Archive June 10, 2025

Jobe Bellingham has joined Borussia Dortmund from Sunderland on a five-year contract until June 2030.

Sunderland say the fee is a club record, believed to be 32m euros (£26.96m) plus 5m euros (£4.2m) in add-ons.

The 19-year-old midfielder has played for the Black Cats since 2023, making 90 appearances, and helped them secure promotion to the Premier League last season.

Bellingham began his career at Birmingham City, coming through the academy before playing two years of senior football for the club.

In a statement, Bellingham said he is proud of the “strong” relationship he has with Sunderland supporters.

“I will always represent Wearside in all that I strive to achieve for the rest of my career, wherever that may be,” he said.

Later on Tuesday Dortmund named Bellingham in their squad for the Club World Cup, which begins on Sunday.

Dortmund’s opening group game is against Brazilian side Fluminense on 17 June at 17:00 BST.

Bellingham had been named in the England squad for the European Under-21 Championship, to be held in Slovakia from 11-28 June.

But head coach Lee Carsley had said he would release players so they can compete at the Club World Cup in the United States.

Bellingham is following in the footsteps of older brother Jude by moving to the Bundesliga, as the England midfielder – who also came through the Birmingham City youth system – spent three years with Dortmund before joining Real Madrid in 2023.

He added in his farewell to Sunderland fans: “I hope that I have made you proud along the way, and in return, you have made me the player that has reached the heights I find myself at today.

“I will love and remember you fondly for the rest of my life.”

A “free and expressive” Emma Raducanu began her grass-court singles campaign with an impressive straight-set victory over Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa at Queen’s.

The Briton needed just one hour and five minutes to breeze past world number 112 Bucsa 6-1 6-2 and clearly relished the occasion in front of a home crowd at the west London tournament.

“Going on to the court laughing at certain shots, or I’m smiling if I have pulled off a great shot, it does help relax you,” Raducanu said.

“I play my best when my personality is put on the court and I can express myself, and I feel like sometimes when I’ve been constrained to play a certain way, it hasn’t necessarily worked.

“I just need to be free and expressive, and then certain moments of creativity can come up.”

For now at least, victory places Raducanu above compatriot Katie Boulter in the live rankings and could spell the end of Boulter’s almost two-year reign as British number one, depending on how they each perform this week.

Boulter booked her place in the last 16 earlier on Tuesday but is defending ranking points at the tournament, the first women’s Tour event at Queen’s since 1973.

She overcame a stern test against Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic, winning 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 6-4 in the end, after Heather Watson beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-3 to set up a last-16 meeting with fourth seed Elena Rybakina.

Raducanu has experienced a difficult 12 months.

Left feeling “wary” after being targeted by a stalker during a match in Dubai, she has also had a period of uncertainty with frequent changes to her coaches and a series of back problems that have at times kept her sidelined.

But the 2021 US Open champion has started this grass-court season with a more familiar and stable set-up, including the return to her team of coach Nick Cavaday.

She has also been “managing” the back issues and looked physically and mentally at ease in her maiden singles match at Queen’s.

Raducanu has played down her expectations at the tournament but, having got a feel for the grass alongside Boulter in their doubles victory on Monday, quickly made herself at home to the delight of a partisan crowd.

Cries of “Emma, we love you!” could be heard from fans throughout, while Raducanu returned the love by cheering and smiling towards the crowd after winning points and signing the camera lens “home turf” with a smiley face after her victory.

The heavily scrutinised Raducanu would surely benefit from a run at a tournament where she has quickly become comfortable, but tougher tasks lie ahead.

She will next face Rebecca Sramkova, who beat reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-4 6-3.

Boulter navigated a tricky match filled with twists and turns against Tomljanovic in her first singles match of the season on grass.

The 28-year-old came through a tense deciding set to book a last-16 meeting with fifth seed Diana Shnaider.

But, having slipped in the rankings this year while Raducanu has quietly crept back up, Boulter could end the tournament having lost her status as Britain’s leading woman, which she has held since June 2023.

The two have paired up for the doubles event at Queen’s and Boulter said she is happy to see Raducanu pushing her for top spot in the singles.

“Obviously, it holds a massive privilege being that person, but as I have said for the last two years which I have held that position, I’m not focused on necessarily that. I’m focused on myself and keeping my ranking up where I want it to be,” Boulter said.

The pair are on opposite sides of the draw at Queen’s, meaning they could not meet until the final.

But Raducanu will need to equal or better Boulter’s run to regain her status as British number one, a position she held following her 2021 US Open win until Boulter took over.

The 22-year-old was keen to play down the significance of the rankings.

“The tournament is still young and Katie can go on a rip this week as well. Honestly, it’s nice in a way having something to chase at one, but we have such a great relationship that it’s a very healthy competition,” she said.

The scheduling of women’s matches is a “systemic” issue across top-level tennis events, says the head of the women’s tour.

It comes following criticism of French Open organisers who featured no women’s matches in any of the 11 prime-time night sessions on Court Philippe Chatrier this year.

WTA chief executive officer Portia Archer says she expects to meet Roland Garros tournament director Amelie Mauresmo to see how they can “effect change” – but said she does not believe the issue lies with any individual.

“I just think it’s a missed opportunity,” Archer told BBC Sport.

“I think the fans expect, and increasingly we’ll see that they demand, that they have the opportunity to see the best tennis matches – whether they are men or women – in prime-time slots.

Since the French Open introduced night sessions in 2021, only four of those matches have been from the women’s draw.

But during this year’s tournament, former WTA world number one Mauresmo rejected accusations that not scheduling women’s matches in the tournament’s night session implies female players are not “worthy” of the slot.

That came after three-time major finalist Ons Jabeur said that the continuing imbalance at the French Open was “unfortunate for women’s sports in general”.

The former world number two wrote in a social media post that “honouring one side of the sport shouldn’t mean ignoring the other”.

Archer said: “I thought Ons shared a very eloquent message.

“I think we’ll have conversations with Grand Slams and various events who are operating in what we believe is a way that’s different to what the fans and the public demand.

Mauresmo said the potential for women’s matches – which are best-of-three sets and not best-of-five like the men’s – to potentially go by “really fast” was the justification behind the choices.

She also said the tournament does not want to have two matches in the night session, like the Australian Open and US Open, for fear of creating late finishes.

On Mauresmo’s role in the decision-making at the French Open, Archer said: “I really don’t think about it in terms of an individual [making the choice]. I think it’s broader than that, I think it’s more foundational and more systemic.

“I think it is an issue at other tournaments, I don’t think it is an issue specific to the Grand Slams.”

On whether she will seek to discuss the issue with Mauresmo, Archer added: “I think I’ll have an opportunity to do that.