FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox's ballyhooed signing of Alex Bregman was met with considerable resistance Monday when Rafael Devers said he wouldn't cede third base.

Devers, a three-time All-Star, has played the hot corner for Boston since 2017 and himself received a major deal just two years ago.

"Third base is my position," Devers said through an interpreter. "It's what I play. I don't know what their plans are. We had a conversation. I made it clear on what my desires were. Whatever happens from here, I don't know."

"No. Third base is my position. It's what I play. I don't know what their plans are. We had a conversation. I made it clear on what my desires were. Whatever happens from here, I don't know." Rafael Devers, when asked if he would change positions after Boston's signing of Alex Bregman.

When asked whether he would be willing to become a designated hitter, Devers said "no" without waiting for his interpreter to relay the question.

The Red Sox signed Bregman on Saturday to a three-year, $120 million contract that includes a $5 million signing bonus. A two-time All-Star, Bregman, who had played third base for the Houston Astros since 2020, has hit more than 20 home runs each of the past three seasons.

Landing Bregman, who won his first Gold Glove Award last season, was a key, the Red Sox hope, to ending a stretch in which Boston has missed the playoffs five of the past six years.

Devers signed an 11-year, $331 million contract in January 2021 and has been even more productive in recent seasons than the 30-year-old Bregman. Devers hit 28 homers and drove in 83 runs last season despite playing just 138 games because of an assortment of injuries. The year before, he had 33 homers and 100 RBIs while playing in 153 games.

That production and the financial investment by the Red Sox could give Devers some leverage in his push to stay at third.

Devers said he talked to chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora on Friday and was caught off guard by discussions about the topic.

"I'm someone that believes in people's word," Devers said Monday. "I take it to heart. And, yeah, it was very surprising that they would suggest that. I've known that this is a business. I know that each side is going to do what is best for them, what is most comfortable for them. I don't think that was the right way to do business."

Cora noted that Devers "was very vocal last year" about how the club needed to improve.

"The decisions that are going to be made here about roster construction and about what we're going to do in the future, we're going to make sure we have the best team possible out there," Cora said. "[Devers] has a lot of pride. We know that. He feels like he's a third baseman. He's going to work out as a third baseman, and then we'll make decisions accordingly.

"I think here it's not about Bregman or Devers or Cora. It's about the Red Sox. Whatever decision we make is for the benefit of the team."

Cora said Bregman could wind up at second or third base and Devers at third or DH.

If Kristian Campbell, ESPN's No. 26 prospect, breaks camp with the team, he could play second base and Bregman third while Devers shifts to designated hitter. Should the Red Sox keep Campbell at Triple-A for more seasoning, Bregman would likely slot in as Boston's full-time second baseman.

"There's competition here," Cora said. "I think flexibility and versatility are huge for us."

ESPN's Jeff Passan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Daniil Medvedev says he hopes Jannik Sinner's doping ban will "create a precedent" so other players can reach similar settlements with anti-doping authorities in the future.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Sinner accepted an immediate three-month ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) on Saturday.

The world number one had previously been cleared of any wrongdoing after two positive drug tests last year, but Wada appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Wada initially sought a ban of up to two years but reached a deal after accepting the Italian player was inadvertently contaminated by a banned substance and "did not intend to cheat".

"I hope that the next few times, the players will be able to do that," Russian world number eight Medvedev said.

"I hope that it will create a precedent where everyone will have the opportunity to defend themselves better than before.

"Otherwise, if it's not going to be possible, it's going to be bizarre."

Wada said it had entered into a settlement agreement with Sinner for a shorter ban under provision 10.8.2 in its code.

A spokesperson told BBC Sport on Saturday: "This provision was introduced to the code in 2021. Since then it has been used dozens of times for cases with exceptional circumstances such as this one.

"Given there are many thousands of cases, it is not used that often and is the exception rather than the rule but there has been plenty of precedent for this."

Fonseca won the Next Gen ATP Finals - for the best male players aged 21 and under - at the end of 2024.

He was the second-youngest champion at the tournament after world number one Jannik Sinner, who won in 2019, and who persuaded Fonseca to turn professional after a hitting session in 2023.

Fonseca then began the year by stunning ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open, with Spain's four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz tipping him as a future star.

Against Cerundolo, he came back from an early break down in the first set to take the lead and served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 up in the second.

He was twice broken back by his experienced opponent, but Fonseca took total control in the tie-break, dropping just one point before clinching the title with an angled forehand winner.

He will rise to 68 in the world rankings before travelling to his home tournament, the Rio Open, which begins on Monday.

Britain's Emma Raducanu ended her losing run with a straight-set victory over Greece's Maria Sakkari in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The 22-year-old went into the tournament having lost her previous four matches - the worst run of her career - but needed just one hour and 20 minutes to seal a 6-4 6-2 win against the world number 29.

The 2021 US Open champion had not won since beating American Amanda Anisimova in the Australian Open second round on 16 January.

The British number two broke serve in the first game of both sets, and on the two occasions she lost her own serve she immediately broke back in the next game.

"There were some momentum shifts throughout the match and when I got broke twice early in the sets I regrouped really well and managed to break back both times," said Raducanu.

"I was really pleased with the way I fought and competed against Maria. She is a top player and has been as high as three in the world. I'm really proud of my performance."

Raducanu will play Karolina Muchova in the second round after the Czech 14th seed beat Dutch opponent Suzan Lamens 6-2 6-2.

Britain's Liam Broady believes Jannik Sinner's three-month ban for doping has been timed to impact the world number one's career "as little as possible".

The Italian accepted an immediate three-month ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) on Saturday after reaching a settlement over his two positive drug tests last year.

The 23-year-old, who won the Australian Open in January, is suspended from 9 February until 4 May, so will be eligible to play at the French Open - the next Grand Slam of the year - which begins on 19 May.

"I do think a lot has been put into when the ban would take place, to impact Jannik's career as little as possible," Broady told BBC Sport.

"The ban ends the day before the Rome Masters, which is the biggest tournament in his home country and the perfect preparation for him to then go and play the French Open.

"I don't think he loses any [ranking] points or his number one spot either, so it's an interesting ban.

"I was speaking to some people earlier and they said it's kind of like a Premier League footballer being banned over the summer. It's a difficult one."

Sinner was cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent panel after testing positive for the banned substance clostebol in March.

Wada had been seeking a ban of up to two years, having launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) following the 2024 decision by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) not to suspend Sinner.

However, it reached a deal after accepting the player was inadvertently contaminated by a banned substance and "did not intend to cheat".

World number 766 Broady said he was a "little bit upset at the verdict", adding that "it doesn't seem like there's much being lost from this ban".

"It does appear to be favouritism towards the better players on the tour," Broady added.

"I wouldn't say that he's done it on purpose, but if that had happened to another player, would we be treated the same way? Would we be afforded the same sort of dignity?"

Wales Joel Makin claimed the 2025 Pittsburgh Open title after beating Egypts Youssef Ibrahim in a 75-minute thriller at Steel City Squash in Pennsylvania. 

The match started with a brutal 27-minute first game that saw long, punishing rallies for the two players as both looked to play balls to the back of the court. The two players were inseparable to 9-9, but a well-placed forehand drop from Ibrahim and an uncharacteristic error from the Welshman gave the Egyptian a 1-0 lead in the match.

Despite losing the game, the tiring nature of it played into Makins hands, and the World No.5 continued with the tempo that he set, while Ibrahim looked to finish rallies quicker, leading to a succession of errors and strokes in the middle of the game that ultimately proved to be the difference as the Welshman levelled the match at 1-1.

Ibrahim stormed to an 8-4 lead in the third game, finding his targets well across the court to stretch Makin, but the Welshman rallied, finding winners of his own as well as neutralising Ibrahims shot-making with some incredible gets.

The No.2 seed pushed on to level the game at 9-9 before winning 11-9 to take the lead for the first time in the match.

From there, Makin was in command of the match, and while Ibrahim continued to find some unbelievable winners, the Welshman pushed on from an early 5-1 lead to win 11-7 and claim the 2025 Pittsburgh Open title.

Speaking after the match, Makin said, It was a tough week. Youssef [Ibrahim] was playing some great stuff there. Same as yesterday. If hes beating [World Champion Diego Elias] 3-0 then thats a very very high level so I was well aware of that today.

I was happy with my lines, happy with my quality and you know it was 1-1 and it being 45 minutes I just thought that this has been a good quality match. Nothing needed to change, just a few things tidied up and I was happy to pull away in the end.

On the lengthy first game, Makin remarked, I wasnt deliberately elongating, I just thought it was high quality, good exchanges. I wouldve liked to have nicked it but when hes playing that well and snatches a few points quickly at the end, youve got to accept that and go in with a couple of minor adjustments and go again.

You can win from those positions, you can lose from those positions so its just about playing really good quality and being able to repeat that and play better in the big points.

Looking ahead to the Gold-level Texas Open, the Welshman said, Its been a good week, it hasnt been too many miles on the legs. Ill try and recover over the next day or two and then go again.

Result: Pittsburgh Open Final

[2] Joel Makin (WAL) bt. [5] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (75m

Gloucester-Hartpury have a "special group" at the club as they keep up their charge on a third straight Premiership Women's Rugby title, says head coach Sean Lynn.

The two-time defending champions beat Sale on Saturday to ensure they finish at the top of the league table when the regular season concludes next week.

They face Harlequins at home in their final league game on Friday at Kingsholm before a home semi-final against Bristol on Sunday, 2 March.

"It's a special group of players and staff that we've got here," Lynn told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"To go a third season, league leaders, it's pretty impressive and to get that home semi-final is even more special."

Gloucester-Hartpury have lost only six matches in total during the past three seasons as they repeated their feats from 2023 and 2024 to close the campaign at the top of the table.

Full-back Mia Venner, who scored a hat-trick in the win against Sale, said the team did feel pressure to clinch a record-setting third title.

"We feel the pressure, I think we're just going to simmer away slowly, we're not going to put too much on it, we're going to play the way we want to play and not going to think about what's going on around us," she said.

"We've still got to keep our heads down, there's no giving up, [no] let go of the pressure that we're putting on at the moment, so we've got to keep our heads down still. We're not celebrating yet."

Alex Dombrandt has been recalled to Steve Borthwick's initial 36-man England squad for Saturday's Calcutta Cup match against Scotland at Murrayfield.

The Harlequins number eight withdrew from the Six Nations opener with Ireland earlier this month through injury, but returned to club action against Saracens in the Premiership Cup on Saturday.

Alex Coles and Henry Pollock have also been added to the squad, with Curtis Langdon and Alex Lozowski dropping out.

Northampton lock Coles played for his club in the Premiership Cup on Friday night after recovering from a wrist injury he picked up in mid-January.

Tom Curry and George Martin are also back in training after picking up knocks during England's dramatic 26-25 win over France last weekend.

Borthwick's side lost their opening game in the competition 27-22 at reigning champions Ireland.

Former Wales hooker T. Rhys Thomas will join interim head coach Matt Sherratt's backroom team as a skills coach for the remainder of the 2025 Six Nations.

Thomas, 42, joins on secondment from Gloucester and will return to the Premiership side after Wales' games against Ireland, Scotland and England.

Cardiff head coach Sherratt was put in interim Wales charge last week following the departure of head coach Warren Gatland, who had overseen a record run of 14 consecutive Test defeats.

Gatland's long-term assistant Rob Howley - a former interim head coach himself - has also stepped aside from his role, although he remains contracted to the Welsh Rugby Union.

Defence coach Mike Forshaw, forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys, skills coach Neil Jenkins and recently added scrum consultant Adam Jones remain on the Wales backroom staff.

Thomas, who will have a specific responsibility for forwards skills, will work closely with Humphreys and Jones.

"I would like to thank Gloucester and [head coach] George Skivington for allowing me to take up this opportunity to join Wales for the remaining three Six Nations games," said Thomas.

"It's all happened very quickly the past few days, but I'm excited for the challenge and looking forward to getting stuck in, working with Matt and the other coaches."