Archive July 5, 2025

Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic said he is “blessed” to have sealed his 100th victory at Wimbledon with a statement third-round win over compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic.

Serb Djokovic was in no mood to delay his near-fated ton at the All England Club and secured the 6-3 6-0 6-4 victory in just one hour and 50 minutes.

It is a feat achieved only by Martina Navratilova and eight-time champion Roger Federer, who holds the record with 105.

If Djokovic wins the trophy at the end of the fortnight, he will still be one shy of the record.

But it would land him an even bigger accomplishment – the record 25th Grand Slam title he has been chasing since last winning a major at the 2023 US Open.

“Wimbledon is a favourite and a dream tournament of not just myself but the majority of players,” he said.

“Growing up, most kids dream of winning here and I’ve been blessed to do that many times here. Any history I make in my favourite tournament… I’m blessed. “

Djokovic celebrated the milestone by performing a ‘pumping’ dance which has become a tradition between him and his children after each win this tournament.

He demonstrated the dance with his daughter – who was sitting in his coaching box – during his on-court speech after the match.

As Centre Court’s Royal Box hosted ‘Sporting Saturday’ with a plethora of stars in attendance, it was perhaps fitting that Djokovic continued his pursuit of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title in such devastating fashion.

Djokovic was brimming with confidence after his second-round victory over Briton Dan Evans, saying he played “almost flawless tennis” with his serve in particular impressing.

It was the serve that was once again the focal point as he breezed to victory, facing just one break point all match.

World number 49 Kecmanovic knows only too well what his Davis Cup team-mate is capable of and was largely unable to stem the flow from a free-hitting Djokovic.

Numerous rallies were met with gasps from the crowd as Djokovic demonstrated his still-sublime movement and prowess as one of the best returners in the sport.

A lengthy point which ended with Djokovic sat on the turf having fired down a brilliant backhand winner while off balance was met with a standing ovation from a crowd enthralled by the veteran’s capabilities.

Having needed just one break of serve to seal the opener, Djokovic immediately put his opponent on the backfoot in set two and swiftly wrapped up a triple break without giving Kecmanovic a sniff.

The only blemish on a near-flawless performance from Djokovic came as he tried to serve out the win.

One fan shouted “Don’t panic Novak! ” as he went 15-30 down on serve, ironically poking fun at what had largely been a demolition.

Sure of the inevitable outcome, the crowd began to get under his skin in an attempt to prolong the match and Djokovic suffered his only break of the match.

But it was not enough to turn the tide and Djokovic served out at the second opportunity, delivering a message to his peers that he remains someone to beat here.

If he continues on this trajectory, a semi-final meeting with Italian top seed Jannik Sinner feels inevitable, with the world number one producing an equally dominant performance on Centre Court earlier on Saturday.

Not since 2017 has Djokovic suffered defeat by someone other than Carlos Alcaraz at SW19, losing to the defending champion in the past two finals having won the previous four.

Georgia (5) 5

Tries: Jalagonia

Ireland (14) 34

Tries from debutant Tommy O’Brien and first-time captain Craig Casey helped an inexperienced Ireland earn an ultimately comfortable Test victory over Georgia in Tbilisi.

O’Brien crossed twice early to put the Irish in the ascendancy before back row Tornike Jalagonia’s try brought Georgia back into the contest before half-time.

However, Casey’s tidy finish within a minute of the restart and Nick Timoney’s try pushed Ireland beyond Georgia’s reach and handed Paul O’Connell victory in his first game as interim head coach.

There will be concerns over Jacob Stockdale’s fitness, however, after the Ulster wing was forced off in the first half with a shoulder injury.

Persistent rain in the Georgian capital could have made life difficult for an inexperienced Ireland side which featured debutants O’Brien and Darragh Murray in the starting line-up and just 12 caps worth of experience in the front row.

But having scored tries in two Champions Cup knockout games for Leinster in the latter stages of the 2024-25 season, Test rookie O’Brien showed no signs of nerve while crossing twice in the opening eight minutes.

In the second minute, the 27-year-old latched on to Sam Prendergast’s chip over the Georgian defence to cross unchallenged before finishing in the corner on eight minutes after an Irish scrum five metres out from the home side’s tryline.

While O’Brien’s early double had Ireland smiling in the Georgian rain, the hosts shook off a shaky start and thought they had scored through Akaki Tabutsadze, who dove over the line despite Jamie Osborne’s last-ditch tackle.

While the home players celebrated, the winger’s try was ruled out after he was adjudged to have lost control of the ball before touching it down.

From there, the first half descended into a series of scrums, one of which led to an altercation between the two sets of players after Georgia won a scrum penalty.

When Ireland did get moving again, they looked dangerous, with O’Brien turning provider for Prendergast to finish athletically in the corner. The fly-half’s joy at scoring his first international try was short-lived, however, as his foot was correctly ruled to have been in touch before he grounded the ball.

Jalagonia’s score perhaps should have jolted the home side into life, but instead their challenge faded as Ireland pulled clear.

Within a minute of the restart, Calvin Nash – who replaced Stockdale – sent Ryan Baird through the Georgian defence and the back row’s clever offload to the onrushing Casey gave Ireland their third try.

It was a satisfying way for Munster scrum-half Casey to mark his first game as an Ireland captain, with regular skipper Caelan Doris out injured and several experienced campaigners with the Lions in Australia.

Prendergast, preferred to Jack Crowley in the number 10 jersey, converted Casey’s try and slotted over two penalties to extend Ireland’s advantage before Timoney chipped in with the game’s final try when he collected a Prendergast kick and bulldozed his way beyond two Georgian bodies.

Timoney’s score survived a television match official check for a double movement, but O’Brien was unable to complete his hat-trick when he let the ball slip through his grasp in the corner.

In the build-up to the game, O’Connell warned that Ireland would not deliver a “perfect” performance.

Replacements: I Kvatadze, G Tetrashvili, B Gigashvili, G Ganiashvili, I Spanderashvili, T Abzhandadze, T Kakhoidze

Ireland: J O’Brien; T O’Brien; J Osborne, S McCloskey; J Stockdale; S Prendergast, C Casey (capt); J Boyle, G McCarthy, T Clarkson; C Izuchukwu, D Murray; R Baird, N Timoney, G Coombes.

Replacements: T Stewart, M Milne, J Aungier, T Ahern, M Deegan, B Murphy, J Crowley, C Nash.

Sin-bin: McCloskey (77)

British Grand Prix

Venue: Silverstone Date: 6 July Race start: 15:00 BST on Sunday

McLaren’s Lando Norris predicts that Sunday’s British Grand Prix could be a “great race” with six cars in with a chance of victory.

Norris qualified third, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on the front row, and Mercedes’ George Russell and the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc behind.

Piastri, who leads Norris by 15 points in the world championship, said it “could well be a six-car fight for the win” between all those cars, and Russell, Norris and Verstappen all agreed.

But the way the teams have prepared their cars for the race adds extra potential for variability.

Verstappen grabbed pole with the final lap of qualifying after he and Red Bull decided to take some rear downforce off his car.

Partly that was to cure understeer – a lack of front grip – in his handling balance. It gives him an advantage on the straights but will make the car slower in the corners.

Verstappen said: “All the cars have quite different speed traces. We are very fast on the straights and slower in the corners.

“Ferrari is quick in the corners so the slowest on the straights, and McLaren is in the middle of all that.

“It depends on who can keep their tyres alive. This year that has been a bit of a struggle for us, but hopefully with what we did to the car that will help at least.

“For sure, I can see a proper battle. Even in the long runs, there were a lot of cars that were quick. Even in qualifying, it was all quite tight. “

Norris said: “I’m looking forward to it because I think it can be a great race with Mercedes, Ferrari, Max and us. There is opportunity for everyone.

“It can be exciting because everyone is on quite different downforce levels and has their strengths and weaknesses in different places so it should be good to watch.

“The weather can play a part. It might rain. Red Bull are incredibly quick in the straight, which means to pass them will be pretty tough. But they paid the price by being a little slower in the high-speed corners. Its difficult to know, people are quick and slow in different places. We have to wait and see. “

In such a tight qualifying battle, the grid order was defined by small details.

Piastri did not improve on his second lap after damaging his car – “significantly”, McLaren said – at Stowe on his first lap.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “Looking at the lap times that Ferrari have been able to pull off in every single session, Ferrari seem to be the strongest team. Probably they still are the strongest team.

“The gaps are very small. And Max also went out for the final lap in Q3 relatively a few minutes later or a minute later. And here there could be a slight variation of wind that can affect 0. 1secs here and there. “

Stella also said that Verstappen was able to get away with such a relatively small rear wing because the corners at Silverstone are so fast and there is so much time spent at full throttle or close to it.

Red Bull have been at their most competitive compared with McLaren at high-speed circuits such as Silverstone this year – Verstappen’s wins have been at Suzuka and Imola.

Their biggest weakness has been that they are tougher on their tyres, but Stella said that he did not expect Verstappen’s low downforce set-up necessarily to result in higher tyre wear on Sunday.

“When you have the tyre wear that we expect to have at this circuit and in these conditions,” he said, “our belief is that there is not a great relationship between the downforce level and the tyre wear.

“Because you will be fast in the straights, which means actually you have to push, if anything, a little bit less in the corners.

“If you rely on lap time generated in the corners, then you do have to push the corners, you may stress your tyres even more. So it’s not clear that the rear-wing solution that Red Bull adopted will necessarily cause a worse situation from a tyre point of view. “

How will all this play out in the race between the top four teams? Will they all be in play? Can Hamilton grab a first podium of his Ferrari career? Or will it come down to Verstappen v McLaren in the end, as it so often has this year.

“I don’t think we will see a big difference between Max, the two McLarens, the two Ferraris and potentially even George,” Stella said.

“We’ll have to see if the (Mercedes) lap in qualifying was a one-off because up until that point in Q3, it seemed like they were not as competitive as the others for the top positions of the grid. “