Wimbledon 2025: Meet the hot young tennis couples finding love within their sport
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The Herald Scotland
30 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Max Verstappen spoils the British party by taking pole at Silverstone
George Russell took fourth for Mercedes, one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who had dared to dream of a first pole position for Ferrari, but ended up two tenths off the pace. Charles Leclerc qualified sixth in the other Ferrari. Lando Norris was unable to take pole at his home race (Andrew Matthews/PA) Verstappen was only fourth after the opening runs in Q3 at a gusty and overcast Silverstone, and complained his Red Bull was difficult to drive. However, when it mattered most the four-time world champion came from nowhere to take top spot – his first pole since Miami at the beginning of May. 'Simply lovely,' he said over the radio and then added: 'That final lap was good enough. This is a proper track in qualifying where you have to go flat out. 'It is a big boost for the team as well and excited to go racing tomorrow. We are going to go racing, we will do the best we can.' Norris said: 'Not the top but still a good day. It's going to be fun tomorrow, a good battle. It's going to be an interesting Sunday so I'm looking forward to it.' How did Max do that? 👏 — Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 5, 2025 Norris starts his home race 15 points behind Piastri in the world championship, and he will have to force himself ahead of his team-mate to prevent the Australian from extending his title advantage. Hamilton is the King of Silverstone, winning a record nine times and finishing on the podium in all of his last 11 appearances here. He heads into Sunday's British Grand Prix without a top-three finish to his name in Ferrari colours but that could change following a strong performance – out-qualifying Leclerc for just the fourth time this year – although he might feel disappointed not to be nearer the front after heading into the final runs in Q3 in second. British rookie Ollie Bearman will line up from 18th for his first home race after he was served with a 10-place grid penalty for crashing in the pit-lane. Bearman was also sanctioned with four penalty points after he entered the pits at 160mph during a red-flag period in the final practice session. The punishment leaves Bearman, who actually qualified an impressive eighth, on just eight points from the first 12 rounds of his career, leaving him only four away from a race ban. Lewis Hamilton dared to dream of pole (Bradley Collyer/PA) Q1 was suspended for 10 minutes after Franco Colapinto spun at the final corner. Colapinto hit the kerb sending him sideways and through the gravel and then gently into the wall. The Argentine was able to limp out of the sand trap but the running was red-flagged following repairs to the barriers.
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Emma Raducanu leaves Wimbledon with boosted confidence – but also coach question
Raducanu smiled through tears in her post-match press conference as she balanced disappointment at the result with the satisfaction of having come so close. A joy to watch @EmmaRaducanu ✨ Emma's best points from a Centre Court battle with World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka 🎥 @Wimbledon — LTA (@the_LTA) July 5, 2025 Central to Raducanu's good run over the last few months, though, has been coach Mark Petchey, who took a break from his media commitments to be with her full-time during the grass-court season having worked on an ad hoc basis since they first linked up in Miami in March. 'It's very difficult,' said Raducanu when asked where the partnership goes from here. 'He obviously also has his commentating commitments. He agreed to help me until the end of Wimbledon and then we see from there because he gave up some work to work with me here, which I really appreciate and I'm grateful for. 'That's a conversation that we need to have after a few days and the dust settles a little bit.' If Raducanu does not continue with Petchey, it will be back to the drawing board, and the former US Open champion's difficult run after splitting from former coach Nick Cavaday in January was another demonstration that she plays her best tennis when she has people she trusts around her. Mark Petchey and Jane O'Donoghue have other commitments (John Walton/PA) Raducanu's childhood coach Jane O'Donoghue, who has helped out when Petchey has been unavailable, is returning to her day job in finance after taking a sabbatical and is also unlikely to travel as much. A reunion with Cavaday could be a possibility, with the 39-year-old now recovered from the health problems that forced him to step away. He was alongside Petchey when Raducanu played at Queen's Club and may yet take a more active role again. Raducanu admitted the Sabalenka loss is likely to take her a few days to get over, with the defeat also meaning she will slip to British number three behind Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal. The goal for all three women must be to try to push their ranking up into the top 32 so they are seeded at grand slams and not so much at the whim of the draw. Emma Raducanu waves goodbye to Centre Court (Adam Davy/PA) Statistics provided by IBM show that the improvements Raducanu has been trying to make are having an effect, with the Kent player serving more accurately than last year and being more aggressive, with 16 per cent of her shots resulting in winners in 2025 compared to 13 per cent 12 months ago. She should have a good chance of making gains in the build-up to the US Open, with her next tournament scheduled to come in Washington later this month. Last year she reached the quarter-finals in the American capital having chosen not to play in the Olympics but then suffered a minor injury that prevented her playing until New York, where she lost in the first round. Raducanu will carry belief but not over confidence on to the hard courts, saying: 'It gives me confidence that I'm not as far away as I perhaps thought before the tournament. Incredible effort by Sabalenka 👀 what a competitor ⚡️ props to Raducanu, one of the best matches of the championships — Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) July 4, 2025 'I think previously, when I was playing those top-five players, it was pretty convincing, the loss. So I think to really push Aryna, it does give me confidence. 'But, at the same time, I feel like grass for me is a great surface. It's a bit of a leveller in that sense. So I think taking it on to a different surface where it's a lot more lively in America is another challenge in itself. 'There's still a lot of things that I want to do better, a lot of things I want to improve to really solidify my game so that in the big moments I can back myself a little bit more.'
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Championed then forgotten: how do home hopes manage the hype train?
The expectation of being a British player at Wimbledon can both inspire and destroy. How else to account for what happened to Katie Boulter, who on Monday evening, after beating the ninth seed Paula Badosa, was exultant. She had played a bold, big-hitting game in extreme heat and spoke afterwards of feeling like a 'little girl' again, so thrilled was she to be on Centre Court in front of spectators who had delighted in her every winning shot. 'This court is the epitome of what every single British child dreams about playing on and winning on. It's a dream come true every time I step out here.' Two days later, on No1 Court, Boulter played a jittery first set and then was routed in the next two by Solana Sierra, who had scraped into the main draw as a lucky loser. The mood inside No1 Court was as subdued as Boulter's game. She had lost in the second round last year to her long-time English rival Harriet Dart, also on No1 Court, but this defeat seemed even more painful after the optimism that had greeted her initial victory.
