Axios

Fanatics has nearly tripled in value over the last year. Now, the e-commerce giant wants to expand into new businesses like sports betting, ticketing and media.

Driving the news: Fanatics closed a $325 million funding round last week that values the company at $18 billion, making it the world's 12th-most valuable private company, per CB Insights.

Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka broke down in tears and had to briefly step away on Monday during her first news conference since withdrawing from the French Open.

Driving the news: Cincinnati Enquirer journalist Paul Daugherty referenced the world No. 2's withdrawal from May's French Open on Monday following her decision to not attend press conferences at the tournament to protect her mental health.

Afghanistan's Paralympic team won't compete in the Tokyo Paralympics following the country's fall to the Taliban and the closure of all commercial flights at the Kabul airport, NPR reports.

Why it matters: Zakia Khudadadi would have been the first woman to represent Afghanistan at a Paralympic Games, which begin Aug. 24, per Reuters.

As sports betting emerges from the shadows and steps into the light, it's seeping into every aspect of fandom.

The state of play: How fans watch games, where fans watch games, how media covers those games — it's all being transformed quite rapidly.

If you look at the data, Olympic marathoners train slower than they plan to run in competition. Most amateurs do the opposite, according to new data from workout tracker network Strava.

Why it matters: It's an example of the kind of information that can be gleaned by extensively tracking the country's workouts (with their consent).