Eddie Jones insists he did not intend to criticise US Open champion Emma Raducanu in his recent comments about young sportspeople coping with "distractions".
The England rugby union head coach referred to Raducanu on Saturday when discussing the possibility that fly-half Marcus Smith could face "a flood of distractions" after an impressive cameo in his team's 69-3 win against Tonga.
Jones received criticism after suggesting the 18-year-old Brit had underperformed since she won her first grand slam in September, when she became the first qualifier in tennis history to win a major.
"There's a reason why the girl who won the US Open [Raducanu] hasn't done so well afterwards. What have you seen her on? The front page of Vogue, the front page of Harper's Bazaar, whatever it is, wearing Christian Dior clothes," Jones said at the weekend.
However, he has attempted to clarify his comments, claiming he was not directly criticising Raducanu.
"The whole point was how difficult it is for young players to cope with distractions," Jones told BBC Sport.
"So, the point I made was not wrong. I can't control if it's taken out of context. There was no criticism of Emma.
"I have sent her a letter just to reinforce that and hopefully we'll see her at Twickenham shortly.
"I don't have any misgivings about what I said – I am disappointed it was taken out of context, and I would be disappointed if Emma was upset by it.
"It was deemed as being sexist and that was never the aim of the point."
Raducanu's season came to a frustrating end on Tuesday as she sustained a thigh injury in the process of being knocked out of the Linz Open – in which she was the top seed – by Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu 6-1 6-7 (0-7) 7-5.
However, the British number one did confirm Torben Beltz as her new coach afterwards, having parted with Andrew Richardson a couple of weeks after her historic US Open success.
Southgate not planning on swift return to management
Gareth Southgate will not be taking another management job within the next year, and he is unlikely to work with another national team.
Southgate resigned as England manager following the Three Lions' 2-1 defeat to Spain in the final of Euro 2024, bringing to an end an 11-year association with the FA.
The 54-year-old was in charge of the senior team for eight years and, within that period, led them to the finals of both Euro 2020 and Euro 2024, as well as the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup.
In terms of tournament performance, he was the most successful England manager since Alf Ramsey, who led England to the 1966 World Cup – their only major honour.
"Sometimes when you are in a big role you don't realise the weight until it's gone," Southgate told the European Club Association's general assembly, as reported by Reuters.
"It is one of those jobs where everybody has an opinion."
On life after the England job, Southgate was relaxed about where his next move would be. Despite that, he made it clear that he wasn’t going to take any coaching job in the near future.
"I am enjoying my life, so there is no rush. For 11 years I committed fully to the national federation," he said.
“I won't coach in the next year for sure. I am certain of that. When you come out of a big role you need to give your body time, your mind time."
Southgate has, in recent times, been linked with a move to the Premier League, with Manchester United's decision-makers having reportedly considered him as a possible replacement for Erik ten Hag.
While it is unclear how his self-enforced break from working will impact that, he confirmed that he would be open on a return to domestic football as long as the role was right.
"Club football? Depending on what role that is," Southgate said.
"I have been fortunate to have worked with fantastic players. You got to have excitement, passion to go to work every day.
One thing it seems like Southgate will not do, meanwhile, is work with another national team.
"It is unlikely to be another national federation. England was from the heart," he said
Tennis great Nadal confirms retirement
Rafael Nadal has confirmed his impending retirement from tennis.
The Spanish superstar will end his remarkable playing career after the Davis Cup Finals, which take place in Malaga in November.
Only Margaret Court, Novak Djokovic (24 each) and Serena Williams (23) have won more Singles Grand Slam titles than Nadal (22), but he has been plagued by injury in recent seasons.
In a message released on his official social media channels on Thursday, Nadal said: "I am here to let you know I am retiring from professional tennis.
"The reality is that it has been some difficult years, the last two especially.
"I don't think I have been able to play without limitations."
Nadal confirmed previously that 2024 would likely be his final year on ATP Tour circuit and he has featured in just seven tournaments this season.
He remarkably reached the Swedish Open final in Bastad, only to lose to Nuno Borges, after competing at the French Open for the final time.
Nadal has won a record 14 titles at Roland-Garros, with the last of those coming in 2022.
He will retire as a four-time US Open champion and a two-time winner at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Nadal has not featured in a singles match since he lost to old foe Djokovic at the Paris Olympics in August.
Along with Djokovic and Roger Federer, Nadal is one of only three players in the Open Era to have played and won over 300 men's singles Grand Slam matches. Nadal bows out with a major record of 314 wins from 358 matches.
His retirement, which comes on the back of Andy Murray calling it a day earlier this year, means that, of the "big four" that dominated men's tennis for over a decade, only Djokovic now remains.
Sinner downs Medvedev to reach Shanghai semi-final
Jannik Sinner marched into the last four of the Shanghai Masters by defeating Daniil Medvedev on Thursday.
Sinner beat the Russian 6-1 6-4 and could now face a reunion with Carlos Alcaraz, who he lost to in the final of the China Open last week, in the semi-final.
The world number one has now won six of his last seven encounters with Medvedev.
"Obviously, I'm very happy how I handled today and this match," said Sinner.
"It felt like he had a bit of shoulder pain and couldn’t hit his forehand as well as he wished to.
"Hopefully he can recover as fast as possible, but from my side it was a great match, a great battle, and let’s see what I can do now in the semi-final."
Sinner has clocked up 63 wins on the ATP Tour this season.
Data Debrief: Master Sinner
Sinner has now made five ATP 1000 semi-finals in 2024, which is the most of any player this year.
The Italian has also become only the second player since 2020 to reach as many semi-finals in the format since Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2022.
Since the format's inception in 1990, Sinner (77.3%, 51-15) only trails three players for win percentage on hard court at ATP 1000 events: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi.
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