Sports, Entertainment & Culture — September 5, 2026

Williams sisters fall in doubles return. Serena and Venus Williams lost their U.S. Open doubles reunion in a third-set tiebreaker to Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint, 25 years after their New York debut.

ESPN reported the pairing energized fans in New York even in defeat, describing the crowd as thrilled by the sisters' first appearance together at the tournament in years. The match went the distance before Chan and Joint closed it out, and ESPN framed the outing as a milestone moment given how long it had been since the pair's first appearance at the event.

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Miami sophomore shatters school record. Malachi Toney opened the season with a school-record 234 receiving yards and three touchdowns in Miami's 45-6 rout of Stanford, igniting early Heisman buzz.

According to ESPN, Toney was not the only Miami player to rewrite the program's record book against Stanford; the outlet's headline also credited a player named Mensah with breaking a Hurricanes mark in the same game, though it did not detail that record. ESPN noted the sophomore's performance immediately stirred talk of a Heisman Trophy campaign in the season's opening week.

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WNBA commissioner to step down. Cathy Engelbert will retire at the end of 2026 after overseeing unprecedented league growth — a tenure that also drew criticism from players.

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Hall of Fame overhauls its voting. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is changing its selection process after a contested vote left Bill Belichick out of the 2026 class.

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