Racquet Sports Weekly Roundup — Zverev & Rybakina Win the US Open, NJ 5s Take the MLP Title

Welcome to the first WonderKik weekly racquet-sports roundup. Every Monday we scan the pickleball, padel, tennis, badminton, squash, and table-tennis news so you get the winners, the headlines, and what to watch next week — in one place.

Here’s the week that was (September 8–14, 2026).

Tennis — Zverev and Rybakina crowned at the US Open

The year’s last major is done, and Flushing Meadows produced two firsts.

Men’s singles: Alexander Zverev (world No.2) beat American Ben Shelton in four sets, 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2, to win the US Open for the first time — his second Grand Slam title of 2026 after Roland-Garros. Shelton was chasing history: the first American man to win the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003, and the first Black man to win it since Arthur Ashe in 1968. His run included a five-set quarter-final win over defending champion Carlos Alcaraz that finished at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in tournament history. Zverev arrived as the top seed after world No.1 Jannik Sinner withdrew with a persistent knee injury.

Women’s singles: Elena Rybakina beat two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to win her maiden US Open and third career major — then overtook Sabalenka for the world No.1 ranking on Monday. Sabalenka had come within one match of tying Serena Williams’ three-peat feat.

Next up: the tour shifts to Asia for the autumn swing.

Pickleball — New Jersey 5s win the MLP title

Major League Pickleball crowned a first-time champion. The New Jersey 5s beat the St. Louis Shock in the DreamBreaker 21-9 to capture the 2026 MLP championship — the franchise’s first title. Federico Staksrud was named Finals MVP, and Anna Leigh Waters picked up her first MLP title to complete the set.

Over at the Veolia Pickleball National Championships in Cary, North Carolina, the standout runs were Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright, who both left with two golds. Waters beat Kate Fahey 11-1, 11-9 in the women’s singles final, and Ben Johns & Gabe Tardio kept their grip on the men’s doubles crown.

On the world stage, Jessie Irvine and Gabe Tardio each won two golds at the PPA Kuala Lumpur Cup, while teenage prospect Tama Shimabukuro impressed in just her second PPA event.

Watch next: the Veolia Arizona Open runs September 14–20 in Mesa, Arizona.

Padel — Madrid P1 crowns Chingalán; Salazar says goodbye

The Madrid P1 wrapped with Federico Chingotto & Alejandro Galán — the “Chingalán” partnership — taking the men’s title, while Gemma Triay made history twice over on the women’s side in her home event. It was an emotional week for the sport: after a three-decade career, Alejandra Salazar played her farewell at home in Madrid.

The whistle-stop of the week ran at a venue tennis fans will know: the Alpine Paris Major played out its finals at Roland Garros over the weekend, with world No.1 pair Arturo Coello & Agustín Tapia still the pair to beat on the 2026 tour.

Badminton — An Se-young rules the world, India’s pairs keep winning

At the BWF World Championships in New Delhi, An Se-young of South Korea defended her women’s singles world title with a masterclass win over Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi — her second consecutive world crown.

Since then the doubles column has belonged to India: Satwik Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty took their 20th BWF World Tour title at the China Masters, while an older star keeps climbing — Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen moved up to world No.4. Over at the Vietnam Open, Chinese Taipei’s Chen Zhi-ray & Lin Yu-chieh won the men’s doubles.

Squash — Qatar Classic kicks off the Platinum season

It’s a new season for the PSA Tour, and the first Platinum event is already in Doha.

Before that, the London Squash Classic threw up two of the year’s best stories: English No.1 Georgina Kennedy beat world No.2 Hania El Hammamy to reach her first major-class final, and 18-year-old Indian sensation Anahat Singh knocked out No.4 seed Tinne Gilis — the biggest PSA match win of her career.

This week the QTerminals Qatar Classic runs September 12–18 in Doha, and it has a loaded draw:

• Nouran Gohar returns to the PSA Tour after a year away following the birth of her first child in April.
• World No.1 Hania El Hammamy (two-time champion) and Mostafa Asal top the women’s and men’s seeds; Asal has finished runner-up in Qatar in each of the last two years.
• Defending men’s champion Paul Coll opens against four-time Qatar Classic winner Mohamed ElShorbagy.
• Qatari favorite Abdulla Al-Tamimi returns from an Achilles rupture to play on home soil.

Table Tennis — Moregård and Miwa Harimoto win in Macao

Two finals worth the price of admission at WTT Champions Macao (September 8–13):

• Sweden’s Truls Moregård beat Brazil’s Hugo Calderano 4-1 to take the men’s title, having survived a 4-3 semi-final against Tomokazu Harimoto.
• Japan’s Miwa Harimoto — just 18 — came from 2-3 down to beat China’s Chen Yi 4-3 (12-10 in the decider) for her third WTT Champions trophy of 2026. “I didn’t expect to win it three times at all,” she said after the match.

With the senior stars (Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha) adding World Cup titles earlier in the year, China and Japan continue to trade blows heading into the run of WTT Smash events.

The week ahead

• Pickleball: Veolia Arizona Open, Mesa — Sept 14–20.
• Squash: QTerminals Qatar Classic finals, Doha — Sept 18.
• Tennis: the Asian swing begins.
• Padel: the tour keeps rolling after the Paris Major.

That wraps issue #1. Bookmark the page and check back every Monday — or jump into our guides to brush up on how each game works while the season unfolds.