Ons Jabeur has vowed to stick to her plan as she targets Wimbledon revenge over Elena Rybakina.

The pair meet in the quarter-final on Wednesday in a rematch of last year’s final where Jabeur’s heart was broken by a three-set defeat.

The Tunisian has come back 12 months later and looked every inch a possible champion as she has coasted into the last eight.

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She knows this is a step up in quality and accepts she will have to do things she does not enjoy against Rybakina.

The sixth seed said: “My priority is really to stick 100 per cent to the plan that my coach will give me, and try to even do things that I might not like on the court, play more freely, just think about each point and not the results.

“I think you have a plan tactically, mentally also. Sometimes playing someone like Elena, who serves really well, it can be frustrating.

“Me, I would get angry, but I’ll try to accept the fact that she serves so good and try to return good and see what I can do there.”

Jabeur admits that it took her a couple of weeks to get over last year’s final but takes a holistic view of the defeat.

“I think the first one or two weeks I thought about it a lot,” she said.

“It was very painful. The good thing about it is I know I gave it everything.

“I’m someone that believes that it wasn’t meant to be, so I cannot force it more than it should be.

“I’m glad that I have this belief. I believe in destiny. It wasn’t supposed to be that year.

“Maybe greater things are coming after that final. I definitely will learn a lot from it.

“Obviously the next match is completely different. It’s a quarter-final. It’s a completely different position. I’m going to do my best.

“The most important thing is that I give 100 per cent and I try not to regret anything.”

Rybakina has barely broken sweat on her way to the last eight, though did admit she felt nervous at the start of the competition.

She is now through that and wants to continue in calmer waters.

“Now I’m feeling much better and more confident coming and playing on Centre Court,” she said. “It is different from the first round.

“I think it was just overall the atmosphere and the nerves to play the first match to get used to the grass, just to play some matches here.

“I think now mentally I’m much better. Physically also good now. Yeah, hopefully I just continue like this.”

Johanna Konta admits to finding motherhood boring compared to her previous life but said she is “very committed to retirement”.

Caroline Wozniacki is the latest player to announce a return to the sport after retiring and starting a family but Konta insists that is not a path she will be taking.

The 32-year-old announced in December 2021 that she was calling time on her career and she gave birth to daughter Emmeline last September.

She has picked up a racket again to play in the invitational doubles at Wimbledon, where Wozniacki is also in the field, and was very open about the challenges of swapping a professional sporting career for changing nappies.

“A part of me will always miss it just because the kind of adrenaline and the life you live as a successful professional tennis player, you can’t replicate in any part of your life,” said Konta.

“Compared to that, motherhood is frankly quite boring. It’s very monotonous and it’s fundamentally not really enjoyable, for me anyway.

“I love my daughter. When I put her down for naps I get excited for when she’s going to wake up. I’m to the moon in love with my daughter but I think the act of motherhood is actually really tough.

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“It’s monotonous, boring and, compared to what I used to do, which is play on Centre Court and travel the world and live a really selfish existence, to then be thrown into a very selfless existence, it’s a really hard transition, and it’s not fun.

“But I would choose it every single day over playing on Centre Court. I really love what my life was but I am learning to love my life more now.”

Konta has not even been playing tennis socially and described her first day back on court at Wimbledon as “rusty and painful”.

“The first day I was so sore everywhere but the last few days it’s been fine,” she added. “Don’t ask me to move a lot, though. That’s not what it used to be. I’m very committed to retirement.”

While Konta’s retirement was initially overshadowed by Emma Raducanu winning the US Open, the latter’s struggles have thrown into focus what a stellar career her predecessor as British number one put together.

Konta reached three grand slam semi-finals and three more quarter-finals while reaching a high of fourth in the world rankings in 2017.

By contrast, Britain did not have a direct entrant in the women’s singles here or at the French Open and current leading woman Katie Boulter is ranked 89.

“You want British interest,” said Konta, who is carving out a new career in broadcasting.

“You guys want British interest in the second week of grand slams, the players who are playing want to be in the second week. Everyone has the same desire, and also it’s good for the kids back home to see British representation on the female side.

“Everyone’s working towards the same goal, everyone’s giving their best and hopefully it will be happening.”

Raducanu is now down at 132 in the rankings and is unlikely to return until the autumn following surgeries on her wrists and ankle, but she still appears the best British hope of a leading player in the near future.

Konta highlighted fitness as the key to whether Raducanu can return to the top 10, saying: “I think just consistent physical health, for her to get physically robust is probably the number one priority because that has been her biggest hurdle.

“For her to be able to play enough tournaments, enough matches, will give her then the chance to win.”

The opening race on Wolverhampton’s Tuesday card was voided after Dane O’Neill took a fall from Eagle Eyed Tom.

The gelding, who is trained by Charlie Hills, seemed to stumble and clip heels when leaving the stalls for the Sky Sports Racing Sky 415 Handicap and unseated O’Neill in the first few moments of the contest.

The race was stopped abruptly before it could be completed and O’Neill was attended to on the track before reportedly being taken off on a stretcher.

Milton Harris is hatching an audacious plan to get Scriptwriter rated highly enough for a tilt at the Melbourne Cup.

The two-mile ‘race that stops a nation’, which will be run at Flemington on November 7, is the richest handicap run anywhere in the world and was worth over £2.5million to connections of Gold Trip, who won it last year.

There there is always fierce competition for a place in the line-up which has a maximum of 24 runners.

But Warminster handler Harris is hopeful the former Aidan O’Brien-trained gelding will show his ability throughout the summer on the Flat, starting with Saturday’s Group Three John Smith’s Silver Cup Stakes at York.

“He’s a Group horse, we’ve always thought that,” said Harris. “I’m going to tempt fate. He’s going to run on Saturday at York, I think. The main target has always been the Ebor at York.”

The Ebor victor will be given an automatic entry for the Melbourne Cup, with the York contest the only international win-and-you-are-in race.

Scriptwriter proved himself among the top young hurdlers last season, winning the Grade Two Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham in November.

He also landed a decent all-weather handicap on the Flat at Wolverhampton before being touched off in the Finesse Hurdle back at Cheltenham.

Scriptwriter was seventh to runaway winner Vauban in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot on his return to action last month and while his official Flat rating is 103, he will need to improve if he is to have a chance of going to Australia.

Harris added: “I thought he ran well at Ascot from a bad draw, but just couldn’t win.

“So we are going to York on Saturday and then hopefully the Ebor. If those two races go well, we might have a go at the Melbourne Cup – if you don’t dream, you’ll never have one come to fruition, will you?”

Royal Ascot scorer Porta Fortuna could be tasked with taking on the colts following her impressive triumph at the summer showpiece last month.

The daughter of Caravaggio provided Frankie Dettori with his 80th winner at the Royal meeting when storming to Albany Stakes success and the form of that victory was given an immediate boost when the runner-up Matrika won the Group Two Airlie Stud Stakes only eight days later.

Having now struck twice at Group Three level in her three appearances to date, trainer Donnacha O’Brien is keen to keep his unbeaten filly at six furlongs for the time being and she could get the chance to showcase her talent in Group One company if lining up in the Curragh’s Keeneland Phoenix Stakes on August 12.

O’Brien said: “She’s very good and has come out of the race well. We gave her an easy week after the race to freshen her up and she’s back in full work now and everything is going well.

“She’s very straightforward and I suppose she’s a dream filly to ride as she has plenty of pace, travels well, has a turn of foot and also keeps going at the end as well. She’s just a very smart filly.

“We’re thinking of going for the Phoenix at the minute, the Group One at the Curragh. We’ll have to take on colts, but we’d like to give her another run at six. We’ll put her in the Lowther (York, August 24) as well as a back-up, that’s about a week or two afterwards.”

Connections then hope all roads will lead to the Breeders’ Cup, where Porta Fortuna’s American owners will have the opportunity to cheer on their filly in their own backyard.

“I suppose later on in the year the targets will be races like the Cheveley Park (Newmarket, September 30) and the Breeders’ Cup,” added O’Brien.

“We’ve got a few more runs to go before we get there so I’m sure we’ll learn a bit more about her by the time, but the obvious one would be the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf (Santa Anita, November 3) unless for some reason we thought we would go back in trip to the (Juvenile Turf) Sprint.

“The Breeders’ Cup was always the main aim for her at the end of the year, but she’s got a few races to go first and we’ll take each one at a time.”

Porta Fortuna is not the only filly at O’Brien’s Tipperary base with the potential to become a high-ranking two-year-old and the handler also has lofty ambitions for the Niarchos family-owned Mysteries who opened her account in good style at Cork.

“She’s a lovely filly and one we’ve always thought plenty of,” continued the Group One-winning trainer.

“The plan at the minute is to go for the Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown (July 27) and then for a seven-furlong filly there’s a very obvious programme, so it will be there, the Debutante (August 19) and the Moyglare (September 10), all being well.”

Meanwhile, one-time Derby hope Alder is on the comeback trail from the setback which ruled him out of Classic action and could return at Dundalk in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Diamond Stakes on September 29 before getting his passport stamped at the back-end of the year.

“He’s good and we gave him a bit of a break but he’s back in work now,” said O’Brien.

“I’m provisionally aiming him at a Listed race in Dundalk in September and then all being well, we could potentially go travelling with him after that.”

Chris Eubanks has the potential to be a worldwide star after his breakthrough at Wimbledon, according to former American number one James Blake.

The 27–year-old had never made it past the second round at a grand slam until his amazing run in SW19, where he has knocked out last year’s semi-finalist Cameron Norrie and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on his way to a quarter-final against Daniil Medvedev.

Although the American – who won his first ATP Tour title in Majorca before Wimbledon – has been on tour for some time, his profile has exploded in the United States.

And Blake, who reached a career-high of fourth in the world rankings, has backed him to compete at the very top of the men’s game.

“He has become a superstar back home, which is great to see because he just deserves it, he is the most genuine guy,” said Blake.

“He’s taken advantage of his huge moment, he played so well last week in Majorca and now just playing with that confidence he is going to go far and I do think he has a chance against Medvedev.

“He is playing free and loose and you can see what can happen when you have got a big game and play with a lot of confidence.

“He has got to be a contender now to become a worldwide star, he has got the personality for it.”

Eubanks’ run at Wimbledon means he will now get star billing at the US Open next month and Blake has backed him to embrace it.

“It is going to be new for him but he is going to be one of the stars there, he might be on the side of a bus, he might be up on billboards,” said Blake, who mentored Eubanks earlier on in his career.

“And for him a year ago to be playing Challengers in Korea and toiling away, to be a star in New York is going to be hopefully a life-changing experience for him in a positive way.

“I hope he enjoys being a superstar because that is what he is in the making.”

Kim Clijsters has also played a role in Eubanks’ development after giving him some advice.

“It’s all his credit, I didn’t do anything, just send a few text messages,” she said.

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“We’ve gotten to know each other well since we played World Team Tennis together.

“He’s a great guy, a very open mind. We had really long conversations talking about my experiences in tennis when I was a teenager to still being around now.

“He wants to learn. It’s just great to see he’s doing so well. He’s enjoying it.

Oaks winner Soul Sister has been supplemented for Friday’s Grand Prix de Paris by John and Thady Gosden, with Kieran Shoemark deputising for the suspended Frankie Dettori.

Shoemark partnered the Lady Bamford-owned filly in a recent piece of work on Newmarket’s July course, although Dettori has ridden the daughter of Frankel in all three of her starts this season, with Robert Havlin in the saddle when she won her sole outing as a juvenile.

She gave Dettori a seventh Oaks and his 23rd British Classic success when beating Savethelastdance by a length and three-quarters at Epsom.

However, with the 52-year-old Italian having picked up a whip ban at Royal Ascot, Shoemark comes in for the ride on the filly, who is the sole British-trained runner in a field of eight for the Group One prize at ParisLongchamp.

Soul Sister bounced back from defeat on soft ground in the Fred Darling on her three-year-old debut at Newbury to land the Group Three Musidora at York.

She is the only Group One winner in the line-up, with connections happy to pay the €15,000 supplementary fee.

Thady Gosden said: “Obviously it is the last mile-and-a-half three-year-old race in Europe and unlike the Irish Oaks, it gives you time to come back for the Nassau at Goodwood.

“The Irish Oaks is a little too close to Goodwood if you wanted to take in both races, and we are looking forward to running her at Longchamp.

“Kieran partnered her on the Rowley Mile last week and was happy with her and she has done some routine work subsequently.”

Adelaide River and Peking Opera, respectively runner-up and fourth to Aidan O’Brien stablemate Auguste Rodin in the Irish Derby, remain in contention, while Andre Fabre, who has won the Grand Prix de Paris a record 13 times, relies on First Minister, who landed the Group Three Prix Hocquart at the same track last time.

Caroline Wozniacki is confident she will be able to compete with the top players again when she comes out of retirement next month.

The former world number one, who has two children, announced last month she would be ending her three-year exile this summer and will return for the American hard court swing that begins after Wimbledon.

The 33-year-old, who won the 2018 Australian Open and reached two US Open finals, was at the top of the women’s game for the best part of a decade before she called time on her career in 2020.

Since then Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have broken away to form a ‘big three’ but Wozniacki says that if she can compete with Serena Williams then she should be able to hack it against the current crop of players.

Speaking ahead of her appearance in the women’s invitation doubles at Wimbledon, she said: “I have played them before, I know exactly what I am up against. I know they are playing extremely well and aggressive and consistent and it is going to be a tough challenge but I am up for the challenge.

“I have fought tough players before and fought my way around so I am going to do the same this time.

“Obviously there are a lot of good players out there and it is a high level of tennis but I played with the greatest of all time in Serena. She’s the best player I ever played and she isn’t around anymore so that feels good to me at the moment! I am happy not to have to play her anymore.

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“I am not putting a time on how long I will play, just see how the body holds up, see how I feel, how the kids and everyone does.

“I am excited to be back and excited to be playing and hopefully it will be my best tennis yet.”

Wozniacki, who resumes her professional career in Montreal later this month, is one of several mothers who are playing on tour.

And the Dane believes she may now have less pressure when she is competing.

“I think for me, I will go out there and enjoy myself and play the way I have been practising and that is all you can do, give it the best when you are out there,” she said.

“My family and my kids is the most important thing in my life to me so I know that if I win or lose they won’t look at me any differently.

“It is going to be a great experience for us as a family to have the kids see a little bit of the world and meet new people and see new cultures. It is such a good learning experience for them so young before they go to real school.”

Kim Clijsters is a flagbearer in the modern era for returning to the tour after having children, winning the US Open in one of her first tournaments back by beating Wozniacki in the final.

And she says the Dane will need to get to grips with new challenges as she resumes her career.

“When you get into a situation like that when you’re a mother but you also become a professional athlete again, you have an expectation of how you did it before and the time that goes into it,” Clijsters said.

“That was for me a little bit hard at the beginning to balance, am I going to put six, seven hours a day focusing on myself again and how do I feel about that?

“You have to leave your daughter or your kids behind so I struggled a little bit with that in the beginning but then you learn that there’s other people that are really good at taking care of your kids too.

“I think that was a little bit of a challenge mentally to get that motherly instinct – you don’t push it aside but you have to balance that so you have enough of both. I think that will be probably the biggest challenge at the beginning.”

Caroline Wozniacki is confident she will be able to compete with the top players again when she comes out of retirement next month.

The former world number one, who has two children, announced last month she would be ending her three-year exile this summer and will return for the American hard court swing that begins after Wimbledon.

The 33-year-old, who won the 2018 Australian Open and reached two US Open finals, was at the top of the women’s game for the best part of a decade before she called time on her career in 2020.

Since then Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have broken away to form a ‘big three’ but Wozniacki says that if she can compete with Serena Williams then she should be able to hack it against the current crop of players.

Speaking ahead of her appearance in the women’s invitation doubles at Wimbledon, she said: “I have played them before, I know exactly what I am up against. I know they are playing extremely well and aggressive and consistent and it is going to be a tough challenge but I am up for the challenge.

“I have fought tough players before and fought my way around so I am going to do the same this time.

“Obviously there are a lot of good players out there and it is a high level of tennis but I played with the greatest of all time in Serena. She’s the best player I ever played and she isn’t around anymore so that feels good to me at the moment! I am happy not to have to play her anymore.

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“I am not putting a time on how long I will play, just see how the body holds up, see how I feel, how the kids and everyone does.

“I am excited to be back and excited to be playing and hopefully it will be my best tennis yet.”

Wozniacki, who resumes her professional career in Montreal later this month, is one of several mothers who are playing on tour.

And the Dane believes she may now have less pressure when she is competing.

“I think for me, I will go out there and enjoy myself and play the way I have been practising and that is all you can do, give it the best when you are out there,” she said.

“My family and my kids is the most important thing in my life to me so I know that if I win or lose they won’t look at me any differently.

“It is going to be a great experience for us as a family to have the kids see a little bit of the world and meet new people and see new cultures. It is such a good learning experience for them so young before they go to real school.”

Kim Clijsters is a flagbearer in the modern era for returning to the tour after having children, winning the US Open in one of her first tournaments back by beating Wozniacki in the final.

And she says the Dane will need to get to grips with new challenges as she resumes her career.

“When you get into a situation like that when you’re a mother but you also become a professional athlete again, you have an expectation of how you did it before and the time that goes into it,” Clijsters said.

“That was for me a little bit hard at the beginning to balance, am I going to put six, seven hours a day focusing on myself again and how do I feel about that?

“You have to leave your daughter or your kids behind so I struggled a little bit with that in the beginning but then you learn that there’s other people that are really good at taking care of your kids too.

“I think that was a little bit of a challenge mentally to get that motherly instinct – you don’t push it aside but you have to balance that so you have enough of both. I think that will be probably the biggest challenge at the beginning.”

The 154th Open Championship will be played at Royal Birkdale in 2026, the R&A have announced.

The Southport venue has hosted the Open on 10 previous occasions, most recently in 2017 when Jordan Spieth edged out fellow American Matt Kuchar to lift the Claret Jug.

Three shots clear of Kuchar heading into the final round, Spieth was a shot behind after his fifth bogey of the day on the 13th, which involved a 20-minute ruling and playing his third shot from the practice ground.

But the former Masters and US Open champion amazingly played the next four holes in five under par to card a remarkable closing 69 and finish three shots clear of the unfortunate Kuchar.

The victory gave Spieth the third leg of a career grand slam and saw him join the likes of Peter Thomson, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Padraig Harrington in winning the Open at Royal Birkdale.

R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said: “Royal Birkdale is a world-class championship venue and its outstanding links will once again provide the world’s best men’s professional golfers with a tough but fair test of their talents and capabilities as they compete for the Claret Jug.

“It has produced many memorable moments that are woven into the story of this historic Championship, including a dramatic final round in 2017 when Jordan Spieth won for the first time.

“We look forward to another special occasion in three years and it will be fascinating to see which player will emerge to join a list of renowned Champion Golfers to have won at Royal Birkdale.”

The 2026 Open will be staged from July 16-19.

This year’s Open gets under way at Royal Liverpool next week, with Royal Troon hosting in 2024 and Royal Portrush in 2025.

Caster Semenya was discriminated against by rules which forced her to lower her testosterone levels in order to continue competing, according to a judgement from the European Court of Human Rights.

The 32-year-old South African, a two-time 800 metres Olympic champion, was legally identified as female at birth but has a condition which means her body naturally produces higher levels of testosterone than women without the condition.

She has been unable to compete at her favoured distance since 2019, following the introduction of limits on testosterone levels for female athletes which would have forced her to use medication.

Previous legal challenges to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court were rejected, but the ECHR found her human rights had been violated.

World Athletics said in response to the judgement that it believes its rules on athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) are “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” to protect fair competition in the female category. The international federation said it would encourage the Swiss state – which is the respondent in the ECHR case rather than World Athletics – to refer the matter to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR for a final judgement.

A release issued by the court on Tuesday morning stated: “The Court found in particular that the applicant had not been afforded sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards in Switzerland to allow her to have her complaints examined effectively, especially since her complaints concerned substantiated and credible claims of discrimination as a result of her increased testosterone level caused by differences of sex development (DSD).”

Tuesday’s ECHR decision was a majority decision – with four of the seven chamber members finding Semenya’s rights had been violated.

A legal summary of the case said Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relates to discrimination, had been violated, along with Article 13 which related to the absence of effective remedies to tackle that discrimination.

World Athletics’ statement read: “World Athletics notes the judgment of the deeply divided Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

“We remain of the view that the DSD regulations are a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of protecting fair competition in the female category as the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Swiss Federal Tribunal both found, after a detailed and expert assessment of the evidence.

“The case was filed against the state of Switzerland, rather than World Athletics.

“We will liaise with the Swiss Government on the next steps and, given the strong dissenting views in the decision, we will be encouraging them to seek referral of the case to the ECHR Grand Chamber for a final and definitive decision.

“In the meantime, the current DSD regulations, approved by the World Athletics Council in March 2023, will remain in place.”

Semenya’s legal team have been contacted for comment.

Baheer could be heading to Goodwood for the Molecomb Stakes after his eyecatching victory at Newbury last week.

The Richard Hannon-trained two-year-old stepped up on his debut when runner-up to shock 150-1 winner Zoulu Chief over the same six-furlong course and distance, taking a novice by a stylish two and a half lengths.

A son of Mehmas, he travelled strongly and was eased before the finish, and jockey Pat Dobbs feels he could be poised to make his mark in better company in the near future.

“His work in the spring was brilliant, but he was gelded because he was getting a little bit out of control,” said Dobbs.

“So that takes him out of a lot of the good races. He’s only won a maiden, but he travels very good and feels like a five-furlong horse.”

Owned by Al Shaqab Racing, Baheer appreciated the fast ground and Dobbs feels only inexperience and immaturity is holding him back.

He added: “There is talk about the Molecomb, but they might put him in a nursery to see what mark he gets first. I think it might possibly be a bit early for him to be a Molecomb horse.

“Fast ground is very important to him – he doesn’t bend his knees a lot. He got beat obviously the first time on soft ground, which was a shock because we couldn’t see him getting beat.

“He is a good horse, but whether you’ll see it in his next run or a couple of runs later, I’m not sure. He has a mind of his own, but a lot of ability – more or less like the boss!” he laughed.

Caster Semenya was discriminated against by rules which forced her to lower her testosterone levels in order to continue competing, according to a judgement from the European Court of Human Rights.

The 32-year-old, a two-time 800 metres Olympic champion, was legally identified as female at birth but has a condition which means her body naturally produces higher levels of testosterone than women without the condition.

She has been unable to compete at her favoured distance since 2019, following the introduction of limits on testosterone levels for female athletes which would have forced her to use medication.

Previous legal challenges to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court were rejected, but the ECHR found her human rights had been violated.

A release issued by the court stated: “The Court found in particular that the applicant had not been afforded sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards in Switzerland to allow her to have her complaints examined effectively, especially since her complaints concerned substantiated and credible claims of discrimination as a result of her increased testosterone level caused by differences of sex development (DSD).”

A legal summary of the case said Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relates to discrimination, had been violated, along with Article 13 which related to the absence of effective remedies to tackle that discrimination.