Nick Kyrgios has dragged tennis into the gutter with his Wimbledon antics, according to Pat Cash.
According to Kyrgios' compatriot Cash, the Australian has taken the sport "to the lowest level" with his on-court behaviour in the first week of the tournament.
The 27-year-old beat fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (9-7) in an enthralling round-three tie on Saturday.
Tsitsipas accused his opponent of "constant bullying" after the ill-tempered clash, which was followed by a riposte as Kyrgios said the beaten Greek was "soft" and denied being a bully.
Kyrgios frustrated Tsitsipas by calling for him to be defaulted after the world number five narrowly missed a spectator when firing a ball into the crowd at the end of the second set.
The umpire was then labelled a "disgrace" during an extraordinary Kyrgios outburst, and his behaviour seemed to get under the skin of Tsitsipas, who was deducted a point for sending another ball towards the spectators before appearing to hit a couple of shots directly at his opponent's body.
Kyrgios has been a repeated critic of umpires and line judges, often appearing to show contempt to authority figures, and Cash – Wimbledon champion in 1987 – has had enough, calling out his countryman's conduct.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Cash said: "It was absolute mayhem. He's brought tennis to the lowest level I can see, as far as gamesmanship, cheating, manipulation, abuse, aggressive behaviour to umpires, to linesmen.
"He was lucky to even get through the first set, he should have been defaulted in about the first set. Something's got to be done about it. It's an absolute circus.
"Is it entertaining? Yeah, possibly. But it's gone to its absolute limit now."
Asked how he considered Kyrgios to be cheating, Cash said: "The gamesmanship, the stuff that he was doing. The abuse that he was giving Tsitsipas.
"Tsitsipas would make a line call and he'd go up there and he'd start complaining, he was in his face. That's a part of gamesmanship. That's the sort of stuff that he does and I think there's a limit."
Cash's criticism comes ahead of Kyrgios facing American Brandon Nakashima on Monday. That match has been given the prize billing of first up on Centre Court, despite neither man being seeded.
The tennis authorities may not approve of some of the behaviour, but they know there is a huge public fascination with the highly talented Kyrgios, which is why that match has such a prestigious slot. He is 40th in the ATP rankings, and 20-year-old Nakashima is 56th on the list.
Kyrgios is just one win away from matching his best run at Wimbledon, having reached the quarter-finals in 2014 with a win over Rafael Nadal before being beaten by Milos Raonic.
Yet Cash indicated the loudmouthed showman should face sanctions for his actions.
"I have no problem with a bit of gamesmanship, but when it gets to that level I think it's out of control, and it was," Cash said.
"The umpire had lost control, the ball kids were running across the court as Kyrgios was serving. He didn't slow down for any of that stuff.
"Tsitsipas got sucked right in, so it was entertaining, and it was fascinating, but for me it's gone too far now."
Dylan Groenewegen snatched victory from Wout van Aert on the finish line to bring a dramatic end to the Tour de France's three-stage stint in Denmark.
The caravan packs up and heads to France ahead of stage four on Tuesday, and much of Sunday's 182-kilometre race from Vejle to Sonderborg was calm and controlled.
Yet a crash with just under 10km to go that almost caught two-time champion Tadej Pogacar sparked a frantic conclusion.
Fabio Jakobsen, the sprint favourite who triumphed on Saturday, had another fantastic lead-out from Michael Morkov, yet the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider got caught in the pack.
Lotto Soudal's sprint hope Caleb Ewan was likewise frustrated as Peter Sagan took his line, and it looked as though he would compete with Van Aert, donning the yellow jersey after successive second-place finishes.
However, Groenewegen caught the pair cold, with a last-gasp lunge just nudging his front wheel across the line ahead of Van Aert, while Sagan was beaten to third by Jasper Philipsen.
Groenewegen has now won five stages at Le Tour, yet this one is perhaps the most meaningful, with the Dutchman having been banned for nine months in 2020 for causing a crash that left Jakobsen in a medically induced coma.
"I want to say thank you to my team and my family and friends for getting me back to the Tour in good shape. It's beautiful," said Groenewegen, who suffered a broken collar bone and needed facial reconstruction as a result of that collision at the 2020 Tour de Pologne, for which he subsequently apologised.
"Not physically a struggle, but mentally it was a hard time of course. This for my wife and my son, it means a lot to me."
Van Aert fails to find the funny side as Pogacar gets lucky
Having been pipped to the post by Jakobsen on Saturday, Team Jumbo-Visma rider Van Aert was frustrated by an even finer margin this time around, though can be consoled by the fact he retained the yellow jersey and has a 17-point lead in the points classification.
"It's not funny anymore," Van Aert quipped. "To finish second three days in a row!"
Pogacar will be looking to get the famous jersey off Van Aert later in the race as he hunts for his third straight Tour de France triumph, though the Slovenian was fortunate that he escaped the late crash. His back wheel was clipped, but he just managed to keep his balance.
STAGE RESULT
1. Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange–Jayco) 4:11:33
2. Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) same time
3. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) same time
4. Peter Sagan (Team TotalEnergies) same time
5. Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) same time
CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS
General Classification
1. Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) 9:01:17
2. Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +0:07
3. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +0:14
Points Classification
1. Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) 107
2. Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 90
3. Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange–Jayco) 60
King of the Mountains
1. Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education–EasyPost) 6
Several members of Jamaica’s history-making team to the 34th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship in Puerto Rico returned to the island with their trophies on Friday night.
The next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations will take place in January and February 2024, rather than between June and July 2023, according to CAF president Patrice Motsepe.
Africa's premier international tournament was due to be held in Ivory Coast during the European off-season next year, but the threat of heavy flooding in the country at that time of year means it will again take place midway through the club campaign.
Speaking in the Moroccan capital Rabat, where a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee was taking place, Motsepe said: "We cannot take the risk.
"January is not the ideal time because of the European clubs, but it is the only choice we have."
In 2017 CAF announced its intention to play the tournament at the end of the European club season.
However, this year's edition, won by Senegal in February, was twice rescheduled after being slated to start in both June 2021 and June 2022, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and adverse weather conditions in Cameroon.
The move is unlikely to be popular with several big-name club coaches, with Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp one high-profile critic of the decision to play the most recent tournament at the height of the European season.
CAF Secretary-General Veron Mosengo-Omba, however, insisted the contrasting weather conditions across the continent meant a permanent switch to a January-February tournament was not on the cards.
CAF also announced the creation of an African Super League on Sunday, with the first edition of the 24-team tournament, which will run alongside the African Champions League, slated to begin in August 2023.
Surprise Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tatjana Maria joined an illustrious list of greats after defeating Jelena Ostapenko on Sunday.
Maria, a mother of two, returned from maternity leave under a year ago and came back from a set down to triumph 5-7 7-5 7-5 against the 2017 French Open champion.
That sent the 34-year-old into the first grand slam quarter-final of her career.
With that achievement, the German matched a feat only six women had previously managed, as she became the seventh woman in the Open Era to reach the last eight of a major after turning 34.
World number 103 Maria, who salvaged two match points in the second set, joins the great Billie Jean King, Virginia Wade, Chris Evert, nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams and Venus Williams on that distinguished list.
Ostapenko was in a foul mood after seeing the match slip from her grasp, and received a frosty reception as she made her way off court.
It could take nothing away from a special day for Maria, who said in her on-court interview: "Oh my God, it makes me so proud to be a mum.
"That's the best thing in the world, I love to be a mum, I love my two kids. To be able to do this together, we practiced this morning with my daughter.
"Everybody has been so nice, supporting us and believing in me and our family, it makes it really special."
Next up for Maria is compatriot Jule Niemeier, who defeated Britain's Heather Watson in straight sets.
George Russell has explained Mercedes' protest after they were unable to restart the British Grand Prix following a red flag after a "unique scenario" on the opening lap.
The British driver collided with Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu in a huge collision heading into the first corner, which left Zhou's car skidding off upside down into the barrier.
Zhou was retrieved from the vehicle and eventually stretchered away. It was later confirmed that the Chinese driver was conscious, with the incident leading to a delay of almost an hour as the barrier was repaired after the crash.
Zhou, Williams' Alex Albon and Russell were all unable to take to the grid however, though Mercedes tried to protest with the FIA by arguing that Russell had only exited his car in order to check on Zhou.
"I jumped out of the car to see if he was okay, I saw it was red flagged. When I came back to the car, I couldn't get it started, so I ran down to the team to check, I told the marshals to leave it but when I got back the car was on the back of the flatbed," he explained to Sky Sports F1.
"Apparently when you get assistance, you can't restart. The car just had the puncture and there was no doubt that we had the pace to come back to P6 today.
"We were trying but the FIA were pretty adamant, it's one of those unique scenarios I guess. I can't really think about it too much at the moment."
Russell's collision with Zhou came after a bold decision from Mercedes to start on the hard-compound tyre, which he conceded was ultimately not the right call.
"Ultimately, we took a risk starting on the hard because I made a mistake in qualifying, we started out of position and we thought the risk gave us the best opportunity later in the race but there was no grip on the hardest compound, it's cold out there, I got swamped by all the cars," he said.
Alfa Romeo have confirmed Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu is "conscious" and receiving medical checks following a horror crash in the opening lap of the British Grand Prix.
The red flag incident occurred after Mercedes driver George Russell was tapped by Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly, then colliding with Zhou and resulting in the Alfa Romeo being flipped.
Zhou's car remained flipped as the Alfa Romeo travelled across the run-off area and over the Armco barrier, then colliding with the fence in front of the grandstand.
Concern rose as there was no word from the team on the driver's condition, with a delay while he waited to be removed from the car, but thankfully it was later confirmed that he was ok.
Posting on Twitter, Alfa Romeo wrote: "Following a crash at the start of the British Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu is conscious and now at the circuit's medical centre to undergo evaluation."
The incident also left Russell and Williams' Alex Albon retired from the race, though the former tried to argue with the FIA to be allowed to restart as he stopped to check on Zhou after the crash.
Zhou is in his first year in Formula 1 and has picked up five points for Alfa Romeo this season.
Martina Navratilova said she was "gutted" to miss Wimbledon's Centre Court centenary celebration after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
The nine-time champion was absent from a parade of champions, and in a series of posts on social media she explained why she had to sit it out.
Past winners were introduced to the main show court's middle Sunday crowd, with the one-time champions going first, all the way through to eight-time Wimbledon king Roger Federer.
Navratilova would have come out last of all, as the most successful singles player in Wimbledon history, but she was unable to take part. Including doubles, Navratilova won 20 slam titles at Wimbledon.
"Unfortunately I will miss it as I just tested positive this morning," she wrote on Twitter shortly before the ceremony. "Am so bummed!!!! I am gutted I can't be there."
Confirming she had the coronavirus, Navratilova wrote: "Yup, got it here for sure… oh well. So wanted to be on that court with so many champions of our sport."
Asked how she was feeling, the 65-year-old Czech-born American added: "Not too bad so far- wouldn't want to play tennis but ok… fingers crossed."
A host of greats of the game delighted the crowd, with stars of the women's tour including Navratilova's former great rivals Chris Evert and Billie Jean King, along with Margaret Court and Venus Williams, while Federer was joined by a field of fellow men's superstars that included Rod Laver, Novak Djokovic, Stefan Edberg, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.
Three-time former champion Boris Becker was another notable absentee, after the German was jailed in April for offences relating to his 2017 bankruptcy. Seven-time winner Serena Williams also missed the event, after her first-round defeat.
Navratilova has been working at Wimbledon during the championships, notably appearing as a member of the BBC broadcast team.
Roger Federer hopes he can grace Centre Court at Wimbledon one last time as he bids to return from the knee injury he suffered last year.
The 20-time grand slam champion has not played since undergoing knee surgery after a straight-sets defeat to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals at SW19 last July, having also missed much of the 2020 season with a similar injury.
But Federer, an eight-time Wimbledon champion, has repeatedly ruled out retiring and said last month he intends to make an ATP tour comeback in 2023.
Speaking alongside a swathe of former Wimbledon champions at a ceremony marking 100 years since the opening of Centre Court, the 40-year-old said he hopes to extend his long association with the tournament when he returns.
"I've been lucky enough to play a lot of matches on this court, it feels awkward to be here today in a different type of role, but it's great to be here with all the other champions," he said.
"This court has given me my biggest wins, my biggest losses, one of my highlights of course was in 2001, walking out here with Pete Sampras [for a memorable fourth-round match], who inspired a lot of us to play, to try to be successful and represent the sport well, I hope I did that.
"I hope I can come back like you said, one more time."
Federer's injury woes have reduced him to featuring at just three of the last 10 grand slams, and he revealed his recovery had taken longer than he anticipated.
"Of course, I've missed being here, I would have loved to be here," he added.
"I knew walking out here last year [after his exit] it was going to be a tough year ahead.
"Maybe I didn't think it was going to take me this long to come back, but the knee has been rough on me.
"But I've been happy, it's been a good year, regardless of tennis."
Gian Piero Gasperini has revealed he was ready to leave Atalanta at the end of last season, but decided to remain in Bergamo due to his respect for the club's owners and love for the fans.
Gasperini took charge of Atalanta in 2016, with the club having posted five consecutive bottom-half Serie A finishes.
The former Inter boss immediately oversaw a dramatic transformation in the club's fortunes, implementing a relentless attacking style while securing fourth place in his first season at the helm, before leading them to three consecutive third-place finishes between 2018-19 and 2020-21.
Atalanta scored a staggering 188 league goals across the latter two of those campaigns, also reaching the Champions League knockout stages in both seasons.
But their momentum stalled last season as they finished eighth in Serie A, leading to speculation 64-year-old Gasperini could depart.
Gasperini said he was unsure of his future in May, but has now confirmed his desire to remain in Bergamo and build a new "young and strong" team.
"With [Atalanta president Antonio] Percassi there is a relationship of esteem and gratitude. I told him, 'maybe I'm the one who has to go away', but he absolutely didn't want it," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Now the momentum to start again is with us. If I am still here, it is because of the strong bond with the city.
"I perceived the demand of the people strongly and this conditioned me, because I was really ready to leave, if the club had wanted me to.
"Atalanta will be young and strong. I stayed for the people. There is a desire for revenge.
"We are not big, we are working to become big. In the meantime, we will fight, we will have fun."
Gasperini's men were hampered by the unavailability of strike duo Duvan Zapata and Josip Ilicic for long periods last season, as the two forwards hit just 13 league goals between them and managed only 1,732 and 836 minutes of Serie A football respectively.
And he believes the club's failure to invest heavily in the transfer market after benefiting from Champions League revenue exacerbated their issues.
"New energies would have helped us," he added. "We have had some important sales, substantial revenues from the Champions League, but we have remained very static, especially up front.
"In the last two years, with the resources available, it was the right time to introduce a new champion like [now-Sevilla attacker Alejandro] Gomez and Ilicic. Other profiles have arrived.
"What I asked for was not done and we found ourselves on the edge."
Gasperini's seventh Serie A season with Atalanta will begin with a trip to Sampdoria on August 13, before they host champions Milan eight days later.
George Russell wants to better Lewis Hamilton this season, but the Mercedes man claimed he will not view his Formula One campaign as a success if he does so.
The Mercedes pair have failed to match the pace of rivals Red Bull and Ferrari this year, effectively confirming an end to the team's monopoly on the Constructors' Championship.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton in particular has struggled after his controversial last-gasp title loss to Max Verstappen last year, who is on course to defend his title.
That has led to questions over whether Russell is emerging as Mercedes' nominal first-choice driver, with the 24-year-old having nabbed three podiums to Hamilton's two so far in 2022.
But Russell will not view beating his team-mate as the bar for success.
"Obviously, I want to beat my teammate and I’m not going to take offence if he says the same," he told The Guardian ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
"But I would not see my season as a success purely because I've finished ahead of him more times than he had finished ahead of me.
"I would see it as a success if I was standing at the top step of the podium."
Russell grew up idolising Hamilton, who has been one of the sport's dominant forces since he broke through in 2007, and the Briton has nothing but respect for his team-mate.
However, the nature of their competition makes it difficult to form a friendship that would not get in the way, much in the sense Hamilton's bond with former Mercedes rival Nico Rosberg deteriorated amid a testy title tussle.
"I guess if you took an average look across F1 team-mates, that is probably the case," Russell added.
"There are a lot of people who get along in this paddock but overall, we are all fierce rivals. We are all here to be competitive and to try and win. You are in a battle."
Hamilton will start fifth on the grid at Silverstone, while Russell had to settle for eighth in qualifying.
Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere harbours no ill-will towards Christophe Galtier, who he hopes the best for at Paris Saint-Germain.
Galtier left Nice on June 27 and is expected to replace Mauricio Pochettino at PSG.
The former Lille coach enjoyed a fine start to his single season in the south of France, with Nice flying high in Ligue 1 and embarking on a run to the Coupe de France final, beating PSG en route.
However, Nice were unable to keep up their push for Champions League qualification and ultimately had to settle for fifth place, while they were defeated 1-0 by Nantes in the Coupe de France final in May.
Nevertheless, Rivere is happy that Galtier has the chance to coach a star-studded PSG team, and believes the impending move suits all parties.
He told L'Equipe: "I am very happy that Christophe has the opportunity to coach PSG and I will always keep a watchful eye on him.
"This alignment of the planets is good for everyone."
Galtier did not reportedly see eye to eye with Nice sporting director Julien Fournier, and Rivere conceded there were issues at the club.
"There were these tensions that should not have been expressed in the press," he added.
"It may seem very confusing, but we analysed the situation calmly and I was able to explain my strategy to [INEOS director of sport] Dave [Brailsford].
"Nice must project itself with an offensive style, from the training centre to the first team. The pleasure we had at one time has been lost over the last three years."
Lucien Favre, who enjoyed success at Nice between 2016 and 2018, has been appointed as Galtier's successor.
Marcus Rashford believes enjoying a full pre-season will allow him to rediscover his form under new Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, saying he is "ready and focused" ahead of the new Premier League season.
Rashford endured a poor campaign in 2021-22, scoring just four goals in 25 league appearances as United finished sixth and posted their worst-ever Premier League points tally (58).
Having only played 1,232 minutes of Premier League football, Rashford was left out of Gareth Southgate's England squad for June's Nations League fixtures.
The Three Lions boss also claimed Rashford, as well as club team-mate Jadon Sancho, had "a lot to do" to make England's squad for the World Cup later this year after struggling on the domestic stage.
But after featuring in England's Euro 2020 party last year and missing out on a full pre-season ahead of the Coronavirus-affected 2020-21 campaign, Rashford is relishing his time training under Ten Hag.
"I have definitely not had that much rest before in a summer break, so it was a little bit strange at first and I had to adjust my program a little bit, make it a little bit longer, so I could come in with a positive look on everything," he told the club's website.
"We are excited to go away [on tour] now. You feel every day now you are getting that one step sharper and one step fitter to being ready for the season.
"I don't think I have had a proper pre-season since 2019 so for me it is definitely a positive thing.
"I feel like I probably needed that time to switch off a little bit and me having that time enabled me to refocus a lot earlier than I expected, to be honest.
"Like I say, I feel ready and focused so when that first game does come, it's good to know you have done almost six weeks of training beforehand. It will definitely be a positive."
United endured a dire campaign last term as their major trophy drought was extended to five years, with caretaker boss Ralf Rangnick posting the worst points-per-game return (1.5) and win percentage (42 per cent) of any manager in the club's Premier League history.
But with Ten Hag at the helm, Rashford says there is a newfound excitement among the United squad.
"We have got that feeling of excitement and that buzz around the training ground again and so it is definitely positive going into pre-season," he added.
"It is just about, one, getting the principles right of how Erik wants us to play and the details, and two, enjoying it.
"In the first week of training we have done both and everyone is looking forward to going on the tour and putting what we have done in training into the first games.
"It is a fresh start for everyone, and for me personally I have had quite a long break, a nice camp before coming back into training, and we are starting off on the right foot.
"Like I said, everyone is looking forward to pre-season now and going out to try to put into the games what we have learned in training so far, and what we will continue to learn, not only in the pre-season but throughout the season as well."
United will face the likes of Liverpool and Atletico Madrid in high-profile friendlies before beginning their Premier League season against Brighton and Hove Albion on August 7.
Fabio Carvalho believes he has joined potentially the biggest club in the world in Liverpool, having completed his move from Fulham.
Liverpool announced they had agreed a deal to sign the Portugal youth international in May after failing to acquire him in a late deadline day swoop in January, though only unveiled him officially on Sunday.
Carvalho scored 10 goals and recorded eight assists as Fulham won the Championship title last season, starring in a side that scored 106 league goals, becoming the first second-tier team to bring up a century of strikes since Manchester City reached 108 in 2001-02.
The 19-year-old is one of three new signings made by Liverpool during the off-season as they aim to build on last season's EFL Cup and FA Cup double, alongside striker Darwin Nunez and full-back Calvin Ramsey.
After making his long-awaited move to Anfield official, Carvalho is aiming to achieve "big things" with Jurgen Klopp's side.
"It's just an amazing feeling to be here at one of the biggest clubs in the world, if not the biggest. So, I'm just happy to be here, and I can't wait to get started," Carvalho told the club's official website.
"Once you hear that Liverpool are interested, there's only one thought in your mind, which is to join them and try to be in the team. Hopefully I can achieve big things.
"I spoke with everyone, and the manager, and it just felt so natural. When things become natural it's just so much easier to make a decision."
Carvalho also believes his experience of playing in a free-scoring Fulham team will serve him well at Liverpool.
"Marco Silva, the way he plays football and made us play football, is more like attacking football and getting goals, which is similar to how Liverpool play, which is to score goals and dominate games," he added.
"That's what I'm here to do, to be able to help the team with my assists, creativity and goals. I'm looking forward to it."
Carvalho could face his old club on his league debut for the Reds, as Liverpool travel to Craven Cottage for their Premier League opener on August 6.
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