Australian great Ken Rosewall will bestow the French Open trophy on the men's singles champion next month and sees only one grateful player ready to claim it -- Rafael Nadal.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo gave a ringing endorsement of new coach Zinedine Zidane and handed a rebuke to his sacked predecessor Rafa Benitez after Sunday's 5-1 La Liga victory at home to Sporting Gijon. Real have comfortably won both their matches since Zidane took over this month, a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and Sunday's demolition of lowly Gijon, and Ronaldo said the players had a better relationship with the former Real and France great, who is known as 'Zizou', than with the unpopular Benitez. The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli manager was discarded after less than half a season in the job after an indifferent run of results left Real trailing city rivals Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona in La Liga. "To be honest, with some coaches you have more empathy than with others," Ronaldo told reporters after netting a double at the Bernabeu. "The truth is, don't ask me why, that the players have more empathy with Zizou," the Portugal forward added.
DeAndre Yedlin has joined Championship (second tier) side Newcastle United on a five-year deal from Tottenham Hotspur for an undisclosed fee, the clubs have announced.
Security was breached at the French Open on Sunday when a fan jumped onto Court Philippe Chatrier and attempted to take a selfie with Roger Federer.
Novak Djokovic believes Rafa Nadal may soon displace him as world number one and has plenty of time to break Roger Federer's benchmark 17 major titles after the Spaniard roared to the US Open title at Flushing Meadows on Monday.
World number two Rafael Nadal confirmed on Tuesday that he will not defend his US Open crown this year at Flushing Meadows as organisers released the singles entry list for the Grand Slam. Spain's Nadal had said in June that he had reservations about travelling to the U.S. amid the COVID-19 pandemic and he joins women's world number one Australian Ash Barty in skipping the tournament due to COVID-19 concerns.
Images from Day 7 of the 2021 US Open in New York on Sunday.
A year in which a British man won Wimbledon, Roger Federer's star began to fade and doping reared its ugly head was defined by the dominance of two players - Rafa Nadal and Serena Williams.
German tennis legend Boris Becker has issued a stringing rebuke against second-ranked Andy Murray for saying that he has been suspicious of his opponents doping in the past and described his comments as "totally out of order".
Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez has a full squad available, including forward Karim Benzema, for Saturday's La Liga Clasico at home to Barcelona.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said it was a "special feeling" and an extra motivation knowing he is poised to become the first man to coach six different clubs in the Champions League.
Read on to know how Federer mauled Murray during their quarter-final natch at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Having achieved the glittering distinction of becoming the only man to win eight singles titles at the same Grand Slam tournament, French Open champion Rafa Nadal was soon dreaming of another priceless thing on Sunday -- to be left alone.
Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo could leave Real Madrid this summer, after reportedly being miffed over club president Florentino Perez's growing closeness with teammate Gareth Bale.
Factbox on Novak Djokovic's five Wimbledon titles
Rafa Benitez has been sacked as coach of Real Madrid, according to reports in the Spanish press. Sunday night's 2-2 draw with Valencia has proved to be the final straw for president Florentino Perez with the club likely to confirm the news soon. France legend Zinedine Zidane - the coach of Real Madrid's second team, Castilla - is expected to take over.
The message from Novak Djokovic could not have been more emphatic after the Serb retained his title at the ATP World Tour Finals with a crushing victory over Rafa Nadal on Monday.
Rafael Nadal will return to his old routine in a bid to recapture the Wimbledon crown.
Switzerland's challenge at the ATP World Tour Finals melted away like an Alpine glacier in a heatwave on Sunday as Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic marched on to the grand finale.
If Stanislas Wawrinka's life depended on the outcome of one tennis match he would surely want Rafa Nadal fighting his corner, and while the stakes were not as high as life or death on Friday the Swiss player's fate was in safe hands.
Images from the men's singles quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Rafa Nadal has returned to the Spain team as they seek to maintain their Davis Cup World Group status with a playoff tie against Ukraine in Madrid later this month, captain Alex Corretja said on Monday.
Before we choose our favourites for the US Open men's singles title this year, let's get one fact in place -- since the 2005 French Open, only five men have won Grand Slam singles titles but rarely have all five been in contention at the same event.
Roger Federer won five consecutive US Open titles from 2004-2008 but has not enjoyed much success here recently.
Been there, done that. Roger Federer does not need to be World No 1 anymore and he might well be a top contender at next year's Australian Open, his chief rival Rafa Nadal said.
Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal advanced to a mouthwatering semi-final showdown at the Rogers Cup after they crushed their quarter-final opponents in ruthless fashion on Friday.
Former Inter Milan, Liverpool and Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez will return to Italy to take charge of Serie A club Napoli.
Chelsea winger Eden Hazard will miss Wednesday's Europa League final against Benfica with a hamstring strain while John Terry's ankle problem is still being assessed, interim manager Rafa Benitez said.
Daniil Medvedev continued his march towards a first Grand Slam title on Wednesday, powering into the US Open semi-finals with a clinical 7-6(6), 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over childhood friend Andrey Rublev.
For the third time in five years, Rafa Nadal's Australian Open title hopes were ended by injury as he was beaten by Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in the final on Sunday.
Rafa Nadal said playing Roger Federer always brings the best out of him after he bludgeoned his way past the Swiss on Friday to reach the final of the Australian Open.
A battle-scarred Rafa Nadal admitted he got lucky as he moved into the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Wednesday with a 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov.
Burnley beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Ewood Park in their East Lancashire derby but Premier League sides Southampton and Newcastle United crashed out of the English League Cup to Championship opposition in Wednesday's second-round games.
What should have been a dream showdown between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal has turned into the battle of Poland as Lukasz Kubot and Jerzy Janowicz unexpectedly find themselves in Wimbledon's quarter-final mix along with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
World number one Novak Djokovic was sensationally disqualified in the US Open fourth round on Sunday after striking a line judge with a ball following a point during the first set of his match against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta.
World number one Novak Djokovic and number two Rafa Nadal set up a mouth-watering men's singles final at the US Open with victories in the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
Wimbledon has witnessed some seismic shocks down the years but few could top twice champion Rafa Nadal's elimination at the hands of Steve Darcis, a Belgian ranked 135th in the world, in the first round on Monday. Here are six other matches that shook up Wimbledon.
Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal remained on course for a tantalising first ever collision at the U.S. Open after demolishing their opposition at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
Rafa Nadal could face world number one Novak Djokovic, defending champion Roger Federer or home favourite Andy Murray as early as the Wimbledon quarter-finals after being announced as fifth seed for the tournament on Wednesday.
Chelsea, galvanised by the second-half introduction of Fernando Torres, capped a successful week by coming from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 to leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur into third place in the Premier League on Sunday.
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