Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - After a two-year break the ASB Classic women's and men's tennis tournaments will return to Auckland this summer.

The last two tournaments were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic but will make a return in the new year.

ASB has re-signed as title sponsor of the event, committing to a further three-year partnership with the Classic.

New tournament director Nicolas Lamperin says the tournaments are loved by players and amongst the best attended 250 events on the calendar.

American legend Serena Williams won the 2020 women's tournament.

Organisers say interest has been shown by a number of high profile players but none have yet been confirmed.

The tournaments will run from January 2-14.

All Whites to play Australia

The All Whites will play Australia in September to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the first ever senior men's football international fixture between the two teams.

The All Whites will face the Socceroos at Eden Park on Sunday 25 September 2022 at 4pm.

The match will be played as part of a two-game series with one game in Aotearoa and one in Australia. The Australian game will be announced at a later date.

Along with celebrating the centenary of the first trans-Tasman game, the fixture marks the first time the two teams have met in over 10 years, the first All Whites game in New Zealand since 2017 and the first time senior international football has been played at Eden Park.

"This is a ground-breaking and history making game in so many ways" says Andrew Pragnell, CEO of New Zealand Football.

"We made a commitment to play more games in Aotearoa for all our national sides. Now with our borders open, I am very pleased we are able to announce this match with more senior international football hosted in New Zealand set to be confirmed soon.

ElShorbagy to play for England

Former world men's squash number one Mohamed ElShorbagy has switched allegiance from Egypt to England with immediate effect.

The Bristol-based star will now compete at Professional Squash Association and World Squash Federation sanctioned tournaments under the England flag.

Born in Alexandria, ElShorbagy is one of the most decorated squash players of all time, having spent 50 months at World No.1 between 2014-2021.

A former world champion and three-time British Open winner, ElShorbagy has 44 professional titles to his name, putting him joint sixth on the all-time men's winners list.

Currently ranked third in the world, the 31-year-old has lived in England since he was 15.

ElShorbagy will not compete at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July.

Nadal set to play on this year - Henman

Former British number one Tim Henman believes the prospect of a calendar Grand Slam will motivate newly crowned French Open champion Rafa Nadal to play at Wimbledon, an event the Spaniard said he would play only if his body allowed it.

Nadal, who has been battling a chronic foot injury, demolished Norway's Casper Ruud to claim a record-extending 14th Roland Garros crown yesterday but refused to commit to the grasscourt major, which gets underway on June 27.

Henman, a four-times Wimbledon semi-finalist who is now on the board of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, said the 36-year-old could win the title for the third time.

"If Nadal is healthy, which is a big challenge with his foot injury - can he win Wimbledon? Absolutely, and that's incredibly exciting," Henman told Eurosport.

"Don't forget he's won the Australian Open, the French Open, now you can talk about the Grand Slam being on. Surely it is going to motivate him to keep on going.

Nadal's victory over Ruud took him to 22 major titles, two clear of longtime rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the all-time Grand Slam list.

-Reuters

Lemond being treated for cancer

Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond is being treated for leukaemia.

The two-time world champion - who won the Tour de France in 1986, 1989 and 1990 - said "a few weeks of fatigue" prompted him to go for a check-up.

He is the only American to claim the Tour de France after Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis were stripped of their wins over banned substances.

"I have been diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukaemia," the 60-year-old said in a statement on his website.

"Fortunately, it is a type of cancer that is treatable, and it is a type of leukaemia that is not life-threatening or debilitating.

-BBC

Walmart to buy Broncos

Rob Walton, whose father founded US Hypermarket chain Walmart, will win the bid to buy the Denver Broncos at a record price of about $7 billion, Forbes has reported.

It would be the highest price paid for an American sports franchise, topping the $5 billion paid for the NBA's Brooklyn Nets in 2019. Forbes said the deal could be announced this month.

Forbes identified other bidders as Josh Harris, who is part of the ownership group of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils; Jose E. Feliciano, one of the founders of Clearlake Capital; and mortgage lender Mat Ishbia.

Walton, 77, has a net worth of $100 billion and is the 19th-richest person in the world, per Forbes. The Walmart fortune is so vast that his siblings, Alice and Jim, also are among the world's 20 richest people on Forbes' list of billionaires.

If the Walton sale goes through, Jim Walton would become the second NFL owner from the extended Walton family. Ann Walton Kroenke, who is Jim Walton's cousin, is married to Stan Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Rams.

-Reuters

$9 million for LeBron memorabilia

Auctioneers are expecting a one-of-a-kind LeBron James trading card to fetch more than $9 million when it goes up for sale this week.

The "Triple Logoman" card, a single-issue card featuring the 18-time NBA All-Star, includes patches taken from jerseys James wore while with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.

Issued by Panini as part of its 2020-21 "Flawless" collection, the card set off a frenzied hunt among collectors including Canadian rapper Drake, who bought 10 cases of the pricey basketball cards in a failed attempt to locate it.

The card was discovered after a year-long hunt among collectors during a live social media event.

Goldin called it the "Holy Grail" of sport collectibles and believes it could challenge the record for the most expensive sports trading card, topping the $10 million paid for the Honus Wagner T-206 baseball card in August.

-Reuters