Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic announced his withdrawal from the upcoming Paris Masters tournament and expressed hope to return to the French capital next year.

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, Djokovic wrote, as quoted by the ATP, “Unfortunately, I will not be playing at the Rolex paris masters this year. Sorry to everyone who was hoping to see me play there. Wishing all the players, sponsors, organisers, and fans a great tournament.”

“I have a lot of great memories from winning seven titles there and hope to be back with you next year,” he added.

As Djokovic continues his pursuit of a 100th tour-level title, it’s noteworthy that he has won seven of his record-breaking 40 ATP Masters 1000 titles at Paris-Bercy. He holds an impressive 50-9 win-loss record in the tournament and has triumphed in 18 of his last 19 matches at the event.

The 37-year-old has a season win-loss record of 37-9, with the highlight of his year coming in Paris when he defeated Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz to secure the Olympic gold medal. Djokovic currently ranks sixth in the ATP Live Race to Turin and remains in contention for a direct qualification to the season-ending ATP Finals.

Earlier in October, world number one Jannik Sinner delivered a standout performance to defeat Djokovic and claim his seventh title of 2024 at the Shanghai Masters. Sinner triumphed 7-6(4), 6-3, becoming the first player since Andy Murray in 2016 to win more than six titles in a single calendar year. He clinched the pivotal first set by improving his tie-break record to 24-8 for the year, before racing to a commanding 4-1 lead early in the second set.

Australian Olympic hockey player Tom Craig has been banned for 12 months after being arrested on suspicion of attempting to purchase cocaine during the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Hockey Australia (HA) announced that Craig’s ban, which came into effect on Monday, is the result of an investigation by its integrity unit into his arrest last month.

“Tom Craig will serve a six-month suspension fully, while the remaining six months will be suspended, contingent upon compliance with conduct and behavioral requirements,” HA said.

In addition to the suspension, Craig is required to complete mandatory training and educational programs, as mandated by the governing body.

The 29-year-old has represented Australia in over 100 games and was part of the team that secured a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

On Tuesday, the Australian government unveiled a new directive mandating that national and state sporting bodies achieve a 50-50 gender split on their boards by mid-2027, with the risk of losing public funding for non-compliance.

The National Gender Equity in Sport Governance Policy also stipulates that by July 1, 2027, half of all board chairs and sub-committee members must be women.

The government noted that despite nearly equal sports participation rates between men and women, women remain underrepresented in governance and leadership roles within the Australian sports sector.

Each jurisdiction will implement its own strategies to meet these targets, with funding withheld from national organizations that fail to comply.

Currently, 62% of sporting bodies meet the required gender diversity standards, but only 25% of boards have women as chairs. Sports Minister Anika Wells emphasized the need for increased female representation in decision-making roles to address existing gender imbalances and enhance decision-making and performance.

Under the directive, gender-diverse board members and chairs will be counted as women for the purpose of meeting the policy requirements.