger Rune 7-6 (4), 6-7 (1), 6-3 in a match spanning more than three hours on Sunday and into Monday morning.

Considering all that he's accomplished over the last two years — two Grand Slam titles and finishing last season as No. 1 — Carlos Alcaraz no doubt belongs among the world's elite.

Still, this wouldn't have been the ATP Finals debut the 20-year-old Spaniard was hoping for at the season-ending event for the year's top eight players.

Luis Suárez returned to Uruguay's national team on Monday for two South American World Cup qualifying games, including one at Argentina against Lionel Messi.

The 36-year-old Gremio striker, one of the top scorers in the Brazilian league with 14 goals in 29 matches, is in the squad that will play in Buenos Aires on Thursday and host Bolivia five days later.

For European football veterans, it was a night to savor.

As Manchester City and Leipzig reached the knockout stage of the Champions League with two matches to spare on Tuesday, two emblematic players of Europe's old guard grabbed the spotlight.

Barcelona missed its chance to reach the knockout round of the Champions League with games to spare after a 1-0 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.

It was Shakhtar's first win as a host in the group stage of the competition since it started playing away from Ukraine because of the war with Russia. A crowd of nearly 50,000 was in hand at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.

The Champions League is European club football's most testing stage.

Try telling that to Erling Haaland.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is feeling better after sustaining an ankle injury at the weekend but is not guaranteed to play in the upcoming Champions League game against Young Boys, manager Pep Guardiola said Monday.

"I spoke with the doctor and him," Guardiola said of Haaland. "Yesterday he said he felt much better, but I don't know."

Saudi Arabia is all but certain to host the men's 2034 World Cup after the Australian football federation decided not to enter the bidding contest, which had been widely seen as shaped by FIFA to suit the oil rich kingdom.

FIFA had set Tuesday as the deadline to formally declare interest in hosting the tournament, but Australia's decision not to enter the race leaves Saudi Arabia as the only declared candidate — to the dismay of many human rights activists.

The list reads 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, and now 2023.

Lionel Messi won the men's Ballon d'Or for a record-extending eighth time on Monday after fulfilling his life's ambition by leading Argentina to the World Cup title in Qatar last year.

Damian Lillard acknowledged this season opener felt a little different from the others as he adjusted to switching teams for the first time.

But the results he delivered were familiar to anyone who watched the seven-time All-NBA guard during his 11 years in Portland.