Lionel Messi left a large number of A-listers stunned following his Inter Miami debut – including his club’s co-owner, David Beckham. The football icon finally made his first Major League Soccer appearance on Friday, with the World Cup winner and fellow debutante and former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets coming on in the second-half.
It wouldn’t have been a Messi debut without some magic, though, and the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner put on a show for fans who had paid up to £85,000 to see him. As the game against Cruz Azul edged into added time in the second half at 1-1, Messi stepped up to score the winner with a sublime free-kick in the 94th minute, sending those watching wild as they witnessed one of the sport’s greatest ever stars start his MLS career in style. Beckham is no stranger to taking beautiful free-kicks. But Messi’s last-ditch dramatics had him close to tears, with footage showing him celebrate and look overcome with emotion as he took in the reality of Messi playing for his club.
Tennis players such as Ben Shelton, Andy Roddick, Jessica Pegula, Christopher Eubanks, and Victoria Azarenka celebrated Coco Gauff’s maiden Grand Slam win at the 2023 US Open.Gauff rose to the occasion in front of her home crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday, September 9. The American defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final to become the champion.Going into the tournament, Coco Gauff was one of the favorites for the title, having performed spectacularly throughout the North American hardcourt swing.
In the weeks leading up to the New York Major, she won her biggest title at the time at the WTA 500 Citi Open. Just weeks later, after featuring in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, the teenager added an even superior trophy to her cabinet as she clinched the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open title. At the US Open, she defeated Laura Siegemund, Mirra Andreeva, Elise Mertens, Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Ostapenko, and Karolina Muchova before scoring an impressive 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, comeback victory over soon-to-be World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
