
WTA roundup: Top seed Linda Noskova passes Prague test
Noskova overcame 5-4 deficits in both tiebreaks to beat a player ranked No. 249 in the world. The home favorite will meet Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round.
No. 4 seed Xinyu Wang of China ousted Britain's Harriet Dart 6-3, 6-3. Czech Katerina Siniakova knocked out No. 7 Elena Gabriela Ruse 7-5, 6-2. Also advancing were France's Leolia Jeanjean and Jessika Ponchet and Czechs Lucie Havlickova, Tereza Valentova, Dominika Salkova and Barbora Palicova.
--Field Level Media
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The Guardian
7 minutes ago
- The Guardian
England's never-say-die icons take on Spain: a bluffer's guide to the Euros final
The Lionesses, as England's women's football team is known, will defend their Euros crown on Sunday, after Sarina Wiegman's side snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Italy in the semi-final, scoring the latest of late goals to win 2-1 at the Stade de Genève in Lancy. It is the team's third successive major tournament final – they won Euro 2022 against Germany at Wembley, and reached the World Cup final a year later, where they lost to Spain. But on Sunday they will have the opportunity to rectify two years of hurt, when they face La Roja again. Spain beat an excellent Germany 1-0 in extra time on Wednesday night and will go into Sunday evening's match as favourites. But after a series of last minute victories, England will be hoping to hit their stride and take the trophy home once again. The match at St Jakob-Park in Basel kicks off at 5pm BST and will be shown on BBC one, iPlayer, ITV1 and ITVX. You'll be in good company – the semi-final was watched by a peak audience of 10.2 million, ITV's highest viewing figures of the year. Yes, but the thousands who have travelled to Switzerland to watch the Lionesses have been through the wringer. First came an impressively bad opening performance against France, when they somehow only lost 2-1. Things did get better – England then trounced the Netherlands 4-0, before thrashing Wales 6-1 in their final group game. But the knock-out stages of the tournament have been a white-knuckle ride. In the quarter final against Sweden, England were looking down the barrel of a 2-0 defeat when two English goals in 102 seconds propelled them into extra time and the greatest terrible penalty shootout of all time. Of the 14 penalties taken, only five were scored, with England sneaking home 3-2. The semi-final against Italy was even more dramatic. England were 1-0 down with two minutes of injury time remaining when 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang scored a belter to take the game into extra time. With one minute of that to go, the super sub Chloe Kelly – who you may remember for a shirt-twirling celebration of her match-winning goal in the the Euro 2022 final – pounced on the rebound of her saved penalty in the 119th minute to put England through. It's been exhausting, frankly. England are still one of the best teams in the world, with a depth of world-class players and a ferocious team spirit that only a fool would bet against. They have also proven on multiple occasions this tournament that while they may look like they are down, you can't count on them being out. And while Wiegman has come in for some criticism for making late substitutions and overseeing some lacklustre performances, she is nonetheless making her way to Basel for her fifth major-tournament final in a row. For now at least, fans are keeping the refrain: in Sarina we trust. Yes, although some of the best-known figures are not in Switzerland. There is still plenty of experience in the team, including the captain, Leah Williamson, Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly. Lucy Bronze, arguably the greatest female player England has ever produced, continues to be a force of nature. As well as burying her penalty against Sweden, the 33-year-old captured the never-say-die mentality of the squad and provided most of the iconic moments of the competition when she strapped her own injured thigh in the quarter-final. The name on everyone's lips before the final is that of the teenager Michelle Agyemang, who has twice come on to score and save England from elimination in this tournament. The Arsenal player spent much of last season on loan to Brighton and only made her international debut in April, when she scored after 40 seconds. With three goals in four games in an England shirt, fans will expect to see her brought on before the dying moments of the match. Chelsea's 24-year-old goalie Hannah Hampton had big gloves to fill at these Euros, but has proved her mettle, saving two penalties in the semi-final shoot out with a bloodied tissue shoved up her right nostril. Are Spain any good by the way? Yes, muy buenas. Realmente buenas, in fact. With a very on-brand love of possession (68% against Switzerland, 67% against Germany), Spain have a habit of simply keeping hold of the ball until they finally manage to pass it into the net. The midfielder Aitana Bonmatí – who was only discharged from hospital after a bout of viral meningitis in June – is probably the best player in the world right now. She won the Ballon d'Or, Fifa's player of the year award, for the second year in succession in December. The midfielder Alèxia Putellas, Barcelona's captain, is a double Ballon d'Or winner. And Patri Guijarro, who plays for, yes you guessed it, Barcelona, is probably a future Ballon d'Or winner. Mariona Caldentey has had a brilliant first season for Arsenal, after a decade with… Barcelona. They're a bunch of golden ballers, basically.


Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
West Ham make decision on Lucas Paqueta's future at the club - with the Brazilian expected to be cleared of spot-fixing charges
West Ham United are ready to cash in on Lucas Paqueta this summer – two years after missing out on an £80million payday when the FA's investigation thwarted his big-money move to Manchester City. Paqueta had been considered untouchable to potential suitors with the spot-fixing charges hanging over him which could have robbed him of his entire career. But Mail Sport has learned the Hammers are open to letting Paqueta leave for less than half of that old £80m valuation now that he is in line to be found innocent of picking up yellow cards on purpose in Premier League fixtures to influence betting outcomes. It is believed a bid in the region of £30m in this window could be enough to convince the Hammers to part with their Brazilian star. Paqueta's former club Flamengo are among those who have been interested in the 27-year-old. Their sporting director Jose Boto told Mail Sport during their Club World Cup campaign last month that they are targeting European experience, having brought in Jorginho from Arsenal earlier this summer. Flamengo have been waiting to discover whether Paqueta was deemed guilty by the independent panel who tried his FA case, though they are not alone in that regard. The attacking midfielder is expected to attract several suitors after yesterday's news that he is set to be found innocent. Official confirmation has not yet come from the FA. City's interest in Paqueta came when he was at the peak of his powers, having played the pass that set up Jarrod Bowen to win them the 2023 Conference League final in Prague. Paqueta's current contract expires in 2027, though West Ham do hold the option of tying him down for an additional year. They signed him for £51m from Lyon in 2022.


The Guardian
9 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Max Verstappen wins Belgian sprint in first race since Horner's Red Bull exit
Max Verstappen won the sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix with a steely and opportunistic drive for Red Bull against the odds. Having taken the lead on the opening lap he beat the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris into second and third, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in fourth. His teammate Lewis Hamilton finished 15th having started in 18th. It was something of another processional sprint over the 15 laps but Piastri's second-placefinish extends his championship lead over Norris from eight to nine points. Verstappen said: 'It worked out really well, that's obviously the only opportunity you are going to get against them and we got it. 'I knew it was going to be very tough to keep them behind, we were just playing like cat and mouse, DRS, battery usage and it was a good race within seven-tenths. 'I couldn't afford to make big mistakes, I had one tiny lock up in the last corner but apart from that it was a great result to keep them behind and to have a win here in Spa. To have a win in Spa it still counts, I'm very happy with what we did out there.' It was the start Red Bull needed in their first race without the recently dismissed team principal Christian Horner and the opening meeting with Laurent Mekies in charge. They brought upgrades to this race, including a revised front wing and took a chance on their setup to maximise top speed, in an effort to overcome McLaren's pace advantage, but it had not paid off in qualifying where Verstappen was half a second off Piastri. However in the race, the Dutch driver was decisive and audacious, taking his one chance with clinical authority. With the McLaren taking time to come up to speed, he pounced and while Piastri was quicker through the bends of the second sector, he did not have enough to overcome Verstappen. Verstappen's 12th sprint win and his second in Belgium means he remains by some distance the most successful driver in the short format. Piastri held his led on the short dash into La Source but Verstappen took a slipstream behind the McLaren on the Kemmel straight and grabbed the lead into Les Combes, the Red Bull running a skinny wing for straight-line speed and making the most of it in the quick first sector. Piastri harried Verstappen, looking for a way through, but the Dutchman used his speed advantage to stay just out of reach in the opening part of the lap and the Australian could not quite bridge the gap. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion The pair circled nose to tail for lap after lap, as Piastri looked for any slight opening but Verstappen was, as ever, almost inch-perfect. Norris caught the pair with 10 laps gone yet he too could do nothing but on lap 11 Verstappen went wide at the Bus Stop and Piastri closed. The Red Bull driver told his team he was having problems with his brakes but just clung on to the front and it was enough to see him through. Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were fifth and seventh for Haas, Carlos Sainz sixth for Williams and Isack Hadjar eighth for Racing Bulls. Verstappen said: 'You are trying to keep faster cars behind so you're having to drive over the limit to what you think is possible. 'Tyre management is out of the window so that is what is making it really difficult, I'm just doing 15 qualifying laps to try and keep them behind on a track where tyre management is important. It wasn't easy but we managed to do it and I'm very happy with that. 'Do I feel pole is possible? I'm not sure but we will try our best and we will have a few ideas of what we want to do and try to be as close as possible to them.'