Former captain Padraig Harrington believes he has two chances to prove he is worthy of becoming the oldest ever Ryder Cup player, 13 years after the last of his six appearances in the biennial event.
Harrington has not won on the DP World Tour since 2016 but has claimed five victories on the Champions Tour in the last 13 months, including successfully defending his title in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open last month.
The 51-year-old also started this season with fourth place in Abu Dhabi and finished 27th in the US Open last month, sparking speculation that he could be in the frame for one of captain Luke Donald’s six wild cards.
Raymond Floyd was 51 when he played in the 1993 Ryder Cup at The Belfry, but Harrington will celebrate his 52nd birthday a month before this year’s contest in Rome.
“I don’t think we should take the Seniors Tour into account, it’s different golf,” Harrington said after a second round of 66 left him high on the leaderboard in the £7million Genesis Scottish Open.
“I should be judged on how I play in DP World Tour and PGA Tour events. That’s it. I’ve seen some nice form and I’m gradually getting better and better.
“I played well in Abu Dhabi there but that was a good round with my back to the wall. This has been better in terms of being stress-free. I like what I see this week.
“With regards to the Ryder Cup, I’ve got these two events. I’ll see at the end of the Open. I’ll talk to Luke and see where I stand and, if necessary, I’ll change my schedule and come and play over here.
“I’m meant to be playing a few Senior events in the middle of the summer. But I will change that and play European Tour events if I have a genuine chance. If it’s real.”
Asked if he had already been in contact with Donald, Harrington said: “Luke rang me a couple of weeks ago. He was actually on to congratulate me for my win, but he also said that it would be remiss of him to say he wasn’t watching.
“He asked about my schedule. I said how I play in Scotland and at the Open will determine everything. If I don’t have good weeks it won’t be enough.
“The team looks good. I have to say that. The good players are playing well. The young guys are coming through. And older guys like Justin (Rose) have come back into form.
“I don’t think they are scrambling to need me in the team. They are very solid. Every week in the States we see a European winning or contending. It’s turned a nice corner for Europe.
“It’s nice to have experience, but they are not crying out for it. Although I don’t want to talk myself out if it. But they’re not desperate to have me in the team.”
England’s Tyrrell Hatton surged into contention for a first victory in two and a half years with a “stressful” second round of 62 in the Genesis Scottish Open.
Hatton, who began the day eight shots off the lead, carded nine birdies and a solitary bogey at the Renaissance Club to set an early clubhouse target of nine under par which was matched by South Korea’s Tom Kim.
World number one Scottie Scheffler and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington were two strokes off the pace following rounds of 65 and 66 respectively as the field battled changeable conditions in East Lothian.
Asked if his round was as easy as he made it look, Hatton said: “No, it was stressful at times, as most of my rounds are.
“But very happy with the chances I gave myself. I feel I hit a lot of good iron shots today, especially compared to Thursday. Very happy with how that was and nice to see some putts drop, too.
“I had three weeks off after the US Open and you probably saw a little bit on Thursday I was fatting a few shots.
“I was hitting balls off mats last week and, even though I got here Monday night I still had not managed to get the ball first. We managed to do that today and hopefully that continues this weekend.”
In contrast to Hatton, Harrington felt driving the ball well led to a stress-free 66, despite facing the worst of the wet and windy conditions in the first group out at 7.15am.
“I hit a great drive off my first hole of the day, 80 yards short of where I hit it yesterday,” the 51-year-old said.
“The marshals were a full 50 yards away from where they should have been for the first three, four holes because they had no idea how short the ball was going.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever been out first and I was hoping that I might turn up and get a break with the weather, but we kind of got the opposite. Then it lightened up obviously after six or seven holes. The ball started going a bit and it got a little easier then.”
Harrington has not won on the DP World Tour since 2016, but has won five times on the Champions Tour in the last 13 months, including successfully defending his title in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open last month.
“I feel I can challenge anybody on a links golf course without a doubt,” Harrington said. “From years of playing it comes natural to me.
“And I don’t have a problem coming back and playing with the young guys on any golf course, but obviously links makes it a little easier for me.”
There is room at the top for a champion sprinter this season and should Julie Camacho’s three-year-old Shaquille land the Pertemps Network July Cup, the odds are he would go a long way to claiming the title.
Winner of six of his seven races to date, he came from a hugely unpromising position to win the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, beating last year’s star juvenile Little Big Bear, despite losing plenty of ground at the start.
That is not the first time he has shown a quirk or two, although it certainly does not slow him down, but he will need to be on his best behaviour when taking on older horses for the first time as he attempts to emulate Muhaarar in winning the Commonwealth and July Cups back to back.
“Shaquille seems to be in great form and has come out of Royal Ascot well. We turned him out for three or four days and he started to get a bit fresh. He cantered on the Wednesday after Royal Ascot and he did a nice piece of work last Saturday and everything seems to be good,” said Camacho, who celebrated her first Group One win at Ascot.
“He’s lovely at home. Everybody sees him at the races and they think he’s this big, ignorant, horrible animal but he’s not! Paige Harrison, who looks after him at home and rides him at home, says he’d be quite happy to just walk up the six-furlong gallop, he just lobs along.”
Steve Brown, Camacho’s husband and assistant, said: “He is a horse who prefers to lead in his work. If you ask him to join a decent horse, he might not get there. He is relaxed and laid back.
“Each time he has raced, he’s got better. We were concerned how he would handle Royal Ascot, but when he first stepped on the track he hadn’t put a foot wrong and he hadn’t broken sweat which I was really pleased about to the point that when Oisin (Murphy) hacked away, I was actually worried he was too quiet but that didn’t reflect in his performance.
“We just hope he is maturing as we are going along. It has been a steady progression in the right direction with him and hopefully that will continue on Saturday.”
Murphy is suspended on Saturday while James Doyle, who rode him to two victories earlier in the season, is at Ascot, so Rossa Ryan comes in for the ride.
“Ascot was the first time he has started slowly in his life. He was first to load and had been sitting there a long time, so got a little bit impatient,” said Brown.
Ryan Moore was briefly in the frame for the ride after Aidan O’Brien raised some doubt about Little Big Bear’s participation. However, the rematch was confirmed on Thursday morning at declaration time.
O’Brien stated at the time everything would have to continue to go in the right direction after he suffered a stone bruise last week, causing him to miss six days of exercise.
Speaking early on Friday afternoon O’Brien said: “At the moment everything is going well with him.
“It hasn’t been ideal, obviously, but we’re happy enough.
“He just missed five or six days last week and we won’t know until he runs how much it has affected him.”
The July Cup was the one Group One in the UK that Frankie Dettori was missing on his CV and in his final year, Ralph Beckett’s Kinross had been identified as his last chance to win it.
Unfortunately for him, the suspension picked up at Royal Ascot means he is unable to retire with a full set of top-level races and he has been replaced by William Buick.
Owner Marc Chan’s racing manager Jamie McAlmont said: “William (Buick) is a more than capable substitute, but it was something we were really looking forward to (with Dettori) and sadly it just wasn’t meant to be.
“If we can get some rain that would increase his chance for sure, it would make a bit of a difference, I think.
“It’s a solid race, there’s three-year-olds racing against six-year-olds and there are a number Group One winners in the race. It’s a solid field.”
Michael Van Gerwen is ready to carry on breaking the pain barrier in his pursuit of back-to-back World Matchplay titles.
The Dutchman has recently had intensive dental surgery, with more to come, but that has not affected him too much as he won the Poland Masters at the weekend.
He heads to the Winter Gardens in Blackpool aiming to follow up last year’s success and will again give it his all.
“It has been a really tough period, but the most important thing is you have to stand up and you have to battle,” said Van Gerwen ahead of his first-round match with Brendan Dolan on Sunday.
“It costs a lot of energy, but I always say if I am competing in something, I want to win it, and this tournament will be no different.
“I’m looking forward to the World Matchplay already. It’s one of the biggest tournaments we have, I want to play well and I want to defend my title.
“I always have pressure on my shoulders but I don’t mind that. I’m winning tournaments again and that gives you confidence.”
The tournament on the west coast is widely recognised as the second biggest event on the calendar behind the World Championships, which means that world number one Michael Smith is keen to add this title to his collection.
Smith, who plays Steve Beaton, won at Alexandra Palace in January and now wants to taste success at another famous venue.
“It’s an iconic venue. The crowd are right on top of you. It’s special for us as players,” the 2019 runner-up said.
“I’m feeling confident. I’m feeling good. I’ve had a few disappointments in this tournament, especially losing the final to Rob (Cross).
“This year feels different though. I’m going in as the world number one, and I’ve got to prove why I’m in that position.
“I’m feeling comfortable and I’ve got to continue that winning run this year, hopefully starting with the World Matchplay.”
Ons Jabeur hopes she has served her apprenticeship as she bids to take the final step and win a maiden grand slam title on Saturday.
No other woman can match the Tunisian’s achievement in reaching three grand slam finals in the last five tournaments after finishing as runner-up at Wimbledon last year to Elena Rybakina and at the US Open to Iga Swiatek.
Jabeur has certainly proved her grass-court credentials this fortnight, beating grand slam champions in the last four rounds, including Rybakina and second seed Aryna Sabalenka from a set down.
“Last year was my first final of a grand slam,” said Jabeur. “I’m definitely getting closer to winning the grand slam that I always wished.
“I would say I always believed. But sometimes you would question and doubt it if it’s going to happen, if it’s ever going to happen. Being in the last stages, I think it does help you believe more.
“I’m going to learn a lot from not only Wimbledon’s final but also US Open final, and give it my best. Maybe this year was all about trying two times and getting it right the third time.”
Standing in Jabeur’s way is an unexpected finalist in Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who reached the 2019 French Open final as a teenager but has been mostly off the radar since.
Having already beaten the players who defeated her at Wimbledon the last two years, Jabeur will now aim to make it third time lucky in another way having lost to Vondrousova twice this year, at the Australian Open and Indian Wells.
It will be a match for the purists, with Jabeur and Vondrousova the two best exponents of the drop shot in the women’s game and possessing far more in their arsenals than simply power.
Jabeur said: “I’m going for my revenge. I didn’t win against her this year. She has good hands. She plays very good.
“I will try to focus on myself a lot. I’m not sure how she’s going to play (in her) second grand slam final. We’re both hungry to win. Whoever deserves it more will win.”
Jabeur is already the first African woman and Arab player to reach a slam singles final in the open era, and is known as the ‘minister of happiness’ in her home country for her sunny demeanour and the pride she has engendered.
Lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish would be a hugely significant moment for her home region and Jabeur is buoyed by the support.
“The good thing about those people, they always tell me, ‘Win or lose, we love you’,” she said. “That’s great words to hear. I always try to remember that, even though I know everybody wants me to win.
“For me, there is one goal: I’m going for it. I will prepare 100 per cent. Hopefully I can make history, not just for Tunisia, but for Africa.”
Vondrousova’s resurgence this season has come after she missed six months of 2022 following two operations on her left wrist.
The 24-year-old, who was dropped by clothing sponsor Nike, came to London last summer as a tourist, watching a friend play in qualifying before visiting the London Eye and going shopping.
This is the first time Vondrousova has come close to matching what she achieved at Roland Garros four years ago, when a semi-final victory over Britain’s Johanna Konta was followed by a one-sided loss to Ashleigh Barty.
Like Jabeur, she has done things the hard way here, beating four seeded players before seeing off crowd favourite Elina Svitolina in the last four.
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She is aiming to become the first unseeded women’s champion at Wimbledon and believes her previous final experience will come into play, saying: “I think it can definitely help in tough moments.
“I was very young, so I think it was just too much for me back then. I’m a bit older now. I think I’m a bit of a different person. I’m just very happy to be through this again.”
Vondrousova, who will break into the top 10 for the first time if she claims the title, can also draw on the remarkable success of female players from her country.
Fellow left-hander Petra Kvitova was the last Czech winner of Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014 but since then Lucie Safarova, Karolina Pliskova, Barbora Krejcikova and Karolina Muchova have also reached slam finals.
Conditional jockey Dylan Kitts has had his licence suspended with immediate effect following a formal hearing in front of the British Horseracing Authority’s judicial panel.
Kitts voluntarily stood down on July 7 when it was announced there would be an investigation into his ride on the Chris Honour-trained Hillsin at Worcester, where he finished a length-and-a-half third.
The raceday stewards referred Kitts to the BHA while Hillsin was banned from running for 40 days. Honour later said his family had received abuse on social media and he subsequently asked Hillsin’s owner Alan Clegg to remove his horses from his yard.
A BHA hearing took place on Thursday, with Kitts now unable to take rides or attend any racecourses in Britain until further notice.
A statement said: “Further to the voluntary standing down by Mr Kitts last Friday, a formal hearing was held yesterday before the deputy chair of the judicial panel.
“By agreement between the parties it has been ordered that Mr Kitts’ jockey licence be suspended with immediate effect and Mr Kitts is prohibited from attending any racecourse in Great Britain.
“This order will be kept under review and will last until a further order is made, whilst the BHA investigation and potential disciplinary proceedings remain ongoing and which will be dealt with as swiftly as possible.”
Eight years and 11 months. 3,266 days. 78,384 hours.
Whichever way you look at it, by the time the 151st Open Championship gets underway the length of time since Rory McIlroy’s last major victory is truly remarkable.
Since McIlroy followed his Open triumph at Royal Liverpool in 2014 by winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA Championship in his next two starts, 34 majors have been staged and the 34-year-old Northern Irishman has won none of them.
Brooks Koepka has racked up all five of his victories in that spell, Jordan Spieth three, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Dustin Johnson two each, while 18 different players have tasted victory once, including a 50-year-old Phil Mickelson and an injury-ravaged Tiger Woods.
McIlroy has had to settle for commendable consistency, recording 19 top-10s and finishing no worse than eighth in all four majors in 2022, yet genuine chances to win on the back nine on Sunday have been relatively scarce.
In the 2018 Masters – the only major he has not won – McIlroy began the day three behind leader Patrick Reed but had a short eagle putt on the par-five second to draw level with the American. He missed, bogeyed the third to Reed’s birdie and that was effectively that.
At the 2022 US PGA, McIlroy roared into contention with four straight birdies early in the final round and was one shot off the eventual score required for a play-off, only to fade to eighth.
It was a different story two months later as McIlroy shared the lead with Viktor Hovland heading into the final round of the Open at St Andrews, four shots clear of Cameron Smith and Cameron Young.
Two ahead at the turn, McIlroy made his second birdie of the day on the 10th but was overhauled by a surging Smith, the Australian making five birdies in a row to start the back nine and another on the last to complete a stunning 64.
Last month’s US Open offered McIlroy another great chance to end his drought as he moved into a share of the lead with a birdie on the first hole of the final round at Los Angeles Country Club.
However, that proved to be his only one of a frustrating day and it was no surprise that he was overheard muttering “St Andrews all over again” to his manager after a level-par 70 which left him one shot behind winner Wyndham Clark.
Of course “Hoylake all over again” would be a very welcome sense of deja vu for McIlroy following his 2014 triumph, when he led from start to finish and held off a charging Sergio Garcia on the final day to lift the Claret Jug.
It made McIlroy the first European player to win three different majors since the Masters was founded in 1934 and gave him the third leg of a career grand slam completed by just five players in the history of the game.
When another major title followed a month later it was almost inconceivable that McIlroy would be stuck on the same tally nine years later, but there are precedents for ending even lengthier droughts.
Julius Boros and Hale Irwin both won the US Open 11 years apart, while Ben Crenshaw’s Masters victories in 1984 and 1995 came in just six days shy of that mark.
Tiger Woods memorably won the 2019 Masters almost 11 years on from his 2008 US Open win, with Lee Trevino and Ernie Els also cracking the 10-year barrier.
A keen student of the game, chances are McIlroy will be well aware of such facts. Whether he can do anything about adding his name to the list remains to be seen.
Royal Liverpool member Matthew Jordan admits there will be no excuses when he tees it up in his second major on the home course he has played for 20 years.
The 27-year-old, who grew up in nearby West Kirby and lives in Hoylake, followed in his father and grandfather’s footsteps by becoming a member at the club while he was still at primary school.
Jordan has played the Wirral links in every conceivable weather and course condition and, while the most significant change for the Open is the switch of routing which means players tee off at what is the members’ 17th hole, he knows he has to take advantage of that knowledge after coming through final qualifying for the second successive year.
View this post on Instagram“I’ve qualified but I don’t want to let the experience go to waste. I want to do well,” he said.“I would be amazed if there is something I don’t know. I’ve experienced it in all kinds of conditions so I guess there is no kind of excuse now.
“I know pretty much every pin position, I’ve seen it soft, I’ve seen it hard, I’ve seen it with rough up and down.
“I’ll probably play it exactly how I know how to play it but in terms of practice it is going to be a bit strange.”
Royal Liverpool is hosting its third Open in 18 years – after a hiatus of 39 years – and after weeks of primarily dry weather it seems likely conditions will be similar to 2006 when baked hard, fast-running fairways saw Tiger Woods use his driver just once in winning his third Claret Jug.
A major change to the course for this edition has seen the creation of a new 17th hole overlooking the Dee Estuary, a 140-yard par-three with an exposed green surrounded by bunkers which usually plays into the prevailing wind, which has become something of a talking point.
As a member, Jordan remained admirably diplomatic on the subject.
“I think it depends on individual opinion. Me personally, it will depend on conditions and how windy it is, how firm it is as well, as that will make a massive difference into how easy or difficult it will play,” he said.
“My reservations about it are if it will be a good hole for the Open, which will require it being into the wind and not soft and straightforward.
“I’ll have to ask the other pros what they think.”
Royal Liverpool will host the Open Championship for the 13th time in its history from July 20-23.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are the most recent winners at Hoylake, but the course also boasts a rich history of staging the game’s oldest major.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the most memorable moments at the venue.
1907 – Arnaud Massy becomes first overseas winner
Qualifying was introduced for the first time, with players split into two sections and each contesting 36 holes in one day. Massy led the qualifiers from day one and benefited from a day off before the Championship got under way. Rounds of 76 and 81 on Thursday gave the Frenchman a one-shot lead and after falling behind JH Taylor due to a 78 on Friday morning, Massy carded a closing 77 to win by two and become the first overseas winner. He later named his daughter Margot Hoylake Massy.
1930 – Bobby Jones remains on course for historic feat
Jones had already won the Open in 1926 and 1927, but his 1930 victory at Hoylake was part of an unmatched clean sweep of the era’s biggest four championships. After winning the Amateur Championship at St Andrews at the end of May, Jones lifted the Claret Jug for a third time three weeks later as a closing 75 proved enough for a two-shot victory. He returned home to win the US Open in July and the US Amateur in September, completing what became known as the ‘Impregnable Quadrilateral’, before retiring from competitive golf at the age of 28.
1956 – Peter Thomson completes hat-trick
After finishing sixth on his debut at Royal Portrush in 1951, Thomson went on to produce an incredible run of results in the Open and lifted the Claret Jug a total of five times. Despite winning the title in 1954 and 1955, the Australian still had to come through qualifying at Hoylake and Wallasey, but led after 36 and 54 holes and won by three shots from Belgium’s Flory van Donck to become the only player to win a hat-trick of titles in the modern era.
2006 – Tiger Woods bounces back
Woods had missed the cut in a major for the first time as a professional in June’s US Open at Winged Foot, which came after an unprecedented nine-week lay-off following the death of his father Earl. However, the defending champion was in imperious form at a bone-dry Hoylake, hitting driver just once and finding only three bunkers all week as he held off the challenge of Chris DiMarco to win by two shots before breaking down in tears in the arms of caddie Steve Williams.
2014 – Rory McIlroy claims third major title
McIlroy led from start to finish as he completed the third leg of a career grand slam, although he had to hold off a spirited challenge from Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia in the final round. The two-shot victory made McIlroy the first European player to win three different majors since the Masters was founded in 1934, while it also made his father Gerry and three of his friends £50,000 each after they bet £100 on the 15-year-old at 500-1 a decade ago to lift the Claret Jug before his 26th birthday.
Australia’s Cameron Smith will defend his title when the 151st Open Championship takes place at Royal Liverpool Golf Club from July 20-23.
Smith is bidding to become the first player to retain the Claret Jug since Padraig Harrington (2007-08) as the Open returns to Hoylake, nine years after Rory McIlroy’s wire-to-wire victory.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the main contenders for the year’s final major championship.
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy enjoyed a purple patch of form the last time Hoylake staged the Open in 2014, holding off Sergio Garcia to claim a wire-to-wire victory and then winning his next two starts for good measure. The last of those, the US PGA Championship at Valhalla, remains his most recent major title and he was unable to convert a share of the 54-hole lead at St Andrews last year. McIlroy also finished second in the US Open, muttering “St Andrews all over again” to his manager after a closing round containing a solitary birdie at the opening hole.
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler has been consistency personified in 2023, winning twice and finishing no worse than 12th in any event. A share of 10th in his title defence in the Masters is also his worst result in a major, the world number one finishing second in the US PGA and third in the US Open. Leads the PGA Tour in numerous statistical categories off the tee and into the green, but ranks a lowly 131st in putting and is contesting just his third Open at Hoylake.
Cameron Smith
Smith had already won twice in 2022, including the prestigious Players Championship, before securing his first major title thanks to a brilliant final round of 64 in the 150th Open at St Andrews. The Australian joined LIV Golf the following month but despite being unable to earn ranking points on the Saudi-funded breakaway, remains in the world’s top 10 thanks to finishing ninth in the US PGA and fourth in the US Open. Won his second LIV event in Hertfordshire 10 days before the start of the Open.
Rickie Fowler
Fowler was joint second behind McIlroy in 2014, a year in which he finished in the top five in all four majors, and won on a links course in 2015 when the Scottish Open was stage at Gullane. Suffered a loss of form in recent years but equalled the lowest round in major history last month with an opening 62 in the US Open at Los Angeles Country and ended a four-year winless drought on the PGA Tour two weeks later.
Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood came agonisingly close to winning his maiden PGA Tour title in last month’s Canadian Open, with home favourite Nick Taylor holing from 72 feet for an eagle on the fourth play-off hole. A week later the Ryder Cup star carded a final round of 63 in the US Open for the second time, earning him a tie for fifth. Runner-up to Shane Lowry in the 2019 Open and fourth last year, albeit having never been in contention at St Andrews. The Southport native will have plenty of support at nearby Hoylake.
Novak Djokovic’s 33-match unbeaten run at Wimbledon will be tested against Italian eighth seed Jannik Sinner on men’s semi-final day in SW19.
World number one Carlos Alcaraz comes up against Russia’s third seed Daniil Medvedev in the other last-four clash on Centre Court.
Henry Searle carries the British flag in the juniors with a semi-final appearance and Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid are in wheelchair action.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at day 12 of the Championships.
Djokovic closes in on Federer record
It was 2017 when Novak Djokovic last lost at Wimbledon and even then it was because he retired injured in a quarter-final against Tomas Berdych.
Since then it has been total domination and he is just two wins away from a fifth successive title and eighth overall.
Standing in his path of a ninth final is 21-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner, who is Wimbledon’s poster boy for the future having featured prominently in an official pre-tournament picture.
He was two sets up against Djokovic in last year’s quarter-final before the Serbian hit back and it is going to be a huge challenge for him to even repeat winning two sets never mind stopping a 33-match unbeaten run.
Russian roulette for finals weekend
Following Aryna Sabalenka’s semi-final defeat to Ons Jabeur on Thursday, men’s third seed Daniil Medvedev is the last remaining Russian or Belarusian in the tournament.
That still leaves the possibility of an awkward presentation for the Princess of Wales on Sunday as tensions over the optics surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue to simmer.
For that to happen, though, Medvedev has to beat 20-year-old world number one Carlos Alcaraz, who has shown over the last fortnight that he is the likely heir to Djokovic’s throne.
The Spaniard has looked assured on grass and his versatility and athleticism means he is probably the most likely to stop Djokovic should he get past the Russian.
Searle carrying British flag/h2>
Henry Searle is making a name for himself in the boys’ singles as he is through to the semi-final and is the only home player left in the tournament.
Searle, who took out the top seed earlier in the first round, dispatched eighth seed Joao Fonseca in the quarter-finals and now comes up against American Cooper Williams.
The last-four meeting gets a Court 12 showing as he becomes the first British boy to make the last four since Jack Draper in 2018.
Order of play
Centre Court
Jannik Sinner v Novak Djokovic
Carlos Alcaraz v Daniil Medvedev
Court One
Caroline Dolehide/Shuai Zhang v Storm Hunter/Elise Mertens
Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova v Marie Bouzkova/Sara Sorribes Tormo
Weather
Strong winds with risk of rain.
Kathryn Dane has vowed to appreciate every moment of her rugby career after fighting her way back from a stroke at the age of 26.
The Ireland and Ulster scrum-half suffered a brain haemorrhage in November last year while training at the Irish Rugby Football Union’s high performance centre in Abbotstown, where the prompt actions of medical staff and early treatment at Connolly and Beaumont Hospitals gave her the best possible chance of making a full recovery.
Eight months on, Dane, who also works a physiotherapist in Dublin, is back in light training and completing her PhD with a fresh perspective on rugby and life in general.
She said: “Before it, I used to just kind of go through life at 100mph and not really appreciate the good things or the achievements or the learnings that I’ve had.
“Since the stroke, I have just kind of realised that when you’re in those dark places, that’s when you start to see all the light that you have in your life.
“I have so many opportunities through sport and through my PhD that I never really appreciated before, and now I’m going to be properly grateful for what I have and enjoy rugby and enjoy all the moments that I have because I think I did take it a little bit for granted before.”
Dane became unwell when an arteriovenous malformation – a cluster of blood vessels – in her brain ruptured as she prepared for an early-morning gym session with her strength and conditioning coach Ed Slattery.
She said: “I was in at 7am doing some warm-up sets of hip thrusts with my coach Ed Slattery and just got this massive pain behind my right eye in the back of my head and I didn’t feel great.
“Ed noticed straight away that my face had dropped – I didn’t notice it had dropped, but I didn’t feel great and he quickly got the team doc, who was actually in the gym at the time, to have a look at me and they knew straight away I’d had a stroke of some description.”
Dane was rushed to Connolly Hospital, where an MRI scan confirmed the medical team’s worst fears, and later transferred to Beaumont Hospital to undergo procedure to seal the damaged blood vessel.
She spent two weeks in hospital before being allowed home to Fermanagh to start the process of working her way back to health under the watchful eye of an NHS brain injury team.
Dane said: “I was really, really lucky it happened where it happened because it could have happened on a rugby pitch in France or Italy somewhere. It was just by chance it happened there, and I do really believe that it was supposed to happen.
“I know it’s a s*** card to be dealt with, but it’s just a chapter in my story that I’ve had to overcome.”
Asked if her medical background, which had involved working with stroke patients, had proved a help or a hindrance, Dane said: “I’ve never lived in fear before, but when something like this happens to you out of the blue, you think, ‘Gosh, I’m vulnerable for the first time in my life’.
“It is beneficial to have that knowledge, but then at the same time ignorance is bliss sometimes.”
Initially having to battle fatigue and the left-sided weakness with which she had been left, has eased her way back to health and fitness, a process aided in part by a conversation with former Ireland back row Chris Henry, who returned to rugby after suffering a mini-stroke.
Asked about her own future in the game, she said: “I just want to make sure that I’m in the best place physically before I even begin to make that decision about returning to contact and returning to play.”
Ons Jabeur believes her new-found patience helped propel her into another Wimbledon final.
The Tunisian sixth seed, last year’s runner-up, came from a set down to beat Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-3 on Centre Court.
Sabalenka, banned from Wimbledon last year over the role of Belarus in the war in Ukraine, was a point from going a set and 5-3 up.
But Jabeur’s rousing comeback spared Wimbledon chiefs the uncomfortable situation of the Princess of Wales handing a trophy to, and shaking hands with, a player from Russia’s allied nation Belarus in the women’s final.
Instead of a politically-charged clash between Sabalenka and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, Centre Court will host Jabeur against Czech Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday.
Jabeur was devastated after losing to Elena Rybakina in last year’s final, but believes she is a different player 12 months on.
“Maybe the old me would have lost that match today,” she said. “Probably 12 months ago, for sure. Maybe also a little bit before, like six months ago. It’s a different player.
“I’m working on myself like crazy. You have no idea what I’m doing. Every time there is something, I’m very tough with myself, try to improve everything. Very impatient sometimes, which is not good.
“Maybe my injuries slowed me down and teach me to be patient and accept what’s going on.”
A set and a break down, Jabeur came out fighting on the Sabalenka serve and it finally paid off.
“I was like, honestly, I’m not going to give a s***, I’m just going to go in and hit my return,” she added.
“Yeah, it was coming. I was returning much better. She missed some shots that did help me stay in the game. I was fighting every point. We just wait for a little bit of chance sometime to get the game, and that’s what happened.”
Sabalenka has reached four consecutive semi-finals but only won one of them, when she took the Australian Open title earlier this year.
“I didn’t play my best tennis today. It was just, like, a combo of everything. A little bit of nerves, a little bit of luck for her at some points,” she said.
“I mean, she just played really well. She played unbelievable tennis. In those key moments, she got a little bit more lucky, and I didn’t play the way I was supposed to play.”
Victory would have elevated Sabalenka above Iga Swiatek to become world number one.
“I wouldn’t say that I was thinking about that. I mean, for me it’s more about how you finish the year than during the year you’re first, second, you just go back and forth,” she added.
“For me it’s more about the finish to the year. I’ll keep pushing myself and do everything I can to finish this year as world number one.”
The New York Jets and Quinnen Williams agreed Thursday to a four-year, $96 million extension that will make the 2022 All-Pro the NFL's second-highest paid defensive tackle, according to multiple reports.
Williams' new deal, which NFL.com reports contains $66 million in guaranteed money, will run through the 2027 season and is surpassed only by Los Angeles Rams superstar Aaron Donald's six-year, $135 million contract as the largest for an interior defensive linemen.
It's also the largest contract guarantee in Jets history, eclipsing the $51 million the team granted to linebacker C.J. Mosley in 2019.
Williams was entering the final season of his rookie contract and is coming off an outstanding 2022 campaign in which he recorded a career-high 12 sacks along with 55 tackles in 16 games, earning first team All-Pro honours for the first time in his four-year career.
The 25-year-old was selected by the Jets with the third overall pick of the 2019 draft, behind only Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and San Francisco 49ers star pass rusher Nick Bosa. Williams has compiled 191 tackles and 27.5 sacks in 57 career games, including 53 starts.
Williams is the fourth prominent defensive lineman to agree to a big new contract this offseason. The Tennessee Titans signed Jeffrey Simmons to a four-year, $94 million contract in April, while the Washington Commanders' Daron Payne received $90 million over four years and the New York Giants gave Dexter Lawrence $87.5 million over four years.
SImmons' extension also contained $66 million in guarantees.
Rory McIlroy set his sights on heading to Hoylake on the back of victory in the Genesis Scottish Open after enjoying a superb start to the £7million event.
McIlroy recorded an eagle and six birdies in an opening six-under-par 64 at The Renaissance Club that left him three shots off the lead held by South Korea’s Ben An, whose flawless 61 equalled the course record.
“It’s a really good start,” McIlroy said. “I’ve not had particularly great results around this course the last couple of times but I feel like my game is definitely in better shape now.
“I feel like I’m coming in here playing really good golf, producing good results and getting myself in contention and I’m just really trying to do the same things and adapt to the different conditions we’re going to face over the next couple of weeks.”
Next week is, of course, the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, where McIlroy won the third of his four major titles nine years ago.
“My mind is pretty much on this week,” the 34-year-old added. “I’ve got myself off to a great start and I would love to win the Scottish Open.
“That’s a massive deal in its own right and what that could give me going into the summer… look we’ve got the Open Championship next week but thinking ahead to FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai and all that, it’s an important week.
“I’m focused on this week but it’s great that by playing this week I should be getting a little bit more prepared for links golf again next week as well.
“I didn’t touch my clubs for 10 days after the Travelers but I’ve got some really good feelings in my swing that I think are quite consistent and even if I do take a bit of time away I feel really comfortable getting back into it.
“It was a nice reset but after today it feels like I came back where I left off.”
An, who was the youngest ever winner of the US Amateur as a 17-year-old in 2009, carded nine birdies to enjoy a two-shot lead over American Davis Riley, with Thomas Detry alongside McIlroy on six under.
“I feel like I’m back home,” said An, who won the 2015 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth by six shots but now plays primarily on the PGA Tour.
“This is the Tour I started my professional career. It’s been great coming back and playing links golf. I couldn’t play any better today, I drove it well and hit it well and chipped it well and putted well. That’s a clean scorecard.”
Detry came agonisingly close to winning one of the sponsor’s cars for himself and his caddie with a hole-in-one on the 17th, but was delighted to be back at one of his favourite venues.
“It was inches away so I’m looking forward to seeing the highlights of that shot,” said Detry, who finished 10th last year and lost out in a play-off with Matt Fitzpatrick and eventual winner Min Woo Lee in 2021.
“It’s my playground here. I always play well. I have a lovely little cottage out here on the golf course. I’m staying here with my family and everybody is happy. I feel good.”
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson led the home challenge following a four-under-par 66, with world number one Scottie Scheffler two strokes further back.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele had to birdie two of his last four holes to return a level-par 70.
Britain’s Henry Searle is being cheered on to junior success at Wimbledon by his football-supporting mates.
The 17-year-old from Wolverhampton reached his first junior grand slam semi-final in the boys’ singles with a 7-6 (3) 6-3 victory over Brazilian eighth seed Joao Fonseca.
Searle’s loud fan club certainly made themselves heard on Court Three, and he said: “It’s great knowing I have so much support from home. I don’t think there’s many of the players here that have that sort of environment.
“They’re all avid Wolves supporters so they’re used to a good crowd. I don’t think it’s intentional, it’s just their normal reaction, but they enjoy it.”
Searle reached the quarter-finals of the French Open and has built on that here, beginning his campaign by knocking out top seed Juan Carlos Prado Angelo and going on to set up a semi-final clash with American fourth seed Cooper Williams.
“It’s definitely given me confidence playing against some of the top juniors at this level, knowing going into any match that I can play any player and giving it my best will hopefully make me come out on top,” said Searle, who trains at the Lawn Tennis Association’s national academy in Loughborough.
“It was a really cool experience being able to play on Court Three and I managed to put in a good performance against a very good opponent. It’s a dream from a young age to win at Wimbledon and to have a few wins this week is pretty amazing.”
Liam Broady and Jack Draper both reached junior finals at Wimbledon in recent years but no British boy has won the title since Stanley Matthews, son of the famous footballer, in 1962.
“That was a long time ago. I don’t really know too much about him but I’m just focusing on the match tomorrow, not thinking too far ahead,” said Searle.
Draper’s run in 2018 was much more recent, and Searle has been inspired by his fellow lefty.
“I remember watching bits of it,” he said. “I like to think he plays a little bit similar to myself. I take a few things from him and try to implement them into my game. He’s doing extremely well.”
Ranah Stoiber and Mika Stojsavljevic were both hoping to join Searle in the semi-finals but neither could progress beyond the last eight in the girls’ singles.
Fourteen-year-old Stojsavljevic has had a memorable week on her Wimbledon debut and fought back from 5-2 down in the second set to force a decider against Slovakian fifth seed Renata Jamrichova only to lose out 6-2 6-7 (6) 6-1.
Stoiber, 18, also took the opening set against Czech Nikola Bartunkova, who is in the top 350 of the women’s rankings, but fell to a 1-6 6-1 6-2 defeat.
British duo Isabelle Lacy and Hannah Klugman, meanwhile, are through to the semi-finals of the girls’ doubles.
Ons Jabeur will meet the unseeded Marketa Vondrousova in Saturday’s women’s final at Wimbledon.
Jabeur, last year’s runner-up, earned a shot at redemption by upsetting world number two Aryna Sabalenka after Vondrousova crushed the dreams of Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the first semi-final.
Elsewhere at the All England Club, Britain’s Neal Skupski secured a place in the final of the men’s doubles.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at how day 11 of the Championships unfolded.
Ons-toppable?
Ons Jabeur was devastated after losing to Elina Rybakina in the 2022 final but believes she is a different player 12 months on.
The sixth seed defeated Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-3 to the delight of the Centre Court crowd – and likely to the relief of the All England Club and Buckingham Palace.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka, banned from last year’s tournament due to the war in Ukraine, was a point from going a set and 5-3 up.
But Jabeur’s rousing comeback spared Wimbledon chiefs the uncomfortable prospect of the Princess of Wales handing a trophy to, and shaking hands with, a player from Russia’s allied nation Belarus in the women’s final.
Instead of a politically-charged clash, the gutsy Tunisian will bid to make it second time lucky, with underdog Vondrousova standing in her way.
Tweet of the daySvitolina unable to mount mother of all comebacks
Elina Svitolina’s inspiring run ended as Czech world number 42 Vondrousova reached her maiden Wimbledon final.
Svitolina’s efforts amid war in her homeland of Ukraine and only nine months after giving birth to daughter Skai have been one of the stories of the tournament.
But she was quickly on the backfoot in her quest to reach a first major final and was unable to battle back against 24-year-old Vondrousova, who broke three times in the opening set en route to a 6-3 6-3 success.
Far more at home on clay than grass, Vondrousova is enjoying her first significant grand slam run since she made the final at the French Open in 2019 as a teenager before losing to Ashleigh Barty.
She had beaten Svitolina comfortably in their last meeting in the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and it was the same story on Thursday.
Flying the British flag
Neal Skupski is one win away from a Wimbledon hat-trick after reaching the men’s doubles final with partner Wesley Koolhof.
The Liverpudlian won the mixed doubles in 2021 and 2022 and will have a shot at his first men’s title after a 7-5 6-4 win over Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden on Court One.
One break of serve in each set was enough for top seeds Skupski and Koolhof to get the job done as they booked a Centre Court spot on Saturday.
Shot of the dayQuote of the dayPicture of the dayStat of the day
Ken Skupski has opted to go on his family holiday in Ibiza instead of watching his brother Neal in the Wimbledon men’s doubles final.
Ken, who retired last year, is now coaching his younger sibling and had a conundrum after booking a family getaway to Ibiza that clashed with the finals weekend in SW19.
Neal revealed on Thursday that Ken was contemplating staying at the tournament for as long as he and partner Wesley Koolhof were in it but headed home after their 7-5 6-4 semi-final win over Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.
He will now provide tactical analysis on their final opponents Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos from the Balearic Islands.
“He has just left,” Neal said of his brother. “His flight is 5am in the morning so he is driving back now and has a 2.30am taxi to the airport so he won’t be here.
“I’m perfectly fine with it, I knew the situation well in advance. He will be on the phone and doing all the homework tomorrow. We are a very good team together so I don’t think it will affect us.
“He has been waiting for this holiday for a couple of years now, Covid pushed it back a little bit, they changed the date twice.
“He doesn’t get to go on holiday often with his family because he is always away with me so I am not going to begrudge him a holiday with his kids. It is just one of those things.”
Skupski is going for a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles after winning the 2021 and 2022 mixed doubles crown.
Winning the men’s would mean more to him and he would become the first Briton to do so since fellow Liverpudlian Jonny Marray did it in 2012.
“It is always nice to have a Brit at the end of the tournament at Wimbledon, luckily it’s been myself over the last couple of years in the mixed doubles,” he said.
“This is the one we want, this is the pinnacle achievement if we are able to get over the line.
“It’s not easy to win a grand slam. It will be nice to have another Liverpool fan win Wimbledon.
“I saw Jonny earlier and asked him if he had any tips for me going into the semi-final. He didn’t give me any, he just laughed and said, ‘You’re number one, you’ll be fine’. So those are the words of wisdom he had for me.
“It is not easy to get over the line. We played US Open final last year and hopefully we can take some experience from that. We are looking forward to it, it’s a chance to get our first grand slam together. We’ll embrace the pressure.”
Seventeen-year-old Henry Searle reached his first junior grand slam semi-final in the boys’ singles at Wimbledon.
Searle, from Wolverhampton, has gone one better than his run at the French Open last month thanks to a 7-6 (3) 6-3 victory over Brazilian eighth seed Joao Fonseca.
Liam Broady and Jack Draper both reached junior finals at Wimbledon in recent years but no British boy has won the title since Stanley Matthews, son of the famous footballer, in 1962.
Ranah Stoiber and Mika Stojsavljevic were both hoping to join Searle in the semi-finals but neither could progress beyond the last eight in the girls’ singles.
Fourteen-year-old Stojsavljevic has had a memorable week on her Wimbledon debut and fought back from 5-2 down in the second set to force a decider against Slovakian fifth seed Renata Jamrichova only to lose out 6-2 6-7 (6) 6-1.
Stoiber, 18, also took the opening set against Czech Nikola Bartunkova, who is in the top 350 of the women’s rankings, but fell to a 1-6 6-1 6-2 defeat.
British duo Isabelle Lacy and Hannah Klugman, meanwhile, are through to the semi-finals of the girls’ doubles.
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