It is nothing new for there to be uncertainty over what to expect for a British and Irish Lions touring party but the class of 2021 are well and truly stepping into the unknown.
Typically all the talk is over selection. Who starts at number 10? What will the make-up of the pack be, who gets the nod as the centre pairing or which wingers will be unleashed in the first Test?
Of course those questions are still to be answered, but when the Lions arrived in Johannesburg on Monday they were not only facing the challenge of trying to secure a starting berth.
A big surge in coronavirus cases has seen South Africa move into a 'level four' lockdown, with travel restrictions, an alcohol ban and an overnight curfew.
As the Lions were preparing to fly out on Sunday, it emerged that Springboks trio Herschel Jantjies, Vincent Koch and Sbu Nkosi had tested positive for COVID-19 - forcing training to be cancelled and the squad going into isolation.
They have since been given the green light to train and are set to face Georgia at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Friday in their first Test since beating England in the 2019 World Cup final.
A lot of water has gone under the bridge since the drinks flowed as South Africa celebrated lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan and they have a new head coach in Jacques Nienaber.
The world champions have also faced uncertainty, with the possibility of the Lions having home advantage or the series being staged in a neutral country before it was confirmed South Africa will host the tour.
While South Africa know they will not be entering the Lions den, Warren Gatland and his touring party are not certain where they might be heading just under a month before the first Test in Cape Town on July 24.
They are set to face a namesake in the Johannesburg-based Lions side, twice runners-up in Super Rugby, on Saturday as one the first of five matches in Gauteng but it is reported they could make further changes to the schedule.
The COVID situation has led to suggestions the entire three-match Test series could be played in Cape Town, with alternations to the fixtures having already been made last month.
Hostile crowds usually await the Lions, but they are set to face the might of the Springboks behind closed doors without an army of travelling fans to roar them on.
They must also go into battle without inspirational leader Alun Wyn Jones, ruled out due to a dislocated shoulder in the win over Japan at Murrayfield along with Wales team-mate Justin Tipuric.
A strong camaraderie will be needed more than ever, with Conor Murray promoted to skipper the side in the absence of stalwart Jones.
But there will be a lack of nights out as they are restricted to bonding in the bubble.
Gatland's men drew 1-1 with then-world champions New Zealand four years ago and can make it three series without defeat next month - a streak that has not been achieved since 1959.
They have the same head coach and key men who starred against the All Blacks, combined with exciting new faces such as South Africa-born wing Duhan van der Merwe and Louis Rees-Zammit.
Gatland may be unsure what challenges the Lions will face on and off the field before the opening Test but the wily New Zealander knows will know what to expect from a formidable South Africa side.
There was disappointment but no regret for the Los Angeles Clippers after their season came to an end Wednesday.
Though head coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged there was a sense of "shock" in his locker room following a 130-103 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, he and his players were proud of what they accomplished.
After rallying from 0-2 deficits to win their first two series against the Dallas Mavericks and the Utah Jazz, the Clippers could not do the same against the Suns with injured star Kawhi Leonard sitting out the entire series.
Despite falling short of winning their first championship, they took solace in completing the franchise's deepest postseason run.
"I'm proud of our guys," Lue told reporters. "We've been through a lot this season, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of injuries, but our guys stayed the course.
"We did something special this year. Even though we didn't complete what we wanted to complete, I thought we did a great job of doing something special, doing something this franchise has never done before.
"Like I told those guys in the locker room, I love those guys and I'd go to war with them any time. I'm just proud of them. Even though we came up short, it was a great run, despite everything we had to go through."
Atop that list in the playoffs was the loss of Leonard, the two-time NBA champion who was averaging 30.4 points per game in the playoffs when he went down with a knee injury in Game 4 of the Jazz series.
Leonard missed all eight of the Clippers' remaining games, leaving the burden of carrying the team to Paul George.
"I thought this team squeezed everything we could out of what we had," George said. "We squeezed everything out of one another and I thought we got stronger and better as the season went on."
Proud as George was, the 31-year-old once again missed out on making his first trip to the NBA Finals.
"It is what it is -- I came up short again," he said.
"I wasn't out to prove nothing to nobody, but to show up as a leader for this team, put us in a position to get to where we got to. Came up short. Our good wasn't enough."
Though the odds certainly were stacked against them late given Leonard's absence, Lue said there was an air of disbelief their their season was actually finished.
"I think it's a shock to a lot of guys in that locker room, and that tells you a lot about the team," he said.
"No matter who's playing, we still feel like every night we have a chance to win. I thought we ran out of gas."
Chris Paul says he never stopped believing he would make the NBA Finals after finally achieving the feat with the Phoenix Suns in his 13th playoffs campaign.
The Suns will play for the NBA title after sealing a 4-2 Western Conference Finals series win over the Los Angeles Clippers with a 130-103 road victory on Wednesday.
Paul scored a playoffs career-high 41 points for the Suns, including a run of 14 of his side's 16 points after the Clippers closed within seven late in the third quarter.
The 36-year-old point guard will now realise his long-held dream of playing in the NBA Finals after previously narrowly missing out with the Clippers and the Houston Rockets, the latter when his side were 3-2 up in the Conference finals and he went down injured.
"No, I ain't built like that," Paul said when asked at the post-game news conference if he ever thought making the NBA Finals would not happen for him.
"It's just, 'get to work'. In Game 3, I found out I'd tore some ligaments in my hand and I thought 'here we go'... I've got an unbelievable team around me."
Paul missed the first two games of the Clippers series after entering into the league's health and safety protocol having tested positive to COVID-19.
The veteran also battled a shoulder complaint in the Suns' first-round playoffs series against the Los Angeles Lakers and he revealed he had undergone an MRI on his wrist on Tuesday ahead of Game 6.
"It's been a lot," he said. "I was getting an MRI yesterday on my wrist. I've had all these surgeries over the years.
"I remember in Houston, we were up 3-2 and we had the T-shirt and hat and I never got a chance to get it. I'll never forget that."
He added: "I've been on the other end of so many losses. I know what that feels like."
Paul shot seven-from-eight three-pointers among his 41 points, while he also had four rebounds, eight assists and three steals in a memorable playoffs performance.
Paul's 31 second-half points are a career-high, while it was tied for third-most second-half points in a series-clinching win since 1996-97 behind Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis.
He also moved up to 11th on the all-time NBA playoffs assists list but preferred to focus on his team.
"I was just happy and proud of our team," he said. "Mont [Suns coach Monty Williams], not winning coach of the year, but we know who he is.
"I experienced COVID, just a week ago. I was at home and couldn’t be there with my teammates. That's what you call next man up. They won two games in the series without me. It just shows you how crazy it is.
"In the first series, I got this nerve thing. Won the second series and end up with the COVID. It's been a lot. I want it, not just for myself, but for everyone in that locker room."
The Atlanta Braves have under-achieved all season, but they unleashed some frustration on Wednesday in a 20-2 demolition of the New York Mets.
After falling behind immediately on Pete Alonso's two-run homer in the top of the first inning, the Braves tied it up in the bottom half on a Ronald Acuna Jr. home run and an Ozzie Albies single and never looked back.
The game turned into a runaway in the fourth, when Atlanta sent 12 men to the plate and scored seven times to take an 11-2 lead.
The Braves tacked on six more in the eighth, capped by Albies' second home run of the night and 15th of the season.
It was the 17th time Acuna and Albies have homered in the same game, which is the most all-time by team-mates 24 or younger according to Stats Perform.
Impressive as Atlanta's offensive outburst was, this was not their largest margin of victory this season, but this game and the Braves' 20-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 21 make them the first National League team to win multiple games by at least 18 runs in a season since the 1901 Brooklyn Superbas.
Angels stun Yankees with late rally
Shohei Ohtani's highly anticipated first start on the mound at Yankee Stadium did not go according to plan, as New York drove the Los Angeles Angels star from the game with seven first-inning runs. But Ohtani's team-mates waited out a two-hour, 13-minute rain delay, then scored seven runs in the top of the ninth after Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded to claim a stunning 11-8 victory with Jared Walsh's game-tying grand slam the big blow.
Trent Grisham had two homers, including a grand slam, and Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his 26th of the season as the San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-5 in a rain-shortened game.
The Detroit Tigers swept a doubleheader from the Indians in Cleveland for the first time since September 1977 as Miguel Cabrera capped off the second game with his 494th career home run, moving him into 28th on the all-time list.
Cubs collapse quickly after hot start
The Chicago Cubs scored seven runs in the top of the first inning but trailed 14-7 by the end of the fourth in a 15-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. According to Stats Perform, it's the first time in MLB's modern era (since 1900) that both teams have held leads of at least seven runs in the first four innings of a game.
The Houston Astros saw their American League (AL) West lead cut to a half-game after falling 5-2 to complete a three-game sweep at home by the Baltimore Orioles, who still have the worst record in the AL.
Turner's happy birthday
Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals celebrated his 28th birthday in style, collecting a single, double, home run and triple in the first six innings of a 15-6 defeat of the Tampa Bay Rays to hit for the cycle for the third time in his career. He is the fifth player in MLB history to do that, joining John Reilley, Bob Meusel, Babe Herman and Adrian Beltre.
Wednesday's results
Los Angeles Angels 11-8 New York Yankees
Detroit Tigers 9-4 Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers 7-1 Cleveland Indians
Miami Marlins 11-6 Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals 15-6 Tampa Bay Rays
Seattle Mariners 9-7 Toronto Blue Jays
Boston Red Sox 6-2 Kansas City Royals
San Diego Padres 7-5 Cincinnati Reds
Atlanta Braves 20-2 New York Mets
Baltimore Orioles 5-2 Houston Astros
Milwaukee Brewers 15-7 Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox 13-3 Minnesota Twins
St Louis Cardinals 7-4 Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies 6-2 Pittsburgh Pirates
Oakland Athletics 3-1 Texas Rangers
Mets at Braves
The New York Mets (41-35) are not likely to surrender 20 runs again with Jacob deGrom on the mound as they face Ian Anderson and the Braves (38-41) in Atlanta.
The Tampa Bay Lightning acknowledged they were not at their best in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, with one critical exception.
Another brilliant showing from goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy bought Tampa Bay enough space to scratch out a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Amalie Arena and take a 2-0 series lead.
While the Canadiens dominated the flow of play and were the more aggressive team throughout, putting 43 shots on goal to Tampa Bay's 23, the Lightning had the decisive advantage.
“Thankfully, there was one guy that had his level where it needed to be," Lightning veteran Ryan McDonagh said of Vasilevskiy.
Tampa Bay's netminder was beaten only on Nick Suzuki's power-play goal midway through the second period.
He has stopped 60 of Montreal's 62 shots through the first two games and has defeated the Canadiens 10 straight times, but said he found success by keeping his mind clear.
"I'm trying not to think much during the games," Vasilevskiy said. "Whatever happens, win or lose, I'm just trying to go out there and play my best game, and now we’re up two games.
"It doesn’t matter -- up two games, down two games, it’s the same routine, same compete level.”
The 26-year-old Russian has been so good that it was jarring to see Suzuki's shot scoot past him and level the score after Anthony Cirelli had given Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead four minutes earlier.
The moment that turned the game the Lightning's way, though, came in the closing seconds of that second period, when Barclay Goodrow stole the puck at center ice and delivered it to Blake Coleman, who managed to get a shot off with one arm while diving through the air.
It got past Carey Price with 1.1 seconds remaining to send the Tampa crowd into a frenzy and give the Lightning a lead they would not relinquish.
"It's definitely something you don't want to do, give up goals in the first or last minute of periods," said Canadiens captain Shea Weber.
Despite that frustrating setback, Weber and his team will return to Montreal for Friday's Game 3 knowing they played better overall than in their 5-1 defeat to open the series.
"I thought we played a pretty solid game all around, to be honest," Weber said.
"We did make a couple mistakes that obviously hurt us. They're an opportunistic team that make you pay, but we probably deserved a little bit better tonight."
The Phoenix Suns and Chris Paul have ended their respective long waits for NBA Finals appearances after a 130-103 win over the Los Angeles Clippers sealed their spot on Wednesday.
The Suns clinched the Western Conference Finals series 4-2, rounding out the triumph with an outstanding road win, with Phoenix back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 28 years.
Suns' 36-year-old point guard Paul was exceptional with 41 points as he progresses to the NBA Finals for the first time in his career, after 13 playoffs campaigns.
Paul hit seven-from-eight three-pointers in a masterful shooting display, going at 66.7 per cent from the field, as well as eight assists, four rebounds and three steals with no turnovers.
Devin Booker contributed with 22 points, four assists and seven rebounds, Deandre Ayton had 17 rebounds along with 16 points, while Jae Crowder hit five three-pointers in his 19 points.
Phoenix are crowned Western Conference champions having gone 12-4 in the postseason, including 6-2 on the road, clinching all three series away.
The Suns become the first team in history to reach the NBA Finals having not made the playoffs in 10 or more years prior.
The Clippers could not muster one more memorable comeback after some dramatic performances this postseason, closing within seven points late in the third before Paul showed irrepressible poise.
Paul George managed 21 points with nine rebounds for the Clippers, while Marcus Morris Sr scored 26 points and had nine rebounds.
Patrick Beverley was ejected in the fourth quarter for a push on Paul as reality set in for LA, who were behind for the most part of Wednesday's Game 6.
Paul's shooting was clearly on early as the Suns opened up a 10-point half-time lead, with Phoenix shooting at 58.8 per cent from beyond the arc in the first half.
The Clippers had a 10-0 run to close within seven points late in the third quarter as the home crowd erupted after Nicolas Batum's three-pointer.
But Paul steadied for Phoenix with a long-range bucket immediately after the timeout, opening it up to 14 points at the final change and they would not relent, with the Suns veteran adding 17 fourth-quarter points.
Hawks at Bucks
Star pair Trae Young and Giannis Antetokounmpo are both likely to be out for the crucial Game 5 as the Milwaukee Bucks host the Atlanta Hawks with the series at 2-2.
Diego Lainez dazzled as Mexico returned to winning ways ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Panama in an international friendly in Nashville on Wednesday.
The Real Betis midfielder opened the scoring in the 21st minute for El Tri, before defender Cesar Montes' 57th-minute header made it 2-0.
Henry Martin worked a sublime one-two before a cool finish in second-half stoppage time to round out a strong win.
Mexico had lost last month's CONCACAF Nations League final on penalties to the United States, before a goalless friendly draw with Honduras.
Gerardo Martino's side made light work on Panama, who are currently ranked 78th in the world, ahead of the Gold Cup to be played in the US this month.
Montes hit the crossbar with an 18th minute header from a corner, but Lainez put them ahead three minutes.
Lainez raced onto a lofted diagonal ball from Luis Romo in acres of space, taking his time to slot on his left past Panama goalkeeper Jose Calderon.
Panama's Eric Davis fired a free-kick off target before Montes won another header from a corner which Calderon comfortably saved.
Montes made his next chance count, heading in from Alexis Vega's 57th-minute corner.
Mexico had a goal disallowed for offside when Jesus Ricardo Angulo squared for Uriel Antuna before Martin put the icing on the cake.
Youri Tielemans has identified what makes absent Belgium teammate Kevin De Bruyne such a "special player" ahead of their Euro 2020 quarterfinal against Italy on Friday.
Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez declared that Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne will miss the quarter after sustaining an ankle knock in their last-16 win over Portugal. De Bruyne was also absent from training on Wednesday.
De Bruyne, who missed Belgium's opening 3-0 win over Russia with a facial injury, has scored one goal and provided two assists during Euro 2020, helping the Red Devils win all four games, meaning Martinez has a difficult job replacing him.
"Kevin is a special player because in my opinion, he always makes the right decision, even if you think he misplaces a pass, it’s not," Tielemans said during a news conference ahead of the quarterfinals.
"Always does something in his mind, always makes the right decision, very efficient, has a lot of assists or goals, that helps our team a lot."
He added: "As a team we have to create more options on the ball, move more, and make the right choices.
"Maybe we were under pressure a little bit, second half against Portugal, they had a lot of offensive options on the pitch, made it difficult for us to get out of there, as a team we have to find those solutions."
De Bruyne was replaced early in the second half against Portugal due to injury, before Belgium survived a barrage of pressure, with the 2016 European champions ending with 23-6 shots.
Belgium, who finished third at the 2018 World Cup and lost in the quarters at the 2016 Euros, ground out the win in a sign of maturity according to Tielemans.
"We learnt lessons from 2018, we’re more realistic, we play nice football, certain matches we have a lot of possession, create chances," the Leicester City midfielder said.
"Like you saw against Portugal there’s moments you have to suffer as a team, you might not get many opportunities, you have to score them, that’s where we learned from Russia, to be efficient, decisive in the right moment, when we have an opportunity to score we remember that from 2018."
Forward Dries Mertens is one candidate to come into the Belgium XI to replace De Bruyne against Italy, having replaced him against Portugal.
Mertens plays his club football with Napoli in Serie A, and added that quarterfinal opponents Italy appeared full of confidence.
"I’ve seen they have a lot more confidence now, they’ve played many matches and won a lot without giving goals away," he said.
"It gives confidence, experienced players but also young players, the way they celebrate when they win, many people didn’t expect that, it gives them a lot of confidence."
The 34-year-old also added there was no thought about Euro 2020 being his or this generation of Belgian players' last chance to win a trophy.
"No, not really," he said. "We do need to be realistic, realise we’re here now, we have a chance, you don’t get chances with a national team to win, every two years you have one chance to win one trophy, its very little.
"We’ve been doing well for a few years now, this is a chance we need to take, we have great facilities, we have great staff, people who know where we want to go.
"Those are important moments, I believe in the future of the Belgium team. This is a chance we have to take."
LeBron James' days of representing his country in the Olympics likely are finished.
Jerry Colangelo, long-time USA Basketball managing director, told ESPN he does not expect the Los Angeles Lakers star to compete in the Games again.
James opted out of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics after skipping Rio five years ago.
He will be 39-years-old for the next Summer Games in Paris, and Colangelo said he does not expect the NBA legend to return to international duty.
"You know, Father Time takes its toll," Colangelo told ESPN on Wednesday. "If you're a human being, your body is built to go so long depending on what your sport is, and then it's a downhill situation.
"LeBron made choices these last couple of Olympics not to participate because he's got a lot of things going on in his life.
"So he put in his time, he made a contribution that is appreciated, but I think his time is over."
James previously helped Team USA to gold medals in the London and Beijing Olympics and bronze in Athens.
With James and numerous other NBA stars skipping the Games this summer, head coach Gregg Popovich's 12-player squad for Tokyo will feature only three returning Olympians: Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Kevin Love.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo will be listed as doubtful for Thursday's Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals series against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Bucks said an MRI exam performed Wednesday confirmed the initial diagnosis that Antetokounmpo sustained a hyperextended left knee in Milwaukee's 110-88 defeat on Tuesday that tied the series at 2-2.
Antetokounmpo landed awkwardly on his left leg with just over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter in Atlanta, where he jumped up to contest an alley-oop from John Collins to Clint Capela, but his knee buckled before hobbling to the locker room.
Antetokounmpo has started all 15 of Milwaukee's playoff games this season, averaging 28.2 points and an NBA-best 12.7 rebounds in 37.4 minutes per game.
Atlanta star Trae Young's status for Game 5 is unclear after he missed the previous contest with a bone bruise in his right foot, leaving open the possibility that the two transcendent players in the series could be absent for the pivotal game.
"It's not good," Bucks veteran P.J. Tucker told reporters after Tuesday's game. "But this is the Eastern Conference Finals. There is no excuse. It doesn't matter whoever is playing, not playing.
"They've got guys hurt. Everybody is hurt. Everybody is banged up. Everybody is injured. You've got to fight through it."
Andy Murray reveled in a raucous Centre Court atmosphere after he fought back to keep himself in Wimbledon contention.
Murray had to defy the odds once more to overcome qualifier Oscar Otte 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-2 in a thrilling contest which lasted almost four hours.
Having led by a set and a break, Murray squandered his advantage to Wimbledon debutant Otte, who capitalised on the Scot's slip ups to take a 2-1 lead by the time bad light forced the players off.
But the break did Murray the world of good, with the former world number one winning seven of the next nine games with the full backing of a thoroughly one-sided crowd under the closed roof.
The 34-year-old was leaping in joy and punching the air when he held off Otte to hold serve and take a 5-2 lead in the deciding set, before he sealed the win with a deft lob shot to prove he still has the quality to go with his spirit.
"I enjoyed the end! The middle part, not so much! What an atmosphere to play in at the end. The whole crowd was amazing but there was a few guys in there getting me fired up," a thrilled, yet drained, Murray told BBC Sport.
"I needed everyone's help tonight, they did a great job. I hit some great shots at the end to finish it but it was a tough match."
Murray's battle with Otte came just two days after a similarly tough contest against Nikoloz Basilashvili, and despite starting Wednesday's second-round tie well, the two-time Wimbledon champion knows he almost let the match slip away.
"I had to do something differently and started going for my shots more, dictating more of my points, I was being a little bit negative," Murray said when asked if the break in play helped him recover.
"Because of the lack of matches, in the important moments I didn't make the right decision a lot of the time but I think I played the right way in the last couple of sets. The first set and a half was really good but there was just bits in the middle I'd like to change.
"Obviously tired, I fell over a couple of times, they're pretty slick courts but considering everything I feel all right, hips feel pretty good, I get a rest day tomorrow and hopefully will come out on Friday and play in another atmosphere like this and perform well."
Murray has already accumulated over seven hours of time on court over his first two matches, and he now faces 10th seed Denis Shapovalov, who was handed a walkover on Wednesday due to Pablo Andujar's rib injury.
Bahrain's Salwa Eid Nasser, the 2019 400m world champion, will miss this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, as she has been banned for two years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) today partially upheld the decision issued by the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal on October 14, 2020.
The ban takes effect today.
However, her results from the 2019 World Championships in Doha will remain.
“Ms Salwa Eid Naser is sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on the date of notification of this award, with credit given for the period of provisional suspension already served between 4 June 2020 and 14 October 2020,” CAS said.
“All competitive results obtained by Ms Salwa Eid Naser from November 25, 2019, through to the date of notification of this award shall be disqualified, with all of the resulting consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, titles, ranking points and prize and appearance money.”
She will also have to pay 5000 Swiss francs to World Athletics and to the World Anti-Doping Agency as a contribution towards their costs connection with these arbitration proceedings.”
In the wake of the ruling, the attorneys representing the athlete Dr Emir Crowne, Mr Matthew Gayle and Ms Kristie Irving have expressed concern about a part of the CAS ruling which can have serious implications for athletes. "A majority of the panel says it is okay for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to re-characterize charges in the middle of an appeal. So, the majority of the panel said WADA can re-characterize a missed test as a filing failure if they want to. With all due respect to the majority of the panel, that can't be right. That cannot be a fair principle in any court system," Dr Crowne told Sportsmax.TV this morning.
The Nigerian-born 400m runner was charged with four alleged whereabouts failures by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) in June 2020. These included filing failures on March 16, 2019, and three missed tests on March 12 and April 12 as well as January 24, 2020.
However, the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal ruled the alleged violation in April 2019 should not stand which meant Naser had not missed three tests.
Naser won the world title in a time of 48.14, the third-fastest time in history defeating Shanuae-Miller Uibo who ran a lifetime best of 48.37 and Shericka Jackson who also clocked a personal best of 49.47 for third.
Fifth seed Bianca Andreescu made an early exit from Wimbledon as she suffered a first-round defeat to Alize Cornet.
Two weeks on from losing to the same opponent on grass in Berlin, Andreescu suffered another straight-sets disappointment, going down 6-2 6-1.
The Canadian boasted a better first serve percentage (73 to 63) and hit more winners (17 to 11) but paid for a high unforced errors count (34 to seven) as she crashed out.
Andreescu's defeat extends a frustrating period since winning the US Open two years ago.
The 21-year-old, who recently split with long-time coach Sylvain Bruneau, has seen her career limited by a combination of injuries and the break enforced by the coronavirus pandemic.
As for Cornet, her Wimbledon campaign will continue with a second-round clash against either Greet Minnen or Ajla Tomljanovic.
The Frenchwoman is aiming to improve on the career-best run that saw her reach the fourth round at SW19 in 2014.
Oleksandr Zinchenko says Ukraine must find a way to stop the "amazing" Raheem Sterling but they should not fear facing England in a Euro 2020 quarter-final on Saturday.
Ukraine beat Sweden 2-1 after extra time at Hampden Park on Tuesday courtesy of a last-gasp winner from Artem Dovbyk.
Andriy Shevchenko's side travel to Rome to face the Three Lions at the Stadio Olimpico, with Gareth Southgate's side having beaten Germany 2-0 at Wembley.
Sterling opened the scoring for England with his third goal of the tournament before Harry Kane sealed the victory.
Zinchenko, who was on target in the win over Sweden, knows Ukraine will have to keep a close eye on his Manchester City team-mate in the Eternal City.
"Raheem Sterling is one of the best wingers in the world. Right now he is in amazing form," said the full-back.
"He is great, he makes the difference. We obviously need to pay attention to him and we will need to try to somehow stop him because he’s on a roll now.
"Who is the strongest opponent that I have ever played? I have said several times that it's the footballers from Manchester City, those that I see every day at training."
England are the only team in the tournament who have not conceded a goal but Zinchenko says Ukraine should be motivated by the challenge of breaching their resolute defence.
"It is really difficult to score against England, they are really well organised," said Zinchenko.
"They have a really good set of footballers and the substitute bench probably costs [the same] as three Ukrainian teams.
"This shouldn't be really scary for us, this should motivate us. We need to give ourselves the highest aims, the highest goals, and I am sure that the coaching team will get the strategy for us.
"I sense myself that everything is possible in this life and we will do everything we can for it. I've watched pretty much all the games that England have played, except today because we were getting ready for our game.
"The first thing that I noticed is I know quite a lot of those players personally because I see them in the Premier League."
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