The Guardian

The home favourite has taken his speed and returns to new levels in Melbourne, but it’s his serve that will be key against world No 1 Alex de Minaur went into his quarter-final with Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open hopeful that he could make life difficult for the defending champion. Not only did that not happen, but the manner of his one-sided defeat left him wondering if he really had …

There is no special trick to the interim manager’s early success, just a commitment to sound and sensible thinking What must Ruben Amorim make of it? Maybe that 3-4-2-1 might not be the answer for this Manchester United team? Perish the thought. The club’s recently sacked manager was clear that not even the pope would make him change – presumably because Leo XIV is also a big fan of three centre-…

18-year-old was expected to stay with Hansi Flick’s side Joan Laporta describes move as ‘an unpleasant situation’ Barcelona have confirmed the departure of talented young midfielder Dro Fernández to Paris Saint-Germain with the club president, Joan Laporta, describing the situation around his move as “unpleasant”. Dro, who joined the club at 14, made his first-team debut in September, and turned …

Leeds may have felt pressure after Nottingham Forest and West Ham closed the gap over the weekend but showed no discernible sign of nerves at Everton. Daniel Farke’s visitors claimed a well-earned point at Hill Dickinson Stadium following a dominant first half display. It could have been much more but for the David Moyes changes that turned the tide Everton’s way in the second half. Thierno Barry…

Browns QB to replace Super Bowl-bound Drake Maye Sanders threw seven TDs and 10 interceptions this season Shedeur Sanders will reportedly become a Pro Bowler in his rookie season as a replacement for Drake Maye. ESPN reported on Monday that the Cleveland Browns rookie has bettered his Hall of Fame father, Deion Sanders, who was drafted in 1989 but had to wait until 1991 to receive the first of hi…

Open letter to Fifa and all football associations It condemns killings, arrests and threats against athletes A group of prominent Iranians with links to football have called on Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, to condemn the killing and arrest of footballers in Iran and the threats made against players in the country. The demand was made in open letter also addressed to the presidents of Fifa’…

AMR26 car will not run until Thursday and Friday Williams unable to take to the track at all in Spain The Aston Martin team have admitted they are to miss at least one day of their allotted three at Formula One’s first pre-season test in Barcelona and will not run their car before Thursday at the earliest. They are the second team to fail to take full advantage of the opening test after Williams …

Borthwick: ‘We are deeply saddened for him’ Itoje misses launch of 2026 Six Nations England will kick off their Six Nations training camp in Spain this week without their captain, Maro Itoje, who has travelled to Nigeria for his mother’s funeral. Itoje was conspicuously absent from the official Six Nations championship launch in Edinburgh on Monday and is not expected to join up with his squad un…

Injury to Champion Hurdle favourite and contentious decision to run final race overshadow disrupted Trials Day Before the first of the eight races at Cheltenham on Saturday, the afternoon promised to deliver on its Trials Day billing from start to finish, with serious contenders for festival glory in March scattered throughout the card. By the end, the main lesson concerned the vagaries of chance…

Ex-Fifa boss shows support for boycott calls Security concerns over tournament have risen Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter on Monday suggested he supports fans boycotting World Cup matches in the United States this year due to security concerns. Blatter gave his support to comments from Swiss anti-corruption lawyer Mark Pieth, who worked with Fifa on potential reforms when Blatter was president…

Farai Hallam trusted his own judgment on Yerson Mosquera incident despite a VAR review and, in doing so, showed the way forward I refereed professional football for 25 years. We were talking about handball when I started, and it remains one of the most discussed topics in the game. One reason for this is that we’ve had a number of law changes by the International Football Association Board (Ifab)…

Liverpool and Tottenham are in different situations but face the same problem: a manager in the hot seat but few ideal options Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here Another weekend, another few days of soul-searching for Liverpool and Tottenham. Liverpool had been on a 13-game unbeaten run before Saturday’s defeat to Bournemouth , but nobody could claim a string of results that included ho…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Perhaps Manchester City and Liverpool cruising to recent title wins made us forget that, deep-set in the making of champions, there will be wobbles, difficulties, forks in the road. As Pep Guardiola would happily tell you now, it’s not supposed to be easy. Just look at Liverpool’s attempts to follow up last season’s serene gambol to the title. T…

In an exclusive interview at his base, athletics’ ‘iron man’ reveals why his career feels like ‘99% losses’ but he plans to retire as the greatest distance runner in history On a bone-cold new year’s morning, the world’s most compelling athlete is sweating so much that tiny puddles are starting to ooze across his treadmill. For 40 minutes Jakob Ingebrigtsen makes 6min 40sec mile pace look like a …

If there’s one thing more beautiful than a goal in the 92nd minute it is a goal in the 96th, however ugly it actually is The most romantic line ever written was sprayed on a dirty old wall somewhere in Italy and repeated everywhere else. You’re as beautiful as a goal in the 90th minute, the graffiti goes, and this was as beautiful as it gets until it got better. The board had gone up at the Ciuta…