Category Sports News

Double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has announced that she will retire from tennis at the end of this summer.

The Czech player won the ladies ‘ singles titles in 2011 and 2014 and also reached the final of the Australian Open in 2019.

In recent years she has fallen down the rankings and last made the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam in 2020.

She missed the whole of 2024 to have her first child and only returned to action in February.

Kvitova said on X that she had surpassed her dreams during her career and will retire after September’s US Open.

She said: “I never imagined becoming a professional tennis player, being able to travel the world and play in the most beautiful stadiums around the world.

” I’ve been privileged to reach incredible heights over the past 19 years and accomplished more than I could have ever imagined. “

The former world number two was the only non-British player named in the initial batch of Wimbledon wildcards announced on Wednesday.

Following homophobic chanting by their fans during a 3-0 win at Manchester United in September, the Football Association has fined Tottenham Hotspur £75, 000.

According to reports, the chanting occurred during the Premier League match at Old Trafford in the 49th and 79th minutes.

Spurs immediately blasted “abhorrent homophobic chanting” as “simply unacceptable” and vowed to take the “strongest possible action” following the game.

The FA has confirmed the fine for “two crowd control misconduct violations of FA Rule E21.”

Leading New India’s team to a series victory over England, according to Shubman Gill, would be far more important than winning the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Gill’s first stint in charge of India’s Test team since Rohit Sharma replaces him, will kick off the five-test series in Leeds on Friday.

In a cricketing landscape where the IPL, the richest T20 franchise league in the world, is increasingly influential, it is one of the longest format’s marquee series.

“You don’t get many opportunities, if any, to travel to England,” the captain said. If you have the potential to be the best of your generation. Gill, who has won the IPL with the Gujarat Titans, said, “You get to have a crack at it every year.”

Gill is a member of the IPL generation that has grown up playing cricket.

He won the title with Gujarat, the franchise he now leads, when he made his debut as an 18-year-old.

However, the 25-year-old has climbed to the highest level of Indian sport, calling it “the biggest honor you can receive.”

Since winning the first Test series with India with a score of 1-0 in 2007, the country have never won an English Test series. The series finale was canceled after the rearranged schedule, which resulted in the draw and was 2-1, but they were still in the lead in the 2021 series.

Gill and India have refrained from calling Headingley their XI, saying they were “one or two combinations.”

Gill will start at number four, taking over Virat Kohli’s format-retraised slot from his predecessor.

The right-hander claimed to have spoken with Rohit, who retired from testing last month after series defeats in Australia and New Zealand, and Kohli, who is undoubtedly India’s most successful test skipper.

In the IPL, I met both of them, and they both shared their stories of their experiences in England and the difficulties that might arise.

One of the best experiences I’ve had was watching the Test series we played against England in India.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s enthusiasm for training has been difficult, according to England coach Steve Borthwick, who has been training for six months.

Feyi-Waboso from Exeter was chosen to start for the France XV on Saturday at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.

Before having an operation, the 22-year-old suffered a setback during an international training camp after dislocating his shoulder against Sale in December.

Borthwick claimed that it was quite a job to work with him last week as he was trying to keep himself out of some things and stop him from throwing himself in while he was still coming in to those very last elements of return to play.

“During training, I almost had to man-mark him!” He was energetic and full of enthusiasm.

Feyi-Waboso, who had eight England appearances before that, had nominated for World Rugby’s Breakthrough of the Year after a stellar 2024. He scored five tries in those eight.

Prior to his injury, he had a strong chance of being chosen for the British and Irish Lions, and assistant coach Andy Farrell has the possibility of adding to his squad if players come back from injury and are fit.

Ted Hill and Guy Pepper start for England after playing significant roles in last weekend’s Premiership final win over Leicester, with Tom Willis from Saracens at number eight.

Joe Carpenter of Sale is at full-back, and Seb Atkinson of Gloucester is at 12; however, the match against a second-string French outfit without a Test will require his first cap.

While Northampton’s Alex Coles, who last appeared for England during the tour of New Zealand last summer, earns a shot in the second row, fly-half George Ford and hooker Jamie George co-captain the side.

On the bench is Sale scrum-half Raffi Quirke, along with the Harlequins forward trio of Chandler Cunningham-South, Jack Kenningham, and Alex Dombrandt.

Borthwick made it known that Dombrandt has been training in the centers and will play both back and middle defenders, with Quirke and Oscar Beard the only two specialist backs remaining on the bench.

England is without the 13 Lions tourists as they get ready for Friday’s warm-up game against Argentina and the tour of Australia.

Ford has a chance to claim the 10 shirt he last wore at the end of the 2024 Six Nations because Fin Smith and Marcus Smith both play for the Lions.

In the camp, Ben Curry, Fraser Dingwall, George Furbank, and Harry Randall are all recovering from injuries.

Curry, who was just weeks away from recovering from a concussion in last month’s Champions Cup final defeat by Bordeaux-Begles, will have to play in the France XV game as a precaution after pulling a minor hamstring in Sale’s Premiership semi-final defeat by Leicester.

However, Randall and Dingwall, who both suffered shoulder injuries against Bath, pose greater doubts for the summer tour of Argentina and the United States.

In the 28-strong French squad for the game last weekend, there were Gael Fickou, Nolann Le Garrec, Cameron Woki, and Theo Attissogbe.

With the Top 14 semi-finals featuring Toulouse, Bordeaux-Begles, Toulon, and Bayonne taking place on the same weekend, coach Fabien Galthie is without a lot of stars.

The match serves as a prelude to the teams’ respective summer tours, with England taking on the Pumas in a two-test series before a one-off game against the United States in Washington, DC. On Monday, the tour’s lineup will be announced.