Novak Djokovic defeated Miomir Kecmanović 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 on Saturday for his 100th career Wimbledon victory.
The 38-year-old Djokovic, who has dropped the past two Wimbledon finals to Carlos Alcaraz, now has a career singles record of 100-12 at the All-England Club. He joins nine-time winner Martina Navratilova and eight-time champion Roger Federer as the only players to have reached the century mark in victories at Wimbledon.
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Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon men’s singles winner, will make his seventh straight appearance in the fourth round when he faces Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Sunday.
The French Open is the only other Grand Slam tournament Djokovic has surpassed 100 career singles wins (101). He has won least 90 matches at the Australian Open (99) and U.S. Open (90).
On Thursday, Djokovic moved past Federer by reaching the third round of Wimbledon for the 19th time in his career, the most by a male player in the Open Era.
Djokovic is seeking his 25th career singles major title and first since the 2023 U.S. Open when he beat Daniil Medvedev to tie Margaret Court for most Grand Slam singles championships with 24.
The Boks scored six tries to three but couldn’t build on a 28-3 halftime lead and the Springbok coach didn’t hide his disappointment with the performance.
“I guess it’s a positive that we scored six tries but we’re frustrated,” the Springbok coach said. “I didn’t pick up in the week that this was the way we were going to perform but it’s all fixable – but it’s definitely frustrating.”
Erasmus said he would reconsider his selection because of the performance and to handle the challenge posed by a young and hungry Azzurri.
“Internally we’ve announced that 13, 14 players that will definitely get a run next week, and that we’d build the bench or starting line-up around those guys,” he said.
“We won’t discard those guys but some of them might move to the bench, some of the real standout players who played today might start again.
“The make-up of the team may change to handle the physicality that Italy threw at us. You’d think a team that made 120 tackles in the first half would break in the second half.
“But it’s a team that’s fit and passionate and we have to make sure that the team that we put out next week is not just a team that can go 50 or 60 minutes it must be a team that can go 80 minutes.”
The Boks looked like they might have broken Italy’s resistance with their fifth try at the start of the second half. But the visitors finished the more strongly.
“It was a very frustrating game,” said Erasmus. “We knew they would man up, and they certainly manned up in most departments; scrums, mauling, defence, attack – it was a proper Test match.
“When we were 28-3 up and we scored that try was disallowed for obstruction, I thought we might have them, but then we lost some momentum.
“I don’t think we have too many excuses and it certainly makes the selection for next week interesting – they could easily have come back into it at the end. They performed really well – we definitely tried to impose our game on them, and they didn’t allow it.
“The frustration was not only about not dominating, but also that the game was stop-start, stop-start. It felt like we didn’t get any intensity in the second half.
“The positives are that we won; that we scored tricks even with a maul that didn’t function, even with a breakdown that wasn’t great on attack, even with a counterattack that wasn’t awesome, we still scored six tries.”
Erasmus said the selectors would have to do some hard thinking before naming the second Test team: “We have to pick nine guys to go with the others and we have to decide whether they start or come off the bench. Damian De Allende has a bit of a hamstring but luckily, we don’t have any injuries, just a few bruised egos.”
At least one positive consequence from Iga Swiatek’s relatively poor clay court run has been the added benefit of time. Instead of arriving for the grass court season exhausted from her efforts, for once she had additional time to train, work and adapt her game to the one surface she has yet to conquer.
Swiatek’s growing comfort at Wimbledon was reflected in her most efficient performance of the tournament so far as she dismantled the eternally dangerous Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-3 to return to the fourth round.
Swiatek, who continues to build her profile as a title contender at the All England Club, will next face the 23rd seed Clara Tauson of Denmark. Tauson upset the 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, the 11th seed, 7-6 (6), 6-3 to reach the fourth round.
“I was just in the zone,” said Swiatek. “I knew what I wanted to play and I knew I needed to be brave and just let my hand do the job. Play fast and grab it from the beginning. You can’t let Danielle play her winners. I’m really happy with the performance because there were no ups and downs, it was pretty consistent and it was a good match.”
After winning five grand slam titles, establishing herself as the most successful player of her generation and spending most of the past few years as the world No 1, the No 8 seeding next to Swiatek’s name, which is reflective of her difficulties over the past year, looks very strange.
The 24-year-old has still not won a title at any level since the 2024 French Open last June and she has been open about how her perfectionism, one of her biggest strengths, has been her biggest weakness in recent months, often leading to her becoming overwhelmed by her negative thoughts on the court.
Iga Swiatek and Danielle Collins have had their differences in previous meetings. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
Even though she was unable to win a fourth consecutive French Open title last month, Roland Garros appeared to mark a turning point for Swiatek as she finally stopped overthinking and began to play with greater freedom again. After putting together a series of positive performances to reach the semi-finals, Swiatek left Paris after her defeat to Aryna Sabalenka feeling as if she had regained her confidence on the court.
While an exhausted Swiatek would usually prioritise rest in the aftermath of her four triumphs at Roland Garros, often returning home to Poland for a few days and then playing catch up for the rest of the grass court season, this year Swiatek headed straight to Mallorca for grass court prep.
Her run to the final Bad Homburg on the eve of the Championships, both her first final of the year and her first final on grass, represented another positive result despite her eventual defeat to Jessica Pegula. She has spent her first few matches at Wimbledon attempting to further build momentum and confidence.
“Honestly, it’s much more fun this year,” said Swiatek. “I had some practices where the ball was listening to me, which was pretty new on grass. I’m just looking for that feeling for the matches as well and today was a good day. In Bad Homburg, I played many good matches so for sure, I’m getting confidence. It’s a new experience feeling good on the grass.”
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There was, of course, plenty of subtext to this match-up. Last year at the Olympic Games in Paris, the pair had an extended conversation while shaking hands at the net following Collins’ retirement from their quarter-final match. Collins later revealed that she had called Swiatek “insincere” during their handshake, the sympathy Swiatek had expressed fake. In general, Collins has made it clear that she does not care for Swiatek. In May, Collins was also responsible for one of Swiatek’s worst clay-court losses in recent years as she defeated the Pole in their third-round match at the Italian Open.
Iga Swiatek served brilliantly during her victory. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
This time, however, the American had no response to an excellent performance. Swiatek served brilliantly, winning 86% of points behind her first serve throughout the match. Despite holding on to only one break for most of the second set, she continued to march through her service games with ease and she did not lose her serve all match.
On her groundstrokes, Swiatek also struck her forehand brilliantly, constantly using it to dominate the baseline exchanges. She showed her increased comfort with her movement by effortlessly soaking up Collins’ and forcing errors from the American with her defence.
With her spinny forehand, her preference for slower surfaces that afford her more time on the ball, her serving struggles and the general challenge of moving well on grass, there are countless reasons why Swiatek has struggled to produce her best on this surface. However, many different players and playing styles are capable of thriving on these more forgiving modern courts. Sometimes you just need time.
Ollie Bearman has branded his mistake in final practice, which earned the Haas driver a 10-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix as “silly” and “dumb” having then achieved his best Qualifying result.
The Briton, who will compete in his home Grand Prix for the first time this weekend, showed impressive pace at Silverstone on Saturday, eventually setting the eighth fastest lap, which was his best F1 Qualifying performance to date.
But the 20-year-old will start towards the back of the grid having suffered an unusual incident in the final practice session earlier in the morning, losing control of his Haas and hitting the wall on the entry to the pits.
The collision, which ripped the front wing from his car, took place under red flag conditions after Gabriel Bortoleto’s accident left his Kick Sauber stranded.
The stewards noted that Bearman “did not drive slowly back to the pit lane” and did not consider cold tyres and brakes to be “a mitigating factor”, as he was slapped with the grid penalty and four penalty points.
When asked about the penalty in the wake of his strong Qualifying performance, Bearman told Sky Sports F1: “It sucks. Quite honestly it’s horrible, but I can only blame myself for that. It was my fault and a very silly error this morning.
“On the other hand I’m really glad we had a good Qualifying. First of all, to validate the team’s hard work because we brought an upgrade this weekend and we were in Q3 on merit, so that’s great.
“Qualifying has been our weak point for the past couple of events and now to be in Q3 on a track where there’s lots of high-speed, which across the season has not been our strongest feature, is a great feeling. I know I’m going to start from last tomorrow but I’ll see what I can do.”
The 10-place grid drop is the second such penalty for Bearman this season, after the Haas driver passed Carlos Sainz’s Williams under red flag conditions during a practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Bearman so far has scored points in three races this term, with the last one coming in Bahrain back in April.
“We were doing a very slow lap during the red flag and then coming into the pit entry with very cold tyres and brakes I didn’t really account for that,” said Bearman on the incident in final practice.
“Just a silly, dumb error because when I hit the brakes they were stone-cold and so were the tyres and I lost it. Silly and really kicking myself. I wish I could go back and change it but we can’t so let’s learn from it and hopefully we can have a good race.”
George Russell has admitted that he “would have definitely taken” fourth on the grid for Sunday’s British Grand Prix when heading into Qualifying, after his and the team’s difficult start to the weekend.
Russell and Mercedes were off the pace across Friday’s pair of practice sessions in pleasant, warm conditions at Silverstone, but returned to the sharp end when temperatures cooled on Saturday.
A stellar last Qualifying lap saw Russell come away with a second-row grid slot, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and the two McLaren drivers, and just ahead of Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc – 0.229s covering that top-six group.
Asked to reflect on Qualifying, Russell said: “It was an amazing final lap. Every lap today we were… every lap this whole weekend we’ve been about five-tenths, six-tenths off the pace, sometimes even eight-tenths off the pace.
“Getting through Q1 and Q2 was a struggle, and then to finish my last lap only a tenth off pole, 20 milliseconds from the front row, I mean, yeah, I would have definitely taken it!”
With similar conditions expected on race day, Russell feels he is firmly in the mix for a podium on home soil, if not more – but reckons there could be half a dozen cars vying for the big prize.
“I think we can definitely push for a podium,” he continued. “Obviously the conditions are favourable, but it’s taken us from being off the pace to sort of being there or thereabouts – it hasn’t sort of propelled us to the front.
“I think it’s probably fair to say that we overachieved a little bit today, especially in terms of the gaps, we definitely overachieved. Ferrari obviously struggled on that last lap. Tomorrow’s probably going to be a six-way fight.”
As for Russell’s team mate, Kimi Antonelli, the Italian was some three-tenths slower en route to seventh position – but he will drop three places on Sunday due to the penalty he picked up for clashing with Max Verstappen in Austria.
“It was quite tight out there,” he said of Qualifying. “I’ve been struggling a little bit in the high speed, just struggling to feel the stability and it just killed a bit the confidence, to be honest, throughout the session.
“Not easy, but obviously tomorrow with the penalty we’ll try to do our best from there and build from there.”
Pushed on what’s still possible, Antonelli added: “Well, hopefully the race pace is going to be good. It’s not going to be easy because it’s pretty tight, but I think if we have a good start and play it smart then we can try to set a good pace and move forward.”
India’s Yuki Bhambri and his American partner Robert Galloway moved into the third round of the men’s doubles event at the Wimbledon 2025 Grand Slam after a convincing win in London on Saturday.
Squaring off against Portugal’s Nuno Borges and America’s Marcos Giron at the All England Club, Yuki Bhambri and Robert Galloway, the 16th seeds, converted a break point in the eighth game of the first set to take the lead.
The Indo-American tennis pair then lost serve in the second game of the next set but broke back when Nuno Borges and Marcos Giron were serving to win the second set.
Bhambri and Galloway then went on to win the tie break to close out the match 6-3, 7(8)-6(6) and advanced to the next round.
Yuki Bhambri is also in contention in the mixed doubles event. The Indian tennis player, partnering Jiang Xinyu of the People’s Republic of China, won their opening-round match and will be in action again on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Rithvik Bollipalli and his Colombian partner, Nicolas Barrientos, bowed out of the men’s doubles event after losing to British duo Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski in the second round.
Up against the sixth seeds, Rithvik Bollipalli and Nicolas Barrientos dropped a service game early in the first set and squandered three set points in a tense second-set tiebreak, ultimately going down 6-4, 7(9)-6(7).
India’s N Sriram Balaji and his Mexican partner Miguel Reyes-Varela also bowed out in the second round after a 6-4, 6-4 defeat against fourth seeds Horacio Zeballos of Argentina and Marcel Granollers of Spain.
India’s Rohan Bopanna suffered an early exit after he and his Belgian partner Sander Gillé crashed out in the first round of the men’s doubles.
Yuki Bhambri is the only Indian player still alive in the penultimate Grand Slam of the year.
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 3. Lando Norris (McLaren)
PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Jolyon Palmer)
Q: Lando Norris, home race, third on the grid but it’s such fine margins out there today?
Lando NORRIS: Yes, good qualifying and you know I’m not going to be unhappy with third. Of course I’d love to be on top here in Silverstone, but Max did a good job, not quick enough for us today. But still, a fun qualifying. Qualifying here at Silverstone is pretty fast and it’s enjoytable and good fun. Yeah, not the top but still a good day.
Q: I can only imagine it must have been hard to put laps together with the speed of these corners, the windy conditions, trying to find tiny margins all the time. What are you focusing on to nail the perfect lap?
Lando NORRIS: Little things today. Little things today, put you ahead of behind. Like, you saw how close Q1 was, which was pretty shocking, and I guess good at the same time. But yeah, little margins, little mistakes, little things. You’re talking a couple of hundredths here and there can win or lose you the game today. So tough, especially with the wind and the conditions. A little bit of rain every now and then. But still, all good fun and still happy with the third.
Q: You were third last year, you had a chance to win the Grand Prix on the Sunday. Surely there’s a chance coming tomorrow. Fifteen thousandths behind Oscar, you have Max in the fight as well. You’ve had some great battles with those two in the past, what are we thinking?
LN: I think it’s going to be fun tomorrow. I think it’s going to be a good battle between the three of us. Probably more, you know, with Lewis, with Charles behind, with George as well. It’s going to be an interesting Sunday, so I’m looking forward to it.
Q: Oscar, second, you were provisional pole after the first runs there of Q3 but couldn’t quite keep it there on the second run. Are you happy with your lap there?
Oscar PIASTRI: I was happy with the first lap. The first time was mega, to be honest. I was trying to think of how I was going to go faster and I didn’t. So yeah, the last lap was a little bit messy, but it’s been tight all weekend. I think the first time was very good. I don’t know how much the track would have improved, but a little bit on the table, whatever it was, it wasn’t enough. The team’s done a great job. We’ve tried a lot of things this weekend, trying to get a bit more pace. The car’s felt mega all weekend, but there’s been a few points where we were scratching our heads as to why we’re not quicker. So yeah, the team doing a great job getting us back onto the form that we know. It’ll be an exciting race tomorrow.
Q: Alright, take us under the helmet then. You’ve got provisional pole, you wheel back into the garage, you’ve got more than a tenth margin at this point as well. You said you didn’t know how you were going to find more time. You’re hoping that others aren’t, obviously. But the track’s evolving and somehow you’ve got to go back out there and wind it up. How tricky is that?
OP: Yeah, it’s tough. Especially when you think it’s a good lap, you don’t want to overdo it and try and go over the limit. I think it was a couple of corners where maybe I was a bit safe on the way in and tried to make up for it on the way out and it didn’t quite work. So yeah, always little bits, it’s fine margins as we know, but ultimately pretty happy with second on the grid. So, I’m looking forward to a fun race.
Q: And as well, you’ve had some great fights with Lando in the last race. It was a pleasure to watch. You’ve had some good scraps with Max. You’re going to start with them tomorrow. Can you get elbows out?
OP: Yeah, I think so. It’s going to be a fun race. You know, it’s been very evenly matched between Max, the Ferraris, I saw even George being up there at the end. So I think it’s going to be a pretty evenly paced race tomorrow, and all of have us got slightly different strengths. Red Bull is very quick in a straight line, we’re going to be quick in the high speed. So yeah, it’s going to be a fun one. That’s all. We’re going to enjoy it.
Q: Max Verstappen, what a lap there at the end. You just pinged them all in, all the sectors. How did you do it?
Max VERSTAPPEN: It was tricky out there with the wind, through the whole qualifying Q1, Q2, Q3. It was all shifting around a bit. Yeah, a bit different. And around here with these cars, it’s extremely sensitive to it. So yeah, just trying to tidy it up throughout the whole qualifying and that final lap was good enough. But you know, I mean, this is a proper track, in qualifying when you have to go flat out in all these corners. It’s really, really committed and that’s really enjoyable.
Q: You say the last lap was good enough. It looked pretty unbelievable from when I was watching it. You’ve also got a trimmed out car on downforce, a choice that you made overnight. I was thinking this is a set-up choice with the race in mind, but you’ve nailed it on pole for qualifying already.
MV: Yeah, exactly. We’re quite quick on the straight, which of course is not that easy in the high speed corners to manage. But we did today, luckily. Of course, we have to wait and see what tomorrow will do, if there’s a bit of rain around and all. But I’m happy, of course, with our qualifying. It’s a big boost for the team as well. Just excited to go racing now tomorrow.
Q: And you’ve had some great battles with those McLaren drivers already this season. You’re starting ahead of them. You’ve had some fantastic wins already this year. You have the race pace tomorrow. Do you need to keep them behind?
MV: Difficult to say, but we’ll try. Now we’re going to go racing, we’re going to have fun, and we’re going to try to do the best we can.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Many congratulations, Max. What a final lap from you. Just how good was it?
MV: Pretty good. I mean, it was not easy out there to produce a consistent lap time just because of the wind, the gusts as well that you got out there. The car was moving around a lot even just on straights, so sometimes a bit unpredictable in places because of it. But luckily, that last lap came together quite nicely. Just had to commit a lot in the high speed with this low downforce that we have on the car, which we just tried to build up on. Luckily in Q3, that worked out.
Q: You were fourth after those first runs of Q3. Just where did you find the time on that last lap?
MV: Everywhere except the last sector. So, every single corner, a little bit. My first lap, I don’t know, it just felt really different to Q2. Just more oversteer, more understeer in places, and that then made the lap not amazing. But I never thought that I could find whatever it was, almost four tenths, I think. So yeah, it worked, so I’m happy with that.
Q: Max, it’s been a bit of a recurring theme at Red Bull this year. Unhappy on Friday, big changes overnight, and you guys get it together for Saturday. Just how different does the car feel today compared to yesterday?
MV: In some places, quite different. Yesterday, I was just understeering a lot but at the same time also having oversteer in places. It was very difficult to balance. I think today, we definitely improved the understeer and that just allowed me to push a bit more because understeer is slow, especially in F1. So, we just needed to try and minimise that.
Q: So, let’s look ahead to tomorrow. You have good straight-line speed, we saw that today. Just how confident are you in the long run pace of the car?
MV: Yeah. I mean, let’s see. We’ll just go in there and try to do the best we can. Normally in the race runs, we struggle a bit more on tyre life. I don’t know how that will be tomorrow. We have to wait and see a little bit also how the weather will be in general, if there is some rain or not. The straight-line speed is nice to have but you still need to manage the tyres around here. It’s very tough with all these high-speed corners. But I’m just looking forward to it. I’m not really in a battle, so I’ll just try to have fun and try to get the best possible result.
Q: Oscar, let’s come to you now. You were fastest after those first runs of Q3. At the time, did you think it was going to be good enough for pole?
OP: It was a good lap. I was very happy with it, but I kind of felt like every run, the track was improving a bit. So, I felt like I probably needed a bit more, which was correct. The second lap was a bit scruffy, couple of moments that caught me a bit by surprise. I mean, I always hate blaming wind, but I need to see if it was the wind. But also, maybe trying a bit too hard in a couple of places as well to make up for it. Overall, pretty happy. It’s been tight all weekend, especially through qualifying, so P2 is not a bad result.
Q: Oscar, as you say, it is very tight. Just two tenths of a second separating the top five in qualifying. Have you been surprised by just how close it is?
OP: Not necessarily. For me, what’s the biggest surprise is how each car is generating their lap time. You look at the speed traces and they all look completely different, but they end up basically at the same point at the end of the lap. So that’s been quite interesting to get our heads around. I’m not that surprised that Max is quick here. It’s quite similar to Suzuka, similar conditions to Suzuka. Clearly, they found some pace from yesterday. I think the big surprise was Ferrari yesterday, and even this morning. So not a huge surprise that it was so tight. Maybe how many teams were involved was a surprise, but it’s been tight in nine out of ten qualifyings this year.
Message sent. The top overall seeds for this weekend’s Tiszaujvaros World Cup made no mistake as they sewed up their spots in tomorrow’s final. The women’s event saw two semi-finals whittle down the field, with the top-14 in each, plus the two fastest athletes thereafter, qualifying. From three men’s heats, the top-9 in each would qualify with three “lucky losers” being added on the basis of their times. Ahead of the finals – which will be live tomorrow on TriathlonLive from 15:45 (CEST) – find out how the semi-finals played out below.
Women
Semi-final 1
Ilaria Zane (ITA) was a last minute withdrawal due to illness, clearing the path for others to potentially make the final, and when the starter’s horn sounded, it seemed like Anja Weber (SUI) had been fired out of a cannon. Lisa Tertsch (GER) and Jessica Fullagar (GBR) tailed her round the first lap as they tried to get back onto her feet. Under Weber’s pressure, the field broke up, particularly on the final third lap, however it was Tertsch who led out of the water. Weber, Fullagar and Tilda Månsson (SWE) followed, ensuring most of the first heat’s heavy-hitters were at the front.
Månsson was the last of the trio to exit T1 within 10 seconds of Tertsch. Meanwhile, those outside the top-10 stared down the barrel of a 45 second deficit. During the bike, Månsson ran into difficulty to leave three at the front. Everyone else was over a minute back. The leaders would ultimately arrive in T2 with a lead of 1:23 over a chase pack that contained Lea Coninx (FRA), Costanza Arpinelli (ITA), Manami Hayashi (JPN), Carina Reicht (AUT) and more. Månsson was at the tail end of the chase group.
Her task all but complete, Tertsch could afford to power down over the 5km run. Fullagar was still with her and the two had such a yawning lead they could share a laugh as they figured out how many laps remained. The German, however, is nothing if not ferociously competitive and sure enough she burned away from Tertsch on the final straight to take the win, which may not be her last of the weekend.
Fullagar was next home while Månsson led the chase pack that had passed an also safe Weber. As all of the chase pack qualified, Mercedes Romero Orozco (MEX) took 14th place with the women directly behind hoping for one of the two lucky loser slots based on the overall times across the two semi-finals.
Semi-final 2
Tilly Anema (GBR) led from Erin McConnell (IRL) and Zuzana Michalickova (SVK) out of the water. The Brit promptly turned a 6 second lead into a 10 second advantage with a smart T1. Breakaways have been her weapon of choice this year and today she had a perfect trial run ahead of potentially setting one up in tomorrow’s final. Selina Klamt (GER), Sophie Alden (GBR) and Jolien Vermeylen (BEL) then grouped around Michalickova as the leaders remained closer together than in semi-final 1. Sara Guerrero Manso (ESP) and Beatrice Mallozzi (ITA) were among those perilously balanced around the 14th place cut-off.
A pack of seven at the end of the first bike with Barbara De Koning (NED) completing the group. A cohort of eleven were over 50 seconds back, adding real jeopardy to making the top-14. Alden led out of T2 as the lead group remained intact before Klamt took over at the front. With all seven safe leaders there was no need to over-exert themselves. Things were rather more fraught in the chase pack as Dominika Peszleg (HUN) led a group including Guerrero and Mallozzi, but eighteen had to squeeze into fourteen.
In the end, Klamt won comfortably to give Germany a double semi-final success. Interestingly, she clocked a faster overall time than Tertsch too, although there is only so much one can read into that. McConnell was next home ahead of De Koning. Alden and Michalickova subsequently followed while having a chat during what resembled a leisurely afternoon stroll.
Kelly Wetteland (USA) was the best of chasers with Guerrero and Peszleg in pursuit. Mallozzi arrived later but was also safe. Taking 14th was Ana Maria Valentina Torres Gomez (MEX) while Alessia Orla (ROU) and Zuzanna Sudak (POL) followed with fast enough times to claim the final two slots for the final.
Men
Semi-final 1
Márk Dévay (HUN) did Márk Dévay things as he led out of the water from Igor Dupuis (FRA) and overwhelming favourite Csongor Lehmann (HUN). Dévay and Dupuis exited T1 with the better part of 10 seconds over Lehmann and the rest having already stretched the field on their quest for position in the top-9. Lehmann hit the front on the bike as part of a breakaway of five (alongside Gregor Rasva (EST) and Gergő Dobi (HUN)) and by the midpoint they led by 69 seconds. The chase of twelve therefore faced a real scrap for the final slots.
Come the end of the bike, the gap had grown to 1:55 and Lehmann and Dévay showed their WTCS class with textbook transitions. Such was their lead, they could have afforded to stop for an ice cream as would have been apt in the Tiszy heat. Like Tertsch, though, Lehmann was intent on asserting his status as favourite and pulled clear to win. It was all just too easy for him.
Jayden Schofield (AUS) led into the run from the chase group but a fight was brewing. Aurelien Jem (FRA), Izan Edo Aguilar (ESP) and Takumi Hojo (JPN) took over, with Baptiste Passemard (FRA) holding 9th place, albeit tenuously. Jem floated along, Edo looked ice cool and Hojo was untroubled. However Passemard was struck by what looked like a stitch and fell behind Schofield, who in turn was under pressure.
The top-5 were therefore safe, as were Jem, Edo and Hojo. At the last, Schofield fended off a surge from Britain’s Dominic Coy to hold onto 9th place.
Semi-final 2
Another Hungarian, Gyula Kovács, led the swim and was the first onto the bike in heat 2. Behind, eighteen men were within 20 seconds so all was up for grabs. One individual not in that cluster was the top seed of the semi-final (and second seed overall) Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger (FRA). The winner of the Samarkand World Cup was 24 seconds back. By the end of the first of the two bike laps, the front group of eighteen remained with no sign of Hueber-Moosbrugger. Indeed, he was a worrying 55 seconds back.
Bence Bicsák (HUN) was an experienced face in a sea of youngsters at the front. Whizzing around him were Kovács, João Nuno Batista (POR), Andree Buc (CHI) and David Lang (LUX). With a neat attack, Fabian Schönke (GER) earned a slight 8 second gap into T2. Batista cut that to 5 seconds as he led the chasers onto the run.
While Schönke faded, you could have thrown a net over the leading nine men at the end of the opening run lap. Buc, Batista and Lang were all there, as were Aoba Yasumatsu (JPN), Genis Grau (ESP) and Kovács. Bicsák hovered a few metres behind. The Hungarian athlete then made it ten at the front, but one of the leaders, Eduardo Nunez Gomez (MEX), faced a 10 second penalty for swim behaviour. Worse for him, with a lap to go the pace was not high enough compared to the first semi-final to secure a fastest loser slot.
At the finish, Bicsák nabbed a second Hungarian semi-final win. Samuele Angelini (ITA) and Nathan Grayel (FRA) also crossed in the top-9 however Nunez’s final time was ultimately not enough to qualify.
Semi-final 3
Márton Kropkó (HUN) got one over Zalán Hóbor (HUN) in the three-lap swim but Hóbor overtook his countryman in transition. Japan’s Kyotaro Yoshikawa was the only man that could live with them at the start and the trio had over 15 seconds on the field to play with going into the bike. Top seed Jack Willis (GBR) was in the chase of nine men, as were Gergely Kiss (HUN) and Sylvain Fridelance (SUI), and halfway into the bike the gap was down to 8 seconds.
By the time T2 was in sight, the leaders were back together as a dozen. This set up the most dramatic finale of any of the semi-finals.
Kropkó hit the run first on a personal mission to complete the home sweep of men’s semi-final wins. Along with Willis, Fridelance, Seth Rider (USA) and Jonas Osterholt (GER), he led a top-5 that separated themselves from the rest. Kiss followed in a secure position with Hóbor and Zsombor Deváy (HUN) next. Yoshikawa, though, was in a struggle with teammate Koki Yamamoto for 9th place.
With a lap to go, Thomas Windischbauer (AUT) passed both the duelling Japanese duo. Then came a flying Bradley Course (AUS) as he made his way past them too. Four men thus contested one slot, although Course – who had started the run behind – was moving fast enough to threaten the fastest losers from the first semi-final.
Up ahead, Kropkó took the win after some cat-and-mouse antics with Osterholt. Behind, however, Hóbor faded and Course found himself up to 8th. And then from nowhere, there was Schofield. It had been a long day and it could have been a hallucination replaying semi-final 2, but in fact Luke Schofield (AUS) had produced a storming final lap to somehow appear in 9th and qualify for the final alongside his brother. The thwarted Windischbauer and Yamamoto had nonetheless done enough to get 10th and 11th and slots as lucky losers slot alongside Coy by mere seconds.
