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Alex de Minaur has charged into the fourth round of the Madrid Open with a powerful performance as electricity returned to Spain. The Australian No 1 took less than 90-minutes to defuse the big-serving Canadian Denis Shapovalov with a straight sets 6-3, 7-6 win on Court Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Seeded sixth de Minaur and Shapovalov … Read more
The Scottish Football Association is to ban transgender women from participating in women’s football after updating its guidelines. From next season only biological women will be able to take part in women’s competitive football, a term that applies to matches from under-13s up. Current rules in Scotland allow for transgender women to compete under their … Read more
Hard competition and enduring happiness are the reasons why snooker’s “Class of ‘92‘” have continued to hold the sport’s new generations at bay, according to the seven-times world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan. The 49-year-old eased into a 6-2 lead after the first session of his Crucible quarter-final against Si Jiahui on Tuesday while John Higgins slugged … Read more
George Kittle agreed to a four-year contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers that will make him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history. Kittle announced the deal on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast on Tuesday, saying the extension was worth $76.4m over four years with $35m guaranteed at signing. The deal keeps Kittle … Read more
The Madrid Open resumed on Tuesday afternoon after a massive power outage left Spain and Portugal without electricity on Monday and forced the tournament to suspend all matches after 90 minutes of play. After about 10 hours without electricity and mobile internet for most people in Madrid, power to homes and phones returned late on … Read more
Ball one: Tongue on fire to spice things up Josh Tongue’s second five-fer of the season will have England’s chief selector, Luke Wright, licking his lips at the prospect of getting the tall pacer back in the phalanx of fast bowlers all countries need these days. For now, Haseeb Hameed is having his say about … Read more
The Northampton director of rugby, Phil Dowson, fears the sport is “sleepwalking” towards another club going bust and endorsed plans for the Premiership to become a franchised league on the basis it would be more appealing to investors. Premiership and Rugby Football Union executives have drawn up plans for an “expansion” league, akin to a … Read more
It may be viewed as an amuse-bouche before the main course of India in June, but England’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe is fast approaching. Selection is imminent – for the four-day match Trent Bridge that gets under way on 22 May and a training camp in Loughborough that precedes it – and after four rounds … Read more
It was at a press conference to announce Gabon’s squad for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi in August 2018 that Pierre-Alain Mounguengui admitted Gabonese football had a problem. After shocking revelations made by Shiva “Star” Nzigou – a former striker who played for the French club Nantes and won 24 caps – … Read more
Daniel Dubois warned Oleksandr Usyk that none of the mind games will matter when they step into the ring for their heavyweight title unification contest and suggested the Ukrainian would simply not be able to “handle the pain” when they meet at Wembley Stadium on 19 July. On Tuesday afternoon, Dubois and Usyk presented a … Read more