The Guardian

World No 1 is on the verge of a fifth grand slam title, but former Wimbledon champion has proved she can cause problems At the end of yet another semi-final in Melbourne on Thursday night, Aryna Sabalenka slammed the door shut on Elina Svitolina with a searing forehand winner, her 29th of the night. It was another near flawless performance from the Belarusian, another match she dominated from sta…

Medical breaks for cramp against Australian Open rules German says: ‘I didn’t like it, but it’s not my decision’ A weary Alexander Zverev described the decision to allow a medical timeout for a cramping Carlos Alcaraz in their epic Australian Open semi-final as “bullshit”, but did not want the matter to take the focus off the quality of their memorable encounter. The German failed to capitalise o…

Giants owner appears in newly released emails Messages show Epstein arranging women for Tisch DoJ releases 3.5m pages tied to Epstein case New York Giants chairman and co-owner Steve Tisch appeared throughout a newly released trove of emails related to Jeffrey Epstein, including communications in which Epstein arranged for Tisch to meet specific women. The emails, which were sent in 2013, were re…

NTSB says no qualified copilot was on board jet Instrument failures reported before fatal crash Flight data shows erratic climb and descent Retired Nascar driver Greg Biffle was not flying his own jet when it crashed last month , killing him and six others, according to a Friday report from federal safety officials who also concluded that while an experienced pilot was at the controls, no one els…

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White-ball captain claims he was protecting teammates Bethell and Tongue investigated over drinking session Harry Brook, the England white-ball captain, has admitted teammates were present on the night he clashed with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand last year. Speaking at the start of England’s tour of Sri Lanka, Brook said that he was on his own when he was punched by a bouncer on the eve of …

A robotic team fuelled by data and scrutinised relentlessly in a climate of angst and rage feels like a digital-age metaphor Like most people who have no talent for business ideas, I have a huge number of highly promising business ideas always on the go, ideas that are available for investment from any passing billionaire or Dragons’ Den rainmaker type. Not one of the A-listers, obviously. I’m no…

‘There is a lot of experts that wanted to retire me’ Serb won five-set epic to reach Australian Open final Novak Djokovic thanked his doubters for helping to give him strength after he produced an incredible performance to defeat Jannik Sinner, the No 2 and two-time defending champion, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Australian Open final. Djokovic, the fourth seed, will contest his 11th Aus…

EFL examining if funds mostly from gambling proceeds Bidders’ advisers say money is from investments The English Football League is taking its time assessing the prospective buyout of Sheffield Wednesday to establish whether the purchase would be largely funded by the proceeds of gambling and crypto-gambling operations. A consortium was given preferred bidder status by Wednesday’s administrators …

1st T20: England, 125-4, bt Sri Lanka, 133, by 11 runs (DLS) Opener hits 46 as tourists win after rain delay It was an England victory set up by the wily, age-old brilliance of Adil Rashid, the key man in their hopes of a World Cup triumph in the coming weeks. The masterful leg-spinner took three for 19 as Sri Lanka’s batting lineup collapsed in the first of three Twenty20s, losing five wickets f…

Harry Wilson, Igor Thiago, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jack Grealish and Antoine Semenyo have shone for their clubs By WhoScored Harry Wilson was often a spectator rather than a player in his first three seasons at Fulham. He made 89 appearances in the league, but 48 of them were from the bench and he was taken off 34 times. Having scored just 12 league goals in three years, he was nearly shipped off …

Supporter took ‘Time 2 Sell’ banner from under seat West Ham say ban for regulations breach not content West Ham have banned a season-ticket holder who held up a banner calling for the club’s owners to sell up. Joshua Wood said he was infuriated after receiving a letter accusing him of breaching ground regulations by taking from under his seat an oversized banner at last Saturday’s home game agai…

Dublin Racing Festival and Sandown card both in danger of washout after heavy rain at both venues Prospects for the most valuable and significant weekend of racing in the run-up to the Cheltenham festival in March remained in the balance on Friday evening after both Leopardstown and Sandown called inspections for Saturday morning due to fears of overnight rain. Leopardstown has seen nearly 200mm …

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Striker strives for long stay in the Premier League, years on from ‘losing love to play football’ during poor run with Basel ‘Are you a professional footballer?” was a question Thierno Barry had dreamed about answering in the affirmative, but on this occasion modesty was the best policy. The Frenchman was on a Zanzibar beach, surrounded by a group of 10-year-old boys he had schooled in a kickabou…