Category: 6. Sports

As well as Jannik Sinner is playing at Wimbledon, he doesn’t appear to need much in the way of help. Still, he got some Saturday when his opponent, Pedro Martinez, was dealing with a problematic shoulder that compromised his serve.

The No. 1-ranked Sinner has dropped a total of 17 games so far, made his way to the fourth round for the seventh consecutive Grand Slam tournament — he’s collected three such trophies in that span — and never was truly in trouble during a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 52 Martinez.

“We all saw that he was struggling,” Sinner said, then noted about his own form: “First week couldn’t have gone better.”

Sinner has yet to drop serve across his opening three matches, and the 17 games he has conceded are the fewest by any men’s No. 1 seed at Wimbledon to make the second week since the Open era began in 1968. He’s the second man overall to cede just 17 games through three completed matches, the other being Jan Kodes, who ended up losing in the semifinals in 1972.

There’s been zero sign of any sort of inability on Sinner’s part to move past last month’s French Open final, which he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets despite taking the first two and holding three championship points.

Against Martinez, Sinner went up 5-0 after 20 minutes. During that stretch of 29 points, Martinez managed just one winner, while Sinner accumulated 10.

That’s when Martinez took a medical timeout, and a trainer massaged the back of his right shoulder. The Spaniard was delivering first serves as slow as 76 mph, compared with Sinner’s high of 133 mph.

That aspect of Martinez’s game improved incrementally, but the only, ever-so-brief, moment of intrigue at Centre Court came in the second set, about 75 minutes in, with Sinner up a break and serving at 4-3. That’s where Martinez managed to accrue his first four break points of the match.

Sinner stayed as calm as can be — “I don’t think Sinner’s changed expressions once in this match,” John McEnroe observed on the telecast — and erased all four of those chances, held for 5-3, then broke to end the set.

Soon enough, Sinner — twice an Australian Open champion, once a US Open champion and a 2023 semifinalist at Wimbledon — was heading into a contest Monday against Grigor Dimitrov or Sebastian Ofner, whose match was delayed by rain in the second set.

Sinner will be making his 17th fourth-round appearance in a Slam, passing Nicola Pietrangeli for the most by an Italian man in tennis history

In other men’s singles results Saturday, No. 22 Flavio Cobolli earned his debut trip to a major’s round of 16 by defeating No. 15 Jakub Mensik 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WIMBLEDON — Belinda Bencic returned to the Wimbledon fourth round for the fourth time after coming from a break down in the third set to edge Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-4, 3-6, 7-6[8] in 2 hours and 58 minutes.

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws

The match was the second-longest of this year’s Championships so far, behind only Aliaksandra Sasnovich’s 3-hour, 24-minute 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6[8] first-round win over Varvara Gracheva. Bencic has now reached the last 16 of both of her Grand Slam events since returning from maternity leave, having also made that stage of the Australian Open. She was forced to miss Roland Garros due to an arm injury, only returning to action in Bad Homburg last week.

This marks the 11th time that Bencic has made the second week of a Grand Slam — but she has only progressed past the fourth round three times, all at the US Open. At Wimbledon, she was denied at that stage by Victoria Azarenka in 2015, Angelique Kerber in 2018 and Iga Swiatek in 2023. The Swiss player will bid to overcome that hurdle against either No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova or Zeynep Sonmez.

More to come…

The Royal Box on Centre Court is always filled with stars, and on day six of Wimbledon 2025, it had a golden glow.

Twelve British Olympic champions were invited to the Royal Box, the most prestigious seats on the grounds of the Grand Slam tennis tournament, on Saturday (5 July).

Before the first match of the day, each athlete was celebrated with a special video montage of their Olympic highlights, before being presented to the crowd to a rapturous applause for their sporting achievements.

Among them were Paris 2024 gold medallists Alex Yee (triathlon), Toby Roberts (sport climbing) and Nathan Hales (shooting), almost a year on from their maiden individual Olympic titles earned in the French capital.

There were also plenty of Olympic heroes from Great Britain’s home Games of London 2012, where Wimbledon played host to tennis.

WIMBLEDON — Clara Tauson’s first three visits to Wimbledon’s main draw all ended in the first round.

After Saturday’s 7-6 (6), 6-3 upset of 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, Tauson has now collected three wins in the span of a week.

Coming into this third-round match, Rybakina had the best record at the All England — 21-3 — of any woman in the field. As the match progressed, you could see the fearless Tauson accelerate through the steep learning curve on this tricky surface.

In the end, she scored one break against Rybakina’s serve (on 10 break opportunities) and did not get broken herself.

This was the 22-year-old Dane’s first Top 20 win on grass, and it sends her into the second week at the All England Club. She’ll play the winner of the later match between No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek and Danielle Collins in the fourth-round on Monday.

Some takeaways:

History all around: Tauson has already equaled her best-ever Grand Slam result — her Round of 16 run last year at Roland Garros. It ended with a loss to Ons Jabeur.

In the larger picture, a victory Monday would give her the best Wimbledon result achieved in the Open Era by a woman from Denmark. Caroline Wozniacki reached the fourth round six times but never took the next step.

A delicate touch: These two players came into the match at No. 1 and No. 2 in aces among Hologic WTA Tour players. For the record, Tauson clung to her narrow lead by adding three to her total of 250, Rybakina, with five aces, is at 249.

But it was Tauson’s extraordinary touch that ultimately won this match.

Serving at 4-5 and facing her first set point, Tauson hit the shot of the match — a gorgeous drop shot that took Rybakina by complete surprise.

Delaying tactics: For the second straight day, rain visited the All England Club. But unlike Friday, when play was delayed at the outset, this was far more invasive.

With the score tied 4-all in the first set, there was a two-hour rain delay on Court 2. When play resumed, Tauson found an equilibrium after saving two set points in her first service game and settled down in the tiebreak.

Then, with Tauson serving at the critical juncture of 4-2, 40-30 in the second, a light drizzle began. This time the players didn’t leave the court but were permitted to warm up after about 15 minutes of waiting.

With a single serve — and a Rybakina return into the net — Tauson forged a 5-2 lead.

An abrupt exit: It was a disappointing performance from Rybakina, who failed to take advantage of a main draw that had already lost six Top 10 seeds.

This was the first time in five appearances here that she’s failed to reach the fourth round.

Rybakina dropped only seven games in her first two matches, but dropped that many in the first-set tiebreak. It was 6-all when she hammered a backhand past the baseline and failed to land a forehand return.

Rybakina finished with 31 winners and 31 unforced errors. Tauson was just a little bit better, with 25 winners and 22 unforced errors.

 

 

 

THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB, LONDON — 19 minutes after rain fell on No. 2 Court for the second time, Clara Tauson stepped up to the line to serve against a former Wimbledon champion at 4-2, 40-30 in the second set. Having held all the momentum for most of the match, the Dane again had to summon it anew after a delay.

Tauson slammed down a first serve, and Elena Rybakina could only drill it into the net.

Two games later, Tauson delivered another upset in a tournament full of them, knocking out one of two former champions left in the draw 7-6(6), 6-3.

Rybakina’s 2022 title run showcased her natural affinity for grass. Her serve, the platform for everything else in her game, also wipes out her opponents’ hope. The easy acceleration on her groundstrokes sends the ball skidding through the baseline, cutting lines through the court. When she is on her game on grass, she plays with an ominous serenity. Everything just flows.

So Tauson put up as many dams as she could. From the early exchanges, the No. 23 seed sought to redirect and to disrupt. She changed patterns from crosscourt to down the line. She sliced off both wings. And most importantly, where Rybakina kept breaking the baseline, Tauson broke the sideline. Rybakina’s linear power is fundamental to her game, but Tauson’s biggest limitation is her movement, from side to side and up and down. Rybakina could not move Tauson sideways, but Tauson could move Rybakina out of her baseline encampment.

Tauson earned more break points than Rybakina in both sets, and moved ahead in the first-set tiebreak before Rybakina pegged her back. The tennis scoring system means that “deserving” a set is almost a non-factor, but Tauson deserved to eke out the tiebreak. Down the stretch, she dealt better with the disruptions and difficult, windy conditions than Rybakina, who missed a number of mid-court balls through not getting quite into position, including on the final point.

Tauson defended a heavy ball out of her backhand corner, slicing it short to the center of the court. Rybakina moved up onto the ball ready to dispatch a forehand into the open court, but lifted it long. She stared in disbelief as Tauson raised her arms, and Wimbledon opened up a little further.

‘One former champion left in the women’s draw’

As well as Tauson, the big winner from Rybakina’s exit is Iga Świątek, if she can get past Danielle Collins later on Saturday.

Świątek was due to play Rybakina in the next round, and has lost four of their previous nine meetings. When they met at the French Open a month ago, Rybakina won the first set 6-1 before Świątek came back to win a tight three-setter.

Świątek and Tauson meanwhile have only met once before — a three-set win for the former at Indian Wells in 2022.

Rybakina’s defeat also means there’s only one former champion left in the draw, the relatively unfancied No. 17 seed Barbora Krejčíková. This speaks to the unpredictability of the women’s event here, as well as the struggles former Wimbledon champions have had in recent times. Serena Williams, who won her seventh and final title in 2016, is the last woman to win it and then subsequently reach a final, while this is the first Wimbledon in the Open Era to have no former champions among the top 10 seeds.

Świątek would be a tricky matchup for Tauson, who is in the second week for the first time. Collins would be a straight shootout between two big hitters which might suit her, especially given the way she maneuvered Rybakina. Świątek however is a master of joysticking opponents in and out of the corners, and would test Tauson’s movement more significantly.

Whatever happens from here, this has been another really positive week for Tauson, who will climb into the world’s top 20 for the first time in her career.

(Photo: Julian Finney / Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: Shubman Gill continued his sublime form with the bat, scoring a fluent century in India’s second innings at Edgbaston after his monumental 269 in the first innings. Having begun the series with a sparkling 147 at Headingley, Gill has showcased his maturity and class in challenging English conditions, proving why he is the backbone of India’s batting line-up.LIVE Score: India vs England 2nd Test Day 4 Gill has now been involved in three 100-plus partnerships in this Test alone — making him only the second Indian batter to do so against England after Karun Nair achieved the feat in Chennai in 2016.He is also just the third Indian to stitch three 100-plus stands in an away Test, joining Rahul Dravid (Hamilton 1998/99 and Rawalpindi 2004) and Sachin Tendulkar (Sydney 2004).

Most runs for India in a men’s Test match: 369* – Shubman Gill vs ENG, 2025344 – Sunil Gavaskar vs WI, 1971 340 – VVS Laxman vs AUS, 2001 330 – Sourav Ganguly vs PAk,2007 319 – Virender Sehwag vs SA, 2008 Gill’s aggregate of 369* runs in this Test is now the highest ever for India in a single Test match, overtaking Sunil Gavaskar’s 344 against the West Indies in 1971.

He is also only the third Asian to score 300-plus runs in a Test in a SENA country after Dravid and Tendulkar did so in Adelaide and Sydney, respectively, during the 2003/04 tour.

India captains with hundreds in both innings of a Test

Sunil Gavaskar vs WI, Kolkata, 1978Virat Kohli vs AUS, Adelaide, 2014Shubman Gill vs ENG, Edgbaston, 2025

Gill is the second player to record three hundreds in his first two Tests as captain after Virat Kohli. Seven others got two each: Vijay Hazare, Jackie McGlew, Greg Chappell, Sunil Gavaskar, Alastair Cook, Steven Smith and Dhananjaya de Silva.

Gill becomes the ninth batter to record a double hundred and a hundred in the same Test

Second for India after Sunil Gavaskar vs WI (Port of Spain, 1971)Second in England and the second by a captain after Graham Gooch vs IND (Lord’s, 1990)On day four, KL Rahul chipped in with a solid 55 while Karun Nair made 26. Rishabh Pant then joined hands with Gill for a brisk 100-run stand before falling to Shoaib Bashir. At the time of writing, India lead England by a massive 483 runs, with the declaration expected any time soon as they look to push for a win and take a firm grip on the series.

Qualifications at the IFSC Climbing World Cup Krakow 2025 saw the world’s fastest climbers deliver explosive performances, with home favourites and international standouts setting the pace ahead of tomorrow’s finals.

POLISH STARS THRILL HOME CROWD

Home favourite and reigning Olympic champion Aleksandra Miroslaw of Poland lightened up the wall with the fastest time of the day: a sensational 6.26 seconds. Miroslaw, also the world record holder, was followed closely by compatriot Natalia Kalucka of Poland in second with 6.48 seconds. Zhou Yafei of China rounded out the top three, clocking in at 6.68.

“After the practice round I had to go back home because it didn’t go well for me,” said Kalucka. “But I spoke with my psychologist after that, and I’m very proud of myself because this competition was very hard for me, mentally and emotionally. Friction is not good on the wall, and to complete the Tomoa Skip is very hard. It was a big challenge today, and I’m very proud of myself.”

Nine women in total dipped under the seven-second mark, showcasing the growing depth of the field. The final qualifying time was 7.16, run by Carla Martínez Vidal of Spain.

The women’s final field features five Chinese athletes, three from Poland, three from Indonesia, two Italians, and one athlete each from South Korea, Spain, and the USA.

For the women’s Speed complete results click here.

KATIBIN BREAKS 5-SECOND BARRIER AGAIN

On the men’s side, Indonesia’s Kiromal Katibin returned to form with a blistering 4.91-second run, leading the pack ahead of teammate Raharjati Nursamsa, who followed in second place with 4.93. The only other athlete to break the five-second barrier was Amir Maimuratov of Kazakhstan, third with 4.99 seconds.

“My first race felt pretty good,” said Michael Hom of the USA, who qualified in sixth place with 5.09 seconds. “I’m okay that I fell in the second one as I was kind of pushing it, because I knew I had a good time in my first one. Recently my goal has been to get a sub-5 in my first run and then push on the second one. I’m feeling pretty good for the final.”

The qualification cutoff stood at 5.18 seconds, set by Chu Shouhong of China.

World record holder Samuel Watson of the USA was unable to advance after a false start in his second race, a costly error that erased his chances of competing in the men’s final in Krakow. Meanwhile, Joshua Bruyns of South Africa made history with a 5.63-second run, setting a new African record.

Among the men, Indonesia, China, and Kazakhstan each placed three athletes into the final. The USA and Italy both earned two spots, while Germany, Iran, and Japan will each be represented by one climber in the next round.

For the men’s Speed complete results click here.

Showing supreme movement and clinical ball-striking, Andreeva breezed through the opening set in 31 minutes.

Baptiste, ranked 55th in the world, was willed on in the second set by an enthusiastic crowd who wanted to see a true contest.

When Andreeva broke for a 3-1 lead, the result looked a formality. Baptiste instantly broke back to halt Andreeva’s progress but lost serve again as the world number seven secured a straightforward win in one hour and 18 minutes.

Under the tutelage of former SW19 champion Conchita Martinez, she has already won two WTA 1,000 titles – the rung of tournaments below the majors – in Dubai and Indian Wells this season.

Her impressive progress is demonstrated by the fact she has won 35 tour-level main-draw matches this year – a tally only bettered by world number one Aryna Sabalenka (44) and five-time major winner Iga Swiatek (37).

A much tougher test than 23-year-old Baptiste awaits Andreeva next, however.

Reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and American 10th seed Emma Navarro meet later on Saturday for the right to face her.