Category: 6. Sports

WIMBLEDON — After a slew of upsets in the first three rounds, things have settled down in the bottom half of the draw. 

Six of the eight players left are seeded. Three of them — No. 4 Iga Swiatek, No. 7 Mirra Andreeva and No. 10 Emma Navarro — are ranked among the PIF WTA Rankings Top 10.

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws

The two unseeded players: Tokyo Olympic singles gold medalist Belinda Bencic, mounting a comeback after giving birth to daughter Bella, and 22-year-old Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, ranked No. 66.

With the losses by Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova, a first-time Wimbledon champion is guaranteed.

Monday’s order of play

Centre Court: 13:30 start
No. 6 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 11 Alex de Minaur
No. 7 Mirra Andreeva vs. No. 10 Emma Navarro
No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov

No.1 Court: 13:00 start
No. 18 Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Belinda Bencic
No. 10 Ben Shelton vs. Lorenzo Sonego
No. 8 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 23 Clara Tauson

No.2 Court: 11:00 start
No. 22 Flavio Cobolli vs. Marin Cilic
No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro

Breaking down Monday’s fourth-round matches

No. 7 Mirra Andreeva vs. No. 10 Emma Navarro

Head-to-head: 1-0, Andreeva, a 6-2, 6-2 win in the 2024 Cincinnati Round of 64.

Mirra Andreeva was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Hailey Baptiste, while Navarro defeated defending champion Barbora Krejcikova 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Match fact: Andreeva is the youngest woman to reach the fourth round at each of the first three Grand Slam events of the season since Nicole Vaidisova in 2006.

No. 8 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 23 Clara Tauson

Head-to-head: 1-0, Swiatek, three years ago in the Round of 32 at Indian Wells in three sets.

Tauson defeated No. 11 Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 6-3 and later Swiatek was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Danielle Collins.

Match fact: Swiatek now holds the 11^th highest winning percentage in women’s singles Grand Slam events in the Open Era (82.8%, 96-20), surpassing Martina Hingis (82.7%).

No. 18 Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Belinda Bencic

Head-to-head: 4-all, with Alexandrova winning the most relevant meeting, 6-1, 6-2 two weeks ago in Bad Homburg’s first round.

Alexandrova was a 6-3, 7-6 (1) winner over Zeynep Sonmez while Bencic defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 [7].

Match fact: In the past seven years, only Ons Jabeur (41) has claimed more WTA main-draw wins on grass court than Ekaterina Alexandrova’s 37 over that span.

No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro

Head-to-head: 0-0.

Samsonova was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over No. 16 Daria Kasatkina and Bouzas Maneiro defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.

Match fact: Best result at a Grand Slam has been Round of 16 finish — four times including 2021 Wimbledon.

 

 

A light-hearted moment from yesterday in the second Test between India and England has taken on new significance after rain washed out the opening hours of Day 5 at Edgbaston. A video featuring England batter Harry Brook warning Shubman Gill about incoming rain has gone viral, mainly because his cheeky prediction came true. During a break in play, Brook was heard joking with Gill: “Not 450 declared? Shubman, you know it’s raining tomorrow. Half day. Afternoon. It’s raining.”Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!To which Gill casually replied, “Bad luck for us.”Brook responded with a grin: “Take the draw.”

The clip was initially viewed as friendly banter, but with persistent rain on Sunday becoming the gap between a draw and India’s golden chance to level the series, Brook’s remark suddenly feels prophetic.Watch the viral clip:India entered Day 5 in complete control, needing just seven more wickets to seal a dominant win. England were reeling at 72/3, still 536 runs away from an impossible target of 608. But heavy showers hit Birmingham just minutes before the scheduled start, leaving the outfield soaked and conditions unplayable.The game has so far belonged to India captain Shubman Gill. The 25-year-old rewrote the record books on Saturday, becoming the first player in Test history to score 250 and 150 in the same match. His knocks of 269 and 161 powered India to massive totals of 587 and 427/6 declared, setting up what could’ve been a certain victory.If the match ends in a draw, England will head to Lord’s for the third Test, starting Thursday, with a 1-0 lead.

Jaume Munar faced criticism for ‘picking on’ a ball boy during his Wimbledon defeat to Marin Cilic.

The Spanish tennis star was hoping to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career but was beaten in four sets by Cilic.

Munar was a set and a break down in the fourth when he failed to convert a break point against the big-serving Croatian.

A couple of points later, Cilic forced his opponent deep into the corner of the court when Munar hit a lob before bumping into a ball boy.

After the ball went long, handing Cilic the game, Munar gestured to the ball boy and then approached the chair umpire to make a complaint.

As he approached umpire Mohamed Lahyani, Munar was heard saying: ‘He [the ball boy] cannot move? I hit him with the racket and he stays there?’

The experienced Lahyani replied: ‘If he was in his position, there’s nothing I can do.’ 

Munar then said: ‘He cannot move? So if I’m running and I hit him, I just hit him? That’s it? No let, nothing? I just destroy him and that’s it? I hit him with the racket.’ 

The world number 55 continued to vent at the next changeover, saying: ‘The rule book is from 2019-20, no? When everyone was playing volleys here.

‘He cannot do one step to the left? It doesn’t make sense. Can you explain that to me?’

But Munar’s complaints fell on deaf ears and Cilic soon claimed the set to book his place in the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Lahyani later explained that a let could only have been called if the ball boy moved from his position and directly affected the point.

The commentators were initially confused by Munar’s angry reaction and thought he was just trying to throw Cilic off his rhythm.

‘He’s venting, he’s frustrated, maybe he’s trying to cause some kind of distraction to Cilic to take him out of his focus,’ one of the BBC pundits said. ‘That’s been done before, tactically be players.’

But after seeing a replay and hearing Munar’s complaints they realised the issue, though they were not sympathetic to the Spanish number five.

‘I mean, where’s the ball boy supposed to stand?’ one of them said.

‘We can heard Munar explaining what he wanted to happen, for the ball boy to move to the left in that situation. But that puts him in a very difficult situation.’

Another said: ‘I’m not sure it even affected his shot anyway.’

Clashing with ball boys or girls rarely ends well and several players over the years have been widely criticised for their conduct towards them.

At Wimbledon, ball boys and girls are usually around 15 years old and selected from local schools. They will have trained for around six months before the start of the Championships.

A number of fans criticised Munar on social media, with one posting on X: ‘He’s picking on a ball boy, saying the kid interfered with his shot despite being nowhere near it.’

Another said: ‘What is it with these prima donnas in tennis lately? The guy is complaining about a ball boy up against a wall that was nowhere near the ball.’

While Munar heads home, former US Open champion and three-time Grand Slam finalist Cilic advances to the fourth round, where he will meet Flavio Cobolli.

Cilic turns 37 in September but is enjoying a fine run at Wimbledon and knocked out British number one Jack Draper in his previous game.

‘I’m feeling good on the court,’ he said after the victory over Munar. ‘You know, I don’t know if I can win another Grand Slam.

‘But I’m working on it day after day and giving myself a chance and playing every match as the best I can.

‘You never know what’s coming in the next match but I’m going to do the best I can and hopefully I can raise games to even high levels.’

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A stunning bicycle kick from Kylian Mbappé propelled Real Madrid to a 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup on Saturday.

Having missed the group stage of the tournament with gastroenteritis, the French star announced his return to the headlines when he acrobatically converted Arda Güler’s cross to the back post to give Los Blancos a two-goal lead in second-half stoppage time.

His spectacular strike came after Gonzalo García – the competition’s joint-top goalscorer – and Fran García had converted crosses from Güler and Trent Alexander-Arnold, respectively, to put Madrid two goals up inside the first 20 minutes.

Maximilian Beier halved the deficit in the 92nd minute when he drilled home from just inside the penalty area, but Mbappé restored Madrid’s two-goal lead two minutes later before apparently honoring the late Diogo Jota by holding up a two and a zero with his fingers, referencing the number 20 jersey the Portuguese forward wore at Liverpool before his death in a car crash on Thursday.

The drama did not end there as, directly from the resulting kickoff, Carney Chukwuemeka played in Serhou Guirassy, who was pulled down by Dean Huijsen in the area. Huijsen was shown a red card, and Guirassy converted the penalty to put Dortmund back in the game again.

The comeback was nearly completed with the final kick of the game, but Marcel Sabitzer’s 99th-minute shot was saved impressively by Thibaut Courtois, much to the delight of many of the 76,611 fans at MetLife Stadium.

“It’s football,” said Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso of the chaotic conclusion to the match. “The truth is that up until the 80th minute, up until 2-1, we controlled the game quite well.”

The Spaniard did admit that “too many things happened in a short period,” but added: “We’re in the semis, we’re happy, and hopefully it’s helped us not to get carried away, not to stop playing with that connection, with that presence of mind in every minute.”

Madrid’s opponent in the semifinal will be European champion Paris Saint-Germain, after the French team beat Bayern Munich 2-0 earlier on Saturday.

Désiré Doué, one of the heroes of PSG’s 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in May’s Champions League final, opened the scoring in the 78th minute, his left-foot shot beating Manuel Neuer at his near post.

Despite the following 15 minutes seeing Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernández both sent off – the Ecuadorian for a high challenge Leon Goretzka and the Frenchman for an elbow on Raphaël Guerreiro – PSG made sure of the victory in the 96^th minute when Achraf Hakimi slalomed through the Bayern defense and set up Ousmane Dembélé, who swept the ball home.

The match was overshadowed, however, by a serious injury to Bayern attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala. Shortly before halftime, Musiala collided with Gianluigi Donnarumma in the PSG penalty area and went down in agony clutching his left ankle, which appeared to be twisted at an unnatural angle.

“I’ve rarely been so angry at halftime, not against my players. There’s many things in life that are important, much more important than this. But in the end, for these guys it’s their life,” Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany told reporters afterward, per Reuters.

“And someone like Jamal lives for this and he came back from a setback. And then it happens in the way it happens and you feel powerless…

“When I’m sat here next to you now, the thing that gets my blood still boiling at the moment, it’s not the result. I understand this is football. But it’s the fact that it happened to someone who, one, enjoys the game so much but also very important for us.”

Despite both of Saturday’s games drawing sizeable crowds, an apparent lack of interest in the competition’s other semifinal between Chelsea and Fluminense saw ticket prices for the game fall to $13.40 from $473.90 earlier in the week, according to AP.

FIFA has used a dynamic pricing system for this summer’s Club World Cup, and previously dropped prices to as low as $11.15 for Chelsea’s quarterfinal against Palmeiras, and Fluminense’s quarterfinal against Al-Hilal, per AP.

Martin Zubimendi became our second summer signing when he swapped Real Sociedad for N5, but how much do you know about our latest new face?

The Spanish international has been a pillar of consistency throughout his career for both club and country, helping Spain to glory at Euro 2024, and while his rise has been well documented, here are some facts you might not know about the 26-year-old.

Familiar upbringings

Martin Zubimendi will be working closely Mikel Arteta in the future, but it’s their past that is also linked. Both born in San Sebastian, Basque Country, the pair also share a similar route through to professional football, having played for youth team Antiguoko. The famed youth side is stacked with notable alumni, having also developed the likes of Bournemouth manager Andrei Iraola and Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso.

Euro 2024 impact

When Rodri was substituted at half-time in the Euro 2024 final against England, many believed the Three Lions had the upper hand going into the second half. Rodri’s replacement was Zubimendi, who turned the tide in Spain’s favour. He completed 92% of his passes, made three recoveries and won all five of his duels as La Roja scored two second-half goals to win 2-1 in Berlin.

Milestone moments

Having made his debut in April 2019 after coming through the academy ranks after leaving Antiguoko. It would take him almost three years to bag his first goal, which came in the Europa League against RB Leipzig. Having waited so long for his first professional strike, his second came along 17 days later, netting the winner in a 1-0 victory over Alaves in La Liga.

Read more

36 top photos of Zubimendi’s first day at Arsenal

Three Dozen

Martin will be donning the number 36 for us in the 2025/26 season, a number that’s close to the midfielder’s heart. Martin wore the jersey in 2019 when making his debut for Real Sociedad against Getafe. He went on to play in the no.36 jersey on 52 occasions before switching to number three and then four for the remainder of his Real Sociedad career.

Arsenal connection

Martin will have some familiar faces when he meets his new teammates at the Sobha Realty Training Centre. The midfielder has played club football alongside Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard at Real Sociedad. He has also featured with David Raya for the Spanish national team, alongside Merino.

Merino Magic

While he is familiar with several players in our squad, one player who stands out is Mikel Merino. The pair have played 169 matches together for both club and country, amassing 11,229 minutes on the pitch at the same time. The duo linked up for two goals during their time at Real Sociedad, with Mikel setting up Martin for a 94th-minute equaliser against Alaves in 2024 and doing the same against Girona in 2022.

Read more

Zubimendi: “I set my sights on Arsenal”

Olympic Dreams

Not many players get the opportunity to represent their nations at the Olympic Games but that was the case for Martin at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. He featured five times during the competition, which saw Spain lose to Gabriel Martinelli’s Brazil in the final, meaning they picked up the silver medal.

Hometown hero

Having made his debut the season prior, Martin would go on to have a hand in helping Real Sociedad claim a first major trophy since 1987 by winning the 2019-20 Copa del Rey. Martin played the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 victory over Basque rivals Athletic Club in the final, starting the match next to Merino, who won player of the match, and former Gunner Nacho Monreal.

Spanish Link

We’ve enjoyed great success with a host of Spanish stars over the years. A total of 16 players from the country have put on our colours, with seven Spaniards making over 100 appearances for the club: Cesc Fabregas, Manuel Almunia, Jose Antonio Reyes, Santi Cazorla, Nacho Monreal, Hector Bellerin and our manager, Mikel Arteta.

Read more

Quiz: Name every Spaniard to play for Arsenal

Chess champ

Outside of football, Martin has a talent for chess, a game he’s played since he was a child. At 11 years old, Martin won the Gipuzkoa chess championships in the under-12 category. On his love of chess, Martin said: “It’s a game that requires you to have everything under control. In both sports, the midfield is crucial because it defines the style of play.”

Breaking the lines

Breaking down low blocks can make the difference between winning and losing and in order to do that, a line-breaking pass is a must. During 2024/25, only three players produced more line-breaking passes in La Liga than Martin Zubimendi. His 238 line-breakers were only beaten by a trio of Real Madrid players in Luka Modric, Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni.

Basque Joiners

While Martin is making his way from San Sebastian, he’s not the only player hailing from the Basque Country to be joining the ranks. Kepa Arrizabalaga put pen to paper to become our first signing of the summer window and also hails from the region. Kepa was born in Ondarroa, approximately 60km from Martin in San Sebastian.