Listicle: 10 of the most fiery sports rivalries to watch out for

Millennials had the Nadal-Federer-Djokovic trinity and the Williams sisters. Gen Zs have the Italian-Spanish duo Sincaraz. The young tennis players have different playing styles and personalities. Sinner, currently World No 1, is cool and composed. Alcaraz, World No 2, is energetic and almost exhibitionist. Neither gives up easily. Remember that epic 2022 US Open match, at which they viciously swung back-and-forth for five hours? Their next potential face-off: The US Cincinnati Open. We can’t wait.

In 2022, Gukesh became the youngest player to beat World Champion Carlsen. The world has been following every face-off since. At the Norway Chess Tournament in June, Gukesh won, and Carlsen, who made a mistake, slammed the table in frustration. It spawned a universe of memes and reaction videos. Carlsen made a comeback at the Superunited Rapid and Blitz Tournament in Croatia a month later. They’ll play each other soon. We’re watching.

They’re partners and sports rivals. The two met when playing for Arsenal, three years ago, and then joined different clubs. In the Euro 2025, they had their first international showdown — Mead as a forward for the England National Team, the Lionesses; Miedema as a striker for the Netherlands team. The Lionesses trashed the Dutch team. Both have talked about not going easy on the other, even if they don’t speak for a while after a match. Romance girlies, where’s the fanfiction at?

0.698 seconds. That’s the difference between first and second place at F1’s Hungarian Grand Prix 2025. Norris and Piastri have been in competition since 2023. The former has won five races this season; the latter, six. In the last few seconds of the HGP, Piastri, desperate to overtake Norris, narrowly avoided swerving into him. It cost him first place. But the jubilant Norris said the race was “entertaining”. Fans love this drama. Who will conquer the Dutch Grand Prix later this month?

The javelin throwers have been going at it since 2016, with Chopra winning gold and silver, and his Pakistani counterpart one step behind. So, when Chopra came in second at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and Nadeem won gold, it was a shocker. The Indian player’s personal best throw is 90.23 m; Nadeem’s, 92.97 m. They haven’t faced each other since then in over a year. May the best South Asian win!

American athlete Ledecky, 28, is the most decorated female swimmer in history, with 14 Olympic medals. She has a worthy opponent in Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh, who ended Ledecky’s 13-year streak in the 800m freestyle last year. At the Singapore World Aquatic Championships this month, the tension was palpable. McIntosh was just 0.34 seconds ahead of Ledecky in the last lap, before her rival out-swam her to win. Both are aiming to overtake records set by Michael Phelps.

Chinese player Shi Yuqi and Thai player Kunlavut Vitidsarn both pace around the badminton court like predators stalking prey. Yuqi likes to smash shots at his opponent, while his rival likes to make him dance and dive to get a shot. Yuqi has won five out of their last eight matches. In July, the two were aiming for world rankings — the Chinese player retained the top spot, Vitidsarn settled at No 3. They next meet at the Badminton World Federation Championships this month. Good luck!

For Mandhana, all-rounder Kapp is “one of the toughest pacers” she’s faced. For Kapp, the Indian cricketer is “one of the most dangerous batters”. It’s hard to pick which is more thrilling to watch, the South African player’s deadly inswingers, or Mandhana’s cool, powerful batting. Fans still talk about the time Kapp bowled a sudden fast ball at Mandhana at the 2024 Women’s Premier League, knocking a wicket out clean. Their next big encounter could be at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.

UK’s Gibson and India’s Surekha Vennam are evenly matched archers. Gibson, 25, is World No 1. But 29-year-old Surekha Vennam (two spots behind) is closing in. At the Hyundai Archery World Cup in Madrid this month, their arrows spoke volumes. Both archers were edging each other out bit by bit, their targets dancing around the centre of the bullseye. Gibson won by a narrow margin of 148-147. But we’re hoping Surekha Vennam makes a comeback at the Archery World Cup in October.

The Big Three of Jamaican track-and-field have been trying to out-run each other since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Their personal bests in the 200m sprint are within microseconds of each other’s. Jackson and Fraser Pryce are competing at the World Athletics Championships in September. But Thompson-Herah, who spent much of last year out of commission due to an injury, skipped the Jamaican National Trials in June. Pray that this holy trinity is reunited.