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A photo of defender Djed Spence performing an Islamic prayer after England’s 2-1 victory over Norway, which secured their place in the World Cup semi-finals, has become a powerful symbol of diversity within the English
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Spain will attempt to neutralise one of the most potent attacking arsenals in World Cup history on Tuesday when they take on France in a heavyweight semi-final showdown.The reigning European champions and Didier Deschamps' French
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Brendon McCullum has left his role as England's Test head coach but will remain in charge of the national white-ball set-up, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced Sunday.England have lost seven of their last
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Italian top seed Jannik Sinner resisted an all-out onslaught by an inspired Alexander Zverev to retain his Wimbledon crown in a thunderous final and claim a fifth Grand Slam title on Sunday.Zverev, in his first
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After being beaten by American Jordan Lee in Sunday's Wimbledon boys' final, Lleyton Hewitt's son Cruz said his next goal is to make the men’s main draw of the Australian Open.Nearly a quarter of a
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Ryan Blaney won almost everything in a race that crossed into Monday, but he had to wait until nearly 2am to get it done at the end.The Team Penske Ford driver rebounded from late right-side
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England players congratulate India's Yastika Bhatia as she walks after losing her wicket, dismissed by England's Mady Villiers off the bowling of Sophie Ecclestone during day three of the Women's Test at Lord's Cricket Ground,
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Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates with the trophy after winning his final match against Germany's Alexander Zverev in London on Sunday. (Reuters) Here are some key facts about defending champion Jannik Sinner, who beat second seed and French Open champion Alexander Zverev 6-7(7) 7-6(2) 6-3 6-4 to claim his second Wimbledon title on Sunday. Age: 24 Nation: Italy ATP Ranking: 1 Seeding: 1 Grand Slam titles: 5 (Australian Open 2024, 2025; U.S. Open 2024; Wimbledon 2025, 2026) ROAD TO FINAL First round: beat Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia) 4-6 6-3 6-7 6-2 6-3 Second round: beat Nuno Borges (Portugal) 7-6 7-6 6-4 Third round: beat Jenson Brooksby (USA) 6-4 6-3 6-4 Fourth round: beat Shintaro Mochizuki (Japan) 6-3 7-6 6-3 Quarter-finals: beat Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany) 7-5 7-6 6-3 Semi-finals: beat Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 6-4 6-4 6-4 EARLY LIFE * Born in the small northern Italian town of Innichen, Sinner began playing tennis at age 7.* Initially he preferred skiing and soccer to tennis before fully committing to the sport at age 13. CAREER TO DATE * Began his professional career playing on the ITF Circuit in 2018. * Won the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals by beating Alex de Minaur. Ended the year ranked 78th in the world, winning the ATP Newcomer of the Year award. * Won the 2020 Sofia Open, his first ATP title, and became the youngest Italian to win a tour-level title in the Open Era. Ended the year ranked 37th in the world. * In 2021, he won the Great Ocean Road Open, Washington Open, Sofia Open and European Open. Ended the year ranked number 10. * Reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon 2023 and won his first Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open. He also reached a career-high ranking of world number four, becoming just the second Italian to reach the top five. * Helped Italy to win the Davis Cup for the first time in 47 years in November 2023. * Beat Daniil Medvedev to win his first Grand Slam title at the 2024 Australian Open. * Tested positive for the steroid clostebol in two samples taken in March 2024 but received no suspension after the International Tennis Integrity Agency found the positive tests were due to contamination from his physiotherapist. * Became the world's number one ranked player after reaching the French Open semi-finals in June 2024. * Beat Taylor Fritz to win his first U.S. Open title in 2024. * Won the Shanghai Masters and finished 2024 with his first ATP Finals crown. * Retained the Australian Open men's singles title in 2025. * In February 2025, Sinner accepted a three-month ban following a deal with the World Anti-Doping Agency, which had challenged a decision not to suspend him after the two positive tests in 2024. * Avenged his 2025 French Open final loss against Alcaraz by beating him at the 2025 Wimbledon final, securing his first title at the All England Club. * Became the first man to win five successive Masters 1000 titles after winning the Madrid Open in May 2026. * Won his second consecutive Wimbledon singles final in 2026 by beating Alexander Zverev. Related Story
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Italy's Jannik Sinner poses with the Gentleman's Singles trophy after his victory against Germany's Alexander Zverev at the end of their s singles final on the last day of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at The
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Alpecin - Premier Tech's Mathieu Van Der Poel celebrates winning stage 9 at the Tour de France from Malemort to Ussel in Ussel, France, on July 12, 2026. (Reuters) Cobbled classics specialist Mathieu van der Poel claimed his third Tour de France win on Sunday with victory in the ninth stage, which was shortened due to intense heat.The 31-year-old Dutchman, a former world champion, won a sprint amongst his three breakaway companions with Tobias Johannessen taking second and Tom Pidcock third."It was a super hard day. The start of the Tour was not great for our team, but I think, like always, we stayed calm," he said."We have a really nice group here and we kept believing that it will turn around... but it's really nice to go to the first rest day with a win."Having worked as a sprint lead-out man for his Alpecin Premier Tech team-mate Jasper Philipsen -- who had finished fourth and fifth in the sprint stages -- in the previous two days, Van der Poel finally had a chance to go for a stage win for himself.Reigning champion Tadej Pogacar came home in the chasing peloton six seconds behind the winner to maintain his lead in the overall standings ahead of Monday's first rest day. The four-time champion leads two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard by 2min 42sec with Mexican Isaac del Toro a further 45sec back.Van der Poel, a three-time winner of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix -- the two most important one-day cobbled classics -- had previously won Tour stages in 2021 and 2025. STAGE SHORTENEDThis stage was shortened by around 30km due to a "red alert" weather warning in the central Correze region. Temperatures once again reached close to 40C, although in parts on the stage it was nearer 30C.There was a furious battle from the beginning of the 154.6km run from Malemort to Ussel to make it into the day's breakaway.It was not until about halfway through the stage that an eight-man breakaway finally went clear on the steep 3.8km-long Suc au May climb.The group never eked out a lead of more than a minute and a half but they worked well together.Van der Poel then attacked out of that group with 25km left on the final categorised climb of the day, the 900m-long, and equally steep, Mont Bessou. FULL-THROTTLE CHARGEOnly Norwegian Johannessen, Frenchman Alex Baudin and Briton Pidcock were able to follow and then it was a full-throttle charge to the finish line with a 50-second lead over the significantly-reduced peloton.The breakaway riders had plenty in the bag and even slowed down in the final kilometre in a cat-and-mouse game before the final sprint.But when Van der Poel launched that, it was clear that he would be too strong for the others."I was not so sure. I spent a lot of energy trying to keep the break alive," he admitted."There was a lot of pressure from the bunch. The roads were horrible for a breakaway with a headwind the whole day."We fought for it and I'm happy to finish it off." Related Story
