Tennis-Top seed Sabalenka draws qualifier Branstine in Wimbledon first round
Tennis - Berlin Tennis Open - Steffi Graf Stadium, Berlin, Germany - June 21, 2025 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka reacts during her semi final match against Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
LONDON (Reuters) -World number one Aryna Sabalenka's quest for her first Wimbledon title will begin against Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine while second seed Coco Gauff's opener will be versus Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska.
Friday's draw also pitched defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, the 17th seed, against Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.
Third seed Jessica Pegula's first-round opponent is Italian qualifier Elisabetta Cocciaretto, while fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, runner-up last year, faces Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
Belarusian Sabalenka could meet Paolini in the semi-finals while Gauff is in line for a clash with fellow American Pegula.
British number one Emma Raducanu faces an intriguing opening round match against compatriot Mingge Xu, one of three British teenaged wildcards in the draw.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
29 minutes ago
- The Star
Motorcycling-Yamaha's Quartararo pips Ducatis to clinch Dutch Grand Prix pole
FILE PHOTO: MotoGP - British Grand Prix - Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Britain - May 25, 2025 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo in action during the race Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File Photo (Reuters) -Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo claimed his fourth pole position of the season in qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday while Ducati's MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez will start on the second row. Quartararo is joined on the front row by Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia and Gresini Racing's Alex Marquez while Marc was only fourth fastest at Assen, where he crashed twice in practice on a bruising Friday. Marc leads brother Alex by 40 points heading into the sprint while Bagnaia, third in the championship, is 110 points behind. But the session belonged to Quartararo who clocked one minute and 30.651 seconds to claim his 20th MotoGP pole. "The goal is to try to make a great start, great laps in the sprint and see a little bit how it's going on," Quartararo said. "I love this track... So hopefully we can turn this pole position into a great result on Saturday and on Sunday." As expected, it was the Ducati machines of the Marquez brothers and Bagnaia who traded fastest laps early in the session but Quartararo laid down the gauntlet when he clocked one minute and 31.047 seconds. Alex and Marc then broke the one minute and 31 seconds barrier but Quartararo and Bagnaia responded by going faster to take the top two spots. A desperate Marc pushed too hard on his final lap and went off track, settling for fourth-fastest, marking only the second time he is off the front row on the red Ducati, while Alex was livid with himself when he could not set a faster lap. Bagnaia has won at Assen in the last three years and the Italian said he was happy with the feeling on the bike after struggling early in the season, with the twice champion claiming only one victory in the first nine rounds. "I'm very happy. It's the best weekend so far this season... Surely this afternoon will be tough but we need to start well, set our pace and see if I can win," Bagnaia said. Marc will have Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi and VR46 Racing's Franco Morbidelli for company on the second row. (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Cricket-Jayasuriya decimates Bangladesh as Sri Lanka win by innings and 78 runs
FILE PHOTO: Cricket - Second Test - England v Sri Lanka - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - August 30, 2024 Sri Lanka's Prabath Jayasuriya in action Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File Photo (Reuters) -Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya led the charge with a five-wicket haul as Bangladesh collapsed for just 133 in their second innings, handing Sri Lanka a win by an innings and 78 runs, with the hosts clinching a 1-0 victory in their two-test series on Saturday. Bangladesh lost six wickets within 33 runs as their batters were unable to repeat the heroics that secured a draw in the first test in Galle on Colombo's spin-friendly track. "There was a difference between (the) two matches ... that's a good morale booster for us, losing the toss and putting the opposition under pressure," Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva said at the post-match presentation ceremony. After Bangladesh posted 247 in their first innings, opener Pathum Nissanka scored 158 in a player-of-the-match performance, aided by Dinesh Chandimal (93) and Kusal Mendis (84) as Sri Lanka secured a commanding 211-run lead with a total of 458. Anamul Haque (19) tried to give Bangladesh a fast start in the second innings but fell to Asitha Fernando (1-22), while his opening partner Shadam Islam (12) mistimed a cover drive and got caught just three balls later as Jayasuriya (5-56) took his first wicket of the match. De Silva (2-13) trapped fellow skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, who scored twin centuries in the first test, with a leg before wicket dismissal to leave the visitors reeling at 70-4. "Very disappointing after how we finished the first Test, the way this one went," Shanto said. "We had opportunities but... always took easy options and made mistakes while batting." Mushfiqur Rahim (26), Bangladesh's other centurion in the previous match, was the next to fall as he was bowled by Jayasuriya, kicking off a collapse where Bangladesh lost their last five wickets in less than 11 overs. Sri Lanka will play three One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 matches against Bangladesh next month, with the first ODI set for Wednesday. (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-Spain's Bonmati hospitalised with viral meningitis days before Euro 2025
Soccer Football - Women's Nations League - League A - Portugal v Spain - Estadio Capital do Movel, Pacos de Ferreira, Portugal - April 4, 2025 Spain's Aitana Bonmati during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Miguel Vidal (Reuters) -Midfielder Aitana Bonmati, Ballon d'Or winner for the last two years, has been hospitalised with viral meningitis less than a week before Spain begin their Women's Euro 2025 campaign, coach Montse Tome said. The 27-year-old missed Friday's 3-1 win over Japan in a friendly as Spain continued building up to their first Group B match against Portugal on July 3. Bonmati shared a picture of herself watching the match from a hospital bed in an Instagram story. "The doctors say that it is controlled. Talking about meningitis can be scary but it is controlled," Tome told reporters after the win in Leganes. "Aitana will be admitted and there are no deadlines yet to know for how long (she will be absent).' Barcelona's Bonmati, who also won the FIFA Women's Player of the Year award for 2023 and 2024, has scored 30 goals for Spain in 78 appearances, playing a key role as they won the Women's World Cup in 2023 and the Women's Nations League last year. "Aitana, for us, is a very important player. We'll wait for her as long as we can," Tome added. Spain, who also have Belgium and Italy in their group, have never made it to the final of the continental championship, reaching the semi-finals only once in 1997. (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Sam Holmes)
