Pressley wants Dundee to develop own talent
New Dundee head coach Steven Pressley says the club must develop their own talent given the financial gulf to clubs throughout the English pyramid. (The Courier), externalRead the rest of Sunday's Scottish gossip.
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The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tatjana Maria crowned queen of Queen's as women's tournament celebrates triumphant return
Fifty-two years ago Olga Morozova was the last woman to lift the Queen's trophy. Her stint as defending champion lasted until Tatjana Maria lifted an enormous new trophy – the old one lost to the mists of time – on Sunday. It crowned a week in which the traditions of one of tennis' most hallowed tournaments merged with the contemporary drive to push women's sport to ever-greater heights. This time a year ago there was outrage from some quarters at the thought the women would return to Queen's after a fifty-year absence. Members of the prestigious west London club objected to their facilities being taken out of action for even longer than usual; there were concerns over wear on the grass ahead of the men's event. A bloc of Queen's members even attempted to force the board to resign over the concept of dragging the tournament into the 21st century. If that felt hideously backward last year, it appears even more near-sighted today, after a triumphant week for the rejuvenated women's event. (Even the British weather largely cooperated, barring a couple of rain delays early on.) And it felt fitting that the tournament's debut would have two trailblazers, in different ways, in the final. The surprise package of the week has been qualifier Tatjana Maria. A 37-year-old veteran of the tour, she took two breaks from the game to have daughters Charlotte, 11, and Cecilia, four, who accompany her – along with her coach-husband Charles-Edouard – to every tournament. The German reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2022 but hasn't found the same level since, enduring a nine-match losing streak before coming to Queen's. 'It's the perfect example to never give up and always keep going, because I'm still here and living this dream,' she said on Friday. It certainly is. On the other side of the net was 23-year-old Amanda Anisimova, a former teenage prodigy, who showcased her incredible potential with a run to the French Open semi-finals aged just 17. Tennis abounds with cautionary tales of young stars who burn brightly and then burn out; Anisimova, struggling with the stress of life on tour, took a break in 2023 to look after her mental health and rediscover who she was. Taking a step back worked wonders, and she has reached new heights since her return, winning her maiden WTA 1000 title earlier this year and moving up to a career-high ranking of 15th. World No 86 Maria was the underdog by ranking going into this final. Then again, she has been in every match she has played this week, but her guile and experience have seen her through. The low bounce of grass perfectly suits her crafty, unconventional game, built on a slice that has been confounding the world's best players all week. She dispatched 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the quarter- and semi-finals; she rapidly got on top of Anisimova, a player with a similar power-hitting style. Maria denied Anisimova any rhythm, taking all the pace off the ball, and earned a chance to break early with a crunching topspin forehand. She took the chance and raced to a 4-1 lead in 15 minutes, with Anisimova already baffled at how to deal with this most bamboozling of opponents. The young American's formidable groundstrokes helped get her back on serve, but she could not build any momentum, and Maria immediately broke back, holding to love to seal the first set. The German – now the oldest WTA 500 finalist, and oldest champion – broke at the start of the second, her ability to mix slice and spin with a deft touch at the net continuing to get the better of her big-hitting opponent. One point, on Maria's serve at 2-1, summed up the match: Anisimova fired down smash after smash, only for Maria to dig each one out at the baseline, before the American eventually hit long. She looked on the verge of tears. Maria held after a mammoth 20-point game, then broke again, picking up a backhand volley that was mere millimetres away from bouncing twice to seal it. Anisimova reduced her deficit to just one break and stuck with the German in the latter stages of the set, but there was no getting past an inspired Maria. The American blasted a forehand wide on championship point, and Maria sealed the biggest singles title of her career, 6-3, 6-4. 'I wouldn't be surprised to see you in the Wimbledon final,' Anisimova said afterwards, jokingly adding, 'I think that bigger champagne bottle is for me, because I need it more.' Maria, whose speed and agility on the court belied her age, jumped for joy and raced to celebrate with her family – although her four-year-old may have missed the moment of her mother's biggest triumph, sleeping peacefully in the player's box. 'Queen of Queens', the 37-year-old wrote on the camera lens. Both players thanked the appreciative crowds, Anisimova adding, 'For you to come out and support women's tennis so much, it means a lot'. The crowd has certainly got behind the new tournament: around 80% of tickets were sold ahead of the first day's action, with the Andy Murray Arena filled to bursting on quarter-finals day on Friday, even before Emma Raducanu – third on the schedule – took to the court. Semi-finals day on Saturday sold out. The response from the players, too, has been resoundingly positive. Second seed Keys, one of the most high-profile women to feature, said after her quarter-final win on Friday that 'I think it's the best 500 that I have played'. She noted that the fact that it had already attracted such a competitive field in its first year – including six Grand Slam champions and three of the current top 10, despite taking place immediately after the French Open – made it a 'pretty high-level 500 right away'. Heather Watson, a veteran of British tennis, went further: 'I think it's huge for tennis in this country.' Katie Boulter, whose battle with Raducanu for the British No 1 spot has taken centre stage this week, said, 'Queen's is everything that I kind of dreamt it would be. I feel like it's a moment for women's tennis and women's sport in general right now.' Both Boulter and Maria called it a 'privilege' to play here. At times the tournament proved unable to handle the scale of demand. The doubles partnership between Boulter and Raducanu proved such an attraction that punters queued for over an hour to access their first-round match. Warned that once they were let in, they would be unable to leave, fans opted against loo breaks and refills of Pimm's in favour of watching British tennis' two biggest stars. Their matches would likely have filled the 7,700-capacity Andy Murray Arena too, but due to the tournament's contractual obligations with the WTA, which prioritises singles matches on main courts, 'Boultercanu' were stuck on the standing-room-only Court 1. A thousand fans crammed in to cheer them on. Unlike the majority of mixed tournaments, Queen's is running its women's and men's events on separate weeks. That has meant that the thousands of spectators descending on west London each day have turned up in their masses solely to watch women's tennis. Those punters have had their faith repaid. Perhaps in the future the two tournaments will integrate fully – although Keys quipped, 'I like when we don't have to share with the boys'. For now, the spotlight has been solely on the women; they have made sure it has been a blinding success.
BBC News
30 minutes ago
- BBC News
Ex-F1 driver Kubica wins iconic Le Mans 24 hours
Former Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica took victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours with a privately entered number 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, also driven by China's Yifei Ye and Britain's Phil Hanson, took the chequered flag 14.084 seconds ahead of the number six Porsche 963 of France Kevin Kubica, once considered one of the world's best F1 drivers as part of a group of young drivers which included Lewis Hamilton, won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix for BMW-Sauber. But three years later, as an established F1 driver for Renault, Kubica suffered life-changing injuries in a rallying crash which seriously compromised his right works number 51 Ferrari 499P driven by Antonio Giovinazzi took third place, with the sister 50 car driven by Antonio Fuoco factory Ferraris, who had been competing for the victory until the final hour, were nursing problems in the final is the third victory in a row at Le Mans for the 499P, which won in the top class for the first time in 50 years in 2023 - the 100th anniversary of the famous 40, who drove a long final stint, said over team radio: "It's been a long 24 hours but an enjoyable one - grazie mille, grazie a tutti.""Winning Le Mans is special," he added later to TNT Sports. "It's been a demanding week - we made everything possible. We kept our heads down when we had to push, and when not we took care of the tyres. "I'm happy for myself, my team-mates, AF Corse and Ferrari winning three times in row. A better scenario, we could not have."The sell-out race, which sees around 300,000 fans gather in north-west France, was a soporific event in 2025, with fewer incidents and accidents between the 62 cars which began the race than Cadillacs of Hertz Team Jota, who achieved a front-row lockout in qualifying, finished fifth and eighth - the latter 38 car including 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button as one of the drivers. V12 rings out again at Le Mans Sportscars have seen a big resurgence in popularity since the introduction of the 'hypercar' class in 2021, with many top car manufacturers returning to the grid to benefit from more open designs, controlled by the 'balance of performance' Peugeot, Alpine, Cadillac, Porsche, Aston Martin and BMW have all retuned in recent years, joining will join the hypercar class next year - under the Genesis brand - with hypercars from Ford and McLaren arriving in a largely uneventful race, one of the most exciting prospects was the return of Aston Martin in the top hypercar class, with the 007 and 009 V12 6.5 litre machines have wowed fans with their aggressive, high-pitched engine note and bodywork design reminiscent of sportscars in its 1970s lowly finishing position was largely expected by the team, who were happy to see both cars come home after 24 hours of Martin's drivers included highly rated British drivers Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross the sound of the Valkyrie and the Cadillac V Series R's muscle-car grunt, the hypercar class is proving popular beyond the famous event at Le Mans, with more tickets being sold at the other seven events as part of the World Endurance Championship the lower protoype LMP2 class, Inter Europol's 43 car took victory, with Britain's W Series winner Jamie Chadwick retiring the Idec Sport 18 car earlier in the race. The LMGT3 class was won by the Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3, with Richard Leitz of Austria crossing the next round of the World Endurance Championship is the Six Hours of Sao Paulo in 13 July.
The Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Sun
Soccer Aid 2025 LIVE SCORE: Countdown to iconic charity match as Rooney, Fury, Tomlinson, Ramsey and Gadd feature
WE'RE just hours away from Soccer Aid returning as the iconic charity match returns to Old Trafford TONIGHT! As ever, a flurry of famous faces will come together with many football legends to raise money for Unicef - the likes of Louis Tomlinson, Bella Ramsey, Richard Gadd, Sir Mo Farah and Martin Compston are among the stars lacing up their boots. Last year, England ended their six-year wait for a win over World XI as they took their tally of triumphs to six, which is one fewer than their rivals. The Three Lions management team of Tyson Fury, Wayne Rooney and Harry Redknapp will be looking to equal World XI's record for most Soccer Aid wins with victory this evening. Follow our live blog below for all the latest from Old Trafford...
