Latest - Tennis World number one Ash Barty was forced to retire from her Italian Open quarter-final against Coco Gauff with an arm injury, raising doubts on her participation at the French Open.
Ash Barty. Photo: ©Icon Sportswire (A Division of XML Team Solutions) All Rights Reserved
Barty, the 2019 French Open winner, was leading 6-4 2-1 against her American opponent when she called a physio and had her right-arm strapped with a compression sleeve.
The Australian eventually decided against continuing the match in wet conditions in Rome, allowing Gauff to book a place in the final four.
Barty missed the 2020 claycourt swing due to the COVID-19 pandemic but has returned even stronger this season, winning the title in Stuttgart before finishing runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid last week.
The 24-year-old now faces a battle to prove her fitness before the French Open, which begins on May 30 in Paris.
Meanwhile, Gauff has progressed to her first WTA semi-final on red clay at the age of 17. She will face the winner of the quarter-final between reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek and Elina Svitolina.
-Reuters
Imrie takes gold in K1 500m
Olympic-bound Kurtis Imrie backed up his success on day one of the national canoe sprint championships at Lake Karapiro with an emphatic victory in the open men's K1 500m.
The Mana paddler claimed K2 1000m gold with fellow Tokyo Olympic representative Max Brown on Friday, and K1 1000m silver.
On Saturday, he revealed his class with a commanding win over a top-class K1 500m field in a time of 1min 46.25sec.
Producing a spirited defence of his title, Ashton Reiser (North Shore) banked silver in 1:48.27 with Quaid Thompson (Poverty Bay) a further 0.44 back taking bronze.
Imrie said the win was particulary satisfying, given the conditions.
"I'm over the moon. The 500m is one of my favourite events and I'm excited my race went really well. We had challenging conditions out there, with a massive crosswind. I'm pretty stoked with that.
"I've learned over the years to ignore the weather. I grew up in Wellington, so I've trained in pretty average conditions before. I just go out there, put my best foot forward and today I was lucky enough to come away with the win."
Venus and Peers reach Rome Masters semi finals
New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus and his Australian partner John Peers have advanced to the doubles semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome for the second straight year.
They have beaten Romanian Horia Tecau and Germany's Kevin Krawietz in straight sets 7-6 (5) 7-5 in one hour 33.
"Playing these guys, they both have big serves and there weren't too many opportunities. We saved a set point at 5-4 on my serve in the first set and then played a good tie breaker. The rain started coming down late in the second set and we played a couple of good return games and managed to get a break at 6-5 and win the match." Venus said.
Venus and Peers now face second seeds Mate Pavic and Nicola Mektic for a place in the final.
The Croatians are the form duo of 2021 so far having won ATP Masters 1000 titles in Monte Carlo and Miami, an ATP 500 title in Rotterdam as well as reaching the Madrid final, Dubai final and Australian Open semi-finals.
Mickelson accepts special exemption into U.S. Open
Phil Mickelson will play in the U.S. Open next month, giving him another chance to win the one major tournament that has eluded him during his Hall of Fame career.
Mickelson accepted a special exemption from the United States Golf Association to play in the tournament June 17-20 at the South Course at Torrey Pines, near where he was raised in the San Diego area. He will turn 51 the day before the tournament starts.
He has been the runner-up six times in his 29 appearances in the tournament.
"Winning the U.S. Open has been a lifelong and elusive dream, and I've come close so many times," Mickelson said in a statement. "You can't win if you don't play. I'm honored and appreciative of the USGA for the opportunity and look forward to playing in my hometown on a golf course I grew up on."
Mickelson has won the Masters Tournament three times (2004, 2006, 2010) and has one win each at the PGA Championship (2005) and The Open Championship (2013).
-Reuters
Ewan takes second stage win in Giro
Caleb Ewan claimed his second stage win at this year's Giro d'Italia as he again showed his sprinting prowess at the end of the 181km seventh stage.
The Australian Lotto Soudal rider followed his victory on a crash-hit stage five with a well-timed surge at the finish in Termoli after an uneventful day.
As the leading contenders began to wind up for the finish it was Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) who made the first move on an uphill section but his attack was destined to fail.
Ewan closed him down with around 150 metres remaining and won with something to spare to take his career Giro haul to five. Davide Cimolai (Israel Start-up Nation) was second with Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) in third place.
Hungary's Attila Valter finished safely in the bunch to retain the overall leader's Maglia Rosa.
After the incidents of the previous two days it was a quiet day for the main GC contenders.
Valter will keep the leader's jersey for another day at least and will take an 11-second lead over Remco Evenepoel into the eighth stage which features one category two climb and a steep finish at Guardia Sanframondi.
-Reuters
Finnish GP cancelled due to COVID-19, Styrian race added
MotoGP's Finnish Grand Prix in July has been cancelled due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic with Austria set to host a doubleheader in August instead, the sport's promoter Dorna said on Friday.
While this year's race has been scrapped, Dorna said they had extended their agreement with the Grand Prix of Finland by five years, ensuring it has a place on the calendar until 2026.
The Styrian Grand Prix, which made its debut last year, will be held again at the Red Bull Ring from Aug. 6-8, a week before the Austrian Grand Prix.
Both the Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix will allow a limited number of spectators after Dorna came to an agreement with the local authorities, but they did not specify how many would be allowed to attend.
Dorna added that both the Argentina GP and The Americas race in Austin remained postponed until the final quarter of 2021, while Indonesia's Mandalika International Street Circuit will be a backup option subject to approvals.
-Reuters
Amor and Ryles leave roles in Jones' England rugby coaching team
England attack coach Simon Amor and skills coach Jason Ryles have left their roles in Eddie Jones' backroom staff, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said.
Amor and the RFU have mutually decided to part company, while Ryles has decided to stay in Australia with his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After winning the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup in 2020, England have suffered a severe slump in form in recent months and finished fifth in the Six Nations, which led to an in-depth RFU review.
The review was completed last month with the RFU standing by Jones, who has a contract through to the 2023 World Cup in France.
However, the fallout from England's poor Six Nations title defence has now resulted in the departure of Amor and Ryles.
Amor was previously England men's sevens head coach between 2013 and 2019, and also led Team GB to a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
For the summer matches against Scotland A, United States and Canada, Jones will take charge of the England attack, before a new appointment is made ahead of the autumn internationals.
-Reuters
