TENNIS

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff are the first pair of U.S. women both in the top four spots of the WTA rankings since sisters Serena and Venus Williams were up there a dozen years ago.

Pegula rose two places to a career-best No. 3 on Monday, a day after winning the biggest title of her career at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico.

Gauff, who lost in the quarterfinals at that tournament, moved up from No. 7 to No. 4.

The last time two Americans were that high in the women’s tennis rankings was the week of Oct. 18, 2010, when Serena Williams was No. 2 and Venus Williams was No. 4. Both of the siblings already had been No. 1 prior to that.

Pegula is a 28-year-old from New York; her parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. She reached the quarterfinals at three of this year’s four Grand Slam tournaments before losing to the eventual champion and No. 1 seed each time: Ash Barty at the Australian Open, and Iga Swiatek at the French Open and U.S. Open.

Gauff is an 18-year-old from Florida who was the runner-up to Swiatek at Roland Garros and made it to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open.

The two of them are doubles partners and in the top four in that discipline, too: Gauff is ranked No. 2, Pegula No. 3.

Swiatek maintained her hold on No. 1 in the singles rankings, followed by No. 2 Ons Jabeur, who was the runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

There were no changes in the top eight places in the ATP men’s rankings, with Carlos Alcaraz retaining the No. 1 spot he earned by winning his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open last month.

He’s followed by 23-time major champion Rafael Nadal at No. 2, with Nos. 3-8 still Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev.

Felix Auger-Aliassime’s title at Antwerp, Belgium, on Sunday – his second trophy in a row – allowed him to move up from No. 10 to No. 9, swapping places with Taylor Fritz.

SOCCER

ENGLAND: Unai Emery left his position as Villarreal coach to take charge of English club Aston Villa.

It will be Emery’s second spell in the Premier League, having coached Arsenal in 2018-19.

Emery replaced Steven Gerrard, who was fired last week after a year in charge.

Villa said Emery will start as manager on Nov. 1 after his work permit formalities are completed.

Emery had been with Villarreal since July 2020. He was previously coach of Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla.

DOPING

TRACK: Russian runner Natalya Antyukh was disqualified from her 400-meter hurdles win at the 2012 London Olympics for doping, and Lashinda Demus of the United States is set to be upgraded to the gold medal.

Antyukh was already serving a four-year ban in a previous case judged by the Court or Arbitration for Sport last year that stripped her results from 2013 to 2015.

The new ruling based on historical evidence recovered from a Moscow testing laboratory database further disqualified Antyukh in all of her events from July 15, 2012 through June 29, 2013, track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said.

At the 2012 Olympics, on Aug. 8, Demus finished 0.07 seconds behind the Russian winner.

COLLEGES

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Oscar Tschiebwe was the consensus men’s college basketball player of the year last season, an accomplishment usually followed by a jump to the NBA.

Kentucky’s big man decided to take a different route. He’s coming back – and he may be even better this season.

“He’s a better passer. He’s a better dribbler. He has a better feel. He talks,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “Offensively he knows the plays better. And he’s authentic.”

Tshiebwe was a unanimous selection along with Gonzaga big man Drew Timme in The Associated Press preseason All-America team. They were joined by North Carolina forward Armando Bacot, Houston guard Marcus Sasser and Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis on the team selected by a 59-person media panel that votes on the weekly AP Top 25.

Tshiebwe is the ninth AP national player of the year – Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson did it twice – to return for another season, according to Sportradar, and the first since Tyler Hansbrough came back to lead North Carolina to a national title in 2009.