Category: 6. Sports

WIMBLEDON — After a dozen games — a 6-6 dead heat — tiebreaks, by design, un-tie things. They are the high-stakes pivotal sequence, the ultimate endgame when the money is made.

As we speak, Aryna Sabalenka has won 14 consecutive tiebreaks, and if that sounds like a lot — it is. The odds of a player doing that are 16,384 to one, or .00610351562 percent. It has only happened once previously in the more than half-century of Open era play; Sloane Stephens did it between 2015 Roland Garros and 2016 Wimbledon.

“I think just because I’m not thinking about these stats during the match helps me to stay focused from the very beginning until the very end of the tiebreak,” Sabalenka said of her tiebreak mentality. “Because tiebreak is a tricky game. Everything can just go one way or another.

“You just got to be focused on each point and be aggressive.”

Those last 12 words are Sabalenka’s mantra, her deceptively simple strategy for success. That aggressive focus is a leading reason it was announced on Tuesday that she’s the first player to qualify for the 2025 WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF, taking place four months from now.

Sabalenka, who leads all women with 47 match-wins this year, has collected 6,615 points in the PIF Race to the WTA Finals, more than 2,000 ahead of her closest pursuer.

Since regaining the World No. 1 ranking last fall, Sabalenka has held it for 37 consecutive weeks. Overall, she’s had it for 45 weeks, more than the individual career totals of Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams.

Sabalenka has worn it well, embracing nearly everything that goes with the No. 1 ranking. Following her remarkable success in tiebreaks, Sabalenka has made it a habit to seize the moment.

She’s playing her third consecutive Grand Slam event as the World No. 1 — and she is trying to become only the third woman this century to reach the singles final of a calendar year’s first three majors, following Justine Henin (2006) and Serena Williams (2015 and 2016).

On Tuesday, Sabalenka came back to defeat Laura Siegemund 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals. She’s the first player to reach the final four here in three consecutive appearances since Serena Williams did it four times in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

Sabalenka has now made 10 Grand Slam semifinals in a span of 11 appearances, joining Williams as the second player this century to do that.

Earlier in the fortnight, when Sabalenka played on Centre Court against Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu in the third round, the top seed demonstrated the poise that has propelled her to the top.

Down 4-2 in the first set and 4-1 in the second, there were a few flashes from her younger days — slumped shoulders and animated conversations with herself. And yet, Sabalenka, summoning her devout belief, came back to win 7-6 (6), 6-4.

“Maybe earlier in my career I would just lose it and I would just go crazy and lose that [second] set 7-5,” she told reporters later. “But with the years, with the experience, I learned that this is not it.

“I think experience solved a lot of problems.”

That experience, and her spirit of carpe diem, will carry her all the way to Riyadh, where she’ll be making her fifth consecutive appearance at the prestigious season-ending tournament.

LONDON — A malfunction with Wimbledon ‘s new electronic line-calling system required a point to be replayed during a quarterfinal match between Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov on Tuesday.

The issue occurred during the opening game of the fourth set on Court No. 1 after Fritz had served at 15-0 and the players exchanged shots. Then came a “fault” call.

Chair umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell stopped play and a few moments later ordered the players to “replay the last point due to a malfunction.”

The system had tracked Fritz’s shot in the rally as if it was a serve, the All England Club said.

“The player’s service motion began while the (ball boy/ball girl) was still crossing the net and therefore the system didn’t recognize the start of the point. As such the chair umpire instructed the point be replayed,” the club said in a statement.

Khachanov won the replayed point but the fifth-seeded Fritz advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory.

Seven of the eight finalists from the men’s 800m at the Paris Olympic Games will clash again at the Herculis EBS Meeting, providing what looks set to be one of the highlights of the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on Friday (11).

It’s one of eight disciplines in Monaco in which the Olympic champion is set to compete. The men’s 200m, meanwhile, boasts two Olympic gold medallists in the form of Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo.

Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi heads to Monaco off the back of two wins on the Diamond League circuit, topped by his world-leading 1:41.95 run in Stockholm last month – the fifth sub-1:42 clocking of his career. But this Friday’s race could be the toughest test of his season so far as he takes on the two men who joined him on the Paris podium last year: Canada’s Marco Arop and Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati.

Arop, the world champion, is undefeated over 800m this year, but he hasn’t contested any Diamond League races so far this season. Sedjati, the winner in Monaco last year in a meeting record of 1:41.46, finished second to Wanyonyi in Stockholm last month, clocking a season’s best of 1:42.27, his fastest time since the Olympic final.

The field also includes two other men who broke 1:42 last year: France’s Gabriel Tual and USA’s Bryce Hoppel. The addition of world indoor champion Josh Hoey and Algeria’s Slimane Moula means there’ll be eight men with sub-1:43 PBs on the start line.

World and Olympic gold medallist Noah Lyles will make his highly anticipated Diamond League debut. The 27-year-old opened his outdoor season in April with a low-key appearance over 400m (45.87) but was forced to delay the start of his international campaign due to some ankle troubles.

He won’t have it easy, though, as he’ll be up against the man who beat him to the Olympic 200m title last year: Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo. The 22-year-old, who clocked a world-leading 19.76 in Eugene last weekend, will be looking for a repeat performance of last year’s Monaco victory in a race that also features Alexander Ogando and Jereem Richards.

The Olympic podium will be reunited in the men’s pole vault with world record-holder Mondo Duplantis taking on Sam Kendricks and Emmanouil Karalis – three of the seven men in the field with PBs higher than six metres. Duplantis has been beaten in two of his three Monaco appearances to date, and Monaco remains one of just three Diamond League meetings in which the Swede doesn’t hold the meeting record.

The world champion will no doubt have his eye on Piotr Lisek’s meeting record of 6.02m, and if the conditions are good, he could even look to improve on the 6.28m world record he set in Stockholm last month.

Numerous global champions will clash in the other two field events. Following a high-standard competition in Eugene last week, two-time world champion Chase Jackson renews her rivalry with world indoor champion Sarah Mitton, Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye and European champion Jessica Schilder.

In the men’s high jump, Olympic champion Hamish Kerr takes on world indoor champion Woo Sanghyeok, Olympic silver medallist Shelby McEwen and world leader Jan Stefela of Czechia.

Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred will be looking for a second successive Herculis victory after winning in Monaco last year with 10.85. The St Lucian has a best this year of 10.75, though her 10.77 clocking into a -1.5m/s headwind in Eugene last weekend suggests she’s capable of going much faster. She’ll face Jamaican twins Tia and Tina Clayton as well as USA’s Jacious Sears, who ran 10.85 last weekend.

World and Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino, competing in Monaco for the first time, headlines a women’s 400m field that includes Olympic bronze medallist Natalia Bukowiecka, NCAA champion Aaliyah Butler, Diamond League record-holder Nickisha Pryce and Chile’s Martina Weil.

In the women’s 100m hurdles, Olympic champion Masai Russell takes on Grace Stark – winner at the Paris Diamond League last month in 12.21 – and 2021 Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper.

World champion Femke Bol takes on former world record-holder Dalilah Muhammad, Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell and Jamaica’s Andrenette Knight in the women’s 400m hurdles.

Elsewhere on the track, the four fastest men in the world this year clash in the 110m hurdles: US quartet Cordell Tinch, Trey Cunningham, Dylan Beard and Ja’Kobe Tharp.

Winners of three recent Diamond League races will clash in a high-quality men’s 5000m, racing on the track where the current world record was set. Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, winner of the 5000m in Stockholm in a European record of 12:44.27, takes on Paris Diamond League winner Yomif Kejelcha and Eugene 10,000m winner Biniam Mehary in a field where eight men have PBs faster than 12:50.

Elsewhere, Kenneth Rooks and Abraham Kibiwot, the Olympic silver and bronze medallists respectively, lead a men’s 3000m steeplechase field that also includes in-form German Frederik Ruppert, Xiamen Diamond League winner Samuel Firewu and Kenyan duo Simon Koech and Edmund Serem.

By Sadia Akhtar

The cricket world is mourning the sudden passing of international umpire Bismillah Jan Shinwari. He died on Monday following an illness. He was 41 years old.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirmed the news on Tuesday, calling it a huge loss to Afghan cricket. Shinwari was one of the country’s most respected officials and had represented Afghanistan on the global stage for nearly a decade.

 The board made the news official by stating, “It is with deep sorrow that we share the news of Mr. Shinwari’s demise following an illness. Bismillah Jan was a great servant of Afghan cricket.”.

He was a member of the ICC International Panel of Umpires. Over the years, he stood in 25 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 21 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). His international umpiring journey began in December 2017. He made his debut in an ODI between Afghanistan and Ireland in Sharjah.

ACB paid tribute to Shinwari in a heartfelt statement. The board also offered condolences to his family and the wider cricket community.

 “ACB’s leadership, staff, and entire Afghan Atalan family are deeply shocked and saddened by the demise of Bismillah Jan Shinwari, a respected member of Afghanistan’s elite umpiring panel,” the board said.

Tributes poured in from across the cricket world. Mr. Jay Shah, Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), also expressed sorrow over Shinwari’s passing.

“His contributions to the game were huge, and he will be deeply missed by the cricket community. We are profoundly saddened by this loss and extend our condolences to his family and loved ones,” Shah said.

Shinwari was widely admired for his calm presence and fair decision-making on the field. He played a vital role in developing Afghanistan’s presence in international cricket during a crucial growth phase for the nation’s team.

Before his international assignments, Shinwari stood in several domestic competitions, including the Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-Day Tournament and the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One-Day Tournament.

His consistent performances earned him a place on the ICC panel and regular assignments in matches involving Full Member and Associate teams.

In 2020, Shinwari survived a tragic incident that saw several members of his family killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Nangarhar province. Initial reports wrongly claimed he was among the deceased, but he later confirmed he had survived.

Despite personal tragedy, Shinwari continued his work with professionalism and dignity. His resilience was admired both in Afghanistan and internationally.

News of his death has shocked the Afghan cricket community. Players, coaches, and officials remembered him not only for his skill but for his humility and dedication.

With his passing, Afghan cricket has lost a pillar. The game, both at home and abroad, is poorer without him.

Shinwari’s legacy is one of integrity and service. He was often praised for promoting fairness in the game and upholding the spirit of cricket in every match he stood in.

He inspired many young Afghans to take up umpiring as a serious profession. His journey from domestic matches to the international stage gave hope to many in a country where cricket is more than just a sport; it is a symbol of unity and pride.

The ACB is expected to honor Shinwari’s contributions in upcoming domestic matches. A moment of silence may also be observed during Afghanistan’s next international fixture.

He is survived by his family, to whom the entire cricket world now sends its thoughts and prayers.

WIMBLEDON — Six years ago, before Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva crashed into our collective consciousness, Amanda Anisimova was a teenage phenomenon. At the age of 17, she stunned Aryna Sabalenka and Simona Halep on the way to the semifinals at 2019 Roland Garros.

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws

It happened again three years later when she reached the quarterfinals here at the All England Club. But later that summer the pressures of professional tennis began to overwhelm the developing player. Over the next nine months, she managed only four victories, failing to win back-to-back matches in 10 consecutive tournaments.

Anisimova stepped away from the sport for seven months to heal and rebuild her mental health. When she returned to begin the 2024 season, her ranking was No. 442.

In retrospect, that extended break turned out to be a terrific decision. Eighteen months later, Anisimova — still only 23 and destined to enter the Top 10 next week — is playing the best tennis of her young life.

On a sunny late Tuesday afternoon on No. 1 Court, No. 13 seed Anisimova advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals with a 6-1, 7-6 (9) victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. That matches her career-best major berth of six years ago and represents her furthest advancement here.

She’ll have a chance to make some personal history on Thursday when she meets Sabalenka, the World No. 1. Earlier, Sabalenka was a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback winner over Laura Siegemund. Anisimova has won five of her eight previous matches against Sabalenka.

Anisimova established herself in only three minutes at the beginning of Tuesday’s quarterfinal, breaking Pavlyuchenkova’s serve with a rocket of a forehand. That trend held up with Anisimova winning six of seven games in less than a half hour. She has now won 28 consecutive matches this year when she’s won the first set.

The 34-year-old Pavlyuchenkova had serving issues throughout the first set, hitting three double faults and going 0-for-6 behind her second serve.

In the second set, Anisimova broke Pavlyuchenkova in the sixth game to lead 4-2. But serving for the match at 5-3, the American was broken for the first time when Pavlyuchenkova converted her third break point.

Pavlyuchenkova saved two match points to level the match at 5-5, then came back from 0-30 down at 6-5 to force the tiebreak. The breaker was a barnburner, with Anisimova saving four set points before she converted her second match point of the tiebreak (and fourth overall) with a serve Pavlyuchenkova could not return.

Anisimova finished with 26 winners, 17 more than Pavlyuchenkova. She’s now won all four of her matches against Pavlyuchenkova and is 11-2 on grass for the season, another career best.

More to come…

England are being strongly encouraged to bring Jofra Archer back into the Test arena for the pivotal third match against India at Lord’s on Thursday, as the five-match ICC World Test Championship series hangs in the balance at 1-1.

Veteran pacer James Anderson has publicly called for Archer’s inclusion, insisting that the time to gamble on the fast bowler’s fitness is now, not later in the series. Archer, who last played a Test over four years ago, recently returned to red-ball action with Sussex and was part of the England squad during the second Test at Edgbaston, which England lost by a heavy 336-run margin.

“You could keep trying to build his overs up and play him later in the series, but it could be too late by then,” Anderson said on the Tailenders Podcast. “I just feel like you’ve got to play him. It’s too crucial a game not to.”

England head coach Brendon McCullum confirmed Archer is fit and available, saying the 29-year-old is “looking strong” and is “buzzing” to be back with the team.

“We all know what he’s capable of achieving in Test cricket,” McCullum noted. “We hope that when the opportunity does arrive for him, he’s able to recapture and also improve on what he’s been able to do already.”

Alongside Archer, England are weighing up the inclusion of fast bowler Gus Atkinson and back-up batter Jacob Bethell. Atkinson has been sidelined since injuring his hamstring in May, while Bethell—who has only three Test caps—would serve as a batting option rather than a replacement for first-choice spinner Shoaib Bashir.

“He [Bethell] wants to keep improving his bowling… but it’s not something we’d look at from a tactical point of view to do,” McCullum added.

As the series intensifies and momentum swings toward India, all eyes are on England’s selection strategy—and whether Archer will be the x-factor return at the Home of Cricket.

England squad for third Test at Lord’s: Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Vingegaard as he claimed his 100th professional victory on stage four of the Tour de France.

The result means that the Slovenian moves level on time with Dutch rider at the top of the general classification with Van der Poel retaining the leader’s yellow jersey on count-back.

With five categorised climbs in the final 50km of the 174.2km route into Rouen, all the main favourites were involved in a series of attacks that split the race open and delivered a compelling finale.

However, Pogacar, delivered a show of strength on another classics-style stage to surge away from Van der Poel in an uphill dash to the finish having initially distanced all his rivals, bar Danish rival Vingegaard, on the short but punishing climb up the Rampe Saint-Hilaire, five kilometres out.

“I hope today that everyone was on the limit. I tried with an attack on the second last climb and last climb and Jonas [Vingegaard] followed me and everything came together,” Pogacar said.

“Joao [Almeida] did such an amazing job to lead me out to the end even if everyone was attacking. I am super proud of the team today. Amazing. It was such a nice victory.

“To win at the Tour is incredible, in this jersey even more and to have 100 victories is amazing.

“With so many good riders in the final, you’re always a bit on the edge and nervous about what’s going to happen. You get this adrenaline and it’s pure racing and I enjoy it.”

It is the 18th time Pogacar, 26, has won a stage in cycling’s greatest race as he goes for a fourth Tour triumph.

Meanwhile, Scotland’s Oscar Onley, 22, who is featuring in only his second Tour, produced a superb ride despite being delayed by a late crash to finish fourth among the elite GC riders, to move up to seventh in the overall race.

On Wednesday the riders tackle the first of two individual time trials on a 33km course around Caen, on a stage that Remco Evenepoel has been tipped to triumph in.

The 25-year-old Belgian world and Olympic champion in the discipline is currently almost a minute down on Pogacar in the GC race.

Deputising for the injured Sophie Luff, stand-in Somerset captain Niamh Holland won the toss, inserted the opposition and watched her bowlers reduce the visitors to 30-2 in 4.1 overs.

Lauren Winfield-Hill plundered three boundaries in moving effortlessly to 19 from 14 balls, only to be lbw to an Olivia Barnes delivery that pinned her in the crease.

Three balls later, fellow opener Grace Scrivens followed the former England batter back to the pavilion after pulling a shortish ball from Erin Vukusic to mid-wicket for six.

Charged with the task of repairing the damage, Griffith and Grewcock advanced the score to 40-2 at the end of the powerplay and 66-2 at the halfway stage, despite finding boundaries hard to come by.

The 50 partnership occupied 45 balls and Griffith, having raised 31 from 29 balls, was beginning to accelerate when she attempted to pull Mollie Robbins to the deep mid-wicket boundary and succeeded only in finding Alex Griffiths.

That was the cue for Grewcock to take centre stage, the England A batter opening her shoulders to harvest three successive fours in an over from Barnes as the fielding side came under real pressure for the first time.

Grewcock was eyeing a half-century when she gave the charge to Wellington’s leg spin and holed out to Vukusic at long-on.

Essex were 115-4 in the 16th over with work still to do as Jo Gardner joined Maddie Penna in the middle. They staged a useful stand of 40 from 27 balls, Australian Penna scoring 21 at a run a ball and the forthright Gardner 22 from 12 deliveries, to hoist Essex to a competitive total.

Somerset required the reassurance of a good start and Bex Odgers and Holland provided exactly that, adding 41 in five overs before the former blotted her copybook and top-edged to short third man for 20 off the bowling of Eva Gray.

Holland had also scored 20 when she surrendered her wicket in similar fashion next over, skying a catch behind off Esmae MacGregor as the home side slipped to 41-2.

Buoyed by her half century against Hampshire last time out, Fran Wilson hit the ground running as Somerset passed 50 in the seventh, while debutant Ruby Davis calmed any nerves by straight-hitting Gray for four as the third wicket partnership began to profit.

They added 46 in 36 balls and were threatening to take the contest by the scruff of the neck when Davis, on 19, attempted to reverse sweep MacGregor and was adjudged lbw with the score 87-3 in the 12th.

Wellington drove Grewcock down the ground and pulled Smale for four to serve notice of her intentions, but Abtaha Maqsood and MacGregor kept things tight to push the asking rate above eight.

But Somerset’s fourth wicket pair took 15 off the 15th, bowled by Smale, at which point they required 35 from five.

Victory looked to be a formality, only for Wilson to dance down the wicket and lose off stump to MacGregor with 24 needed off 22 balls.

Wellington then hit Scrivens to long-on in the final over, but Griffiths and Chloe Skelton saw the job through.

Report by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay