Carlos Alcaraz and Holgar Rune played doubles together as children, and on Wednesday they will meet in the youngest Wimbledon quarter-final of the open era.

World number one Alcaraz and sixth seed Rune teamed up at a tournament in France called Petits As when they were 14.

Six years on and the duo, now 20, will do battle on Centre Court for a place in the semi-finals.

“It’s great. It’s a good feeling. It shows that the young players are doing a great job. For me it’s cool. For him it’s also cool, I guess,” said Danish hot-shot Rune.

“To be able to play a quarter-final against a player that is the same age, at the top of the ranking, feels amazing. I’m really looking forward to that match. I even looked at it when I was in the first round.

“I couldn’t really afford to look at it because there were so many matches before this would eventually happen. Now we’re here so I’m really pumped and excited for it.”

Rune came through in four sets against Grigor Dimitrov while Spanish sensation Alcaraz passed his sternest test yet, beating former finalist Matteo Berrettini in four.

“Carlos had a big forehand also in juniors,” added Rune. “I think he’s the same, just so much better now. I think back then he was Carlos, and now he’s Carlos. He’s the same, just improved very, very a lot and very quickly.

“We played doubles one time in Petits As. Hopefully we can do it again, but now we’re going to battle against each other.

“It was good, because he’s amazing. Also, the more shots he could hit the better. We played good together. I think we made the semi-final.

“For sure I would like to play doubles with him again. I know he doesn’t play a lot of doubles, me too. But maybe one day we can have a chance to play.”

Chris Woakes admits his triumphant return to Ashes cricket left him “quite emotional” after accepting his time as a Test player might have come to an end.

Woakes stepped up with bat and ball after being thrust into last week’s must-win clash at Headingley, 16 months after he last donned his England whites on the ill-fated tour of the West Indies.

Defeat in Grenada spelled the end of Joe Root’s captaincy and ushered in the ‘Bazball’ era, with Woakes watching on from the outside as English cricket turned a new corner under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes.

Injury saw Woakes miss the entirety of last summer and, although he returned to the limited-overs set-up in time to win the T20 World Cup in November, the 34-year-old was beginning to believe the Test team had left him behind.

Watching the all-rounder take three Australian wickets in each innings in the third Test, then guide his side home with an unbeaten 32, that now seems hard to imagine.

But Woakes, who opted not to put his name forward for this year’s Indian Premier League in a bid to keep his red-ball skills sharp, is honest enough to say he was worried.

“It’s quite emotional actually. You sometimes think the ship has sailed, of course you do,” he said of his match-winning return.

“You do wonder, especially when the team was going so well last summer and I wasn’t involved. It’s hard.

“Obviously I had injuries and stuff, but I made a big decision at the start of summer not to go to India and, you know, it’s days like these which make that sort of decision pay off, comfortably.

“Sometimes you don’t always get the rewards that you deserve, but I felt like I played well in this game and got the rewards I deserve.”

Those rewards included scoring the winning runs, clattering Mitchell Starc through point for a boundary which sent a sold-out crowd wild.

“It literally doesn’t get any better than that, I don’t think,” he reflected.

“The feeling of that roar, the Western Terrace going mad. It’s pretty special, pretty cool. If you could bottle that up forever and come back to it, you would.”

Attention now turns towards Emirates Old Trafford, where England will look to level the series scoreline at 2-2 to set up a decider at the Kia Oval.

The tourists have two chances to become the first Australian men’s side to win an Ashes series on English soil since 2001, but Woakes has warned that the task will not get any easier.

“In our dressing room the belief is we can win 3-2, I think it’s always been there,” he said.

“You don’t want to look too far ahead, you have to play what’s in front of you, each ball, each day, each session, each Test match as it comes. I’d imagine when you’re so close to getting something, the harder it gets, and I’m sure the Aussies will be feeling that now.

“Once you get so close to something, it’s actually hard to get that over the line, isn’t it? We’ve got turn up in Manchester and put in another performance. They’re an extremely good side and we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them again.”

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from July 11.

Lionel Messi enjoyed relaxing time with his family.

A post shared by Leo Messi (@leomessi)

David Beckham got emotional celebrating his daughter’s birthday.

Clara Mateo believes France can put their pre-World Cup difficulties behind them as they look to unite under new head coach Herve Renard.

Les Bleues were embroiled in a pre-tournament saga involving a group of leading players and former coach Corinne Diacre, who oversaw their run to the semi-finals of Euro 2022.

A revolt from several players – including captain Wendie Renard and Eugenie Le Sommer – ultimately led to Diacre's dismissal, with two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner Herve Renard installed in her place.

With the drama over, Mateo is hopeful the squad can put their troubles behind them in Australia and New Zealand, where they face Jamaica, Brazil and Panama in the group stage.

"I think there's a very good understanding between the players and the staff," she told Stats Perform. "We're all doing our bit, and we're all keen to represent France well at this World Cup.

"As far as we're concerned, we're concentrating on ourselves. We know what we have to do, and we'll give it our all on the pitch.

"[Herve Renard] puts a lot of emphasis on the mental aspect and the cohesion within the group. He brings all his experience from all the competitions he's played in before.

"You want to listen to everything he has to say. We want to fight for him. They [the staff] have lots of things to teach us and we're very receptive. We're working to be ready for D-Day."

Mateo described her inclusion in the squad as the fulfilment of a dream, adding that France have learned from their semi-final loss to Germany at last year's European Championships.

"Now that it's become a goal, I think it's a great achievement," she said on making the squad. 

"[But] there's still a long way to go. We want to do well at this World Cup. We're going there with ambitions.

"We've set ourselves the target of reaching the semi-finals, because that's something we haven't done in the past. We want to reach the semi-finals.

"Obviously, in the back of our minds, what we want is to win this World Cup. So we're going to the World Cup with a lot of ambition, and we know that we have this objective."

Herve Renard's arrival as France coach has made Les Bleues think they are "the best in the world" and fostered belief in their chances of winning the Women's World Cup, says Selma Bacha.

Renard, who oversaw Saudi Arabia's incredible win over eventual champions Argentina at the men's World Cup last year, took the reins in March following the dismissal of Corinne Diacre.

The French Football Federation removed Diacre from the role after a group of players – including captain Wendie Renard – refused to represent the team if she remained in charge.

With France gearing up to face Jamaica in their Group F opener in Sydney on July 23, Lyon star Bacha has been impressed by Renard's impact, telling Stats Perform: "He put us in a good mood. 

"He made us realise that we were the best in the world, that we had great, great potential and that he was coming in with a game plan.

"Everyone understands this game plan, so when everyone understands, we're all in the same boat. 

"Frankly, I'm ready to die for this coach, this staff, and I hope that my soldiers – in other words, my team-mates – are ready."

France suffered a semi-final exit against Germany at least year's European Championships in England, but Bacha is confident they can improve on that showing in Australia and New Zealand.

Asked if she believed France could win the tournament, Bacha said: "Frankly, yes, I do. Once again, it's all very well to talk, but now we have to act. 

"It's all very well to say, 'we believe in it', but now we have to act. Right now, the group is top notch, we're living well and we know that we want this title that France so desperately needs."

Having represented France since 2021, Bacha is relishing the prospect of making her first World Cup appearance later this month.

"It's a dream, a childhood dream," she said. "I never thought I'd experience this kind of moment. I'd been to the Euros, but a World Cup is still a World Cup.

"I'm very proud because I know I've worked hard to get here and I still have room for improvement, as the coach says. But in any case, it's a dream come true.

"I'm really happy because I never thought things would progress so quickly, and then, I'm someone who listens a lot. When someone comes to give me advice, I listen carefully. I'm very proud of that. 

"I know that I still have room for improvement and I have very high goals, but I know I'll get there. For the moment, I'm very happy with the start of my career."

Pello Bilbao pointed to the sky in memory of his late team-mate Gino Mader as he celebrated his first career Tour de France stage win in Issoire on Tuesday.

Bilbao triumphed from a breakaway, a first Spanish stage win in five years, sparking emotional scenes less than a month after Mader died following a high-speed crash at the Tour de Suisse.

The pair were close friends, with Mader even having adopted a stray dog from the city of Bilbao and naming him Pello. In his podium interview, the Basque rider said the memory of Mader was “the only reason” for his win.

“It was hard to prepare the last two weeks with him in mind, but staying with my family at home helped me a lot, just to keep calm, be positive and put all my positive energy to try to do something nice in the Tour,” he said.

“I wanted to do it in the first Basque stages, that was so special for me but it was not possible so I just waited for my moment.

“I was maybe thinking my position in the overall was going to be a problem but I decided to a make an all-in move and in the end it was the right movement.

“My first victory in the Tour in 13 years as a pro is such a special moment for me.”

It was also an expensive one. Following Mader’s death, Bilbao had pledged to replicate the Swiss rider’s charitable gesture – donating one euro to environmental causes for every rider he finishes ahead of on each stage, also promising to double the donation if he won a stage.

Bilbao had already run up a bill of more than 1,200 euros in the opening week and will not mind having cost himself much more with a victory which also propelled him up the general classification to fifth, four and a half minutes behind Jonas Vingegaard who still leads by 17 seconds from Tadej Pogacar.

The 167km stage from Vulcania through the Massif Central looked custom-designed for a breakaway as racing resumed in sweltering temperatures after Monday’s rest day, but things were never so simple on a day when the attacks raged from the start to the finish.

Vingegaard and Pogacar were both involved in some of the early moves, splitting the main peloton, before 14 riders eventually got away.

But it was only occasionally a cohesive group. Krists Neilands launched an attack at the foot of the final climb and crested it with an advantage of 30 seconds, but that tumbled on the descent towards town and he was caught by a chasing group of five with three kilometres left.

Bilbao felt confident he was the fastest and let Zimmerman move to the front before launching his sprint with a couple of hundred metres left.

“With cold blood I let Zimmerman make his sprint and I went on the wheel, then it was just full gas for the last 200 metres thinking of nothing,” he said. “I crossed the line and I just put out all the energy inside of me and remembered the reason for this victory, a special one – for Gino.”

The main peloton came to the line a little under three minutes later with no change in the top four in the standings, while Bilbao jumped up six places with Adam Yates, Simon Yates and Tom Pidcock now sixth, seventh and eighth overall respectively.

Mark Cavendish is due to have surgery on his broken right collarbone on Wednesday after being forced out of the Tour by a crash on Saturday.

The 38-year-old has previously announced his intention to retire at the end of the season but has been offered a one-year contract extension by Astana-Qazaqstan.

Martina Hingis is the latest leading figure in tennis to question Emma Raducanu’s career management and she believes the former US Open champion will find it tough on her return to the sport.

Raducanu has had to sit out this year’s Wimbledon after undergoing operations on both wrists and one ankle and is not expected to be back until the autumn.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for the 20-year-old since her incredible victory in New York nearly two years ago, with intense scrutiny on her on and off-court decisions.

A post shared by Emma. (@emmaraducanu)

The one that has caused most head-scratching was Raducanu’s decision to part ways with coach Andrew Richardson straight after the US Open, and she has not managed to find a consistent voice since.

Former world number one Hingis won five grand slam singles titles as a teenager, and she said: “If you have the right surroundings, I think that’s also really important.

“I never met her so I don’t know exactly what goes through the head. It’s incredible she was able to win the US Open and, all of the changes after that, I don’t think it was a great choice to do.

“When you win with someone, you usually continue, but I can’t judge what happened. It would be nice for her to find the way and to find her success again.

“She’s got the shots, she’s the whole package, but you still need the results. It’s not like one day you win the US Open and then that’s the rest of the life.”

Raducanu will be ranked well outside the top 100 when she returns and, while she will not be short of wild card offers to get into the big tournaments, Hingis feels she faces an uphill battle.

“There’s so many girls out there that can play well who are hungry,” said the Swiss. “I hope the best for her but it won’t be easy.”

Hingis, champion at Wimbledon in 1997 as a 16-year-old, is back at the All England Club to play in the invitational doubles.

She enjoyed watching the run of Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, who reached the fourth round as a qualifier before falling to Madison Keys.

“It’s great to see a 16-year-old doing so well,” said Hingis. “I like her game. It’s nice to watch and also for the people to see someone like this, it’s still possible being young and doing well.

“She’s very disciplined, she’s got all the shots. Sometimes she’s quite far behind (the baseline), I would like to see her being a bit more aggressive, but she doesn’t miss. She’s like a wall.

“It’s hard to get through her but it’s something she can maybe improve in the future to take more charge and attack when she has the chance to do it.”

Andreeva had an unfortunate end to her tournament, receiving a point penalty for throwing her racket that gave Keys match point.

“I did that too,” said Hingis. “You want to win, you want to play well. It can happen.

“When you’re young you have your emotions. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes bad. As long as nothing dangerous happens. Of course you’re supposed to control your emotions but she’s 16, she’s a kid still.”

Stuart Kettlewell feels Motherwell’s final pre-season match against Dundee United has left the Fir Park outfit in confident mood ahead of the opening game of the new campaign on Saturday.

A goal from new signing Conor Wilkinson gave Well a 1-0 win over Championship side Dundee United in a behind-closed-doors game at Tannadice.

The Steelmen begin the 2023-24 campaign with a trip to Elgin City in the Viaplay Cup at the weekend and buoyant boss Kettlewell told Motherwell’s official Twitter account: “It was good to get here and almost play a proper game, it gets us closer to what we want.

“In terms of performance level, we were stages up from where we were on Saturday (2-2 draw with Falkirk) and that’s pleasing.

“I thought we looked fitter, I thought we looked stronger, I thought our organisation against the ball was really good.

“And then we started to create chances and we started to play some of the football I believe we can so that gives me a great deal of confidence and I think it gives the players a degree of confidence going into Saturday.

“You’re always trying to see if you can go up to playing against a good side before you’ve got competitive action, just simply to take the levels up.

“Today for me didn’t really feel like a pre-season friendly. I thought it was a competitive match.

“Dundee United have good players, we’ve seen that last season albeit they will be a little bit disappointed by the relegation.

“But yeah, it definitely took us to a stage in a game where there was serious questions asked of us and we had to be good in every facet of what we do.”

Pello Bilbao took his first career Tour de France stage win from a breakaway in Issoire and dedicated the victory to his late team-mate Gino Mader.

Bilbao beat Georg Zimmermann to the line as six riders made it to the finish to contest the stage win, sparking emotional scenes as he and his Bahrain Victorious team remembered Mader, who died aged 26 following a high-speed crash at the Tour de Suisse last month.

The main peloton came to the line a little under three minutes later with Jonas Vingegaard retaining the yellow jersey and his 17-second advantage over Tadej Pogacar, but Bilbao’s win saw him move up to fifth overall.

Following Mader’s death, Bilbao had pledged to replicate the Swiss rider’s charitable gesture – donating one euro to environmental causes for every rider he finishes ahead of on each stage, also promising to double the donation if he won the stage.

And in his podium interview, the Basque rider said the memory of Mader was “the only reason” for his win.

He said: “It was hard to prepare the last two weeks with him in mind, but staying with my family at home helped me a lot, just to keep calm, be positive and put all my positive energy to try to do something nice in the Tour.

“I wanted to do it in the first Basque stages, that was so special for me but it was not possible so I just waited for my moment. I was maybe thinking my position in the overall was going to be a problem but I decided to make an all-in move and in the end it was the right movement.

“My first victory in the Tour in 13 years as a pro is such a special moment for me.”

The 167km stage from Vulcania through the Massif Central looked custom-designed for a breakaway, but things were never so simple on a day when the attacks raged from the start to the finish.

Vingegaard and Pogacar were both involved in some of the early moves, splitting the main peloton, before 14 riders eventually got away.

But it was only occasionally a cohesive group. Krists Neilands launched an attack at the foot of the final climb and crested it with an advantage of 30 seconds, but that tumbled on the descent towards town and he was caught by a chasing group of five with three kilometres left.

Bilbao felt confident he was the fastest and let Zimmerman move to the front before launching his sprint with a couple of hundred metres left.

“With cold blood I let Zimmermann make his sprint and I went on the wheel, then it was just full gas for the last 200 metres thinking of nothing,” he said.

“I crossed the line and I just put out all the energy inside of me and remembered the reason for this victory, a special one – for Gino.”

Elina Svitolina claimed the mother of all victories by knocking out world number one Iga Swiatek to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.

The unseeded Ukrainian, who only gave birth to her daughter Skai nine months ago, ousted top seed Swiatek with a dramatic 7-5 6-7 (5) 6-2 victory on Centre Court.

Swiatek, just as she had in her previous match against Belinda Bencic, came from a set down to draw level and seemed to have snatched the momentum.

But with Jeremy Clarkson watching from the crowd, Svitolina found top gear just when she needed it to secure a famous victory.

“I don’t know what is happening right now, it’s really unbelievable,” Svitolina, also a semi-finalist here in 2019, said.

“I’m really, really happy that I got this chance to play here again. I was fighting, it was not easy. Iga is world number one and always fighting. It was an unbelievable match and I’m really happy I could win this one.”

Swiatek looked dialled in from the start this time, breaking the Svitolina serve in the opening game.

But as she served for the set, the 22-year-old from Warsaw gifted Svitolina a break back to love with an uncharacteristically sloppy game, topped off with a double-fault.

Swiatek was rattled and Svitolina began finding her range, punishing a second serve to bring up two set points and edging in front when Swiatek’s backhand floated long.

A slight delay as the roof was closed gave Swiatek a chance to regroup but a hold to love at the start of the second set meant Svitolina had won 10 of the previous 12 points.

However, nerves started to kick in when, at 40-0, Svitolina missed the simplest of volleys at the net and then double-faulted, allowing Swiatek to break.

Swiatek then got a dose of the jitters herself, a double-fault giving Svitolina two break points and a long forehand levelling the set at 3-3.

Svitolina dug out a second ace of the match to go 4-1 ahead in the tie-break but Swiatek reeled her back in with a couple of rasping forehands which clipped the line and an exquisite backhand winner.

But Svitolina came again, breaking the reigning French and US Open champion twice to lead 4-1 in the decider.

Two more aces made it 5-1 and despite some late resistance from the Pole Svitolina came through, covering her mouth with her hand in utter shock when Swiatek hit the net on match point.

Swiatek has been a huge supporter of the Ukrainian cause following the Russian invasion and wears a blue and yellow ribbon in her cap.

Svitolina, whose emotional win over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the fourth round was one of the matches of the tournament, added: “Iga is not only a great champion but an unbelievable person.

“She was one of the first who really helped the Ukrainian people, she was a huge help. So for sure it’s not easy to play someone that you share a lot of good moments. Not easy for her either but I’m really proud I could win this one.”

England’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine in September will be played in the Polish city of Wroclaw.

Gareth Southgate’s men have enjoyed a 100 per cent start to European Championship qualification, with four wins from their four Group C matches.

England’s next qualifier is on September 9 away to Ukraine, who have been forced to host matches away from their homeland since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

The Ukrainian Association of Football has confirmed that the match will be held in Poland at the 45,000-capacity Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw.

They held last year’s Nations League games in Poland – two in Lodz, one in Krakow – and played June’s match at home to Malta in Trnava, Slovakia.

The Austrian cities of Vienna and Klagenfurt had been reportedly considered as host cities for the match against England.

Ellen White will be sad to see several talented Spain players miss the Women's World Cup over a dispute with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and head coach Jorge Vilda. 

Last September, 15 Spain players pledged to resign from the national team unless Vilda was dismissed, claiming his tenure was having a negative impact on their "emotional state".

The RFEF stood by Vilda, who has coached La Roja since 2015 but has failed to take the side beyond the last eight of three major tournaments, and just three of the players involved in the dispute have made the trip to Australia and New Zealand.

Barcelona duo Mariona Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati – as well as Manchester United's Ona Batlle – have been recalled by Vilda, but 12 others remain frozen out.

Speaking at the launch of Pixel FC, a collective of dedicated women's football creators helping to close the visibility gap within women's football, White lamented their absence and said players' conditions need to be discussed.

"I think it's important to have those conversations," England's record goalscorer said. "I can't say what side [I would be on] because I'm not 100 per cent sure on everything, but I think it's really important.

"To be honest, it's really sad that we haven't got some of the best players in the world playing for their nation because of a number of different reasons. 

"I think that's really sad. In the World Cup, you should see the best players on show, so I feel really disappointed and sad for them. 

"I'm hoping that as time goes on and the conversations are had, those grievances are heard and they are able to continue to play for their country in the manner in which they want to."

France were also impacted by a player revolt earlier this year, with the withdrawal of captain Wendie Renard influential in Les Bleues' decision to part company with coach Corrine Diacre.

Former Saudi Arabia boss Herve Renard has since taken over and recalled the Lyon defender, and White hopes that move has had the desired effect on France's squad.

"Well, obviously, they've now brought in the new manager, so I'm hoping that's galvanised the squad and brought more excitement," she said. 

"These conversations need to happen for change to happen, and I'm hoping that they keep pushing for the change that they want.

"But the new manager has come in, and the players that originally said they wouldn't join the squad have now rejoined the squad, so I'm hoping it's moving in the right direction.

"I can't speak for the players, but I'm hoping that they feel comfortable enough to play for their nation and the conversations are really important to have."