All roads lead to the Cheltenham Gold Cup for L’Homme Presse following a triumphant comeback in the Fitzdares Fleur De Lys Chase at Lingfield.
The nine-year-old claimed Cheltenham’s Brown Advisory as one of two Grade One novice wins two seasons ago and kicked off last term with a fine weight-carrying victory in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle.
However, he subsequently unseated Charlie Deutsch when seemingly booked for second behind Bravemansgame in the King George VI Chase at Kempton and missed the rest of the campaign through injury.
Despite an absence totalling 391 days, L’Homme Presse was the 8-11 favourite to make a successful return in Lingfield’s £165,000 Winter Million feature and proved his ability remains very much intact with a two-and-a-quarter-length win over a race-fit dual Grade One winner in Protektorat.
Venetia Williams said: “It’s been a long time coming and I’m thrilled for Andy, Pat and Peter (owners) to have been as patient as they have been.
“There were proper stayers in there today who were going to eke out any weakness and he’s a stayer of course, but you can’t expect them to plumb the depths of their stamina first time out after a long time off.
“It (injury) was enough to keep him off for a good few months and then the season was coming to an end and we wanted to give him a long, steady preparation this autumn. It’s taken a while.
“In fairness, he hasn’t had much schooling and I was going to school him this week, but wasn’t able to because of the weather. He’s an intelligent horse, though.
“We brought him here and he could possibly have run a bit earlier but the races weren’t there. We wanted him to run somewhere where it was an appropriate race and we also had enough time to get him fit. I’m sure he will improve a bit, but don’t expect masses of improvement.”
The two-and-three-quarter-mile contest was an intriguing watch, with Harry Skelton seemingly keen to make the most of Protektorat’s fitness edge with an aggressive front-running ride.
The nine-year-old looked to have L’Homme Presse in trouble at one stage, but the latter’s jumping kept him in the fight as the pace increased and he was the one travelling the better as the big two straightened up for home.
Protektorat did not go down without a fight and it was still all to play for between the final two fences, but L’Homme Presse stamped his class on the run-in to take top honours with something to spare.
Coral trimmed the winner’s Gold Cup odds to 12-1 from 16-1, while Paddy Power were clearly more impressed and offered 9-1 from 14-1.
Williams did, however, raise the prospect of L’Homme Presse running again between now and March, with next month’s Ascot Chase on her radar.
“That’s been on our mind and we want to see how he comes out of this, but there is a possibility of that. Maybe it will be (Ascot), that is one of the races on the shortlist,” she added.
The trainer houses another potential Gold Cup contender in Royale Pagaille, who having been denied a run in Saturday’s Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock after the meeting was abandoned, will be rerouted to next weekend’s Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham.
Which horse Deutsch will be on board come the big day remains to be seen, with Williams saying: “It’s far too early for questions like that. Hopefully we will run Royale Pagaille in the Cotswold Chase next Saturday and Ruby (Walsh) never used to make his mind up until final declarations did he?”
Jeriko Du Reponet remains likely to head for the M1 Agency Sidney Banks Memorial Novices’ Hurdle at Huntingdon, despite the Rossington Main Novices’ Hurdle being rearranged for Doncaster next Saturday.
The two-mile Grade Two event was lost from Haydock’s abandoned Saturday card, but was swiftly added to Town Moor’s fixture on January 27.
However, despite discussing a trip to Yorkshire with owner JP McManus, trainer Nicky Henderson is content to follow the ‘Shishkin route’ to the Cheltenham Festival and visit Huntingdon on February 8 with his unbeaten Supreme Novices’ Hurdle contender, who has done nothing but impress in two facile Newbury victories.
“It will probably still be Huntingdon, although I did talk to JP about it (Doncaster),” said Henderson.
“If JP wants him in there (then he will be entered for Doncaster), but he did say he did have the other horse (Jonjo O’Neill’s Fortunate Man) who was going to Haydock anyway. We weren’t going to Haydock because we don’t like the track in bad ground.
“The race goes to Doncaster and my first reaction was ‘goody-goody, we can go there with Jeriko’, but he did say the other horse was due to go to Haydock and he’s entitled to have first pick – and I’m perfectly happy with the Sidney Banks.”
Rory McIlroy completed the best weekend comeback of his career to successfully defend his title and win a record fourth Dubai Desert Classic.
The Northern Irishman’s previous biggest recovery with two rounds to go was from five shots back at the 2015 BMW PGA Championship but having begun round three 10 adrift he closed out a one-stroke victory at the Emirates Golf Club.
Saturday’s 63 catapulted him into contention but there were far fewer fireworks in his final round and, while McIlroy escaped with some loose shots, rivals Cameron Young and Adrian Meronk were unable to exert any meaningful pressure.
“If the scores on the weekend had been flipped and I shot 70, 63, I’d probably be like ‘Yeah, that was amazing’,” said McIlroy, who finished 14 under.
“The course definitely played a little trickier at the weekend. After I finished on Friday I thought if I shot two 67s over the weekend I would have a decent chance to win, and if that had been the case I would have tied on 13 under.
“I wasn’t too far away with the prediction and I went one better than that and ended up winning the tournament.”
McIlroy, who now has a victory and a second place in his first two starts of the season, added: “I played that front nine so well that I didn’t really have to do anything that special on the back nine just to get the thing won.
“I got away with a couple of things: I didn’t make birdie on 10 and then I made the bogey on 13. Luckily for me the guys around me didn’t make a ton of birdies on the way in.
“I knew I always had one or two shots to play with so I think that gave me a certain level of comfort.”
McIlroy began the day two shots behind leader Young but his birdie after driving the 351-yard second, combined with the American’s bogeys at four and six, saw the advantage swing a stroke in the Northern Irishman’s favour.
And with Young not recording his first birdie until the 10th, Meronk emerged as his chief challenger – briefly sharing the lead before chipping across the seventh green and into the water for a double-bogey five.
McIlroy extended his lead to three at the turn with successive birdies including from 31 feet on the eighth.
His only real moment of concern came with a first bogey in 38 holes at the 13th, where he could not escape from the waste area at the first attempt after taking an aggressive line and going too far left.
Meronk’s third birdie since the turn put him within one but then he bogeyed the 16th while McIlroy brilliantly salvaged par from the left waste area, meaning two closing pars were enough to secure his landmark win.
McIlroy’s positive start to 2024 will give him renewed optimism he can break his nine-year major drought, with the chance to complete a career Grand Slam first up at the Masters in April.
“Augusta is still a long way away in golfing terms. A lot can change in two and a half months,” he said.
“But it’s always nice nice to feel like you’re playing well going into it.
“I’ve still got some big events to come but until that first or second week in April at least a part of my mind is going to be towards getting myself absolutely ready for there.”
Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi is aware of the potential pitfalls facing his team in their Supercoppa Italiana final showdown with Napoli in Riyadh as the Nerazzurri look to make a statement with a mid-season trophy.
Inzaghi’s went into the weekend leading the Serie A table by two points from Juventus and they breezed into Monday’s cup tournament decider in the Saudi Arabian capital by dispatching Lazio 3-0 on Friday.
Standing in their way are Scudetto holders Napoli, who also won 3-0 – against Fiorentina – to give themselves a confidence boost with their league form desperately poor compared to their swashbuckling final season under Luciano Spalletti.
The more pragmatic Walter Mazzarri is now in charge of the Azzurri and there will be a definite clash of styles in Riyadh as attack-minded Inzaghi looks to secure Inter their eighth Super Cup and third in succession.
“A final is often decided in a few moments – you have to be very careful,” the Nerazzurri boss told inter.it. “We’re playing against the Italian champions who won 3-0 in their own semi-final.
“They’ve had some problems in the league but they have a lot of quality, with a deep squad.
“Napoli have changed their formation, before they were a possession team but now they are less so. If Mazzarri keeps his line-up from the semi-final then we’ll be ready for that. Beyond formation and tactics, though, motivation is vital.”
On Inter’s and his own fine record in the Super Cup – he has won five overall as player and coach – Inzaghi added: “Winning it three times in a row has only happened once before. We won it in a derby (against AC Milan) last year, two years ago against Juve, and now we would like to beat Napoli to it.
“I care more about Inter than my own record. It would be nice to win it of course. The boys have been putting Inter before their own interests since the summer and that’s the secret to a good team.”
Napoli boss Mazzarri hopes winning the Super Cup will give his players an incentive to revive their ailing domestic campaign and qualify for the Champions League.
He told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “This is a bunch of good young guys who need to understand that an opportunity like this might not happen again – and that should drive them on.
“I believe we will face an Inter team who are currently at their best. It will be very tough but, also for that reason, winning would give us even more confidence for the future.”
Jens Cajuste and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are both suspended for Napoli, who are also missing star striker Victor Osimhen due to Africa Cup of Nations commitments.
Inter are in better shape with only Taty Castellanos sitting the fixture out due to injury.
Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi is aware of the potential pitfalls facing his team in their Supercoppa Italiana final showdown with Napoli in Riyadh as the Nerazzurri look to make a statement with a mid-season trophy.
Inzaghi’s went into the weekend leading the Serie A table by two points from Juventus and they breezed into Monday’s cup tournament decider in the Saudi Arabian capital by dispatching Lazio 3-0 on Friday.
Standing in their way are Scudetto holders Napoli, who also won 3-0 – against Fiorentina – to give themselves a confidence boost with their league form desperately poor compared to their swashbuckling final season under Luciano Spalletti.
The more pragmatic Walter Mazzarri is now in charge of the Azzurri and there will be a definite clash of styles in Riyadh as attack-minded Inzaghi looks to secure Inter their eighth Super Cup and third in succession.
“A final is often decided in a few moments – you have to be very careful,” the Nerazzurri boss told inter.it. “We’re playing against the Italian champions who won 3-0 in their own semi-final.
“They’ve had some problems in the league but they have a lot of quality, with a deep squad.
“Napoli have changed their formation, before they were a possession team but now they are less so. If Mazzarri keeps his line-up from the semi-final then we’ll be ready for that. Beyond formation and tactics, though, motivation is vital.”
On Inter’s and his own fine record in the Super Cup – he has won five overall as player and coach – Inzaghi added: “Winning it three times in a row has only happened once before. We won it in a derby (against AC Milan) last year, two years ago against Juve, and now we would like to beat Napoli to it.
“I care more about Inter than my own record. It would be nice to win it of course. The boys have been putting Inter before their own interests since the summer and that’s the secret to a good team.”
Napoli boss Mazzarri hopes winning the Super Cup will give his players an incentive to revive their ailing domestic campaign and qualify for the Champions League.
He told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “This is a bunch of good young guys who need to understand that an opportunity like this might not happen again – and that should drive them on.
“I believe we will face an Inter team who are currently at their best. It will be very tough but, also for that reason, winning would give us even more confidence for the future.”
Jens Cajuste and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are both suspended for Napoli, who are also missing star striker Victor Osimhen due to Africa Cup of Nations commitments.
Inter are in better shape with only Taty Castellanos sitting the fixture out due to injury.
Luke Littler intended to celebrate turning 17 by taking his family out for a meal.
The teenager, who took the world by storm with his run to the World Championship final at Alexandra Palace earlier this month, is back in the country after winning the Bahrain Masters on Friday.
It was a whirlwind visit to the Middle East as he hit a nine-dart finish on his way to winning a first senior PDC title, earning him a £20,000 payday.
He then attended the Misfits Boxing on Saturday night and was pictured with celebrity KSI before planning some family time on Sunday.
Littler, who is now old enough to drive, revealed after his win in Bahrain that he would treat his family on his special day, saying: “On Sunday, we’ll all go out as a family for a meal, and even though it’s my birthday, I’ll treat them.”
He will not need to splash out on dessert, though, as his local bakery in Warrington provided him with a lavish cake to mark his special day.
There will not be much time for rest as the teenager heads out to the Netherlands for the Dutch Darts Masters this week before the Premier League kicks-off in Cardiff on February 1.
It will be the start of a gruelling schedule for Littler, who is determined to make the most of every opportunity he gets on what will be a breakout year on the PDC Tour.
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He is also in high demand on the celebrity circuit, having met a host of footballers and reality stars over the past few weeks.
And Michael van Gerwen, who was beaten by Littler in the final in Bahrain, had warned about exploiting the teenager too much.
“Everyone says he’s the new kid, but everyone knows what he is capable of,” the Dutchman said after the Bahrain final. “The crowd, the television, everyone wants to make him bigger, but he’s already a good player.
“I know we all want to push him, but let him grow, let him do other things. You have to learn, the crowd has to learn and everyone who is involved in television has to learn. Don’t push him too much.
“Of course we know he’s a good player, but give him his time and after, he will come, no problems.”
Ivory Coast coach Jean-Louis Gasset is confident having “destiny in our hands” will help his side secure qualification for the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Defeat to Nigeria last time out has left the hosts third in Group A and while that could be good enough to secure their progress as the four third-best finishes also get through, Gasset wants to make sure against Equatorial Guinea.
The 2015 AFCON champions play the Group A leaders in Abidjan on Monday.
“Like all matches, we will attack to win. Today we are third but we have our destiny in hand. We know that if we win we will qualify,” Gasset told a press conference.
“We have to have confidence, we are playing in front of our public, you have to believe in it.”
Ivory Coast’s chances against Equatorial Guinea have been boosted by the return from injury of Borussia Dortmund striker Sebastien Haller and Brighton winger Simon Adingra.
“We have confidence in the group and little by little we are recovering major players like Haller and Adingra,” added Gasset.
“We knew we were going to do without Haller and Adingra at the start. The return of Haller will do the group good.
“But if everyone is talking about Haller, I would like to add Simon Adingra. Both will be in the group (for training).”
Equatorial Guinea need just a point to confirm their place in the last 16 after drawing against Nigeria and beating Guinea-Bissau.
“We have no pressure, the players know what they have to do. They have to run a lot,” said coach Juan Micha.
“We are not yet qualified. We know that we have played two matches, we have four points but it is not over.”
Allaho returned to winning ways when claiming victory in the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles for a third time.
The Willie Mullins-trained 10-year-old was successful in the two-and-a-half-mile Grade Two event in 2021 and 2022, but missed the entirity of last season through injury.
Having returned to action this term with a smooth triumph at Clonmel, he was beaten into third behind Hewick when favourite for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
However, Allaho made all the running under Paul Townend to enjoy a straightforward 8-13 triumph here, seeing off stablemate Stattler by 13 lengths.
Assistant trainer Patrick Mullins said: “Allaho looked back to himself, having not quite got home in the King George.
“He isn’t getting any younger, it took him a while to warm up into his jumping (at Kempton) and he is better going left-handed.
“Paul was a little worried that he got a hard race in the King George and was coming back quite quickly but the further he went, the better he travelled and jumped.
“He is a big big horse who likes better ground and going left-handed at Cheltenham suits him down to the ground. I’d imagine it is all roads back to the Ryanair (Chase) now.
“Today’s race was a Grade One in all but name, with all being Grade One winners, so it is great for Thurles and it is a brilliant race to target every year.”
Allaho’s task was made all the more easier by the defection of Henry de Bromhead’s Envoi Allen and Capodanno.
Their absence left just four runners, with Appreciate It rated the main danger at 11-4 and 6-1 chance French Dynamite making up the numbers for Mouse Morris.
Allaho did all that was asked of him, though, travelling strongly throughout and only having to be nudged out to draw clear of 20-1 longshot Stattler up the home straight, with Appreciate It a further 11 lengths back in third.
Mullins added: “It is brilliant run out of Stattler, he had just started to sparkle in the last month, so it is great he is getting back to form. He had lost his form completely after the Gold Cup, so now we can aim big with him again.
“Danny (Mullins, on Appreciate It) said he had a good position, travelled great but once they quickened he found nothing. It is disappointing, as I thought he’d be challenging Allaho. He wears a tongue-strap, so maybe nicer ground will help him.”
Allaho was cut to 5-2 from 3-1 to win a third Ryanair Chase by both Betfair and Paddy Power, while Coral were even more impressed, promoting him to 2-1 favourite.
Joel Piroe scored a stoppage-time penalty as Leeds boosted their automatic promotion challenge with a 2-1 home win against Preston.
Second-half substitute Piroe converted from the spot in the third minute of added time after Ryan Ledson was adjudged to have handled and Leeds’ last-gasp victory saw them close the gap on the top two back to four points.
Will Keane gave Preston a second-minute lead and although Dan James equalised four minutes later it proved a frustrating afternoon for Leeds against dogged opponents.
Preston were without Duane Holmes, Freddie Woodman and Milutin Osmajic due to illness, but they made a flying start.
Ben Whiteman’s free-kick into the penalty area was headed back across goal by Liam Lindsay and, after Leeds failed to clear, Liam Millar’s mis-cued shot was turned home by Keane.
Preston’s lead was short-lived though. Junior Firpo raced on to Crysencio Summerville’s ball down the left and clipped a brilliant cross to the far post on the overlap for James to head Leeds level.
The visitors appeared undeterred and it needed a flying save from Illan Meslier to keep out a goalbound effort from Millar, Preston’s match-winner when they beat Leeds 2-1 at Deepdale on Boxing Day.
Patrick Bamford headed James’ excellent cross straight at Preston goalkeeper Dai Cornell and Georginio Rutter was off target from Ilia Gruev’s corner, but despite stepping it up before the break the home side were kept at bay.
Summerville’s brilliant run to the by-line and cut back should have resulted in a second goal for Leeds soon after the restart, but Rutter’s effort hit a post.
Bamford fired wide after being played in by Rutter and saw another effort blocked before James’ clever chip narrowly cleared the crossbar as Leeds picked up where they left off.
But Preston were proving dogged opponents and the home fans’ frustration turned to cheers when Cornell was booked by referee David Webb for time wasting in the 82nd minute.
Ledson became the fifth Preston yellow card after his trip on Gruev, which sparked a mass melee in midfield and also resulted in a booking for Bamford.
Rutter and substitute Joel Piroe squandered further chances for Leeds and Preston substitute Robbie Brady’s last-ditch tackle on Bamford was celebrated by the visiting players.
But in added time Ledson’s outstretched arm made contact with the ball in the area following Joe Rodon’s header and Piroe held his nerve to bury his penalty and raise the roof at Elland Road.
Tripoli Flyer booked his ticket to Aintree in the spring with an impressive display at Lingfield.
A keeping-on fifth on his rules debut at Chepstow in October, Fergal O’Brien’s five-year-old was a 15-2 shot for the opening Winter Million Open National Hunt Flat Race that kicked off the action on Sunday.
He showed plenty of speed and class to down the well-regarded Nicky Henderson-trained 8-11 favourite Kingston Pride in the hands of Paddy Brennan and now has connections dreaming of bigger and better objectives later in the season.
“We’ve got some lovely bumper horses, but I thought he was very good, he was very impressive,” said O’Brien.
“I thought the Henderson horse had solid point-to-point form and the horse who was second to him (The Enabler) has won a Listed race.
“We thought he would appreciate the surface and the good thing about this horse is his owner as he gave him time after his first race at Chepstow because he had a hard race.
“He was only a four-year-old then and we put him away, I think he went to Paddy’s for a bit and then to an event rider down the road who did a lot of work with him. He came back to us and we just had to put the finishing touches to him ready for today.
“Today was always a plan because we thought he would appreciate the better ground.
“The plan, please God, is to go straight to Aintree. We think he will love the flat track and Paddy said the ground, although he got through it at Chepstow, will be important to him.
“I thought he was impressive but he will have to do it on grass now. Going forward he’s a beautiful jumper, so we will look forward to him.”
There was a shock in the Weatherbys Digital Solutions Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle as Ben Clarke’ 40-1 shot Ooh Betty landed the spoils with the assistance of the stewards.
It was Henderson’s Aston Martini that was first past the post following a ding-dong battle after the last, but the placings were reversed after an inquiry.
“She is battle-hardened and she’s not the sexy option in the race, but I think running in handicaps has served her well as she had to battle hard there and be brave,” said Clarke.
“She got bumped a couple of times coming up the home straight and Ben Jones (jockey) felt it cost him, but saying that, it is not the way we want to win a horse race – Nicky was incredibly gracious so I will drop him a bottle of wine.
“At the back of my mind, I’ve always thought if we get half-decent ground at Cheltenham, she could go there for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. We’ll sit tight and she doesn’t want a bog – she can’t run in proper, proper soft ground – so we will plot our way there.
“Endless Escape was beaten just over 10 lengths in the Cheltenham race last year and this mare would be a much speedier type, so we have half an idea what it takes – not as much as Nicky does – so we’ll see, it could be an option.”
JPR One stamped his class on the Download The Racing App Now Lightning Novices’ Chase at Lingfield.
A winner on his chasing debut at Newton Abbot in October, Joe Tizzard’s charge looked set to follow up in the Arkle Trial at Cheltenham the following month when unseating Brendan Powell at the final fence.
In December, he finished a creditable third in the Grade One Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown and got back on the winning trail in this Grade Two event, which was saved and rescheduled following the abandonment of the opening day of the Winter Million Festival on Friday.
There was drama from the off, with Matata hanging violently left on the approach to the first fence, badly impeding the 9-4 favourite Djelo, who had nowhere to go and ultimately came to grief.
Matata attempted to make every yard of the running from that point on, but 6-1 shot JPR One took over travelling strongly five fences from home and looked in control for the remainder of the race.
Matata did his best to make a race of it in the home straight and was making inroads on an idling JPR One late on, but the latter was good value for the winning margin of half a length.
Tizzard said: “He was really good today. I’m not making too many excuses for Sandown, I just think he got stuck in the Sandown ground, which you can.
“We had a little walk down the straight today and I was amazed by how well it walked. It was an easy watch today, he travelled great and jumped for fun and that’s the horse we think we’ve got up against the best two-mile novices in England anyway.
“We’ve always held him in pretty high regard and he perhaps didn’t get to the levels over hurdles, but certainly over fences, if he didn’t have that little stumble at the back of the last at Cheltenham, he was going to look majorly impressive.
“I think the ground at Sandown just took its toll but today is the best we’ve seen him and he’s got a fair bit about him on the day.
“He’s got so much athleticism and Brendan has got the hang of not getting too excited – and you could tell he enjoyed that today. We think he’s a smart horse with a big future.”
Coral cut JPR One to 16-1 from 25-1 for the Arkle Trophy and Tizzard confirmed that Cheltenham Festival contest as his next objective.
He added: “We’ll have to take him to the Arkle now, he deserves to be there.
“He’s only a novice for one year, so I would have thought we would have a crack at it. He’s already proved he runs well around Cheltenham, so I don’t know why we wouldn’t.”
Harmonya Maker bounced back to form with a gutsy victory in the Grade Two Carey Glass Irish EBF Mares Novice Chase at Thurles.
The seven-year-old had jumped left when beaten at Cork last month and put in a below-par effort when a distant third behind Hauturiere in Limerick’s Dawn Run over the festive period
However, Gordon Elliott’s charge turned the tables to beat that rival with a one-and-a-half-length verdict at 100-30 on this occasion.
Silent Approach set the pace, followed by Harmonya Maker and then Hauturiere, who was put on the back foot by a mistake five out.
Harmonya Maker took control between the final two fences and was always doing enough under Jack Kennedy to fend off Hauturiere’s late challenge.
Kennedy said: “She threw her race away jumping left at Cork two runs ago – whatever that was about that day, but she jumped straight today.
“She had been disappointing in her last couple of runs but did what we had been expecting her to do all along.
“For whatever reason, she had been disappointing but it is great for her to put her best foot forward and is back to what we thought she’d be.”
The winner was cut to 16-1 for the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase at Cheltenham with Betfair and Coral.
Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Djokovic was on course for a ‘triple bagel’ against Adrian Mannarino before eventually winning 6-0 6-0 6-3 while Sabalenka was a 6-3 6-2 winner over Amanda Anisimova.
Sabalenka appears very likely to face Coco Gauff in the semi-finals, while Australian hopes were ended when Andrey Rublev defeated Alex De Minaur in five sets.
Picture of the dayShot of the dayKicking offNext gen
Cruz Hewitt, the 15-year-old son of former world number one Lleyton, was beaten on his junior grand slam debut. But 16-year-old Jagger Leach, whose mother is three-time major champion Lindsay Davenport, did make it through to round two.
Murray magic
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Fallen seeds
Women: None
Men: Stefanos Tsitsipas (7), Karen Khachanov (15), Adrian Mannarino (20)
Who’s up next?
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Cameron Norrie will bid for a first victory over a top-10 player at a grand slam when he takes on sixth seed Alexander Zverev on Margaret Court Arena on Monday.
The winner will face either second seed Carlos Alcaraz or Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who meet in the night session, while third seed Daniil Medvedev plays Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
After beating Iga Swiatek, teenager Linda Noskova plays Elina Svitolina, and 12th seed Zheng Qinwen plays two-time former champion Victoria Azarenka.
Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro is standing by his bullish claim that he will lead the Super Eagles to their first Africa Cup of Nations title since 2013.
Peseiro’s men head into their final Group A game against already-eliminated Guinea-Bissau in Abidjan on Monday knowing just a draw will be good enough to secure their place in the knockout stages.
But after watching his side shrug off their sluggish start against Equatorial Guinea by beating hosts Ivory Coast last time out, Peseiro is demanding his side maintain their belated momentum.
Peseiro told a press conference: “I have said I want to win AFCON even though my contract says I should get to the final.
“It would be better to protect myself and not create expectations because if I don’t win, it is worse for me. But I put my mind and the mind of my players that we want to win.”
Peseiro is expected to pick between Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho and Joe Aribo of Southampton for a midfield berth with Alhassan Yusuf set to miss out again.
Guinea-Bissau will go into the game at full strength despite their elimination after their second consecutive defeat against Equatorial Guinea last time out.
Head coach Baciro Cande is determined that his side bow out on a high note, admitting: “I feel sad.
“We wanted to win (against Equatorial Guinea) but did not succeed. Before their goal, we had four chances plus a penalty that was refused.
“We worked hard to be ready and football is sometimes like that. We have one game left to close the group stage, and we hope to win.”
NB: You can watch the Africa Cup of Nations on Sportsmax.
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