Adam Nicol is looking forward to next season with stable star Wise Eagle after deciding to draw stumps for the current campaign.
Bought out of Tom Clover’s yard for just 7,000 guineas three years ago, the six-year-old has proved a real money-spinner for his connections, winning a jumpers’ bumper and 10 races on the Flat.
He started off 2023 by beating subsequent Chester Cup hero Metier in the lucrative Queen’s Cup at Musselburgh before filling the runner-up spot behind the top-class Coltrane in Ascot’s Sagaro Stakes.
An ambitious tilt at Gold Cup glory at the Royal meeting failed to pay off, with Wise Eagle losing a shoe and finishing last of the 12 runners, but Nicol remains confident there will be more big days in a horse who has already improved a staggering 40lb in the ratings.
“We’re going to pull the plug this season and get him ready for the Queen’s Cup at Musselburgh, which he won this year in early April,” said the Northumberland-based trainer.
“We were going to keep him for an autumn campaign and run him either at Doncaster (Doncaster Cup) or maybe in the Cesarewitch, but we’re just going to look after him and bring him back in December time and aim for Musselburgh, where he’s won four times.”
Reflecting on his performance in the Gold Cup, Nicol added: “He pulled a hind shoe off and was very sore the next day. It’s like us ripping our big toe nail off as he took a bit of foot with it as well.
“I think that happened quite early on, so that didn’t help, but Danny (Tudhope) was never happy with him and said he was hanging left from the minute the gates opened, which is not like him at all.
“We sent him down to Newmarket for a full MOT at the equine hospital and we found that he was just a bit jarred up in his front end.
“He’s absolutely fine now and he’ll be back next season. You’ve got to look after every horse obviously – but for a small yard like ours, when you’ve got a horse running in those type of races, we’re not going to flog him.
“There was a reason for the poor run in the Gold Cup, his run in the Sagaro Stakes was very good and we’ve seen what Coltrane has gone and done. There’s not many horses that have made a race of it with Coltrane, so if we can get this lad back right, I think there’s more races to be won with him.”
While Nicol’s initial focus will be on major staying races on the Flat next year, he is not ruling out a future switch to the jumping game, with Wise Eagle having finished second on his only start over hurdles to date in 2020.
He said: “I was thinking if he was in good form we could maybe give him a run in a novice hurdle in the autumn before the ground gets too heavy as he is a very good jumper.
“He’s very quick and has been from day one. I remember one day I schooled him over some tyres and I was like ‘Jesus, you’d think he was a handicapper’.
“That’s something to think about down the line. Every now and again we school him over barrels to keep his eye in and if he reaches his limit on the Flat or goes a bit sour and needs a change of scenery, we could look to go hurdling. We’ll just see what happens.”
The Republic of Ireland are looking for a new manager after opting not to renew Vera Pauw’s contract despite seeing her guide her team to the World Cup finals for the first time.
Pauw’s departure brings an end to a four-year reign which has seen the nation’s women scale new heights, but the Dutchwoman’s tenure has not been without controversy.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look Pauw’s time at the Irish helm.
What is Pauw’s background?
A former defender who was capped 89 times by the Netherlands, Pauw’s coaching career includes spells with Scotland, the Dutch, who she led to the semi-finals of the 2009 European Championships, Russia and South Africa, as well as National Women’s Soccer League side Houston Dash in the United States. The 60-year-old was appointed to succeed Colin Bell as Ireland boss in September 2019.
How did Ireland fare under her charge?
Having finished third in Group I after a 3-1 home defeat by Germany, Ireland missed out on qualification for the Euro 2022 finals. Defeat by eventual Group A winners Sweden in their opening World Cup qualifier did not deter the Republic, who went on to finish second and then, courtesy of Amber Barrett’s lone strike, beat Scotland in a play-off to book their ticket to Australia and New Zealand. Ultimately they did not progress after narrow defeats by co-hosts Australia and Olympic champions Canada, as well as a draw with Nigeria.
What place does she hold in Irish football history?
Pauw is one of only three coaches, along with Jack Charlton and Mick McCarthy, to lead Ireland to the finals of a senior World Cup. Along with Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O’Neill, who took the men’s team to Euro 2012 and 2016 respectively, they are the only five people to send out a senior Irish team at the finals of any major tournament.
Where did it go wrong?
Rumours of disquiet within the camp have grown in recent months and several players notably declined to support their manager when asked during World Cup press conferences amid speculation that a conservative approach on the pitch was unpopular in the dressing room. Suspicions of a fracture grew amid a public spat between Pauw and skipper Katie McCabe after the Arsenal winger appeared to call for a substitution during the Nigeria game. The manager later offered a “she’s not the coach” riposte; McCabe responded on social media with a zipped mouth emoji. Pauw had gone into the tournament against the backdrop of a renewed focus on allegations – which she strongly denies – of bullying and belittling behaviour during her time in Houston, for which she was sanctioned by the NSWL earlier this year.
How have supporters reacted to the news?
Not well. Many fans have taken to social media to claim Pauw has been treated poorly after what she has achieved with Ireland, many pointing out that the men’s team has not reached the World Cup finals since 2002.
Who could replace her?
The FAI’s head of women and girls’ football Eileen Gleeson has been placed in interim charge for next month’s Nations League openers against Northern Ireland and Hungary and could be considered for a longer-term role. Like Gleeson, Tom Elmes is highly regarded in the women’s game in Ireland, but as a member of Pauw’s coaching team, may suffer if the FAI decide to make a clean break. Liverpool boss Matt Beard has been touted as a potential replacement, as has former England captain and Manchester United manager Casey Stoney, currently in charge at San Diego Wave.
Savannah Marshall aims to make sporting history with a rematch against Claressa Shields in MMA and would relish “choking her out” if the two were to meet in Professional Fighters League.
Undisputed super-middleweight world champion Marshall signed a multi-year deal with the mixed martial arts promotion, joining her longstanding rival Shields, who she beat as an amateur before losing by unanimous decision in October 2022.
And Marshall believes a rematch with Shields in boxing is unlikely, but predicted a fight in the cage would be even bigger than their previous contest.
“The opportunity I was presented to by PFL (Professional Fighters League) was amazing and something that I really couldn’t walk away from,” Marshall told the PA news agency.
“The PFL have been interested in me since my fight with Shields last October and working alongside my manager we managed to get something over the line.
“Yes definitely (Shields was the motivation to sign for PFL), I don’t think I get the rematch in the ring and it’s more likely that I get it in the cage, and so that added to the decision making.
“I’m naturally stronger and we’re both in the same position even though she’s had two fights in the cage – Shields beat Brittney Elkin before losing to Abby Montes.
“But I think I beat her, I really do and, for me, she beat me in the ring so I have a chance to even it in the cage and this is not something that has been done in sport before.
“It would be unbelievable, it would be huge. I think the first fight was huge and this would be even bigger.
“I would definitely make it 1-1. I’d relish in just choking her out and squeezing the breath out of her.”
Marshall’s majority decision victory over Franchon Crews-Dezurn in July saw her crowned super middleweight queen – she now holds the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF belts.
And the Hartlepool fighter, who also won The Ring championship against Crews-Dezurn, admitted the loss against Shields motivated her to claim victory last month despite considering quitting the sport last year.
“I’ve learnt a lot about myself after that fight I was ready to walk away and it really hurt me losing that fight,” Marshall added.
“But I came back and beat Franchon to become undisputed champion so it goes to show that when the going gets tough, especially at that level, there’s always something around the corner where the hard work pays off.
“It feels amazing to be an undisputed boxer and it’s a surreal feeling to have all five belts, and it’s amazing knowing that I’ve had my name cemented in history.
“I feel fulfilled in myself knowing how far I’ve come and my path could have took a different turn at any given point in my career.”
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Shields was ringside for Marshall’s last fight and was vocal throughout the night.
Marshall said: “Claressa is just Claressa and I don’t think she did herself any favours at all, and the way she went on at ringside was just embarrassing. I don’t think she helped herself there.
“She’s not my type of person and our personalities clash a lot.
“This rivalry has been going on now for over 10 years and she’s just not my cup of tea.”
The draw for the group stage of the Champions League will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday evening.
Here the PA news agency explains how it will unfold.
When is the draw?
The draw is due to start at 5pm UK time on Thursday evening.
How will it work?
The 32 teams will be split into eight groups of four, with the four seeding pots not set to be confirmed until Thursday morning. The identity of the final qualifiers will not be known until Wednesday evening.
Pot 1 will feature European champions Manchester City, Europa League winners Sevilla and six domestic champions. Pots two to four will be based on the UEFA club coefficient rankings.
As usual, teams from the same country will be kept apart until at least the quarter-final stage. Pairings and any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw.
What else do we need to know about the format?
The teams play each other home and away between September and December as usual, with the top two progressing to the Champions League last 16.
The teams finishing third enter the Europa League knockout round play-offs, where they will face the runners-up from the Europa League group stages for a place in the last 16 of that competition.
What else should we expect on Thursday night?
UEFA plans to announce the four winners of its 2022-23 awards – men’s player and coach, plus women’s player and coach – during the draw ceremony. There will be particular focus on the women’s awards amid the unfolding crisis in Spanish football – two of the country’s World Cup-winning team, Aitana Bonmati and Olga Carmona, are nominated for the player award while Jorge Vilda is nominated for the coach award.
What else should we look out for this season?
This season marks the final year of the group stage as we have come to know it. From next season the 32-team group stage will be replaced by a 36-team league phase, with each team playing eight matches on a seeded basis.
It will be worth keeping an eye as the season progresses on the country coefficients, which are based on the collective performance of a country’s clubs in the three UEFA men’s club competitions. One team each from the two best-performing countries will secure additional places in the league phase, under changes agreed at UEFA Congress in Vienna last year.
Raphael Varane has been ruled out for a few weeks as Manchester United’s injury issues pile up ahead of the Premier League trip to Arsenal.
Erik ten Hag’s side head to north London on Sunday for their final match before the international break without several key players.
Luke Shaw and Mason Mount picked up issues in the first week of the season, while summer signing Rasmus Hojlund has yet to make his debut due to a back complaint.
Tyrell Malacia, Amad Diallo, Kobbie Mainoo and Tom Heaton have missed the start of the season and now experienced Varane faces a spell on the sidelines.
A club statement read: “Raphael Varane will be missing from the team when Manchester United face Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday due to injury.
“The France international came off at half-time in our 3-2 win against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on Saturday due to the complaint, which is expected to keep him out for a few weeks.”
The PA news agency understands that United are expecting Varane to be back in less than the six weeks reported by some outlets.
The 30-year-old has dealt with a number of injuries since moving to Old Trafford in 2021 and, having retired from the France set-up in February, will have the international break to work towards his return.
Wales will be without Daniel James for their crucial Euro 2024 qualifier against Latvia next month.
Leeds winger James has been sidelined with an adductor injury and misses the crunch clash in Riga on September 11, as well as the Cardiff friendly against South Korea four days earlier.
The 45-times capped James has been a regular since making his debut in 2018, starting 34 consecutive competitive games before the run came to an end last November.
Wales boss Rob Page has named a 25-man squad for the September double-header as he seeks to revive the Dragons’ Euro 2024 qualification hopes.
Back-to-back defeats against Armenia and Turkey in June have left Wales with an uphill task to secure an automatic route to the tournament in Germany next summer.
Nottingham Forest forward and Tottenham target Brennan Johnson is included, and Tom Lockyer returns to the squad for the first time since his heart scare in May.
The 28-year-old Luton captain collapsed just a few minutes into the Hatters’ Sky Bet Championship play-off final win over Coventry at Wembley.
Lockyer underwent an operation to address an irregular heartbeat but has since returned to action to lead Luton in their first Premier League campaign.
David Brooks is also present after scoring for Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, his first senior goal since returning to action earlier this year following treatment for stage two Hodgkin lymphoma.
Tottenham defender Ben Davies is available after missing the 2-0 Euro qualifying defeat to Turkey in June due to the birth of his first child.
Page has named four goalkeepers in his squad – Danny Ward, Wayne Hennessey, Adam Davies and Tom King – but none of them have had any game-time this season.
Kieffer Moore and Joe Morrell are both suspended for the Latvia qualifier after picking up red cards in June.
The pair received two-game bans, with Bournemouth striker Moore serving the first part of his suspension in Turkey after being sent off against Armenia.
Portsmouth midfielder Morrell saw red against Turkey in Samsun and will also miss the October qualifier with Croatia.
Both players have been included in Page’s squad and can feature against Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea in Cardiff on September 7.
Bolton midfielder Josh Sheehan returns to the squad for the first time since September 2021 and Wes Burns is also included. Midfield pair Luke Harris and Ollie Cooper drop out.
Full squad: W Hennessey (Nottingham Forest), D Ward (Leicester), A Davies (Sheff Utd), T King (Wolves), B Davies (Tottenham), M Fox (QPR), J Rodon (Leeds, on loan from Tottenham), B Cabango (Swansea), C Mepham (Bournemouth), T Lockyer (Luton), N Williams (Nottingham Forest), C Roberts (Burnley), W Burns (Ipswich), E Ampadu (Leeds), J Sheehan (Bolton), J James (Birmingham), J Morrell (Portsmouth), H Wilson (Fulham), A Ramsey (Cardiff, captain), K Moore (Bournemouth), N Broadhead (Ipswich), B Johnson (Nottingham Forest), D Brooks (Bournemouth), T Bradshaw (Millwall), L Cullen (Swansea).
A trip to France for the Prix du Cadran is next on the agenda for Courage Mon Ami after coming off second best in his latest clash with Coltrane at York last week.
John and Thady Gosden’s son of Frankel raised the roof at Royal Ascot when providing jockey Frankie Dettori with his ninth victory in the Gold Cup, narrowly outpointing the Andrew Balding-trained Coltrane.
Courage Mon Ami lost his unbeaten record when only sixth in the Goodwood Cup, a race in which Coltrane finished third, and the trilogy took place in the Lonsdale Cup on the Knavesmire on Friday.
With the Gosden runner carrying a 3lb penalty for his Gold Cup win, he was beaten a length and a half by his old rival and connections are now eyeing one final outing this season on Arc weekend in Paris.
“I thought he probably ran right up to form, as John said afterwards carrying the 3lb penalty is tough over that trip,” said Richard Brown, racing adviser to owners Wathnan Racing.
“We were delighted with the run because it sort of showed that Ascot wasn’t a fluke. We hoped it wasn’t and Coltrane is a very good horse on his day – they’re the best stayers around really.
“Our horse was strong at the line, we know he gets two and a half miles obviously and I’d say that the Cadran will be his next target.
“Qatar sponsors the Arc meeting, so it’s important for those reasons as well, but that aside, the Cadran looks the obvious race for him and that’s exactly what Frankie said afterwards.”
Brown admitted the prospect of soft ground at ParisLongchamp is a slight concern, adding: “I would be a bit worried about a bit of soft ground. You never know really until you try it, I think he’ll be OK but you never know.
“After the Cadran that will be it for him this year as everything is geared around trying to win a second Gold Cup.”
Courage Mon Ami was one of four horses to perform well in defeat at the Ebor Festival for the Qatari ownership group, with leading St Leger hope Gregory third in the Great Voltigeur, Ballymount Boy second in the Acomb and Isaac Shelby fourth in the City of York Stakes.
Brown admits the team left the track with mixed emotions.
He said: “Of course you want to win, that’s what it’s all about, but we had two seconds, a third and a fourth and if one of those had turned into a win, it would have been a hell of a week.
“We came away a little frustrated, but at the same time they’ve all run to a very high level.”
Ballymount Boy was snapped up by Wathnan Racing after finishing second to subsequent Prix Morny hero Vandeek in the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood – and while he again had to make do with the runner-up spot at York behind Indian Run, Brown is optimistic he will have his day in the future.
He said: “He ran well, possibly he’d prefer soft ground and also he was a breeze-up horse who has had some quick runs, so we’ll give him a break now.
“I was actually delighted. He obviously bumped into one at Goodwood and I’d say there’s a fair chance he’s just bumped into another good one at York.
“We’re going to give him a bit of a rest and give him just one more run this year, I would say.
“He’s shown he’s a Group level colt and I think he’ll only be better next year as well as he’s still relatively unfurnished.”
Brian Meehan’s Isaac Shelby faced his elders on the fourth and final day of the meeting and while far from disgraced behind Kinross, who he had pushed to a neck in the Lennox Stakes at Goodwood at the start of the month, Brown feels he slightly underperformed.
“It’s the quickest we’ve run him back and I wonder if he was a touch flat,” he added.
“Kinross is a brilliant horse and we were a bit further behind him than we were at Goodwood, which I suppose makes you think he was just a touch flat.
“We haven’t made any plans for him. Myself, Brian and Olly Tait will sit down and do that in a couple of weeks, but I’d imagine we’ll give him a six-week break now and give him one more run somewhere.
“He’s learning to settle as he gets older. He’s a tall, narrow horse and I think he’s going to be a better four-year-old.”
Alex Cobb had his bid for a no-hitter broken up with two outs in the ninth inning, but the right-hander pitched a gem of a complete game to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday.
Spencer Steer ended Cobb’s chase for history with a double to right field that scored Nick Senzel, who had walked with one out in the ninth and advanced to second on defensive indifference.
Cobb struck out the next batter, Elly De La Cruz, to end his fourth career complete game and earn his first win since July 5. The right-hander struck out eight while throwing a career-high 131 pitches.
Entering the ninth inning, the only base-runner Cobb had allowed was Senzel, who reached on an error in the third inning. The official scorer had initially ruled the play a hit but later reversed his decision.
Cobb’s performance came at a crucial time for the Giants (69-63), who pulled two games ahead of the Reds (68-66) in the race for the final wild card spot in the NL.
Catcher Patrick Bailey paced the San Francsico offence with a two-run homer in the third inning. He finished 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Leadoff man Austin Slater reached base three times and scored twice.
Steele gets 15th win, Cubs halt Brewers’ streak
Justin Steele struck out eight in six effective innings to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 1-0 win and help end the Milwaukee Brewers’ winning streak at nine games.
Steele (15-3) worked around six hits—all singles—and a walk to become the second pitcher in the majors to reach 15 wins this season. Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider got his 15th win on Friday.
Steele, a first-time All-Star this season, is 6-0 over his last eight starts and dropped his season ERA to 2.69.
After suffering a 6-2 loss Monday in the series opener, Tuesday’s win moved the Cubs (70-62) back to within four games of the Brewers (74-58) in the NL Central.
Chicago were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and plated their only run on a first-inning groundout by Cody Bellinger.
Corbin Burnes allowed one run and eight hits in seven strong innings for the Brewers but was saddled with the loss.
Mariners lose to lowly A’s as AL West race tightens
Seth Brown and Shea Langeliers went deep, and the MLB-worst Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners 3-1, knocking the M’s out of sole possession of first place in the AL West.
Seattle had won 12 of their previous 13 games and entered the night with a one-game division lead. The loss dropped the Mariners (75-57) into a tie atop the division with the Texas Rangers (75-57), who beat the New York Mets 2-1 on Tuesday, and the Houston Astros (76-58), who took down the Boston Red Sox 6-2.
The Mariners were without star outfielder Julio Rodriguez, who was scratched with a pinched nerve in his left foot. Pitcher George Kirby was also scratched from his start due to illness and was replaced by Luke Weaver.
Seattle batters managed just four hits but drew six walks. The Mariners were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.
Manchester City signed Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg, on this day in 2015.
City paid a then club-record fee, reported to be in the region of £54million, for a man who has been at the heart of what they have achieved since.
The 24-year-old, who arrived in the Premier League as Germany’s footballer of the year, signed an initial six-year contract to launch the latest, spectacularly-successful phase of his career.
Born in the Drongen district of Ghent, De Bruyne began his professional career at Genk and was a Belgian title-winner in 2010-11, prompting Chelsea to invest £6.7million in his services in January 2012, although he remained at his first club for the remainder of that campaign before joining Werder Bremen on a season-long loan deal.
The midfield schemer finally made his Blues debut in a 2-0 Premier League victory over Hull in August 2013, providing the assist for Oscar’s opening goal in an impressive display.
However, that proved to be one of only nine senior appearances for the club and he was sold to Wolfsburg in the January of the following year.
Speaking shortly before his £18million departure for the Bundesliga, then Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho said: “We know that Kevin didn’t adapt very well to the difficult life a Chelsea player has.”
If English football had proved testing for the blossoming Belgian, he found his feet in style in Germany and returned to the Premier League as one of the most promising talents in the world game when he arrived at the Etihad Stadium.
He said at the time: “I just want to win. I won two cups at Wolfsburg and I just want to keep on winning and I think here’s a good chance to win some titles with a team who have a lot of quality players.”
That has proved something of an understatement.
Since making his City debut as a substitute in a 1-0 league win at Crystal Palace on September 12, 2015, De Bruyne has helped the club win the Champions League, five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the League Cup on five occasions.
Twice named PFA footballer of the year, he has also been capped 99 times and scored 26 goals for Belgium, whom he has represented at three World Cup finals tournaments.
All six British players reached the second round at the US Open on a spectacular day for British tennis.
Andy Murray made it through after beating fiery Frenchman Corentin Moutet in straight sets.
The Scot was joined in round two by Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Jack Draper, Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage, making at a magnificent seven after Lily Miyazaki’s win on Monday.
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is through after Dominik Koepfer retired injured in the second set, while Venus Williams’ 24th US Open ended abruptly with a 6-1 6-1 defeat by Greet Minnen.
Here, the PA news agency looks back at day two at Flushing Meadows.
Pic of the day
Any chance Dominik Koepfer had of beating Carlos Alcaraz ended when he suffered an ankle injury.
Match of the day
Grigor Dimitrov, the 19th seed, came from two sets down and saved three match points, including two in a final-set tie-break, to beat Alex Molcan in a four-and-a-half hour marathon. His reward? A second-round meeting with Murray.
Stat of the dayQuote of the dayBungle of the day
A VAR system to check for incidents such as a double-bounce or hindrance has been introduced this year. But when it was used for the first time, when Moutet challenged a double-bounce call, it did not work properly and proved inconclusive, rather embarrassingly for organisers. Yellow card, surely?
Fallen seeds
Men: Karen Khachanov (11), Tallon Griekspoor (24), Ugo Humbert (29).
Women: Caroline Garcia (7), Donna Vekic (21).
Who’s up next?
Britain’s Lily Miyazaki faces a tough second-round assignment against the 15th seed and current Olympic champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
Carlos Alcaraz had mixed emotions after being gifted a route into the second round of the US Open because his opponent retired injured.
Dominik Koepfer rolled his ankle in the opening game of the match and needed a medical time out to have it heavily bandaged.
He valiantly carried on, at one point telling the chair umpire: “I’m trying not to retire after 20 minutes because of freaking 20,000 people in the stadium.”
But the 29-year-old was clearly in a lot of pain and called it a night with Alcaraz leading 6-2 3-2.
Defending champion Alcaraz said: “Obviously I want to play battles. I want to play the full matches. This is not the best way to win a match.
“But obviously, playing the night session, I’m happy to come back early, have some rest. Well, a little bit more than I expect before starting the match.
“It’s going to be better for me to recover into the next round.”
Alcaraz’s new sleeveless look drew more comparisons with his fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal and his US Open victory in 2019.
“I was thinking about Rafa when he wore that. He won that US Open, right?” added the 20-year-old.
“I love to wear that sometimes in some specific tournaments. Here in the US Open, I was supposed to play last year. This year it’s a good, good outfit, so I love it.”
Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 champion, dropped just two games as he rolled over 34-year-old Hungarian Attila Balazs.
Alexander Zverev, the runner-up in 2020, is also through to the second round with a straight-sets win over Australian Aleksandar Vukic.
Venus Williams’ 24th US Open was brought to an abrupt end inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night.
The two-time winner, handed a wild card at the age of 43, was beaten 6-1 6-1 in the first round by Belgian Greet Minnen.
The American said: “I have to give credit to my opponent, there wasn’t a shot she couldn’t make.
“I don’t think I played badly, it was just one of those days where I was unlucky.
“I was really happy to be here. I love playing here and I really gave it my all today.”
Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur had to overcome breathing difficulties to battle past Columbia’s Camila Osorio.
The Tunisian had her blood pressure checked at one point before securing a 7-5 7-6 (4) victory.
France’s Caroline Garcia, seeded seven, suffered a shock exit, 6-4 6-1, to world number 114 Wang Yafan of China.
Canadian Laylah Fernandez, the runner-up to Emma Raducanu two years ago, lost in three sets to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Phil Parkinson branded Bradford’s penalty a “nothing incident” as he expressed frustration at the officials in their Carabao Cup second-round exit but was pleased with his Wrexham players.
Tyler Smith’s spot-kick inside three minutes put Bradford ahead but Will Boyle’s header took the game to a shoot-out.
Mark Howard saved Dan Oyegoke’s effort, but Luke Young missed and Harry Lewis saved James Jones’s penalty as the Bantams won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Parkinson was frustrated with the decision to penalise Aaron Hayden’s challenge on Jamie Walker and doubted if referee Ben Speedie saw the incident.
He said: “For an absolutely nothing incident, the ref has given a penalty. He’s got four players in between him and the incident and he’s told me it was him who gave it, but there is absolutely no way he can see it so he’s clearly guessed.
“The linesman has got the best view of all and is mic’d up and is supposed to communicate and the officials are supposed to work as a team. I feel a little bit aggrieved by how that decision has come about, but we have to take it on the chin and we had to respond and I thought the lads responded really well.”
Bradford boss Mark Hughes said: “I think apart from one good save in the first half when Harry saved with his shins and the goal, we tried to keep that one out but it’s difficult with the big lads and we were lacking a little bit of size and weight tonight, but I thought the lads were excellent.
“In my view we fully deserved to win the game in normal time. Obviously you worry when you get to penalties because it can go either way but it was the right result.”
Leicester manager Enzo Maresca hailed the contribution of veteran striker Jamie Vardy as the Foxes continued their flying start to the season with a 2-0 Carabao Cup victory at Tranmere.
Second-half strikes from Wilfred Ndidi and former England international Vardy proved the difference as the Championship side ran out 2-0 victors against their League Two opponents.
It was a sixth win out of six for Leicester in all competitions this season and saw 36-year-old Vardy open his account for the campaign after returning to the starting line-up.
Maresca said: “I’m happy to continue in this competition and I’m happy for the players, especially the young players who don’t play every week.
“I’ve been really happy with Jamie Vardy because when a striker scores they are always happy for them as well as the team.
“He’s been performing well when he starts and as well when he’s been on the bench and his contribution has been amazing.”
The Foxes enjoyed large amounts of possession in the opening stages of the second-round clash at Prenton Park and had a number of chances to open the scoring with Harry Winks coming the closest after seven minutes.
But the 2016 Premier League champions did not have it all their own way with Rovers growing in confidence and, after defending resolutely for half an hour, created some decent openings through Dan Pike and Josh Hawkes.
The deadlock was finally broken nine minutes after the break when Ndidi’s effort from the right side of the box found its way into the net via both posts, and just four minutes later Vardy put the result beyond doubt with a close-range header from an Ndidi cross.
Further chances fell to the visitors as Rovers pushed forward with Vardy and Ndidi who were both foiled by Joe Murphy, a veteran of the meeting between these two in the final of this competition at Wembley 23-years ago.
Maresca added: “I was not happy at half-time so made some changes and we’ve played six games in around 20 days and we have one more to go before the international break.
“We’ve won six from six now and all the attention now turns to the game on Saturday before the international break when some of the players can conserve their energy.”
Despite the defeat, Tranmere manager Ian Dawes was keen to focus on the positives from the encounter.
He said: “We knew going into the game today that they don’t make many changes, they go really strong and the manager takes the competition seriously.
“We knew we had to get our defensive organisation right and we knew we needed to limit their chances on goal and push up as the game went on.
“We had to stifle the game a little bit, keep possession and then make opportunities ourselves and I thought we did that really well and it all went to plan and they probably scored the first goal when we were on top.
“We’ve got to be positive at the end of it, it still hurts getting beat and we obviously wanted to go through, but you’ve got to look at what they’ve got on the pitch.
“You look at their team and they’ve still got Premier League players in their team and taking things into context we can be nothing but positive and we have to take that into Saturday against Wrexham.”
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