Sporting fans of championship matchups, in a wide variety of sporting genres, are in a current season of plenty, and while there have already been so many big moments to digest, so many more are anticipated before all is said and done. Plus, to top it off, all of the championships left on tap will produce a different winner from the previous tournament, with the reigning champions not even making it to the final, and most not even getting anywhere close.

Firstly, with less than two week before the start of the 2026 World Cup tournament, the 2026 Champions League final last Saturday provided top-flight football, at a time when all the major club leagues have wrapped up their respective seasons. Arsenal and defending champion Paris St-Germain (PSG) went to battle at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, where the French League champions had to come from behind for a 1-1 score line at the end of regulation, to force overtime, then retain the Champions League crown following a dramatic penalty shootout (4-3), a rare feat in the modern era of European football. However, that is where the repeat winner stops in this current string of championships.

In the National Basketball Association (NBA), Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals last Saturday night saw the San Antonio Spurs take down the defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder, in a 111-103 thriller. The two biggest stars in the game – Victor “Wemby” Wembanyama (22 points) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35 points) – both put forth impressive showings, with Wemby securing unanimous Western Conference Finals Most Valuable Player honours. The Game 7 matchup, according to an announcement from the NBA on Monday, drew a historic two billion viewers across social media platforms, surpassing the previous best of 1.9 billion views, achieved during Game 1 of the same series.

The Spurs advanced to their first NBA Finals since 2014, where they defeated the Miami Heat in five games, and tipped off against the New York Knicks on Wednesday for a series that will produce the eighth different NBA champion in each of the last eight seasons. The Knicks entered the game as JustBet underdogs and it initially appeared the bookmaker had made the right call, but a gritty 30-point effort from Jalen Brunson (13 in the fourth quarter) provided the catalyst to rally the New York team from a 14-point second half deficit to steal Game 1, 105-95. A stark reminder of their 22-point comeback win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, where they completed a sweep.

The Knicks last made the NBA Finals in 1999 and last won the championship in 1973, but they have lost only two game this postseason and are on a 12-game winning streak, with only three wins away from hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The series continues with Game 2 tonight in San Antonio and the Spurs can ill affordtravelling to New York with a two-game deficit for Game 3. The Knick are on a stupendous roll,and the New York faithful are sensing that the 53 years wait may be finally over.

Elsewhere in another best-of-seven series, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes had the initial puck-drop on Tuesday for their National Hockey League (NHL) duel on ice. The Florida Panthers, who won the NHL Championship in 2024 and 2025, failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2019, and became the first defending champions to miss the playoffs since 2015. The Knights snatched home-ice advantage by outlasting the Hurricanes 5-4 and have now established themselves as JustBet favourites to lift the Stanley Cup.

Last, and definitely not least, in France this weekend, a new king and queen of Roland Garros will be crowned in both singles finals of the French Open, but the story of the players in the finals pales in comparison to the story of the players who didn’t make it through. Carlos Alcaraz, who won the men’s singles title at the 2025 French Open, after defeating Jannik Sinner in an epic five-set match that lasted five hours and 29 minutes, making it the longest final in the tournament’s history, did not participate in this year’s event due to an injured right wrist. His absence, combined with an unbeaten run since February, plus six consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles in that period, made Sinner a runaway JustBet favourite for the title.

Not since Rafael Nadal was winning his record 14 French Opens had a player come to Roland Garros with such automatic expectations to raise the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy and complete a career Grand Slam, but it was not to be. The Italian cruised through the first two sets in less than an hour and a half, and was leading 6-3, 6-2, 5-1 on a sweltering day in Paris last week Thursday but began to cramp up and could not overcome his difficulties, as he fell victim to one of the biggest upsets in French Open history. The No. 1 seed was defeated in stunning fashion for the first time in 31 matches, as the Argentinian world No. 56, Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, advanced to the third round with a 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 win.

As temperatures on Thursday peaked at 33C (91.4F), and within just one game of concluding his second-round match in straight sets, the top seed suffered a break to love and his first conceded break of the tournament, then managed to win just two of the 16 games played in the remainder of the match. And with Sinner’s ousting, third seeded Novak Djokovic was automatically exalted to JustBet favourite, attempting to win his 25th grand slam singles title, but that was short-lived, as he was knocked out in a dramatic, five-set, third-round match by the 19-year-old Brazilian, 24th-seeded João Fonseca last Friday, one day after Sinner, leaving the men’s title open for new finalists and a new champion.

On the women’s side, Coco Gauff won the 2025 French Open women’s singles title, after defeating the world No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka, in a thrilling three-set comeback match, with a score of 6–7, 6–2, 6–4. That marked Gauff’s first Roland Garros title and her second career Grand Slam victory, and she became the first American woman to capture the French Open singles title since Serena Williams in 2015. In her attempt to repeat as champion, the fourth seed suffered a third-round defeat by the No. 28 seeded Russian, Anastasia Potapova, losing 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-4, in a match which featured multiple momentum swings.Additionally, Sabalenka, who entered as the top seed for the women’s singles draw, suffered a shock quarter-final defeat on Wednesday, collapsing from a set and a double-break up, to lose 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 against 25th-seeded Russian, Diana Shnaider, also leaving the women’stitle open for new finalists and a new champion.

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