Category Sports News

West Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse is expected to undergo a medical with Burnley on Wednesday as he closes in on a loan move.

Ward-Prowse, 31, joined the Hammers from Southampton in August 2023 and has made 78 appearances.

The England international was loaned to Nottingham Forest for the 2024-25 season and played 10 times under then manager Nuno Espirito Santo, but the deal was cut short during the winter transfer window.

He was a regular under former West Ham manager Graham Potter and made six appearances this season before Potter was sacked in September.

Ward-Prowse has not played a single minute of football since Nuno was brought in at West Ham.

Burnley sit 19th in the Premier League and are 10 points from safety following Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham. The 18th-placed Hammers are five points above the Clarets.

Burnley manager Scott Parker brought in 18-year-old defender Cameron Scott from Rangers earlier this month but is looking to add experience with Ward-Prowse.

Six-time major champion Iga Swiatek says players are being watched “like animals in the zoo” by behind-the-scenes cameras at the Australian Open.

Coco Gauff was captured smashing her racquet in a corridor in the players’ area at Melbourne Park on Tuesday, leading the American to call for more privacy.

The Australian Open has shown footage from the players’ zone in the bowels of Rod Laver Arena – which includes the gym, warm-up area and the corridor from the locker room – since 2019.

Camera access is more restricted at the other majors.

“Are we tennis players, or are we animals in the zoo where they are observed even when they poop?” said Poland’s Swiatek, who lost in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Semi-finalist Jessica Pegula described the constant filming as an “invasion of privacy” that needs to be “cut back”.

“You just feel like you’re under a microscope constantly,” the American added.

Tournament organisers Tennis Australia told BBC Sport the cameras are used to help create a “deeper connection” between fans and players.

Pegula, who is member of the WTA players’ council, says the issue will “be highlighted again” in post-tournament discussions with the Australian Open.

“I saw online people were zooming in on players’ phones and stuff like that. That’s so unnecessary,” Pegula said.

“The only time you’re not being recorded is when you are going to shower and go to the bathroom.

“It seems to be worse here than maybe other years, so I think now it’s going to definitely be talked about and highlighted again moving forward.”

Asked whether she had ever approached organisers about it, Swiatek replied: “What’s the point?”

World number one Aryna Sabalenka was previously captured destroying a racquet by a similar camera after losing the 2023 US Open final.

Former world number one Andy Roddick previously said there should be a “zone” for players to “detonate” after tough defeats.

American fourth seed Amanda Anisimova says she felt conscious about the cameras following her defeat by Pegula in Wednesday’s quarter-finals.

“I knew [they] were there, so I just kept my head down and went to the locker room,” she said.

Anisimova did, however, point to the cameras also picking out “good moments” for fans to see.

Plenty of lighter moments have been caught over the years, including the likes of Swiatek, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer being asked for their ID passes – but Swiatek feels that too is intrusive.

“We’re tennis players. We’re meant to be watched on the court and in the press,” Swiatek added.

Many leaders in tennis are fully aware how it must adapt and thrive in an ever-competitive sports market.

Seeing other sports show a more human side to their athletes – with Formula 1 documentary Drive To Survive regularly heralded as the gold standard – has forced tennis to think more creatively.

Netflix’s documentary series Break Point did not engage fans in the same way, but providing behind-the-scenes content at tournaments feels like an easy win to deepen connections with fans.

When the Australian Open became the first major to bring cameras into player areas in 2019, Djokovic described it as ‘Big Brother’.

The reality television show has continued to grow – potentially, now, to tipping point.

It might be scaled back, given the frustrations of the players, but it will not disappear. Tennis needs the eyeballs.

The US Open has followed suit in recent years – unsurprising given the access-all-areas demands of the American audience across the NBA, MLB and NFL.

Providing fans with deep insight of locker room culture, and what it really takes to be among the world’s best, is more crucial than ever.

France prop Uini Atonio has been forced to retire after he was admitted to an intensive care unit following a “cardiac event”.

The 35-year-old was taken to a hospital in La Rochelle on Tuesday with his club saying he suffered a suspected heart problem and is now in a stable condition.

“Following his hospitalisation, Uini will have to undergo a long period of recovery,” said French Top 14 side La Rochelle, his team since 2011.

Atonio, who was born in New Zealand, qualified to play for France through residency and made 68 appearances for his adoptive country.

He started all five games as France regained the Six Nations in 2025, and was selected in their provisional squad for this year’s tournament.

However, he withdrew from the party this week, with France Rugby yet to confirm the reason for Atonio’s departure.

Having been spotted at a rugby 10s tournament in Hong Kong, Atonio signed for La Rochelle for the 2011-12 season and remained with the club for his entire career.

He helped his side win promotion to the Top 14 in 2014, and was part of a squad that reached three successive Champions Cup finals between 2021 and 2023, winning the title in the latter two years.

Atonio played six times this season, with his first appearance coming in early December and the last against Harlequins in the Champions Cup on 18 January.

Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid both recorded victories to set up a quarter-final meeting in the Australian Open men’s wheelchair singles, before joining forces to reach the semi-finals of the doubles competition.

Defending champion Hewett took just 55 minutes to complete a 6-2 6-1 win over Japan’s Takuya Miki, while Reid beat Australian wildcard Anderson Parker 6-3 6-2.

Hewett and Reid then began their pursuit of a seventh successive wheelchair doubles title in Melbourne by defeating Miki and Dutchman Tom Egberink 6-0 6-4.

The pair have won 18 of the past 23 Grand Slam titles in the doubles format.

They will face either second seeds Martin de la Puente and Stephane Houdet or Tokito Oda and Gustavo Fernandez for a place in the final.

Britain will also have two representatives in the semi-finals of the men’s doubles event.

Sixth seeds Neal Skupski and American Christian Harrison won 6-2 6-3 against Czech pair Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl.

Luke Johnson and Polish partner Jan Zielinski were 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 winners over fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo, of El Salvador, and Croatia’s Mate Pavic.

Skupski and Harrison will play third seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Argentina Horacio Zeballos for a final place, with Johnson and Zielinski taking on Australian wildcards Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans in the other half of the draw.

Andy Lapthorne and Gregory Slade were beaten in their respective quad singles first-round matches.

Lapthorne lost 6-4 7-5 to Turkish fourth seed Ahmet Kaplan, while Slade was beaten 6-1 6-3 by Brazilian qualifier Leandro Pena.

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy feels the province’s increased representation in Ireland’s Six Nations squad “shows we are progressing and moving in the right direction”.

Last year, just four Ulster men were selected, including development player James McNabney, but returning head coach Andy Farrell initially selected seven from the northern province with Cormac Izuchukwu called up at the weekend due to an injury to Munster’s Thomas Ahern.

Izuchukwu is the only Ulster player from 2025 to return, with fellow forwards Tom O’Toole, Tom Stewart and Nick Timoney making the cut this time, while Rob Baloucoune, Nathan Doak, Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale were named in the backs as Ireland prepare for their Six Nations opener against France in Paris on 5 February.

Murphy believes their inclusion is the result of improved performances by Ulster this season who currently sit sixth on the United Rugby Championship [URC] table, while topping their pool in the European Challenge Cup.

“One of the things we talked about earlier in the year was that if you perform well in the white jersey, the green one will look after itself,” Murphy told BBC Sport NI.

“Last year we had four in there, so to double that and have Bryn Ward away travelling with the team as a trainee is very positive.

“Fifteen between the two squads [Six Nations and Ireland XV] is where we want to be. There are one or two disappointed they didn’t get the call, but that’s the competition in Irish rugby.

Last week, Murphy and coaches Mark Sexton, Willie Faloon and Jimmy Duffy signed two-year contract extensions to keep them at Ulster until the summer of 2028 despite rumours of interest from other clubs.

However, the former Ireland U20 coach is happy to continue what he started.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here so far and to extend it for another two years is brilliant,” he added.

“It was March two years ago [2024] when I came in and there was a lot of transition with senior players leaving and a change in the coaching team.

“When you see the exciting young players who are around and you get a feeling we can add to that group by bringing in a couple of Irish guys and guys from overseas, we can build a really good URC team here that challenges at the top end, hopefully, and also in Europe.

World number two Nelly Korda has called the lack of a mixed gender indoor virtual league “an unbelievable miss” following the launch of a women’s competition backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

The WTGL will be held in the same Florida venue as the men’s TGL, which is currently midway through its second season.

Some of the world’s best female golfers will compete in a season of team matchplay in the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, but Korda suggested not combining the men and women’s events was a missed opportunity.

“I have mixed feelings on it, and I’m surprised no other girls have spoken out about it,” she said.

“It’s a huge and unbelievable miss that we’re not playing alongside the men.

“There’s no greater way to grow the game, and it would have been revolutionary. It would have been the first time, I think, that men and women are on the same playing field, playing for the same exact amount of money.

“But I also think it’s great that we are getting this opportunity, so that’s my mixed feelings.”

The indoor golf set-up features teams of players hitting shots at a five-storey-high simulator screen before moving to a short-game area with bunkers and a green that can rotate 360 degrees, creating hole-to-hole variations.

Asked about the prospect of a mixed-gender event, Mike McCarley, a former TV executive who founded the TGL alongside McIlroy and Woods said the idea had been discussed.

“I think that is something that’s interesting to us and is interesting to the LPGA and is interesting to a lot of the players we’re talking to,” said McCarley.

“Right now, we’re really focused on building (the TGL) out and providing, frankly, a nice stage and really nice platform to showcase the players and their personalities.”

Korda, 27, is yet to commit to entering the event, saying she is “still weighing out the time commitment” required to play in the tournament.

World number one Jeeno Thitikul and British golfers Charley Hull and Lottie Woad are among the players confirmed to compete.

Atlanta Drive beat New York GC 4-3 to win the first TGL title last year, with a prize pot of £10.39m being split between the two finalists.

This season’s competition began on 28 December, with a best-of-three final set to start on 23 March.