Category Sports News

Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo has signed a new contract which will keep him at Vitality Stadium until the summer of 2030.

The 25-year-old Ghana forward joined from Bristol City in January 2023 and signed a long-term contract 12 months ago.

He has made 89 appearances and scored 22 goals, 13 of those during an impressive 2024-25 season when Bournemouth finished ninth in the Premier League.

“I’ve grown so much at the club, both on and off the pitch, and I’m really happy to have signed ahead of returning for pre-season,” he said.

“From the fans to the staff and my team-mates, I can’t speak highly enough of the people around the club.

“It’s a great place to be and I’m excited to get back to Bournemouth and continue the hard work with the new season just around the corner. “

British number one Jack Draper began his Wimbledon bid with a commanding performance before his opponent Sebastian Baez retired through injury.

Draper, who is seeded fourth after a stunning rise over the past 12 months, was leading 6-2 6-2 2-1 when Baez retired after one hour and 14 minutes.

Clay-court specialist Baez needed treatment in the second set after slipping on the Court One baseline.

“I wanted to play a bit longer in all honesty. I felt I was getting my tennis together,” said Draper.

“Obviously it is no way to win like that and I wish Sebastian the best in his recovery. “

In the first Championships since Andy Murray’s retirement, there is increased focus on 23-year-old Draper.

Much tougher tests lie ahead that Argentina’s Baez, who has not won on grass in more than two years.

Nevertheless it was a confident start from the host nation’s biggest hope of success this fortnight.

The retirement of three-time Grand Slam winner Murray, who ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a home Wimbledon champion in 2013, signalled the completion of a changing of the guard.

Draper had already taken over as the nation’s leading men’s player when he played at the All England Club last year.

But another second-round exit – this time to Cameron Norrie, who he replaced as British number one – means Draper has still not yet ignited Wimbledon like his predecessor Murray.

While far from ‘Murray-mania’, there are clear signs the home fans are starting to emotionally invest in Draper.

There was barely an empty seat on Court One as he took control in the opening two sets, with a poster bearing his face regularly waved courtside another indication of the growing love.

Draper’s growing star status was also shown by actress and model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley – who the Englishman recently starred alongside in a Burberry fashion campaign – sitting alongside his team.

“I don’t feel about pressure until people mentioned it every five minutes,” Draper said.

Since Draper’s last appearance at Wimbledon, he has reached a Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open, won one of the biggest titles on the ATP Tour in Indian Wells and become only the fourth British man to crack the world’s top five.

That means he is widely regarded as the fourth favourite – behind Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic – at this year’s grass-court major.

A big reason why left-handed Draper can thrive on the slicker surface is his serve.

The power and variety of his opening shot enables him to start points strongly.

When he lands his first serve, it is effective. His first-serve percentage is only the 43rd best on the ATP Tour this year, but he is 14th in terms of points won after it.

Against 38th-ranked Baez, Draper broke in the first game of the match and the strength of his first serve meant the Argentine had little chance of responding.

He landed 78% of his first serves in the first set, winning 86% of those points with the help of four aces.

By the time Baez decided he could not continue, Draper had won 23 of his 25 first-serve points (93%).

Sunderland have completed the signing of Senegal midfielder Habib Diarra in a reported club record £30m deal from Strasbourg.

The 21-year-old, who scored against England in a friendly at the City Ground in June, has penned a five-year contract at the Stadium of Light.

Diarra made 31 appearances for Strasbourg in all competitions last term, helping the club to a seventh-placed finish in Ligue 1 as they secured European football for only the second time in 20 years.

“Everyone saw last season’s success and I guarantee that I’ll give everything for this team and fight for these colours in the Premier League. I’m ready for this challenge and I can’t wait to get started. “

Diarra becomes Sunderland’s second arrival this summer as they prepare for their first season back in the Premier League since 2016-17 and is seen as a direct replacement for Jobe Bellingham who joined Borussia Dortmund in June for a fee worth up to £30m.

Petra Kvitova’s goodbye to her “special place” Wimbledon was always going to be emotional.

Not everyone has celebrated their biggest professional and personal milestones here.

It was here that she won her two Grand Slam titles and on Centre Court that she got engaged, and it was during the Championships fortnight last year that she gave birth to her son.

So when Court One witnessed her final match at the All England Club before she retires later this year, the tears flowed for her and the tissues came out in the stands.

A 6-3 6-1 defeat by 10th seed Emma Navarro was met with a standing ovation for a player who has long held a reputation of being one of the nicest players on the tour.

Given the rare honour of a few minutes on the microphone despite losing the match, Kvitova said she wished they “could have played for a bit longer”.

“I will miss Wimbledon, I will miss tennis, I will miss you fans – but I am ready for the next chapter of life as well,” the 35-year-old said.

“I can’t wait to be back as a member. “

With her family watching from her box, she thanked them all, including the few coaches she has had, adding: “My first was my dad, my last one is my husband. “

Her voice broke when she spoke in Czech when she addressed her family, and she took her time leaving the court and taking in her final moments there.

She had been outplayed by American Navarro in an error-strewn performance, the final curtain coming when she double-faulted on match point.

But there were occasional glimpses of the blistering forehand that drove her success on grass, as well as the thumping serves which were part of a game that propelled her to world number two.

“It was surreal looking across the court to see her serving bombs at me,” Navarro said. “It was intimidating at times.

“Petra’s had an amazing career. It was a pleasure to play against her today. “

Brought up in a sleepy Moravian town where she played on the local clay courts, grass was not a natural surface for Kvitova and her first two appearances at the All England Club ended in first-round exits.

However, with a big serve and booming baseline shots, she had the perfect game for grass and from 2010 to 2015 reached at least the quarter-finals, lifting the trophy in 2011 and 2014.

In December 2016 she suffered a career-threatening injury in a knife attack at her home, where the nerves in her racquet-holding hand were severed, but she defied the odds – doctors gave her a 10% chance of competing again – to return five months later.

Since then she has not made it past the fourth round here, though she did make another Grand Slam final at the 2019 Australian Open, but “Wimby”, as she calls it, has always been her favourite tournament.

She missed last year’s Championships while on maternity leave and returned to the tour in February.

She won only one of the nine matches she has played as a mum and announced last month that she would be hanging up her racquet after the US Open in September – but not before accepting a wildcard for one final Wimbledon.