Falkirk need 'solid spine' with 'top-flight experience'
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Borussia Dortmund manager Niko Kovac fumes Club World Cup pitches are 'more of a GOLF GREEN' as he hits out at conditions after Real Madrid loss
Borussia Dortmund manager Niko Kovac suggested the Club World Cup pitches resemble a golf green in that they would be good for practising your putting, but less so for playing games of football. Dortmund lost 3-2 to Real Madrid on Saturday at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which is where both semi-finals and the final of this tournament will be played. Real will face Paris Saint-Germain in one of those semis, while Chelsea will meet Fluminense. The 2026 World Cup final will also be held here at this stadium. After it was confirmed that his side had exited this competition, Kovac said: 'This pitch and with the pitches we've played on in Cincinnati and also in Atlanta, the grass quality is different in the stadiums. 'It's more a golf green. You can putt here. It's very short. This is not the grass we are used to playing on in the Bundesliga and also the other stadiums. 'As you saw, the watering wasn't good enough, I'd say, because you don't have the licence for that. For high-speed football, you need good conditions and you need also a good pitch, the right pitch. When it's too dry, it's unbelievable, it's sticky, I can't explain it. 'I would like for you to go out and test it and then you will see how it is.' Now out of the Club World Cup, Kovac also suggested the kick-off times could be selected more sensibly. 'We played two times in Cincinnati – the first time, it was 12 o clock, the second time, 3pm. On the pitch we had temperatures of around 45 degrees. If you go out running and the temperature is 45 degrees, this is very hard. Today we had 35 degrees, which is also not much better. 'But OK, this is the tournament we need to play. My suggestion is that the kick-off times should be a little later. As a spectator, you would like to see intensive, aggressive, up-and-down football. When it's too hot, it's difficult to play this kind of football.' Meanwhile, tickets for the first semi-final, which will be played between Chelsea and Fluminense, were set at more than £300 per person. On Friday, the asking price dropped to £32.66 and on Saturday, it became £9.81.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ben Shelton overpowers Fucsovics to equal best Wimbledon run
As a statement of intent, Ben Shelton's opening service game on Saturday was quite something. His first serve thundered through at 145mph; on the third point, he upped it to 146mph and on the fifth, he bashed one down at 147mph. If Marton Fucsovics had picked up his rackets there and then and left the court, people would surely have understood. As it was, the Hungarian, ranked 105 having dropped from a high of No 31 in 2019, battled hard to compete but Shelton was a man on a mission, his 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory putting him through to the last 16, equalling his previous Wimbledon best. A hammer of a forehand gave Shelton the first break for 3-1 in the opener and when Fucsovics had the temerity to force a break-back point in the next game, he slammed down a serve at 148mph. That would have equalled the fastest-ever serve at Wimbledon had Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard not raised it to 153mph earlier this week. 'I had a lot of fun,' Shelton said. 'It's always special playing at Wimbledon. This is my third time playing on Court No 1. Hopefully I get a few more matches on one of these two big courts. I'm trying to make my way to Centre Court. Maybe I'll get there one day.' If he keeps playing this well, that's an inevitability. Though the second set was tight all the way through, Shelton pulled away to take the tie-break 7-4 and an early break in the third set him on his way. As his powerful all-court game flowed, he raced to a 5-1 lead and though Fucsovics got one break back, the left-hander broke again to clinch a convincing victory that sets up a clash with Lorenzo Sonego of Italy. 'He's a great player,' Shelton said of the Italian. 'I played him tight in Australia this year, I played him tight in Roland Garros so it's only fitting we do it in Wimbledon. Grass is a good surface for him, it'll be difficult, but I like my chances right now, the way I'm playing, the way the crowd is helping with my energy.' Sonego will need to find some energy somewhere after he edged out Brandon Nakashima 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (3) in five hours and four minutes, the longest match of the tournament this year. The Italian won 45 of his 76 points at the net as he matched his previous best performance here. This time last year, Alex de Minaur was due to face Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals only to withdraw before the match because of a hip injury that disrupted the rest of his year. On Saturday, the Australian ensured he will get another crack at the seven-time champion as he ended the run of the unheralded Dane August Holmgren 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3. 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 'It's funny how life works,' De Minaur said. 'Here we are a year later, and I'm going to get that match-up. It is a round earlier. It was a brutal time for me last year having to deal with all of those emotions. But here we are a year later feeling good, ready to go, and I'm going to get my chance again. So I'm excited for that.' Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov captured his 100th grand slam singles win, beating Sebastian Ofner of Austria 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (0) to reach the fourth round for the third year in a row, a performance that earned him a shot at Jannik Sinner, the top seed. Another Italian, Flavio Cobolli, reached the last 16 of a slam for the first time thanks to a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over the Czech Jakub Mensik and the veteran Croat Marin Cilic followed up his surprise win over Britain's Jack Draper by beating Jaume Munar of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the fourth round of a slam for the first time since 2022.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Boarded up shops and overflowing bins. Sorry state of the gateway to the world's most prestigious tennis tournament
The train draws to a halt with a sharp squeal, causing an elderly tennis fan in a panama hat to curse. 'At least we made it though, darling,' says his wife, patting his arm. She has a point. It's Friday lunchtime at Southfields Tube station, the one at which you alight for the Wimbledon Championships.
