Determined, organised, patient: The makings of England Test debutant Dom Sibley November 19, 2019 An England Test debut has been a long time coming for Dom Sibley, and yet his timing could hardly have been more opportune. The string of unsuccessful England opening batsmen may stretch back a long way, to the retirements of Andrew Strauss and Sir Alastair Cook, but the change of tack from gung-ho head coach [...]
Tommy Fleetwood’s in form but Jon Rahm is my favourite to win Race To Dubai in season finale November 19, 2019 With classic catch-up golf at Sun City on Sunday, Tommy Fleetwood put himself in a prime position to claim the Race To Dubai this week for the second time in three years. Fleetwood played fantastically, shooting a seven-under-par final round of 65 that included a phenomenal three eagles in the space of six holes, to [...]
DTM and Super GT set for inaugural ‘Dream Race’ at Japan’s Fuji Speedway November 19, 2019 This weekend a decade of talks between Japan’s Super GT and the German DTM will reach fruition when the two motor racing series come together to take part in the inaugural Dream Race at Japan’s Fuji Speedway. The unprecedented crossover event will see one of the world’s most renowned GT racing series, comprising manufacturers such [...]
Stefanos Tsitsipas: Why the charismatic, gangly Greek likened to Bjorn Borg is the man most likely to challenge Federer, Nadal and Djokovic November 18, 2019 It’s a question that feels almost as old as the old guard themselves: is [insert name of young buck here] the man to break Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic’s stranglehold on men’s tennis? Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev have all been touted as saviours, yet none has managed to [...]
Guy Kinnings interview: European Tour deputy CEO on growing the Ryder Cup, criticism from Rory McIlroy and the prospects of a single global tour November 18, 2019 It has been an eventful first year in the job for Guy Kinnings, golf’s poacher-turned-gamekeeper. The former agent to Colin Montgomerie and head of the sport at industry behemoth IMG joined the European Tour 14 months ago with a wide-ranging brief that includes maximising prize asset the Ryder Cup, overseeing all commercial activity and acting [...]
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 [...]