Reid back for All Whites

Winston Reid has committed to playing for the All Whites against Australia next month – his first visit home to Auckland in eight years. Speaking to the West Ham United official website, the All Whites’ skipper (who played 194 games for West Ham), was excited about the chance to take on the Socceroos. The first game is at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on September 22 before the return match at Auckland’s Eden Park on September 25. Eden Park might be the final All Whites’ game for the 34-year-old defender, who famously scored an injury-time header in New Zealand’s opening game of the 2010 Fifa World Cup to draw 1-1 against Slovakia. It will be the All Whites’ first home fixture since they played Peru at Sky Stadium in Wellington in November 2017. ‘‘I’m really looking forward to [playing Australia], as it’ll be the first time I’ve been home since I visited with West Ham in 2014,’’ Reid said.

Serena Williams fell to 0-2 in matches since announcing ‘‘the countdown has begun’’ on her career, losing 6-4 6-0 to US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio, yesterday. Williams, 40, said last week in a Vogue magazine essay and an Instagram post that her career was winding down, although she did not explicitly say the US Open, which begins on August 29 in New York, would be her last tournament. The Cincinnati event was the second US Open tuneup for Williams, and the next time she takes the court will be at Flushing Meadows. She lost to Belinda Bencic in straight sets last week in Toronto.