
Ex-Sheff Utd boss Wilder has Leicester interview
Leicester finished third-from-bottom and 13 points from safety last season as they plunged back to Championship for the second time in three years.It took the Foxes more than nine weeks after their relegation was confirmed to announce Dutchman Van Nistelrooy's departure, just days before players reported back for pre-season training.It meant that Andy King - who was a member of Leicester's Premier League-winning side in 2016 - stepped up from his coaching role at the club to take charge of their first pre-season friendly, a 3-1 win against League One side Peterborough United at their Seagrave training base on Saturday.
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BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Who would have expected that?' - Swiatek triumphs on grass
"Who would have expected that?"Iga Swiatek was not on many people's radar to win Wimbledon - including her two-year reign as world number one - ended by Aryna Sabalenka last year - was underpinned by dominance on the clay and consistency on the hard 24-year-old became known as the 'Queen of Clay' after winning four French Open titles in five years, while she also won the US Open in she now leaves Wimbledon as the champion, thanks to an astonishing 6-0 6-0 victory in just 57 minutes over Amanda Anisimova in Saturday's only was this Swiatek's first Wimbledon title, it was her first Tour-level title on grass, having previously won the girls' competition at this triumph, one many thought she was not capable of on a surface not necessarily suited to her game, feels extra sweet."This one and the US Open for sure feel better because no one expected that," Swiatek said."It wasn't a relief. It was more of just good tennis and working to make it happen without this baggage on your shoulders.""It's something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself." Finding more peace What makes victory even more surprising is Swiatek has been nowhere near her dominant best over the past did not reach a final for a year after her 2024 French Open triumph, slipping to eighth in the world - her lowest ranking since March 2022 - as a were a mixture of reasons - on and off the court - as to why Swiatek's level has in the Olympics semi-finals in Paris last summer was a bitter blow, with Swiatek saying she cried for "six hours" November, it was announced Swiatek had tested positive for heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample. She was subsequently given a one-month ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the result was caused by contamination. But one person who did call Swiatek's remarkable Wimbledon win was former Grand Slam semi-finalist Andrea Petkovic- albeit, as she said herself, "for irrational reasons".During Swiatek's semi-final match against Jasmine Paolini at grass-court tournament Bad Homburg, Petkovic spotted a large bird circling above Swiatek for around 10 the players changed ends, the bird followed Swiatek to the other side of the court, which Petkovic took as an omen."I said there and then she's going to win Wimbledon," Petkovic told BBC Radio 5 Live. "For most of this year you could sense pressure and tension when she stepped on court."In Bad Homburg you could see that was gone." More time to prepare on grass Before this year, Swiatek had only reached the second week of Wimbledon once, in a quarter-final run in a shock third-round defeat by Yulia Putintseva last year, Swiatek said she had not given herself enough time to mentally recover from her French Open win a few weeks lost to Sabalenka in the Roland Garros semi-finals this year, Swiatek went to Mallorca for a week's training on grass before returning to competitive action in Bad reached the final at the WTA 500 event, where a defeat by Jessica Pegula left her in tears, but it was an indication that her level on the surface had improved."I feel like I have developed as a player and I had time to practise a little bit more [this year]," said Swiatek."I would say we mainly focused on my movement and how I should stop before hitting the ball. "Also, [we worked] on fast hands because obviously it's important here not to stop the movement, even though the ball sometimes is fast." 'Forgiving herself' a bit more Swiatek replaced long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski with Wim Fissette late last year, and it has taken time for the tweaks she was making to bed in."When you make a big change and hire a new coach, it takes a while to see the changes," said Petkovic."You feel you're progressing and you're expecting to see results right away. But it doesn't happen right away."Swiatek's serve is an area which Fissette has focused Pole won 79% of her first-serve points at Wimbledon - the joint-second highest in the women's the Wimbledon final, Swiatek said her serving was the best it has been in the entire grass-court swing, and Petkovic agrees."I think she got a bit hectic at the start of the season. Now something is different and she has a bit more patience with herself," Petkovic said."I think she's also forgiving herself a bit more if she makes a few unforced errors on the grass."


BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
McIlroy 'close to Masters level' in taking Scottish Open lead
Genesis Scottish Open third round leaderboard-11 R McIlroy (NI), C Gotterup (US); -9 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), M Penge (Eng), J Knapp (US), W Clark (US); -7 K Yu (TPE), S Straka (Aut), A Rozner (Fra), A Novak (US), T Kim (Kor), H English (US), L Aberg (Swe), M Schmid (Ger)Selected others: -6 S Scheffler (US), -5 X Schauffele (US), V Hovland (Nor) -4 J Rose (Eng), G Forrest (Sco)Leaderboard Rory McIlroy says he is now close to his Masters-winning form after putting himself in prime position for another Scottish Open title with an imposing third-round 66 to share the Northern Irishman began the day four shots adrift of overnight leader Chris Gotterup but ended it alongside the unheralded American on 11 duo take a two-shot lead into the final day after English pair Matt Fitzpatrick and Marco Penge both bogeyed the last to card one-under 69s and drop into a share of third alongside Americans Wyndham Clark and Jake has endured a "lull" since completing the career Grand Slam at Augusta National in April, but believes he is returning to his imperious best as he pursues a second Scottish Open triumph in three years. He compiled five birdies - including on all three par fives - with his sole bogey coming on the seventh after having to hack out of a fairway world number two clearly revels in competing at the Renaissance Club - posting the joint-lowest round of the day and his 11th consecutive score of 68 or lower on these links."I think I'm pretty close to being back to the level I was at going into the Masters," said the 36-year-old."I think I've had a little bit of a lull, which I feel is understandable. When you do something that you've been dreaming your whole life to do, it was a huge moment in my life, my career."I think I just needed that little bit of time. And to be back here for last couple weeks, and feel like I could actually digest all of it, I feel like I came to this tournament with renewed enthusiasm and excitement for the rest of the year." Scheffler, Aberg & Clark loiter further back Gotterup, the world number 158, followed his course record-equalling 61 with a level-par Clark matched McIlroy's 66 welcome to provide welcome relief amid his torrid season. The 2023 US Open winner has missed the cut in two of his past three events and mustered just one top-10 finish this year."It's just nice to be back in this position and let's see if I can go put a good round together and have four solid days of golf," said Clark."I've hit a lot of good putts all year and just haven't holed anything. Now it's nice to see the ball go in the hole. Made a couple adjustments and they seem to work."Ludvig Aberg was jostling for the lead before a triple-bogey seven on the 13th was sandwiched by bogeys as he spilled five shots in a wretched three-hole stretch. The Swede's 71 leaves him four shots number one Scottie Scheffler is one further adrift after a frustrating 71 in which he had to wait until the 13th for a first Romain Langasque provided a wonderful moment with a hole in one on the 145-yard par-three scraped into the weekend, defending champion Bob MacIntyre is one over after labouring to a 72.


BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
Two goals for Franco as Swans begin pre-season with win
Alan Sheehan's team began their pre-season campaign with a comfortable 5-0 against National League North side Kidderminster a behind-closed-doors game, Gonçalo Franco scored twice while Ronald, Eom Ji-Sung and new signing Zeidane Inoussa were also on target.