Weekend news roundup 11/11: Gauff wins & new Marvel trailer

Jonathan Victoria • 11 Nov 2024 News

Plus box office leader, surprise darts exit & England’s last-gasp loss.

Gauff wins WTA Tour Final

Coco Gauff claimed victory at the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, beating off the other top eight ranked players this season to grab the grandest prize.

At 20 years old, the third-ranked American has become the youngest player to win the WTA Tour Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2004, beating Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

Including this victory, Gauff picked up three singles titles this year, although was not able to claim her second career Grand Slam championship.

Her route to the final put her against the number one and two ranked players in the world, defending champion Iga Swaitek and Aryna Sabalenka, both of whom she saw off in straight sets on her way to the title - and a cool $4.8m to top it all off.

Venom 3 remains top of box office

Venom: The Last Dance has remained at the top of the US domestic box office charts for a third consecutive week, adding $16.2m this past weekend to its now $114.8m domestic total.

It managed to stave off the competition from two newcomers this week, with The Best Christmas Pageant Ever coming in second with $11.1m and Heretic an incredibly close third with $11m.

Tom Hardy’s final outing as Eddie Brock looks to be on track to be the lowest-grossing film of the trilogy, currently sitting at $394.2m worldwide. For comparison, Venom: Let There Be Carnage made $506.8m while the first Venom film made $856.1m.

Humphries dumped out at Grand Slam of Darts, Littler through

Defending Grand Slam of Darts champion Luke Humphries has seen his defence campaign end after a loss to James Wade in the group stage.

Humphries’ tournament is over after two losses from his three group-stage games so far, with his fate sealed before he even plays his final match tonight.

It’s a disappointing tournament for one of the favourites going in, but things are going better for fellow Brit Luke Littler, who has already secured his spot in the next round after two victories.

Two-time tournament runner-up Gary Anderson is also through to the next round after a sensational victory over three-time champion Michael van Gerwen, who will need a result tonight if he wants to move on to the next stage.

New Captain America: Brave New World trailer released

A new trailer for the next Marvel film, Captain America: Brave New World, has been released and gives fans the best look at Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk character.

The fourth instalment of the Captain America set of films will continue with Anthony Mackie’s Falcon taking up the mantle of Cap, which we saw in the Disney+ series Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

This new trailer expands upon the first, giving a better look at Ford’s character of President Thadeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross turning into Red Hulk to fight Cap.

It also does some well-needed explaining for different aspects across Marvel which has become fairly complicated since the vast expansion following Avengers: Endgame, including confirming the origin of adamantium in the MCU, which comes from the body of the Celestial Tiamut, which is the massive being protruding from the Earth that happened in 2021s Eternals but never really picked up on from any further projects.

Catch the new trailer here and remember to watch Captain America: Brave New World in cinemas on 14th February 2025.

Credit: Captain America: Brave New World | Official Trailer (Marvel Entertainment, YouTube)

England stunned in last-gasp loss

England’s Autumn Series campaign has suffered another devastating blow, losing to Australia 42-37 at Twickenham thanks to a last-gasp try from Max Jorgensen.

It was a hotly-contested affair, neither side giving the other an inch. Australia went into the half with a slender 20-18 lead and led by as much as 10 soon after play resumed in the second half.

England fought back and looked to have the win after a late Maro Itoje try which was converted by Marcus Smith put the hosts ahead by just two in the final minute.

But Australia’s resilience saw them break England’s hearts, bursting through with 84 minutes on the clock to score the game-winning try and dropping the Lions their second loss of the tournament.