Ad court more important than deuce court November 18, 2019 | Sponsored Craig O’Shannessy, strategy analyst for the ATP Tour, reveals how Tsitsipas defeated Thiem at the Nitto ATP Finals. The role of the forehand is to hit winners and make the opponent miss. The role of the backhand is to not miss, and that’s exactly the script that Stefanos Tsitsipas followed to win the Nitto ATP [...]
Kosovo 0-4 England: Winks impresses at No8, Rashford explodes off the bench, Kane scores again November 17, 2019 England: making qualifiers fun again. After eight Euro 2020 qualifying matches in Group A Gareth Southgate’s side have ended with 37 goals and 21 points. The shock 2-1 defeat by Czech Republic last month has been followed by a 6-0 win over Bulgaria, a 7-0 thrashing of Montenegro, and today’s 4-0 victory against Kosovo. Read [...]
Ireland face familiar situation in crunch Euro 2020 qualifier with Denmark November 17, 2019 Heading into a play-off match to qualify for a major competition is a feeling that the Republic of Ireland are all too familiar with. The infamous Thierry Henry handball incident in 2009 saw them lose to France in extra-time and miss out on a place at the World Cup in South Africa the following summer. [...]
It’s the Davis Cup, but not as we know it: the lowdown on the ‘world cup of tennis’ taking place in Madrid November 17, 2019 After 118 years of the Davis Cup being played over the duration of the tennis season, this week it is replaced by a new version that is decided over just seven days. The revamp will some of the world’s best players compete for 18 countries in Madrid in a format designed to equate to a [...]
Break points are the king makers at the 02 November 17, 2019 | Sponsored Craig O’Shannessy, strategy analyst for the ATP Tour, reveals how Tsitsipas upset Federer at the Nitto ATP Finals. Break points are the “king makers” in tennis, and Stefanos Tsitsipas won 14 of the 16 break points played at the 02 Arena on Saturday afternoon. Tsitsipas advanced to Sunday’s final of the Nitto ATP Finals with [...]
England 7-0 Montenegro: Kane hits a hat-trick to seal Euro 2020 qualification in style at Wembley November 14, 2019 How quickly the drama of the week was forgotten. The TV cameras may have picked out Raheem Sterling in the stands, but the rate with which the first-half goals flew in meant there was little time to discuss his behaviour and its ramifications. That was exactly how Gareth Southgate would have liked it. Instead of [...]
Saracens’ Premiership points deduction leaves the Champions Cup wide open for challengers November 14, 2019 Saracens’ 35-point deduction for breaching Premiership salary cap rules has dominated the news in recent weeks and I think it will have a big knock-on effect in the Champions Cup, which starts this weekend. After Sarries’ impressive away win at Gloucester at the weekend, head coach Mark McCall said that he would prioritise league games [...]
David Pipe: Ramses will relish every drop of rain that falls November 14, 2019 AFTER a summer break it’s great to be back with my regular weekly column, and I can start with the news that we are already up and running with our new City AM syndicate horse. COLLINGWOOD COURT made a pleasing enough start for us at Ascot a fortnight ago in what was a pretty hot [...]
Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley are perfect fits for Chris Silverwood’s old school approach with England November 13, 2019 Chris Silverwood will be delighted with how England are shaping up for his first Test match in charge against New Zealand next Wednesday. They might have drawn their first warm-up match against a New Zealand XI in Whangarei this week, but there were some real signs of encouragement for England’s new head coach. Silverwood talked [...]
England v Montenegro: Onus on Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford in absence of influential Raheem Sterling November 13, 2019 Among the reams of column inches and hours of airtime devoted to discussing Raheem Sterling’s scuffle with England team-mate Joe Gomez this week, one consequence has been largely overlooked. Manager Gareth Southgate’s decision to drop Sterling for one game – Thursday’s European Championship qualifier with Montenegro at Wembley – has robbed him of his most [...]