Roger Federer insisted his decorated tennis career was "about having grit" as he dismissed the theory that his style of play was "effortless".

Federer is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, with his tally of 20 grand slam men's singles titles only bettered by Novak Djokovic (24) and Rafael Nadal (22).

The Swiss, who also won a record eight times at Wimbledon before retiring from the sport in 2022, was one of the most popular sportsmen of his generation with his classy brand of tennis earning him adulation around the globe.

But Federer rejected claims his ability was "pure talent alone" while delivering a graduation speech at Dartmouth College, where he received a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the New Hampshire institution.

"People would say my play was effortless. Most of the time, they meant it as a compliment," he said during the ceremony. "But it used to frustrate me when they would say: 'He barely broke a sweat', or: 'Is he even trying?'.

"The truth is, I had to work very hard to make it look easy. I didn't get where I got on pure talent alone. I got there by trying to outwork my opponents. Most of the time, it's not about having a gift. It's about having grit."

Federer shared the lessons he felt served him well during his glittering career, including the way he dealt with adversity during matches.

"When you lose every second point, on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot," he continued. "When you're playing a point, it is the most important thing in the world. 

"But when it's behind you, it's behind you. This mindset is really crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point and the next one after that with intensity, clarity and focus.

"You want to become a master at overcoming hard moments. That to me is the sign of a champion."

Ian Maatsen will join the Netherlands' Euro 2024 squad after injuries forced two midfielders out of the tournament.

He will officially replace Frenkie de Jong, who the Netherlands confirmed would miss out due to an ankle injury he suffered while playing for Barcelona in April.

In Oranje's final friendly before the tournament, a 4-0 victory over Iceland on Monday, Teun Koopmeiners pulled out of the starting line-up after sustaining a muscle injury in the warm-up.

In a post to X on Tuesday, the Netherlands said: "Teun Koopmeiners misses Euro 2024.

"The midfielder won’t be able to participate after injuring himself during the warm-up of the match against Iceland yesterday.

"We’re thinking of you, Teun."

Maatsen's absence from the initial squad raised some eyebrows after he reached the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund in 2023-24.

The 22-year-old joined the German side on loan from Chelsea in January, making 23 appearances for them in all competitions, scoring three goals and providing two assists.

Netherlands will begin Euro 2024 against Poland in Group C on Sunday, before facing France and Austria in their other group matches. 

Fernando Torres has been named as the new head coach of Atletico Madrid's B team, in a statement released by the LaLiga club on Tuesday. 

The former World Cup-winning Spain striker started his coaching career in 2021 with Atleti's Under-19's side after retiring from professional football two years prior. 

His new role will be his first in senior management and he will succeed Luis Tevenet, who has joined Diego Simeone's senior staff ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. 

"I am at home and I feel an enormous responsibility since I decided to face this new stage," Torres said. "It has been three years of constant learning.

"For me this step is very important and I want to be ambitious to do things better every day, face the challenges that come and the responsibility in the best way and at the same time knowing that I am in no hurry and no need to take a wrong step.

"I accept it as a great challenge with a lot of ambition and the peace of mind of knowing that we are prepared."

The 40-year-old scored more than 100 goals in two spells for the 11-time Spanish champions, and helped his nation win the European Championship in 2008 and 2012. 

Jessica Pegula eased past Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets on her return from injury at the Libema Open on Tuesday.

The American pulled out of the French Open due to back and neck injuries that have kept her out since April but made her return with a 6-2, 6-2 win in just 58 minutes.

Sasnovich matched Pegula in the opening four games, with both players trading points, but the world number five soon gained her foothold to cruise through the rest of the first set.

Pegula remained in control in the second, despite Sasnovich's late attempt at a comeback, but the Belarusian could not do enough to stop the top seed from advancing.

Pegula will now face Aleksandra Krunic or Jessika Ponchet in the next round. 

Data Debrief: Pegula puts injury worries behind her

Pegula last played in America's Billie Jean King Cup victory in April, but she showed no signs of rustiness on her return to the court.

She showed no signs of rustiness though, hitting nine winners and just six unforced errors on her way to sealing her victory. 

Luis Diaz says he is "happy" at Liverpool as speculation continues to surround his future at the club.

While there have been no official approaches to Liverpool for the Colombian, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain are both reportedly interested in his signature in the upcoming transfer window.

It was also reported earlier this month that Liverpool had apparently lowered their asking price for Diaz amidst the interest.

Speaking after Colombia's 5-1 friendly win over the United States, Diaz addressed his future, saying: "I am very happy there in Liverpool, it is a great team and club," he told Gol Caracol.

"I always wanted to play there, so I am very happy and calm.

"I'm not thinking about anything else, I'm thinking about the Colombian national team, which is where we are."

Diaz joined Liverpool from Porto in January 2022, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract with the Reds. He has made 72 appearances for them in all competitions, scoring 18 goals and providing a further eight assists. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has been tipped by John O'Shea to one day manage Portugal once he brings an end to his playing career.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is part of Portugal's squad for Euro 2024, which they kick off with a match against Czech Republic next Tuesday.

Ronaldo will take part in his 13th major international tournament and what could be his last given he will be 41 by the time of the next World Cup.

Despite his age, Ronaldo continues to score regularly for Al Nassr at club level and also netted 10 times in Euro 2024 qualifying.

When the forward does eventually hang up his boots, however, former Manchester United team-mate O'Shea can see him moving into coaching.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's friendly with Portugal, Republic of Ireland interim head coach O'Shea said: "Knowing the type of person he is, the dedication and professionalism he has, I am sure he has plans to carry on in terms of Portugal and where he's going to go.

"I'm sure he has ambitions, further down the line, to manage his country also in tournaments to come - if he wants to bring those pressures on himself. 

"He's had no problem taking the pressure of his country throughout his career. Whatever his next steps will be, I am sure they will be positive for Portugal."

The 10 goals scored by Ronaldo in qualifying was bettered only by Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku (14).

The 39-year-old is the leading scorer in men's international football, netting 128 goals in 206 matches, including 14 in the European Championship finals.

"You see in Saudi, he's scored some goals for this team, and you also see the impact he's had with his goalscoring for Portugal in the campaign to qualify for the Euros, too," O'Shea added.

"I've no doubt whatever plans or rotations Portugal will have to use him, to maximise how far they get in the tournament, I think Ronaldo will be a key part of that, definitely."

2016 champions Portugal will also face Turkiye and Georgia in their Group F campaign.

Hellas Verona have parted ways with head coach Marco Baroni by mutual agreement, the Serie A club confirmed on Monday.

Baroni took charge of Verona in July 2023, signing a one-year contract with an option for a second year, but leaves the club after one season at the helm.

The Italian won nine of his 38 league games, finishing with a win percentage of 25% as the Gialloblu battled relegation for much of the campaign, but managed to steer them clear of the bottom three.  

It was the second time Baroni had been in management at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi having been appointed as Alberto Malesani's assistant for the 2002-03 season. 

Verona was the 16th club he has managed since starting his managerial career with Rodinella 24 years ago, and was thanked by his latest club for his contributions. 

"President Maurizio Setti, on behalf of the whole club, thanks Mr Baroni for the work he has done this season and wishes him the best of satisfaction for the continuation of his sporting career," the club statement said.

According to Italian media reports, the 60-year-old is expected to become the Lazio manager to replace Igor Tudor, who recently resigned after less than three months in charge.

Bruno Fernandes said the criticism that followed Portugal's 2-1 defeat by Croatia at the weekend was a reflection of fans' elevated expectations ahead of Euro 2024.

The Selecao das Quinas concluded their preparations for the tournament with a disappointing display in Lisbon, with Luka Modric's penalty and Ante Budimir's second half strike cancelling giving the visitors their first win over their opponents in their history. 

Portugal won all 10 of their qualifiers, but prior to travelling to Germany this week, have suffered defeats to Croatia and Slovenia in recent friendlies. 

The 2016 champions have since failed to go beyond the quarter-finals of an international tournament, coming at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

Fernandes believes that he enjoys the negativity around the national team, but knows the quality in the sign know they have to do more as a collective. 

"I don't want anyone to think that we came to this point thinking that everything was done and there was nothing to improve," Fernandes told reporters on Monday.

"There are always aspects to improve. To be honest, I like a bit of this negativity around the national team, 'the team isn't as good anymore', 'it's still not what we want'.

"I like it because it's a sign that people expect a lot from us and want more from the national team. It means that we players who are representing the country have the quality to do more.

"We know that, we have ambition and we want to do more and better."

Portugal play the Republic of Ireland in their final warm-up match on Tuesday ahead of their Group F opener against the Czech Republic, before taking on Turkey and Georgia.

Michal Probierz is hopeful the injury sustained by Robert Lewandowski in Poland's final Euro 2024 warm-up game is nothing serious.

Lewandowski was taken off a little over half an hour into his side's 2-1 friendly win over Turkiye on Monday with an apparent thigh issue.

Probierz had already seen fellow striker Karol Swiderski leave the field with an ankle injury sustained as he celebrated his 12th-minute goal.

Baris Alper Yilmaz equalised for Turkiye in the 77th minute, but Nicola Zalewski won the game for Poland with a last-minute strike.

The injuries to Lewandowski and Swiderski were the big talking points after the game, though, with head coach Probierz sharing an update to reporters.

"Karol has sprained his ankle," Probierz said. "Only after the tests will we know what the situation looks like. 

"Robert has a slight injury but there should be no problem. There will certainly be no changes made [to the squad]."

Lewandowski has made more appearances (150) and scored more goals (82) for Poland than any other player.

Poland have already lost another attacker in the build-up to Euro 2024 as Juventus' Arkadiusz Milik injured his knee against Ukraine last week.

Probierz's side kick off their tournament against the Netherlands on Sunday, before facing Austria and then France in Group D.

Gareth Southgate admits Euro 2024 could be his "last chance" with England at a major tournament if they do not win it.

Southgate took over as the interim manager of England in September 2017 before being offered the permanent role two months later.

Since then, he has taken the Three Lions to the semi-final and quarter-final of the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 respectively, while they finished as runners-up to Italy in Euro 2020 on home soil.

Southgate's squad travelled to Germany on Monday ahead of their tournament opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

England are among the favourites to win the tournament, and Southgate, whose contract expires at the end of this year, was realistic about what an unsuccessful result at Euro 2024 could mean for his future.

"If we don't win, I probably won't be here anymore. It might be the last chance," he said.

"I think about half of the national coaches leave after a tournament – that's the nature of international football.

"I’ve been here for almost eight years now and we've come close so I know that you can't keep standing in front of the public and saying, 'please do a little more', because at some point, people will lose faith in your message.

"If we want to be a big team and I want to be a top coach, then you have to deliver in the big moments."

Following their game against Serbia, England will also face Denmark and Slovenia in Group C.

Frenkie de Jong says he is "disappointed" after being ruled out of Euro 2024 with an ankle injury.

Following the Netherlands' 4-0 thrashing of Iceland on Monday, it was confirmed in a social media post that the midfielder would not recover in time to play in the tournament.

De Jong has not played since Barcelona's Clasico defeat to Real Madrid on April 21, though still got a place in Koeman’s final 26-man squad despite his injury.

He has emerged as a fixture in the Netherlands' midfield since making his senior international debut in 2018, earning 54 caps and scoring two goals.

Following his withdrawal, De Jong said on Instagram: "I'm sad and disappointed that I won't make it to the European Championship.

"We've been doing a lot of it the past few weeks, but my ankle needs more time, unfortunately.

"It's a dream and greatest honour to represent our country in a final tournament. Wearing the orange shirt, singing the Wilhelmus and feeling the support of the entire country.

"But now I will, like the entire orange legion, cheer for our team from the sidelines. Let's go, boys."

In his post-match press conference, Koeman hit out at Barcelona for the way they handled De Jong's injury, saying they were "left with nothing" after his former club took a risk with the player.

In a later interview on Dutch television, he admitted he knew about the withdrawal hours before kick-off and informed the rest of the squad before their game against Iceland.

"Tests have shown that he cannot yet do what he should be able to do. He gets a reaction from his ankle every time after training," Koeman said.

"Then you have to conclude that he will not be 100 per cent fit for the next three weeks. I already thought that playing against Poland [in the Group D opener] would be difficult."

The Netherlands also suffered an injury scare during the game as Teun Koopmeiners suffered a thigh injury in the warm-up, forcing him to withdraw from the starting line-up.

They face Poland in their Group D opener in Hamburg on Sunday, before taking on France and Austria in their other group matches.

Carlos Rodon joined Seth Lugo as the American League's lone nine-game winners this season by out-pitching his counterpart in the New York Yankees' 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday.

Rodon held the Royals to one run and five hits over seven sharp innings to move to 9-2 and win a duel with Lugo (9-2), who was tagged for four runs in seven innings to receive his first loss since April 21.

Jose Trevino went 2 for 3 with a two-run single to pace a Yankees' lineup bolstered by the return of Juan Soto. The star outfielder missed the entirety of New York's three-game weekend series with the Los Angeles Dodgers while plagued by a sore left forearm.

Soto singled in his first at-bat and scored the Yankees' first run when Alex Verdugo followed Gleyber Torres' single with a base hit to center. Torres then advanced home on a sacrifice bunt put down by DJ LeMahieu to give New York a 2-0 lead in the opening inning.

That was all Rodon would need, as the left-hander had a shutout going until allowing three hits in the seventh inning, including Freddy Fermin's single that knocked in Salvador Perez.

The Royals were trailing 4-0 at that point after the Yankees scored twice more in the fourth. LeMahieu singled and Lugo hit Trent Grisham with a pitch before each advanced on a bunt in front of Trevino's single that brought home both runners.

Kansas City got within 4-2 when Bobby WItt Jr.'s two-out double in the eighth scored Dairon Blanco, who had reached base on a single before stealing second.

Michael Tonkin struck out two during a scoreless ninth, however, to earn his first save of the season and close out the opener of this four-game series. 

The win was the Yankees' 10th in their last 12 games, while the scuffling Royals have dropped two straight and are 5-9 since May 26.

Orioles complete first four-game road sweep of Rays

Gunnar Henderson went 3 for 5 with a lead-off home run that sparked the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays for their first-ever four-game series sweep at Tropicana Field.

Ryan O'Hearn also had three hits while driving in three runs to support another strong outing from Baltimore's Corbin Burnes (7-2), who notched his ninth consecutive quality start after allowing just two unearned runs and striking out six in seven innings.

James McCann added two hits, including a solo home run, to help hand the Rays a 13th loss in their last 17 home games.

Ryan Pepiot (4-3) struck out nine in six innings for Tampa Bay, though his night began ominously when Henderson sent the game's first pitch well over the center field wall for his 21st homer of the season, which was measured at 430 feet.

The Rays regrouped to take the lead an inning later when Jose Caballero reached on a error and Alex Jackson followed with a two-run homer, his first time going deep in a major league game since August 2021.

McCann's homer in the third tied the game at 2-2, and the Orioles scored twice more off Pepiot in the fifth to forge ahead.

Singles by McCann and Henderson put two aboard for O'Hearn, who laced a double to right to plate both runners for a 4-2 Baltimore lead.

Henderson doubled in the seventh and scored on O'Hearn's single to extend the margin, and Craig Kimbrel held the Rays scoreless in the ninth to record his 15th save and finish off the series sweep.

Tatis extends hitting streak in Padres' win over A's

Fernando Tatis Jr. homered to extend his career-high hitting streak to 16 games and help the San Diego Padres to a 6-1 win over the struggling Oakland Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.

The Padres also got a solo homer from Jake Cronenworth and six strong innings from Dylan Cease to earn their third win in four games and hand the A's a ninth loss in their last 12.

Cease (6-5) scattered eight hits and struck out eight while permitting just one run, a solo homer from Tyler Soderstrom in the second inning that gave Oakland a 1-0 lead.

Cronenworth's blast off Joey Estes in the third pulled San Diego even before the Padres went ahead an inning later. Jackson Merrill doubled for his second of three hits on the night and scored on Ha-Seong Kim's single.

Tatis put San Diego up 3-1 in the fifth with his 13th homer of the season, and the Padres broke open the game with three runs against Oakland's bullpen in the seventh.

After the Padres loaded the bases with one out on a walk, hit batter and Manny Machado's single, A's reliever Michel Otanez walked Donovan Solano to force in a run. Merrill followed with a single to extend the lead to 5-1 before Kim drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly.

Estes (2-2) worked five innings and allowed three runs on eight hits.

 

 

Evan Rodrigues had two of three Florida Panthers goals in the third period as the Eastern Conference champions took a 2-0 lead on the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final with Monday's 4-1 win.

Niko Mikkola also scored and Aaron Ekblad had a game-sealing empty-net goal in the final minutes as the Panthers moved two wins away from the franchise's first Stanley Cup title.

They did so by keeping Connor McDavid and Edmonton's high-powered offence in check for a second straight meeting. After being dealt a 3-0 loss in Saturday's opener of the best-of-seven series, the Oilers managed just seven shots on goal over the first two periods of Game 2 and 19 for the night.

Florida did sustain a key injury in Game 2, however, as captain and top-line centre Aleksandar Barkov did not return after taking an elbow to the head from Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl midway through the third period. 

Mattias Ekholm recorded the lone goal for the Oilers, who will attempt to reverse momentum on home ice when the series shifts to Edmonton for Thursday's Game 3.

Despite Florida owning a 22-7 shot advantage through the first two periods, the teams were locked in a 1-1 tie until Rodrigues stole an attempted clearing pass from Edmonton's Evan Bouchard in the Oilers' end and whistled a shot past goaltender Stuart Skinner 3:11 into the third.

Rodrigues struck again on the power play created by Draisaitl's roughing penalty on Barkov with 9:28 remaining, as he redirected a pass from Anton Lundell into the Edmonton net for a 3-1 Florida lead with 7:34 left.

Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch pulled Skinner for an extra attacker with under seven minutes to go, and the move gave Edmonton essentially a two-man advantage when Florida defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson received a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck into the stands with less than five minutes remaining.

The Panthers killed off the infraction, however, then ended any hopes of an Edmonton comeback when Ekblad scored into the vacant net with 2:28 left to play.

Florida had the game's first prime scoring opportunity when Oilers forward Warren Foegele received a five-minute major penalty and an ejection for a knee-to-knee hit on the Panthers' Eetu Luostarinen midway through the first period.

The Panthers couldn't capitalise, however, and the sides were soon 4-on-4 when Ekman-Larsson was called for tripping during the extended power play.

Just 19 seconds after Ekman-Larsson was sent off, Ekholm's shot on a 2-on-1 rush evaded Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky to put Edmonton up 1-0 with 8:43 remaining in the opening period.

Florida drew even midway through the second period when Mikkola fired a drop pass from Lundell past Skinner.

Bobrovsky finished with 18 saves, while Skinner stopped 25 of 28 shots.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have extended the contract of long-serving head coach Mike Tomlin to run through the 2027 season, the team announced on Monday.

Tomlin, who is set to enter his 18th season in charge of the Steelers, had seen his future become a subject of debate during an up-and-down 2023 campaign.

Pittsburgh appeared as though they might miss the playoffs when a three-game losing streak saw them slump to 7-7 by mid-December, but they bounced back with three straight victories to finish 10-7 and make the wild-card round.

They were then eliminated by the Buffalo Bills after benching 2022 first-round quarterback Kenny Pickett in favour of Mason Rudolph.

Nevertheless, Tomlin maintained his record of having never endured a losing season with Pittsburgh, who he led to glory at Super Bowl XLIII to cap the 2008 season, also losing to the Green Bay Packers at Super Bowl XLV two years later.

Tomlin's worst seasons with the Steelers came in 2012, 2013 and 2019, all of which saw them finish with an even 8-8 record.

Confirming Tomlin's three-year extension, franchise president Art Rooney II said: "Mike Tomlin's leadership and commitment to the Steelers have been pivotal to our success during his first 17 years as head coach.

"Extending his contract for three more years reflects our confidence in his ability to guide the team back to winning playoff games and championships, while continuing our tradition of success."

Tomlin told the team's website: "I am appreciative for this contract extension and thankful for Art Rooney II for his support during my first 17 years in Pittsburgh.

"We are continuing to work diligently to get back to where we belong – sustained playoff success with the ultimate goal of winning the franchise's seventh Lombardi Trophy.

"I am very excited to get the 2024 season under way and provide our fans with a memorable year."

The Steelers have undergone a major rebuild this offseason, revamping their QB room by bringing in Russell Wilson from the Denver Broncos and Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears, with Pickett being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The arrival of former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen in free agency also bolstered the team's defense, which ranked sixth in the league for fewest points allowed per game (18.5) in 2023.

Page 7 of 3627
© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.