Branstine advances to Wimbledon main draw, Mboko loses in final qualifying round
Branstine won 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2 over Raluca Georgiana Serban of Cyprus in the final qualifying round at the grass-court tennis tournament.
The 24-year-old fired 48 winners to 20 for Serban, who also hit 10 double faults.
Branstine, a California native who represents Canada through family ties in Toronto, also eliminated Roland-Garros semifinalist Loïs Boisson and Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., in the first two qualifying rounds.
Mboko, meanwhile, fell 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 to Australia's Priscilla Hon after failing to capitalize on five match points in the second set.
The 18-year-old from Toronto hit 11 double faults and eight aces. She also converted only five of 17 breakpoint opportunities.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
Mboko, who reached the French Open third round in May, will have to wait to compete in her second Grand Slam unless she's drawn as the lucky loser.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
McIntosh advances into 200 butterfly final; Kharun misses podium at swimming worlds
SINGAPORE – Canada's Ilya Kharun fell just short of the podium, while Summer McIntosh powered into another final at the world swimming championship in Singapore on Wednesday. Kharun, a 20-year-old from Montreal, finished fourth in the men's 200-metre butterfly final with a time of one minute 54.34 seconds — just 0.17 seconds shy of the podium after winning Olympic bronze in the event at last summer's Paris Games. American Luca Urlando claimed gold in a dominant performance with a time of 1:51.87, followed by Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski (1:52.64) and Australia's Harrison Turner (1:54.17). Kharun was chasing his first world championship podium after missing the 50 butterfly final earlier in the meet by just 0.01 seconds. McIntosh, 18, won her women's 200 butterfly semifinal in 2:06.22, with the second-fastest time behind Australia's Elizabeth Dekkers (2:06.13). The Toronto swimmer will go for her third gold of the meet in Thursday's final. Canada has won four medals at the World Aquatics Championships. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg Jets sign Samberg to three-year deal
The Winnipeg Jets have avoided arbitration and agreed to terms with defenceman Dylan Samberg on a three-year deal that carries an average annual value of US$5.75 million. That's a significant raise from the US$1.4 million Samberg made on his previous deal, but the term is lower than most of the projections anticipated. The expectation was that given Samberg's emergence as a top-four blue-liner that plays heavy minutes at five-on-five and the penalty kill that he would sign for a longer term, somewhere in the range of six-to-eight years. Winnipeg Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg (54) can become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 29. (Erin Hooley / The Associated Press files) Instead, Samberg has chosen to bet on himself and can become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 29. During his first season playing regularly on the second pair with partner Neal Pionk, Samberg had an outstanding campaign, producing a career-high six goals and 20 points in 60 games while providing high-end defensive play. He's a fearless shot-blocker with excellent hockey sense and his ability to kill plays allowed him to increase his playing time by five-and-a-half minutes per game. While there is certainly some risk for the Jets in not signing Samberg to a longer-term deal, a three-year contract extends their competitive window. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Samberg was the final restricted free agent for Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and company to get done and his arbitration hearing was scheduled for Wednesday morning. This deal leaves the Jets with just under $4 million of cap space according to Puck Pedia, with a full 23-man roster. The Jets were able to get new deals done for all three players who filed for arbitration: Samberg and forwards Gabe Vilardi and Morgan Barron, which means Cheveldayoff will continue the process of looking for extensions for captain Adam Lowry and sniper Kyle Connor, both of whom are eligible to be unrestricted free agents on July 1 of 2026. X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld Ken WiebeReporter Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken. Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Canada News.Net
7 hours ago
- Canada News.Net
Coco Gauff overcomes 23 double faults to win in Montreal
(Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images) Top-seeded Coco Gauff survived an error-laden second-round test from Danielle Collins, prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2) in an all-U.S. matchup at the Omnium Banque Nationale on Tuesday in Montreal. Gauff, who won the French Open last month for her second Grand Slam title, overcame a whopping 23 double faults. She served only three aces, though one came on her match point in the third-set tiebreaker. Collins' success ratio in that category wasn't much better, as she had two aces and 13 double faults. Both players converted nine of their 16 break-point opportunities. 'I was practicing well and I don't think I transferred it today, but hopefully I got my bad match of the tournament out of the way,' Gauff said. Regarding her double-fault total and her 74 unforced errors, Gauff said, 'Maybe if I cut that in half, it would be a quicker match for me. ... Danielle is a great ball-striker, and for me to break her as many times as I did, there's definitely some positives to take from today.' Gauff advances to a third-round match against Russia's Veronika Kudermetova, who topped 29th-seeded Olga Danilovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-2. Earlier Tuesday, Aoi Ito of Japan completed a stunning comeback to eliminate Italian No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini, and hometown favorite Leylah Fernandez also experienced an early exit. Ito, ranked No. 110 in the world, was down a set and a break before charging back to upset Paolini 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in second-round action. Ito trailed 4-1 in the second set before coming back to tie the score; she saved one match point in the 10th game on her way to forcing the third set. Ito controlled most of the third set before Paolini forced the tiebreaker. The Italian held several one-point leads in the back-and-forth tiebreaker but Ito came back from down 5-4 to record the final three points of the match. Ito, 21, had not won a tour-level match all season until beating Katie Volynets in the first round Sunday. That made it even more shocking that she could oust Paolini, who already has two WTA 1000 titles under her belt this year in Qatar and Italy. Ito won despite committing 11 double faults. She converted 7 of 10 break points against Paolini while saving 11 of the 19 break points she faced. As for Fernandez, she never held a lead in a 6-4, 6-1 first-round defeat to Australian Maya Joint. Fernandez had beaten Joint in the first round of last week's WTA 500 event in Washington, D.C., where the Canadian went on to capture the biggest title of her career. It was not a banner day for the Canadian contingent. No. 8 seed Emma Navarro breezed past Canada's Rebecca Marino 6-1, 6-2 in 63 minutes. Bianca Andreescu, meanwhile, withdrew due to a foot injury, allowing a walkover for fourth seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia. The Ontario native was the 2019 Canadian Open and U.S. Open champion. In another first-round match, Caty McNally battled past fellow American Alycia Parks 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7). McNally fell behind 3-0 in the third-set tiebreaker and saved two match points before she pulled in front. Other Round of 64 winners included No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan; No. 15 Daria Kasatkina of Australia; No. 24 Marta Kostyuk and No. 30 Dayana Yastremska, both of Ukraine; Russia's Anna Kalinskaya; Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro; Romania's Jaqueline Cristian; the Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova; China's Lin Zhu; and the Netherlands' Suzan Lamens. In the last match of the night, Canada's Victoria Mboko upset 23rd-seeded Sofia Kenin of the United States 6-2, 6-3.
