Received

Nick Kyrgios gave it all he had, but in the end, in the midday Montreal heat, there were just too many aches and pains.

The mercurial Australian's nine-match winning singles run came to a disappointing end in the quarter-finals of the Montreal Masters 1000, worn down by fatigue, a sore back, and the implacable serving of Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.

The No.8 seed won 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 with the final set taking 27 minutes after the first two lasted 38 and 41 respectively.

Kyrgios did not call a trainer, or complain, but looked off the pace physically. He also had plenty on his mind with his parents unwell.

"I honestly don't care [about losing the winning streak]," said Kyrgios. He added, "I've been away from home, away from my mum, away from my dad.

"They're not very well at the moment. So I don't really care about 'no winning streak'.

"I got two more tournaments [Cincinnati and the US Open] left before I can go home."

Kyrgios had won 15 of his past 16 singles matches, with the only defeat against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final. But that is a lot of tennis for a player who has pursued a less busy schedule in recent years.

In Washington last week he won the singles and the doubles, playing ten matches in all. This was thus his 15th match this month in the US hardcourt swing.

"Nick was maybe a little bit injured, which might have hurt his serve," said Hurkacz. "With both of us serving so well, that few per cent can make the difference."

Hurkacz took the first set on the tie-break with a backhand winner. Kyrgios then levelled, also via the tie-break, with an ace.

But he swiftly went 0-3 down in the final set and required four game points to hold for 1-3. But on Kyrgios' next service game Hurkacz saved four game points before breaking at the first attempt to go 5-1 up and end the Australian's resistance.

"Nick has been playing really unbelievable throughout the past few months," added Hurkacz. "Battling against him, it's very challenging, but it's also fun.

"He can make every single shot. He doesn't really have that many weaknesses, if any. I was just trying to serve good and stay aggressive."

In the semi-finals Hurkacz will play fourth seed Casper Ruud.

The Norwegian thrashed local favourite Felix Auger-Aliassime, handing the young Canadian the heaviest defeat of his career 6-1 6-2.

© AAP 2022

The FBI recovered documents that were labeled "top secret" from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorised the unprecedented search this week.

A property receipt unsealed by the court on Friday shows FBI agents took 11 sets of classified records from the estate during a search on Monday. The property receipt is a document prepared by federal agents to specify what was taken during a search.

The seized records include some that were marked as classified and top secret. The court records did not provide specific details about the documents or what information they might contain.

In a statement Friday, Trump claimed that the documents seized by agents at his Florida club were "all declassified," and argued that he would have turned over the documents to the Justice Department if asked.

While incumbent presidents have the power to declassify information, that authority lapses as soon as they leave office and it was not clear if the documents in question have ever been declassified.

Trump also kept possession of the documents despite multiple requests from agencies, including the National Archives, to turn over presidential records in accordance with federal law.

US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the same judge who signed off on the search warrant unsealed the warrant and property receipt on Friday at the request of the Justice Department after Attorney General Merrick Garland declared there was "substantial public interest in this matter," and Trump backed the warrant's "immediate" release. The Justice Department told the judge on Friday afternoon that Trump's lawyers did not object to the proposal to make it public.

In messages posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, "Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents."

Trump himself has been given at least some of the records the government was seeking to unseal, but he and his lawyers have declined, so far, to make them public.

The Justice Department's request is striking because such documents traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the department appeared to recognise that its silence since the search had created a vacuum for bitter verbal attacks by Trump and his allies, and that the public was entitled to the FBI's side about what prompted Monday's action at the former president's home.

"The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favour of unsealing," said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday.

Releasing the warrant could disclose unflattering information about Trump and about FBI scrutiny of his handling of sensitive government documents right as he prepares for another run for the White House. During his successful 2016 campaign, he pointed frequently to an FBI investigation into his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over whether she mishandled classified information.

Neither Trump nor the FBI has said anything about what documents the FBI might have recovered, or what precisely agents were looking for.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served on Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trump's home in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this year.

© AP 2022

South Sydney can lay claim to being the NRL's form team at the right time of the season after putting on their most ruthless performance of the year against Parramatta.

Souths put the competition on notice with their 26-0 win, with star fullback Latrell Mitchell warning top-of-the-table rivals the Rabbitohs were now coming for them.

A top-four spot is still not out of the question with three weeks until finals, however that would require results going in the Bunnies' favour over the coming weeks.

But regardless, there is little doubt that last year's grand finalists are one of the form teams in the competition heading towards September.

Since the NRL's representative weekend in June, the Souths have gone 6-1 in a record matched by only Cronulla and North Queensland.

The Bunnies have averaged 32 points a game in that time, the most of any team in the competition.

But this has not been at a defensive cost, only Cronulla have conceded less than the Rabbitohs' 15.86 points per game over the same period.

The Rabbitohs' revival has coincided with Mitchell's return from a hamstring injury, with the Souths fullback now clearly back to his damaging best.

The club's form is a far cry from the way in which they started the year, losing six of their first 11 games with a new coach in Jason Demetriou and no Adam Reynolds.

Demetriou refused to panic, sticking solid with selections as the Rabbitohs' attack finally clicked and Cody Walker began to shine again.

"I had a plan that I thought there was a journey we had to go on," Demetriou said.

"I was under no illusions of how tough the start to he season was going to be.

"We had a shocking preseason, off the back of extended time off because of [previously] being in the bubble.

"And then not starting until the back end of January because of COVID.

"But I sort of knew that the season was going to grow on us."

Demetriou however acknowledged the spotlight was burning,

Souths succumbed to the worst completion rate in the competition over the first half of the season as they struggled to find their groove before the recent run.

"We were we were under pressure. But every day I just kept waking up and reminding myself of what's in that changing room," he said.

"And that's a very talented footy team and a group of men that care about their club and their teammates.

"And as long as we stuck at that we were able to get through it.

"Our high-performance team and medical teams done a great job to get our key players on the field and fit and looking good at the right time."

The Rabbitohs should also get Campbell Graham and Lachlan Ilias back from injury against Penrith, while Tom Burgess returns from suspension.

© AAP 2022