Five-time Wimbledon singles champion Venus Williams has been awarded a wild card for next month’s championships.

Williams, who played mixed doubles at the All England Club last year, has not played in the singles event since 2021 but rolled back the years on Monday to beat Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham days after her 43rd birthday.

Williams competes sparingly these days and only played her first tournament since January at a grass-court event in the Netherlands last week before heading to Birmingham.

Her gutsy 7-6 (5), 4-6 7-6 (6) victory over Giorgi in more than three hours on Monday represented a first win over a top-50 opponent since 2019.

Ten singles wild cards have been handed to British male and female players, including Liam Broady and Katie Boulter, while Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina will be involved in Wimbledon after she missed last year’s tournament due to her pregnancy.

Former world number three Svitolina gave birth in October but made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last month in her first grand-slam since becoming a mother.

Svitolina made the last four at Wimbledon in 2021 and could encounter more Russian and Belarussian players in SW19.

She was booed at the French Open after not shaking hands with Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka following her quarter-final exit.

British hopefuls Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Heather Watson have also been given wild cards.

In the men’s singles Ryan Peniston has received a wild card, along with fellow Britons Arthur Fery, Jan Choinski and George Loffhagen, with the trio set to make their main draw debuts at Wimbledon.

Belgian David Goffin, the world number 124, has been handed a wild card following his run to the quarter-finals in 2022, where he lost in five sets to British number one Cameron Norrie.

The All England Club has one more women’s singles and two more men’s singles wild cards to hand out.

Frankie Dettori has yet to decide whether he will appeal a nine-day ban he picked up on the first day of Royal Ascot.

The 52-year-old was adjudged by the stewards to have caused interference shortly after the start on Saga in the Wolferton Stakes on Tuesday.

Owned by the King and Queen, Saga went on to finish fifth with the ban compounding a frustrating afternoon for Dettori, who filled the runner-up spot on three occasions.

The suspension is due to run from July 4-12, meaning he will be unable to ride likely favourite Emily Upjohn in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on July 8.

He would, though, be free to ride at Newmarket’s July Festival as he chases one of the few remaining Group One gaps on his CV, the July Cup.

“I’ve got to consult my legal team and we’ll decide whether I’m going to appeal or not,” Dettori told ITV’s The Opening Show.

“I’m glad that nobody got hurt. It’s one of those things, the bend comes very quickly after the start and it can get very congested at that point in the race, but I haven’t had chance to go through it properly yet.

“I’ll talk to my lawyers today.”

Team GB’s first male artistic swimmer is thoroughly satisfied to have earned the respect of friends who once asked why he did not just play football like everyone else.

Ranjuo Tomblin is one of 12 British artistic swimmers hoping to top the podium at the European Games this week in Krakow, but the 17-year-old knows he will be making history no matter what the result.

When he and Beatrice Crass slip into the pool for Thursday’s mixed duet technical event, Tomblin will also be making his milestone senior debut with Team GB.

“Definitely my friends at the start were like, ‘Oh, why are you doing that? Why aren’t you doing football, you know, the generic sports?'” he said.

“But as I’ve grown and developed and I’ve got a few medals in the bank, they definitely more respect what I do, now they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a really cool thing you do’.”

Tomblin’s ambitions to erase stigma and stereotype around his chosen sport, once known as synchronised swimming, extend well beyond his circle of friends.

Artistic swimming is, like a duck gliding smoothly across a lake, an illusion of effortlessness when in reality it is anything but. Asked about the biggest misconception people hold, Tomblin’s answer comes immediately.

“That it is easy,” he said. “It’s not easy. A lot of people just think it’s having a play about in the water. It’s really not.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ranjuo Tomblin (@_ranjuo_synchro)

Training comprises working on everything from strength and conditioning to flexibility, knee extensions, toe points, breath-holding, swimming, stamina and timing.

Consider the feeling of, as American synchro coach Joyce Lindeman once put it, “running a marathon while holding your breath”.

Also it is set to music, and you are judged on how good you look doing it.

Tomblin spent nearly a decade in gymnastics and it was only by fluke that the woman coaching his “normal” swimming lessons at Atlantis Flamingos also happened to be the synchro coach.

Hearing about his gymnastics background, she asked if he wanted to give artistic swimming a go.

“I immediately loved it. It’s really grown from there,” said Tomblin, though he admits there was an adjustment period, adding: “It definitely did feel a bit weird, especially with the first team I joined.

“There were no boys, it was full of girls and it was a bit awkward and it was hard to make friends, but I feel like after I joined the national squad everyone’s really lovely. We’re all good friends.”

A landmark December 2022 World Aquatics decision paved the way for male artistic swimmers to compete at next summer’s Paris Olympics, which will now allow up to two men in the eight-athlete team event.

Tomblin won silver at the inaugural male free solo event at the 2022 LEN European Junior Championships as well as bronze alongside Cass and, while he is certainly open to the possibility of the team event, mixed duet – appearing for the first time at a European Games – is Tomblin’s speciality.

Mixed duet is not on the programme for Paris, but December’s announcement allowed Tomblin to be cautiously optimistic that his event could feature at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

“When I first heard that, I felt really excited and hopeful,” he said. “Because now they’re like, ‘Oh there’s loads of boys so let’s let them in the Olympics’… then hopefully that will lead towards the mixed duet going into the Olympic Games.”

While records will fall and champions change, there can only ever be one person who does something first, and Tomblin is delighted by the role he could play in ensuring he will not be the last.

“It would mean so much to me,” he added. “I’m working so hard because I’ve seen males older than me, like (Team USA’s) Bill May. I look up to him and he inspires me so much. I’d like to inspire someone – that would feel really nice for me.”

Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill is being investigated on allegations of assault and battery after an incident at a Miami Beach marina, the Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed Tuesday.

Hill allegedly hit a marina employee on the back of the head during an altercation Sunday, according to multiple media outlets in South Florida. No charges have been filed.

The Dolphins released a brief statement Tuesday in acknowledgement of the investigation.

“We are aware of the situation and have been in contact with Tyreek, his representatives and the NFL,” the Dolphins said in the statement. “We will reserve further comment at this time.”

Acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs in March of 2022, Hill signed a four-year, $120million contract extension with the Dolphins.

In his first season in Miami, Hill was selected to his seventh career Pro Bowl after accumulating 119 catches for 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns.

As long as the Los Angeles Angels are in contention for a playoff spot, the team’s front office has no intention of trading two-way star Shohei Ohtani in the final year of his contract.

 Angels general manager Perry Minasian fielded questions Tuesday about whether the club would consider trading Ohtani this summer for a hefty return to avoid watching the 2021 American League MVP walk away in free agency in the offseason.

“I think anybody who has watched us play or looked where we’re at in the standings, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we like him and we hope he’s here a long time,” Minasian said. “It’s pretty self-explanatory with where we’re at.”

The Angels opened play Tuesday with a 41-33 record and in second place in the AL West. The club is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought.

Ohtani is in his sixth season with the Angels and will make $30million this year, his last before having the chance to be a free agent.

While Ohtani could eventually sign a new contract to stay in Anaheim, his agent Naz Balelo indicated in February that Ohtani will not sign an extension during the season, allowing him to hear offers from other teams this winter.

If Ohtani chooses to sign with another team, the Angels would receive only compensatory draft picks in return for his departure.

Ohtani leads the major leagues with 24 home runs this season while batting .300 in 323 plate appearances.

On the mound, the Japan-born superstar has a 6-2 record with a 3.29 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 14 starts.

Jordan Spieth won his second consecutive major with victory in the 115th US Open at Chambers Bay, on this day in 2015.

The American world number two carded a closing 69 to finish five under par, one shot ahead of Louis Oosthuizen and Dustin Johnson, with the latter having three-putted from 12 feet when faced with an eagle putt to win on the final hole.

Spieth became just the sixth man after Craig Wood, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to win the Masters and US Open in the same year, as well as the first player since Gene Sarazen in 1922 to win multiple majors aged 21 or younger.

After three-putting the opening hole, Spieth recovered with birdies at the eighth and 12th and, with Johnson losing a two-shot lead with three bogeys in four holes from the 10th, shared the lead with playing partner Branden Grace.

That all changed on the 16th, where Grace drove out of bounds to card a double bogey and Spieth holed from 25 feet for birdie – only for Spieth to double bogey the 17th after compounding a wild tee shot by three putting from 40 feet.

Oosthuizen had set the clubhouse target on four under after a remarkable six birdies in the last seven holes for a record-equalling back nine of 29, before Johnson then made birdie on the 17th to tie the lead.

After two brilliant shots onto the 18th green, Spieth two-putted for birdie to finish five under and Johnson initially responded superbly with an even better approach to 12 feet, but saw his eagle attempt drift four feet past and miss the return to force a play-off.

Spieth went on to finish second at the 2015 US PGA Championship in August, and has since secured a third major title at the 2017 Open.

Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma has declined his $13 million player option for next season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday.

Kuzma set personal highs with 21.2 points and 3.7 assists per game last season while also averaging 7.2 rebounds – the second-most in his career.

The Brooklyn Nets selected Kuzma with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft before a draft-night deal sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kuzma played four seasons with the Lakers and led all Los Angeles reserves with 10 points per game during the 2020 playoffs en route to the franchise’s record-tying 17th NBA championship.

The Lakers traded Kuzma to the Wizards in August 2021 in the deal that sent Russell Westbrook to Los Angeles.

Kuzma has averaged 16.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 406 regular-season games.

It’s been a busy offseason for the Wizards, who have agreed to trade Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns in a deal that will see Chris Paul land with Washington.

Frankie Dettori will miss the ride on Coral-Eclipse favourite Emily Upjohn after being handed a nine-day careless riding ban by the stewards on a frustrating first day at Royal Ascot.

Three second-placed finishes was the best the Italian could muster and he picked up the hefty suspension when deemed to have caused significant interference to multiple horses aboard royal runner Saga, who finished fifth in the Wolferton Stakes.

Dettori attempted to switch right handed towards the rail in the early stages of the 10-furlong Listed contest and in doing so, he caused James McDonald to quickly snatch up Cadillac. Certain Lad and Notre Belle, who were behind Cadillac, were also hampered in the scrimmaging.

Cadillac finished 15th of the 16 runners, while Notre Belle and Certain Lad were 11th and 13th respectively in the race won by Royal Challenger.

The ban, which runs from July 4 to 12, means John and Thady Gosden, who trained Emily Upjohn to win the Coronation Cup at Epsom on her last start, will not have the services of the popular jockey at Sandown, where she currently heads the market at 9-4 with the race sponsors.

His suspension will finish a day before the three-day July festival at Newmarket begins, where the 52-year-old will hope to fill one of the few significant Group One holes in his glittering CV – riding a July Cup winner – before his retirement at the end of the year.

Dettori came close to riding a winner on Tuesday, with Inspiral a neck behind 33-1 chance Triple Time in the Queen Anne.

He he also filled the second spot aboard St James’s Palace Stakes favourite Chaldean, who was beaten by Paddington, and played second fiddle when Absurde was runner-up to runaway winner Vauban in the concluding Copper Horse Handicap.

Andy Murray suffered a major blow to his Wimbledon hopes after falling to a first-round defeat at the cinch Championships.

The five-time Queen’s Club winner paid for an error-strewn, irritable performance as he slipped to a 6-3 6-1 loss against Alex De Minaur.

Murray had won 10 matches in a row in claiming back-to-back grass-court titles in Surbiton and Nottingham.

But Australian seventh seed De Minaur – the world number 18 – was a major step up in class and probably one of the trickiest first-round opponents Murray could have drawn.

The 24-year-old certainly knew his way around a grass court; he is a former Eastbourne champion and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

He was simply too strong for 36-year-old Murray, sending him spinning to a defeat which means, barring an unlikely raft of withdrawals, that he will not be seeded at Wimbledon next month.

Murray probably needed to reach the quarter-finals at least to have a chance of being one of the top 32 players at SW19, but now the two-time champion – currently ranked 38 – is at risk of facing one of the big guns in the early rounds.

Murray’s appearance in the singles may have been fleeting, but tournament organisers will at least be relieved he has opted to play doubles with British number one Cameron Norrie; they face Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram on Wednesday evening.

They were breathing a sigh of relief earlier on Tuesday when Carlos Alcaraz survived a scare.

The top seed and world number two insisted he can challenge on the grass this summer despite needing a third-set tie-break to beat French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech.

The 20-year-old was playing only his seventh match on the surface, and his first outside of Wimbledon.

Lucky loser Rinderknech only found out he was playing the Spaniard shortly before midday after fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils, Alcaraz’s scheduled opponent, withdrew from the tournament.

But the 27-year-old almost knocked the headline act out, taking the first set and giving Alcaraz an uncomfortable afternoon before going down 4-6 7-5 7-6 (3) in just over two-and-a-half hours.

Alcaraz, the US Open champion who was playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, said: “It has been a really tough match, he has played four or five matches on the grass and this was my first one.

“It was really difficult to adapt my game to the grass. For me it’s tough to play here, but Queen’s is a tournament I really wanted to play.

“I couldn’t play tennis on grass at home but I practised the movement on grass. I practised here a little bit before the tournament and I felt really good, even though it was the first match.

“I would say I’m going to be better in the next round.”

Britain’s Liam Broady was denied a notable win after world number 46 Adrian Mannarino came from a set down to win in three.

Broady, ranked 97 places behind the Frenchman at 143, raced away with the first set but was pegged back in a 1-6 6-4 6-3 defeat.

Fellow Brit Ryan Peniston – who beat Ugo Humbert on Monday – will face second seed Holger Rune in round two after the Danish youngster won 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3) against Maxime Cressy for his first career victory on grass.

High-class hurdler Vauban looks like developing into an equally smart horse on the Flat following his facile victory in the Copper Horse Handicap.

His success completed a treble on the day for jockey Ryan Moore and gave him a 76th winner at Royal Ascot.

Rated 160 over hurdles, the Willie Mullins-trained five-year-old looked thrown in off a mark of 101 in this mile-and-three-quarters contest.

Winner of three top-level races over the sticks for owner Rich Ricci, he had just failed to make it four when chasing home stablemate State Man in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Punchestown on his last run in April.

Moore immediately kept it simple aboard the well-supported even-money favourite, sending him to the front early and though he looked under pressure turning in, Vauban quickened smartly and in a matter of strides approaching the two-furlong pole he powered away from his rivals.

It was a notable afternoon for Mullins, who started the day arriving in one of the royal carriages and ended it with a one-two in the last, with the Frankie Dettori-ridden Absurde a well-held seven-and-a-half-length runner-up.

“It was a great performance from the horse, he’s improving all the time,” said Mullins.

“What was especially good was how brave Ryan Moore was, that was plan B or C what he did there. He jumped out, saw there was no pace and thought he’d better be more forward than we’d planned to be.

“He took the bull by the horns going around the first bend and then just rolled along the whole race. He stacked them all up behind him and started letting out a bit of speed – seven, six, five furlongs out he just kept winding it up and held some in reserve to win by seven and a half lengths, which is amazing.”

On future plans, the Closutton handler said: “We will have a look at all those races, York could be on the agenda and the Melbourne Cup is where we said we’d like to go and that’s what we’re going to try to do.

“We’ve had a wonderful day and to have a winner on top of that (being in the procession), you cannot ask for any more.”

The first day of Royal Ascot 2023 was supposed to be dominated by Frankie Dettori. But not for the first time he was overshadowed by Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore, as the softly-spoken Ballydoyle handler became the most successful trainer of all time at the showpiece meeting.

In overtaking Sir Michael Stoute – who held the record with 82 winners – O’Brien ensured his own little piece of history. And it is an odds-on chance he will add further lustre to it before the end of the week.

He began the afternoon one behind Stoute and drew level when River Tiber maintained his unbeaten record with a gritty display to win the Coventry Stakes.

Just over an hour later it was Paddington, the Irish Guineas winner, who got the better of the winner of the Newmarket Guineas hero Chaldean and Dettori in the St James’s Palace Stakes that will go down in the history books.

It was also a notable success for the man on top, with Moore riding his 75th winner at the meeting. When the Willie Mullins-trained Vauban strolled to a ridiculously easy win in the concluding Copper Horse Handicap, he moved to just one behind Dettori. Even if Moore does not surpass him this week, it will inevitably come next year when the Italian is enjoying his retirement.

In truth, it was a day of what might have been for Dettori, with Inspiral second in the opening Queen Anne Stakes, Manaccan his intended and well-fancied mount in the King’s Stand a non-runner and Chaldean being beaten.

O’Brien will never be anything other than quick to deflect praise on to others – but for once he could not avoid the headlines being about him.

“I’m delighted for everyone, everyone puts a lot in. Obviously Sir Michael is a very special man, we always looked up to him, always,” said O’Brien.

“We’re in a very privileged position to have these horses and it’s an honour for us to train them.

“For it to happen is amazing, you never think it will happen but now it has I’m delighted for everyone because they put so much in every day. They have to enjoy it because we have to keep the whole thing going and competition is very tough.

“You can never expect one thing, if it works then great but there are so many variables, so many things can fall the wrong way.”

Success does not sit easily on O’Brien’s shoulders, and yet you would think with the amount he has had it would come easily to him. One thing he can never be accused of is taking it for granted.

“Myself and Anne Marie (wife) and all the lads, it’s what we do, it’s enjoyment for us. We love horses and dealing with people, but we appreciate the position we’re in,” he said.

“We’re always looking forward. When we go to bed tonight, today is over and that’s it, that’s the way it is because we’ve horses running every day and we’re responsible for a lot of people. We have to treat the good days and the bad days the same.

“The record is special, especially because it belonged to a special man and a lot of hard work has gone into this to make it happen.

“There’s so many people, I’m always naming them and there’s one I always forget, Pat Keating, who travels them along with TJ (Comerford). Pat travels them day in day out and I never mention him.

“I mention the lads in the yard as much as I can, but there’s still a lot I don’t mention and I’m sorry about that. But I appreciate it every day.”

Royal Champion proved aptly named in giving jockey Jack Mitchell his first Royal Ascot winner, as he stayed on nicely to take the Listed Wolferton Stakes.

From an awkward draw in stall 12, Roger Varian’s charge had to come three wide throughout in the 10-furlong contest, but he was always travelling well.

Mitchell got to the front a little sooner than he may have wanted, yet he had plenty to spare aboard Sheikh Mohammed Obaid’s five-year-old, who was giving the owner a notable 577-1 double on the day, following Triple Time’s 33-1 success in the opening Queen Anne Stakes.

Though Bolshoi Ballet showed plenty of determination, Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien were denied a treble, setting for the runner-up spot, while 3-1 favourite Buckaroo stayed on well to finish third.

Though Frankie Dettori loomed large on the inside on Saga approaching the three-furlong pole, there was to be no royal winner, as he failed to find a gap on the rail when they quickened up and the partnership finished fifth behind the 16-1 winner.

Varian said: “It’s nice to get one on the board the first day and great to have one for Sheikh Obaid, who is a big supporter.

“He’s a bit in and out this horse, but I always knew he had a big one in him. Good to soft ground is his ideal conditions, any quicker or much softer and he doesn’t seem to want to know. I’m delighted for Jack, he’s a huge part of our team.”

Mitchell said: “That’s my first Royal Ascot winner and I seem to have been coming here a long time!

“It’s unbelievable. I can’t thank Sheikh Mohammed Obaid and Roger Varian enough for keeping me on this horse. He’s delivered and given me a great day.”