Madrid Open organisers have apologised for not allowing the women’s doubles finalists to speak on court following Sunday’s match.

The PA news agency understands the WTA is investigating the various issues raised regarding the treatment of its players at the Caja Magica last week, and the tournament’s chief executive Gerard Tsobanian has now issued a public apology.

The convention is for the runners-up and winners to address the crowd following finals, and champions Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia and beaten finalists Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula were shocked to be denied the opportunity.

Tsobanian wrote on Twitter: “We sincerely apologise to all the players and fans who expect more of the Mutua Madrid Open tournament.

“Not giving our women’s doubles finalists the chance to address their fans at the end of the match was unacceptable and we have apologised directly to Victoria, Beatriz, Coco and Jessica.

“We are working internally and with the WTA to review our protocols and are committed to improving our process moving forward. We made a mistake and this will not ever happen again.”

There was also criticism of the revealing outfits worn by model ball girls on the main court as well as the way the tournament celebrated the birthday of male champion Carlos Alcaraz compared to women’s singles winner Aryna Sabalenka.

They share a birthday on May 5 but, while Alcaraz was presented with a huge cake on court after his semi-final, Sabalenka, who was not playing that day, was given a much more modest confection backstage.

It is not the first time the Madrid Open, which is now owned by leading agency IMG, has been accused of favouring men over women, and Azarenka tweeted in response to pictures of two cakes: “Couldn’t be more accurate on the treatment.”

In their speeches after the women’s final, Sabalenka made a joke about the cakes while runner-up Iga Swiatek made clear her unhappiness with being made to play after midnight.

That appeared to be the final straw for tournament director Feliciano Lopez, who had hit back at criticism over the cakes on Twitter.

The WTA has not made any public comment on the matter but it is understood it does not agree with the decisions that were made and is looking into events.

Speaking ahead of the Italian Open in Rome this week, Pegula told reporters: “I’ve never heard of that (not being allowed to speak) in my life.

“I don’t know what century everyone was living in when they made that decision or how they actually had a conversation and decided, like, ‘Wow, this is a great decision we’re going to do and there’s going to be no backlash against this’.”

Australia coach Eddie Jones said he is ready to launch a “smash and grab” campaign to win the Rugby World Cup and Bledisloe Cup after confirming his coaching team.

Jones, who took over the Wallabies in January after being sacked by England the previous month, has named Brad Davis as his attack coach with former Australian internationals Dan Palmer and Berrick Barnes also joining the staff.

“We believe we have a quality coaching staff to plan and prepare the team for a smash and grab campaign, winning the Bledisloe Cup and finishing by winning the Rugby World Cup,” Jones said, who took England to the world cup final in 2019.

“It is experience, diverse and adaptable.”

Former rugby league player Davis coached at London Irish this season having previously worked with Bath, Wasps and Ospreys.

Ex-Wallaby prop Palmer, an assistant coach at ACT Brumbies, will work as lineout coach alongside Neal Hatley, who was named forwards co-ordinator earlier this year.

Former England scrum coach Hatley will join up with the Wallabies after finishing the season with Premiership side Bath.

Barnes, who won 51 caps for Australia as an outside-half, will work as a part-time kicking consultant with former Castres boss Pierre-Henry Broncan appointed as a maul consultant and Jon Clarke leading the strength and conditioning team – a role he filled with England.

Australia kick off their Rugby Championship campaign against South Africa in Pretoria on July 8.

England centre Ollie Lawrence has been named Gallagher Premiership player of the year at the end of a season that saw him emerge from Worcester’s financial ruin to make an impact at Bath.

Lawrence found a new home at the Recreation Ground in October after the Warriors were placed into administration and he took the opportunity to revitalise a career that had been troubled by injury.

Not only did the 23-year-old help Bath qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup, his powerful running saw him recalled by England and he was a mainstay of their midfield during the Six Nations.

He beat fellow nominees Owen Farrell, Jasper Wiese and Robert du Preez to win an award that was decided by experts of the game and presented at Premiership Rugby’s awards dinner in central London.

Breakthrough player of the season went to London Irish’s Tom Pearson, the 23-year-old back row who is pressing hard for England selection.

Saracens’ Mark McCall took the director of rugby of the season award after guiding his team into the Premiership play-offs by finishing top of the table in the regular season.

Andy Murray was beaten by fellow veteran Fabio Fognini to suffer a disappointing first-round exit at the Italian Open.

Murray, fresh from claiming success at an ATP Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence on Sunday, had hoped to extend his five-match winning streak but instead saw his time in Rome end early to the 35-year-old home favourite.

A 6-4 4-6 6-4 defeat to the world number 130 halts the momentum of the Briton, who will now turn his attention to the French Open later this month.

Three-time grand slam winner Murray made the worst possible start in Italy with Fognini able to break him in his opening service game.

While the Scot did force a number of opportunities to break back at 3-2, he failed to seize the moment and his frustration boiled over later in the set with a debate occurring with umpire Mohamed Lahyani over a tight line call that saw Fognini go 5-3 up.

Fognini went on to clinch a 69-minute opener but quickly found himself 4-0 down in the second with Murray hitting his straps, albeit helped by a string of double-faults from his opponent.

A second-set wobble saw the veterans exchange breaks before Murray did force a decider with the encounter by that point edging past the two-hour mark.

Despite Fognini seemingly struggling physically during the second set, he found a new lease of life and took the initiative with an early break in the third.

Murray tried to keep pace with the Italian, who was mixing an array of baseline winners with unforced errors but a concern for the two-time Wimbledon winner occurred when he held his back during the seventh game of the third.

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It was not enough to stop the new world number 42 from continuing, and yet there would be no big fightback on this occasion with Fognini earning a fifth victory in nine meetings thanks to an ace after two hours and 55 minutes.

This latest first-round exit at an ATP 1000 event on clay, after similar losses in Madrid and Monto-Carlo, will give Murray around 10 days preparation before Roland Garros begins on May 22 where he is now unlikely to be seeded.

Elsewhere, fellow Briton Kyle Edmund was also knocked out in the Italian Open first round after he suffered a 6-1 6-3 defeat to Alexandre Muller.

World number 473 Edmund saw his struggles continue against a French player who broke into the top 100 last month.

Muller managed to wrap up the first set in 23 minutes in Rome and, while Edmund was able to push his opponent more in the second, the former Australian Open semi-finalist was consigned to a third consecutive loss.

Scottie Scheffler has been working hard on the one weak link in his game as he bids to win a third PGA Tour title this season.

Scheffler, who can reclaim the world number one ranking from Jon Rahm with victory in the AT&T Byron Nelson, defended his title in February’s WM Phoenix Open and also claimed the prestigious Players Championship at Sawgrass.

And the former Masters champion did so despite ranking just 89th in total putting on the PGA Tour, a stark contrast to leading the categories for strokes gained off the tee and tee to green, as well as greens in regulation.

“I just feel like I’ve seen a lot of putts that I’ve really thought were going to go in that haven’t,” Scheffler told a pre-tournament press conference at TPC Craig Ranch.

“I’m usually pretty dangerous when my putter gets hot, so I’ve been working on it pretty good. Yeah, just hoping to see some putts go in. Instead of lipping out, maybe lipping in.”

Scheffler made his PGA Tour debut in what was then called the HP Byron Nelson Championship as a 17-year-old amateur in 2014, recording a hole-in-one during the third round and eventually finishing in a tie for 22nd.

Nine years later he is the star attraction and the only member of the world’s top 15 in the field following the injury withdrawal of Jordan Spieth.

“It’s definitely a bit different than when I came here in high school,” Scheffler added. “I feel like I’m a little bit more a part of this thing than I was then, but I was just fortunate to get a spot and come out and play.

“Now I guess coming full circle out here is a little different scenario and it’s a lot of fun being able to play in front of the home crowd.

“Now that I’ve had some success out here on Tour, there’s a lot more people that will show up to watch me, which is great.

“I’m fortunate to be able to come out here and support an event that supported me from a young age, and I’m looking forward to going out there and playing in front of the home crowd and hopefully making some birdies.”

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 May 10.

Burnley celebrated their trophy parade.

And sealed a deal!

Manchester City players reflected on their trip to Madrid.

Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze and Luther Blissett were honoured.

Morning motivation from Virat Kohli.

Kevin Pietersen marked his son’s 13th birthday.

Justin Rose was back on the road.

A tip from Eddie Hearn.

Flashback.

Valtteri Bottas was back on his bike.

Nice views from Williams.

Tiger Woods will miss the US PGA Championship as expected after undergoing ankle surgery last month.

Woods was not included in the 155-strong field issued by the PGA of America on Wednesday for next week’s event at Oak Hill Country Club.

The final spot will be filled by the winner of the AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas.

Jordan Spieth was included in the field despite withdrawing from this week’s PGA Tour event with a wrist injury.

Woods pulled out of the Masters during the third round in April, saying at the time it was due to plantar fasciitis.

However, the 47-year-old then had a subtalar fusion procedure in New York to address the problem caused by a previous fracture of his talus, a bone in the ankle joint.

Woods feared his leg would have to be amputated due to the serious injuries he suffered in a car accident in Los Angeles in February 2021.

He made a remarkable return to action 14 months later and finished 47th in the Masters, but withdrew from the US PGA following a third-round 79 and did not contest the US Open before missing the cut in the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.

Woods has accepted that he can only play a handful of times a year going forward and is targeting majors and events with which he has a personal connection.

The US Open takes place at Los Angeles Country Club in June and Woods will hope to defy the odds and be able to compete in July’s Open at Royal Liverpool, where he won a third Open title in 2006 in his first tournament since the death of his father Earl two months earlier.

Katie Taylor believes her career has been shaped by pressure moments so the Irish fighter doubts she will be overwhelmed by her homecoming against Chantelle Cameron later this month.

Taylor (22-0, 6KOs) is headlining the first major boxing card in Dublin since 2016, attempting to emulate Claressa Shields in becoming an undisputed two-weight world champion on May 20 at the 3Arena.

It will be her first professional fight in Ireland but, from winning gold at London 2012 to taking on Amanda Serrano at New York’s Madison Square Garden last year, Taylor is accustomed to blazing a trail.

So the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight champion, who is stepping up to light-welterweight to challenge for Cameron’s four belts, is sceptical about succumbing to fight-night nerves.

“I have the experience of fighting in these big occasions,” the 36-year-old said. “I have the experience of fighting when there is a lot of pressure on my shoulders.

“I don’t really see it as anything too outrageous in terms of what I’ve actually experienced before. Every single time I step into the ring I feel like there’s a lot of pressure on me.

“I am just getting on with things, looking forward to the fight, I’m excited about it, I’m not feeling the burden right now, I’m just excited. This could be the biggest moment of my career so far.

“This is a huge occasion for me and I’m just delighted to have a chance to fight at home. A few years ago, I didn’t think this was ever going to happen so I’m just so excited about it.”

Taylor was initially supposed to fight Serrano again at Croke Park in a rematch of their epic first meeting, which was the first women’s contest to top the bill at the so-called ‘Mecca of Boxing’.

Security cost issues scuppered the initial plan while a switch of opponent was necessary after Serrano suffered an injury, but Taylor remains hopeful of one day fighting inside Ireland’s largest stadium.

“I definitely haven’t given up on it,” she said. “I would absolutely love the opportunity to fight at Croke Park, our most iconic stadium, but these things are genuinely out of my control.”

Taylor, who stepped up to the 140lb division and won the WBO title by beating Christina Linardatou in 2019, was taken to her limits by Serrano in April last year but earned a split decision victory.

She will face height and reach disadvantages against Cameron, who has won all 17 fights in the paid ranks, but Taylor insisted she is ready for whatever the Northampton fighter has to offer.

“I definitely believe this fight has the potential to be the hardest of my career so far and I am ready for that challenge,” Taylor added. “These are the kinds of fights that I am very, very excited about.

“I’ve had my eye on Chantelle for a few years now, this is a fight that I’ve always wanted. The motivation is as high as ever for this fight for me.

“It would have been a lot worse if I was going from Amanda Serrano to a mandatory opponent, a fight I can’t really get up for. This is a fight where I am genuinely motivated for and she is as well.

“I’m going to have to be at my very, very best on fight night. People are saying this is going to be an even better fight than the Amanda Serrano fight so there is a huge appetite.”

Joy Neville will make rugby union history in France later this year when she becomes the first woman to officiate at a men’s World Cup.

The Irish referee has been included among seven television match officials for the tournament.

Neville, 39, controlled the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup final between England and New Zealand in Belfast.

Wayne Barnes, meanwhile, will lead a four-strong contingent of English officials among the 12 referees selected.

Barnes has controlled a world-best 102 Tests and will officiate in a fifth successive World Cup, having made his tournament bow during the 2007 staging.

He is joined by Luke Pearce, Matthew Carley and Karl Dickson, with Carley and Dickson making their World Cup refereeing debuts.

The group of referees announced by World Rugby also includes Irishman Andrew Brace and Nika Amashukeli, who becomes the first Georgian to officiate at a World Cup, with England’s Christophe Ridley and Welshman Craig Evans chosen among seven assistant referees.

“The journey to Rugby World Cup 2023 is not an easy one for match officials,” World Rugby high performance 15s match official manager Joel Jutge said.

“There are fewer roles with as much public scrutiny, but I am proud of how the team has responded to the ups and downs, always being open and acting with integrity.

“Selection is one milestone, and we have a lot of work to do before the start of the tournament with warm-up matches and the Rugby Championship.

“But this team has a great work ethic, an unwavering spirit and a great bond, and we will all benefit from increased time together as we prepare for what will be a very special Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.”

The tournament kicks off on September 8 when France host New Zealand in Paris.

The NFL announced a handful of games for the 2023 season on Wednesday before the league’s full regular-season schedule will be unveiled Thursday night.

A first-ever Black Friday game will take place on November 24, as new Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers will lead New York against the visiting Miami Dolphins.

The defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles will host the New York Giants on Christmas Day, while the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Cincinnati Bengals on New Year’s Eve in a rematch of last season's AFC Championship Game.

The NFL also announced there will be five international games – three in London and two in Germany.

In London, the Jacksonville Jaguars will become the first team to play two games outside of the United States in the same season when they face the Atlanta Falcons on October 1 at Wembley Stadium and the Buffalo Bills the following week on October 8 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will also host the third London game on October 15 when the Tennessee Titans take on the Baltimore Ravens.

After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Germany last season in Munich, the league will return to Germany for two games at Frankfurt Stadium.

Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs will meet the Dolphins on November 5, and the New England Patriots will face the Indianapolis Colts on November 12.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will make NFL history this year by playing back-to-back games in London.

The UK has long been the Florida franchise’s home away from home and October will see them become the first team to play two of their regular season games outside of the United States.

The Jaguars kick off the 2023 International Games against the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley – their 10th game in England as part of a multi-year commitment to play in the region.

That October 1 fixture is followed with another London game the following week as the Buffalo Bills host them at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 8.

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said: “We are excited to again compete in the NFL’s International Games and face off against the Falcons and Bills in London.

“Hosting the Falcons at Wembley Stadium will be awesome only to be followed by playing on the road against the Bills at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“I’m pumped for the experience and know the support from Duval will be strong at both games.”

The Jags normally spend three days in London when they play across the pond, but this schedule means they are to set to spend 10 days in the capital around these games.

Jaguars vice president of UK operations Maria Gigante said: “We are delighted to be the first team to ever play back-to-back games in London, which is fitting as the Jaguars are very much the UK’s team.

“Playing in London is always a fantastic occasion, and we are committed to making Wembley the most authentic NFL home game experience for the fans and team, and with the addition of a game on the road versus the Bills we have a great opportunity to engage for a much longer period – and we have some very exciting things planned.”

The 2023 NFL London Games will wrap up on October 15, when the Tennessee Titans play the Baltimore Ravens at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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The schedule then continues onto Germany, which successfully hosted their first regular season fixture last year in Munich.

This time around there will be two games, both being held at Frankfurt Stadium.

Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs face the Miami Dolphins on November 5, before the New England Patriots take on the Indianapolis Colts on November 12.

Alex Sanderson has described Sunday’s play-off clash against Leicester as “a game of grand magnitude” as Sale Sharks target a first Gallagher Premiership final appearance since 2006.

Sale beat Leicester 45-20 at Twickenham 17 years ago, helped on their way by 23 points from fly-half Charlie Hodgson, while captain Jason Robinson became the first player to win Grand Finals in both rugby codes.

The Sharks have featured in just one play-off occasion since that season, though, shipping 40 points against Exeter in 2021.

Standing in Sale’s way at a sold-out AJ Bell Stadium this weekend and a return to English rugby headquarters are the reigning Premiership champions.

When the clubs last met in Greater Manchester Sale ran out 40-5 winners, while Sharks finished second behind Saracens across the regular domestic season.

“Thankfully, this isn’t our first rodeo of recent times with this group,” Sale rugby director Sanderson said.

“We have learnt from two years ago how to manage these kind of moments better.

“It is a game of grand magnitude which we are looking to enjoy and embrace, not to be overwhelmed by. That is the challenge.

“Our excitement exists within this bubble. You don’t want to talk about the further reach because it can become overwhelming, as it did two years ago.

“You have to stick to process while being aware of the buzz around. It has been really, really busy around the ground and there is lots going on this weekend.

“We feel the support more than we ever have done. We have just got to come back to what has been working well for us, which is communicating well and training hard.”

It is difficult to under-estimate the drive that Sale have taken from their play-off loss against Exeter two years ago.

Had they beaten the Chiefs – also in Devon – during the final round of regular-season action a week earlier, then it could have secured a home semi-final.

Sanderson added: “We have been working towards it and building for this for two years, certainly since a year last Christmas when we realised we had a lot of work to do as an organisation.

“Since then, we have looked at how we can give ourselves these kind of opportunities.

“Now we are here, it feels like we have earned it. It’s less of a fairy-tale and there is less emotion around this occurrence than there was two years ago.

“We have referred back to the players, in particular seven or eight of them who have won the big trophies in the past, and how they have managed these weeks, how we can manage these moments better.

“It is a general understanding of how we deal with it, make sure it doesn’t change us, but be aware that it is there.”