Briton falls 6-4, 6-3 after dropping first sets of tournament
Russian to face Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in final
Anna Kalinskaya outclassed Emma Raducanu 6-4, 6-3 at the Washington Open to advance to the final, where she will face Leylah Fernandez.
After a strong start from both players, Kalinskaya secured the first break to lead 5-4 and served out the opening set, handing Raducanu her first dropped set of the tournament.
Continue reading...Player served three-month suspension over positive test
Umberto Ferrara blamed incident on physiotherapist
The Wimbledon men’s singles champion Jannik Sinner has reappointed his former fitness coach Umberto Ferrara with immediate effect, the Italian world No 1 confirmed on Wednesday.
Sinner parted ways with Ferrara and physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi last year following the investigation into his positive tests for banned substance clostebol.
Continue reading...Williams, 45, earns first singles win since 2023
Oldest WTA winner since Navratilova in 2004
Beatsworld No 35 Stearns after 16-month layoff
Venus Williams wanted to send a message – to herself and to others – about coming back from a long layoff, about competing in a sport at age 45, about never giving up. Yes, there was something special about just being back on a tennis court Tuesday night.
There also was this: She really, really wanted to win.
Continue reading...Home rider denies Ben Healy in lung-busting sprint finish
Tadej Pogacar retains the overall leader’s yellow jersey
Valentin Paret-Peintre stayed ice-cool in the heat to give France its first win in this year’s Tour de France as he prevailed atop the intimidating Mont Ventoux on the 16th stage.
The Soudal-Quick Step rider beat Ireland’s Ben Healy in a lung-busting sprint finish on the Giant of Provence, as Tadej Pogacar retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey after keeping chief rival Jonas Vingegaard in his sights on the 21.5km ascent at 7.5%.
Jeremy Whittle’s report to follow
Continue reading...Australia’s No 8 says team will try to ‘win every moment’ on Saturday
Nick Champion de Crespigny and Tom Lynagh come into injury-depleted squad
Australia captain Harry Wilson said the Wallabies were confident of beating the British & Irish Lions in the first Test at Lang Park on Saturday despite being heavy underdogs after losing several key players to injury.
The Wallabies have won only four of their last 11 Tests and on Saturday will be without regular fly-half Noah Lolesio and their best Test player of the last two years, loose forward Rob Valetini.
Continue reading...Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen claims win in Toulouse
Pogacar falls 5km from end but quickly back on bike
Chaos reigned on stage 11 of the Tour de France in Toulouse as the defending champion, Tadej Pogacar, crashed and an anti-Israel protester ran on to the final straight. Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen claimed the stage win ahead of second-placed Mauro Schmid of Switzerland.
A male protester wearing a ‘Israel out of the Tour’ T-shirt ran on to the home straight, as two frontrunners sprinted for victory, before he was restrained by a security officer. The protester, who was also waving a keffiyeh, was about 50m from the finish line. Israel is represented on the Tour through the Israel-Premier Tech team, but no Israeli riders are in the race.
Continue reading...Márquez holds off brother Álex to extend title lead
Francesco Bagnaia third as eight riders crash out
Marc Márquez proved once again why he is known as the “King of Sachsenring”, as the Ducati rider won the German Grand Prix on Sunday in a race that became a test of survival with only 10 riders finishing.
Márquez’s ninth MotoGP victory at the Sachsenring, in his 200th overall start, takes his season points tally to 344. He has stretched his championship lead over his brother, Álex, who finished second, to 83 points. Marc’s teammate, Francesco Bagnaia, finished third and sits 147 points behind.
Continue reading...Joint defeats Eala 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 for second WTA title
Pegula overcomes Swiatek in Bad Homburg Open final
Australia’s Maya Joint saved four match points before beating Alexandra Eala 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10) to win the Eastbourne title in a gripping final on Saturday.
Four times Eala, the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour final, was a point away from victory in the final-set tie-break but Joint dug deep to prevail. The 19-year-old showed tremendous resilience to stay alive and when she earned her second match point at 11-10 and made no mistake, drilling a backhand crosscourt winner.
Continue reading...Tongue takes three wickets in four balls
Another India lower-order collapse gave England a fighting chance of a thrilling victory in the first Test at Headingley, with the hosts 21-0 in their second innings at the close of play on day four, chasing 371 to win.
Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul struck centuries for the visitors, with the former becoming the second wicketkeeper to hit twin tons in a Test match. But just as he did in the first innings, Josh Tongue came to the fore when seeing off the Indian tail, with three wickets in four balls helping ensure the tourists lost their final six second-innings wickets for 31 runs.
Ali Martin’s report will follow shortly.
Continue reading...English golfer three-putts on 18th while Bradley birdies it
American Ryder Cup captain wins by one shot
The US Ryder Cup captain, Keegan Bradley, birdied the final hole of the Travelers Championship and soared past England’s Tommy Fleetwood to win the tournament in a stunning finale in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Bradley shot a two-under-par 68 for a four-round total of 15 under to win by one stroke over Fleetwood (72) and Russell Henley (69).
Continue reading...Alex Márquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio also on podium
Spaniard claims 93rd win of his career across all classes
Ducati’s Marc Márquez won the Italian Grand Prix after a dogfight for podium places at the Mugello Circuit on Sunday, taking the chequered flag ahead of his brother Alex Márquez to maintain an iron grip on the riders’ championship.
Gresini Racing’s Alex Márquez briefly led the race early on before Marc Márquez took control, while Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46 Racing claimed third place after snatching the final podium spot from Italian compatriot Francesco Bagnaia. The home favourite, Bagnaia, also led the race in the initial stages but the Italian, who had won the previous three races at Mugello, was overshadowed by the Márquez brothers and could only finish fourth in front of his home fans.
Continue reading...18-year-old adds 200m IM record to 400m freestyle mark
Olympic champion also recorded third-fastest 800m freestyle
Summer McIntosh set a world record for the second time in three days at the Canadian swimming trials on Monday with the 18-year-old eclipsing Hungarian great Katinka Hosszu’s 200m individual medley mark set 10 years ago.
Three-times Olympic champion McIntosh, who set a world record in the 400m freestyle on Saturday, touched the wall in two minutes, 05.70 seconds to knock 0.42 off Hosszu’s time from the 2015 world championships in Kazan.
Continue reading...Championship leader dominates Aragon Grand Prix
Ducati rider extends championship lead
Marc Márquez proved once again that he was the master of the circuit at MotorLand as the Ducati rider won the Aragon Grand Prix from pole to extend his lead in the championship on Sunday.
Márquez’s brother Álex finished second for Gresini Racing while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia came third.
Continue reading...Lomachenko retires with 18-3 pro record and 12 KOs
Two-time Olympic gold medalist ends storied career
Ukrainian star thanks fans in emotional farewell video
Vasiliy Lomachenko, a three-division world champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and arguably the greatest amateur boxer in history, announced his retirement from the sport at the age of 37.
“I’m grateful for every victory and every defeat both in the ring and in life,” the Ukrainian said in a video on Instagram Thursday morning. “I’m thankful that as my career comes to an end, I’ve gained clarity about the direction a person must take in order to achieve true victory, not just in the ring.“
Continue reading...Inzaghi departs after heavy Champions League final loss
Led Inter to Serie A title during four-year spell at club
Simone Inzaghi has left his position as manager of Inter, the Serie A club confirmed on Tuesday.
The 49-year-old is departing three days after a humiliating 5-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final and with Inter having missed out on the domestic title, to Napoli, by one point. The Nerazzurri also lost 4-1 to city rivals Milan in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.
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