Wimbledon day one
SVITOLINA BREEZES PAST BONDAR TO REACH SECOND ROUND
Ukrainian 14th seed Elina Svitolina cruised past Hungary's Anna Bondar 6-3 6-1 in just over an hour to reach round two.
Play began under sunny skies at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, with the temperature hovering around 29 degrees Celsius.
Number one seed Aryna Sabalenka faces Carson Branstine in the first match on Court One. Defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz meets Fabio Fognini on Centre Court.
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WIMBLEDON ORDER OF PLAY ON MONDAY (prefix number denotes seeding)
CENTRE COURT (play begins at 1230 GMT)
Fabio Fognini (Italy) v 2-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
9-Paula Badosa (Spain) v Katie Boulter (Britain)
Arthur Rinderknech (France) v 3-Alexander Zverev (Germany)
COURT NUMBER ONE (play begins at 1200 GMT)
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v Carson Branstine (Canada)
Jacob Fearnley (Britain) v Joao Fonseca (Brazil)
Emma Raducanu (Britain) v Mingge Xu (Britain)
COURT NUMBER TWO (play begins at 1200 GMT)
Benjamin Bonzi (France) v 9-Daniil Medvedev (Russia)
Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Romania) v 6-Madison Keys (U.S.)
4-Jasmine Paolini (Italy) v Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia)
5-Taylor Fritz (U.S.) v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (France)
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The Guardian
a few seconds ago
- The Guardian
Gambhir's India can't escape the Fortis-verse on rain-hit day
Nothing does irony quite like Test cricket. Say what you like about the world's most desiccated, Miss Havisham-ish team sport, out there trailing around the post-colonial world still dressed in its yellowing wedding dress. It's definitely got a sense of humour. On day one of the fifth England-India Test this was expressed in cosmic terms, and a single bold and improbable dramatic arc. Talk about groundsmen a lot. Tell groundsmen they're nothing. One thing is for sure. You're going to find yourself spending quite a lot of time watching groundsmen. Or in this case watching the personage we must now refer to as controversial groundsman Lee Fortis, celebrity Oval pitch curator Lee Fortis, an otherwise peripheral figure with a name that sounds like an Anglo-Saxon burial site in Norfolk, but who was promoted in the buildup to this Test into an instrument of the sporting-political power struggle. And so it came to pass in the first two sessions at the Oval, as India and England traipsed on and off between the showers, and Fortis loomed, somehow inevitably, centre stage. Here is Lee Fortis striding about his domain in classic shorts and boots combos, like a proud, captive bear. Here is Lee Fortis tugging at a tarpaulin. Here is Lee Fortis all alone in his lime green field as the drizzle fell and the walkways around the ground took on the feel of a slowly sinking ship peopled only by pint-sozzled mariners in chino shorts, and watched from behind the plateglass by his chief adversary, India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir. In a Test series shot through with politics, rumblings and noises off, they've finally dragged in the bloke with the rake. Welcome to the Fortis-verse. It is the most unlikely turn of events. Fortis is familiar figure around here, a huge ambling man with the classic groundsman's shape, as though he's been hinged together out of sacks of cement and packed into a pair of shorts. Who thinks of the groundsman? What are they? They sit on mowers. They walk with sawdust buckets. They follow the seasons, disturbed only by their personal kryptonite, people walking near a rope, signal for instant and uncontainable explosions of boggle-eyed fury. And yet, look a little closer, squint at the magic eye picture, and something else has begun to emerge here, the groundsman as instrument of power and conspiracy. By 2pm on Thursday afternoon, 48 hours on from that unnecessary spat with Gambhir, Fortis had been memed and replicated and spun out across the global hive mind. Oval curator breaks silence. Fortis v Gambhir: the full story. Who is Lee Fortis and what does he mean? There are Fortis YouTube clips (jerky spat footage; weird ad hoc media huddle) that have been viewed two million times. Lee Fortis stuns fans with body transformation. This simple Lee Fortis trick will change your life for ever. Seventeen times Lee Fortis broke the internet (No 12 will shock you!) More fuel was added overnight as R Ashwin labelled Fortis a habitual offender. Really? It's not the first time he's yelled at people to get off his square? You shock me. Meanwhile, the groundsman community has sprung to his defence, a Facebook page speaking for this maligned minority demanding respect, understanding, a safe space for its members. What next? A Fortis spin-off vehicle. The Fortis origins story. A Fortis male grooming range. Jake Paul calls out Lee Fortis in sensational Vegas standoff. Or perhaps it won't come to that. Because this is at the same time absolutely nothing, chaff, gossip, and also a grim little episode that reflects poorly on Gambhir in particular; and perhaps also on the general power dynamics of elite cricket in its current form. The initial incident was a standard stramash over practising too close, or so Fortis said, to the square. Gambhir's response was furious. Any situation where you end up wagging a finger and shouting, 'You're nothing, you're just a groundsman, nothing beyond that,' is one that has lost any sense of scale. Later Fortis was swarmed by Indian journalists and gave the greatest no comment interview of all time, unveiling a technique that should be urgently coached to all celebrities and politicians, which basically involves just saying 'I'm not ... You're not ... I'm not really,' to every question. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion It is a fairly simple divvying up at this point. Gambhir was always in the wrong here. First because all groundsmen are grumpy. They have to venerate, love and fetishise this patch of green. They have the artist's temperament. They feel the hand of history. They basically just want you to stay off their square and stop playing cricket. But mainly Gambhir was wrong because of the ugliness of his choice of words, and the sense of punching down. England got to show their boorishness in Manchester. This was India's turn. India's coach is a born-to-rule type, high caste Hindu, private schoolboy, son of a wealthy industrialist, BJP politician, a Jay Shah man, a Modi guy. It sits a little uncomfortably to hear anyone with such privilege dismissing a bloke with a bucket as 'nothing', unqualified to make demands of his betters. In this context Gambhir v Fortis speaks, if you choose to see it, to the way India wields its commercial and political power in this sport; to the sense that here is an overlord nation that can basically do what it wants, that is in effect untouchable. This is the most unfavourable version of events. More prosaically Gambhir does just love a fight, is essentially a grudge in a cap, outspoken and commendably feisty. In a happier turn there was at least a kind of rapprochement at the start of play between Fortis and India's players, a little wary banter and some smiles. After which, once the showers had cleared, it was a case of the groundsman's revenge, as Gambhir got to watch India's batters sparring and hopping and nicking as the ball leapt and jagged about on Fortis' chosen strip. England's pace attack had looked rusty at the start, both Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue perhaps paying tribute the 2.5m distance rule by almost missing the cut part of the pitch. But they chipped away and found movement. Shubman Gill had batted with sculpted elegance, all perfect arms, shoulders, lines, balletic in the way he shifts his weight, then ran himself out trying to take a single to Gus Atkinson's right hand in his follow through. With India on 204 for six at the end of play the series already felt a little safer. Hopefully the age of Lee is also done. Andy Warhol would later revise his most famous line to the more depressingly accurate 'in 15 minutes everyone will be famous'. Fortis had his day in the gloom. With any luck hands will now be shaken, an unpleasant tone revised, and the whole thing can be safely packed away in the shed behind the pigeon nets.
Daily Mirror
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Holger Rune immediately rebuffed after 'messaging' married tennis star - 'Ignores me now'
Wimbledon doubles winner Veronika Kudermetova has claimed she was messaged by fellow tennis star Holger Rune, but turned the Dane down as she is married and six years his senior World No. 9 Holger Rune was allegedly turned down by married tennis star Veronika Kudermetova after she claimed he texted her. Kudermetova, 28, claims the 22-year-old Dane now doesn't talk to her after she told him that she was 'too old' for him and is married. Rune, a commanding presence on the ITF Junior Circuit as a teenager, burst onto the ATP Tour in 2022 and secured the most significant victory of his fledgling career at the Paris Masters, where he triumphed over both Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. At 22, he remains an emerging talent on tour, but he has now faced allegations of sending a text to a fellow female player who is six years his senior. Speaking on Russian former No. 1-ranked doubles player Elena Vesnina's podcast, Kudermetova alleged that Rune privately contacted her and now avoids greeting her at tournaments after she dismissed his text message and informed him that she was married, reports the Express. "Rune recently texted me," she revealed. "I told him, 'Boy, I'm probably too old for you. If you looked at my Instagram, you'd see I have a husband.' He replied, 'Oh, sorry.' Since then, he doesn't even say hello to me anymore." Kudermetova is married to Sergei Demekhine, who is 41, 13 years her senior. Demekhine also serves as Kudermetova's coach and helped guide her to doubles glory at SW19 earlier this month alongside Elise Mertens. In 2023, Rune confirmed on Instagram that he was in a relationship with Caroline Donzella, a high-end estate agent of Dutch-Italian descent based in Monte Carlo. Donzella was first seen cheering for Rune at Wimbledon two years ago, and although he initially referred to her as a 'friend,' the pair appeared to strike up a romantic relationship. However, it remains uncertain whether they are still an item. It's not suggested that Rune was seeing anyone when he allegedly made contact with Kudermetova. Rune's representatives have been approached for comment. Both Rune and Kudermetova are competing in the Canadian Open this week. Rune triumphed over big server Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round and is due to face another Frenchman, Alexandre Muller, next. Kudermetova, meanwhile, has been performing well, staging a comeback in the opening round to defeat Cristina Bucsa before breezing past Olga Danilovic in straight sets. She's up against a formidable opponent in No. 1 seed Coco Gauff on Thursday evening, who rebounded from her early Wimbledon departure by defeating Danielle Collins on Tuesday. However, the Russian will be keeping a close eye on the American's serving difficulties. Despite 23 double faults during her victory against Collins, Gauff remains optimistic about her performance against Kudermetova in the next round. "It was a frustrating match for me. I felt like I was practising well and then I don't think I transferred it today, but hopefully I got my bad match of the tournament out of the way and I can come back stronger."
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Josh Tongue's wild bowling breaks India but England's fifth-Test hopes hurt by Chris Woakes injury
Josh Tongue 's first ball of this fifth Test at The Oval travelled so far down the off-side it was heading for Lord's by the time it hit the boundary rope for five wides. A moment later, he sent the ball off in the direction of Eden Gardens for five more. It was one of the worst overs you're likely to see in a Test match: India hit a solitary single and jumped from 18-1 to 30-1. Tongue was unplayable, just not in the way he might have imagined. The morning's conditions had seemed like a bowler's paradise, on an unpredictable green pitch under skies so murky that groundstaff switched on the floodlights before midday. Shubman Gill lost India's 15th toss in a row in all formats – a feat with a probability of 1 in 32,768 – and England's stand-in captain Ollie Pope naturally elected to field. But England failed to take full advantage, and Tongue was not the only one with a wayward radar. Gus Atkinson, Chris Woakes and Jamie Overton all delivered erratic spells, serving up 15 wides and 30 extras, a generous chunk of India's 204-6 at stumps. Atkinson was certainly the pick of the bunch, trapping Yashasvi Jaiswal on his pads, as Pope broke his own unwanted streak of 14 failed DRS attempts and celebrated gleefully like the wicket was his own. Atkinson also pulled off the sharp run out of captain Gill, who momentarily lost his senses running for a single that was never there, before later drawing an edge from Dhruv Jurel. Woakes, who had lured KL Rahul to chop on to his own stumps, ended with disaster, tumbling over the boundary to save a four and injuring himself in the process. He yelped in pain before being attended to by medics and helped from the field, his arm in the kind of makeshift sling that tends to suggest a dislocated shoulder. With no specialist spin bowler, England's remaining three seamers face a heavy workload to finish off this Test. The bigger picture for Woakes is that his hopes of making the Ashes squad this winter are in doubt. Aged 36, there may not be many more opportunities for one of England's most reliable performers over the past decade and more. Yet no one encapsulated England's rollercoaster day more so than Tongue. His disastrous over was a tough watch as his planted foot slipped all over the crease, where a pile of sawdust failed to offer any added grip. He had the ball swinging but that was no good thing, because once it chose its rogue trajectory it was never turning back towards duped wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. But gradually Tongue steadied himself, and a change of ends by Pope proved wise. He started to find a dangerous length that flirted with the top of off-stump, and his pace cranked up over 90mph. His awkward technique, with a bowling arm which tilts beyond the perpendicular, was sending the ball down at devilish angles which soon brought rewards. Tongue's two wickets were almost carbon copies of one another, spearing the ball in towards the left-handers Sai Sudharsan and Ravindra Jadeja from around the wicket, before jagging it off the outside edge and into Smith's waiting gloves. It was all the more bamboozling that Jadeja's wicket came at the end of an over which began with more wild, expensive wides. Perhaps this was the most difficult part of India's day: not just the hostile batting conditions but the fact that they had no idea what was coming at them at any given moment. At least when facing Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad there is a rhythm, a set-up, a storyline they build using in-swingers before, plot twist, the out-swinger. There was little of that consistency here, instead a barrage of balls that were too short, too long, too wide, too bad, and all of a sudden far too good to cope with. India's resistance came from the unlikely source of Karun Nair, brought back into the side to beef up the batting in what looked like yet another unconvincing line-up by the tourists in this series, featuring two spinners on a pitch that is a seamer's dream. Nair dug in, calibrated his line of sight in the darkness and began asserting himself, bringing up a confident 50 shortly before stumps. And so a day which should have been England's felt like something of a score draw. England have six wickets, but it cost them 200 runs and a bowler's shoulder. The next time they will embark on day one of a Test match, England will be walking out at Perth for the start of The Ashes in November. With Jofra Archer rested here and Mark Wood still injured, this was a chance for the support cast to make their pitch for travelling to Australia, but perhaps only Atkinson could claim to have bolstered his case. Yet oddly, Tongue managed to turn one of the worst mornings of his career into something of a success story, taking two scalps with identical jaffas, ripping it with the sort of pace and height and angle that would come in handy in an Australian summer. About 70 yards behind the beaten batsmen, Stuart Broad nodded his approval up in the commentary box. Around the wicket to left-handers? England used to have someone very good at that.
