Analysis, features, news plus more – on European football and sports galore!
Jannik Sinner’s superb 2024 concluded with an impressive Davis Cup defence as he again led Italy, this time over an overachieving Netherlands side in Sunday’s final. Yet the 23-year-old admitted the off-court unknown surrounding doping accusations and his future has been heartbreaking as he awaits WADA’s appeal over being exonerated after two positive drugs tests for clostebol in March. Continue reading “Exhausting wait over doping appeal a sour note on Sinner’s sensational 2024 season”
Granit Xhaka repaired his reputation in north London before departing for £21.6m last summer, joining Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen project – quickly establishing himself as an indispensable player spreading his wings further since returning to Bundesliga play. He’s carried that form on the international stage at the Euros, where the 31-year-old faces some familiar faces Saturday. Continue reading “Granit Xhaka’s metronomic momentum – club and country – hasn’t gone unnoticed”
Jamal Musiala scored his third goal of this summer’s European Championships, of course he did, as hosts Germany punched their ticket into next week’s quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over a stubborn Denmark in Saturday’s evening kick-off. Hours earlier, defending champs Italy went out with a whimper as they were outplayed by Switzerland – England could await them next week…. Continue reading “Euro 2024: Musiala sends Danes packing after defending champs Italy limp out, as tournament proper has finally begun”
Yesterday, Jannik Sinner and team Italy were one point from being knocked out in the Davis Cup semifinals. Today, they can celebrate after the world no. 4’s gritty comeback win over Novak Djokovic helped them pip Serbia to Sunday’s showpiece event – where they emerged victorious vs. Australia without needing the decisive doubles rubber, capping a career-best year for the 22-year-old. Continue reading “Sinner stars in singles, doubles to finish career-best year as Italy clinch Davis Cup”
Gareth Southgate shuffled the pack and watched as his England side recovered from an early goal down to seal their place at next summer’s European Championships in Germany with a 3-1 win over Euro 2020 winners Italy. Harry Kane’s brace – sandwiched between Marcus Rashford’s mazy second-half finish – secured their passage early, as two Group C games still await next month.
Continue reading “England 3-1 Italy: Kane’s brace seals Euro 2024 qualification with comeback win”
The Champions League semifinalists could cause an internal riot by sanctioning a record-breaking departure of a prized asset in their central midfielder this summer, currently captaining the Azzurini in Romania as their U21 European Championship campaign got underway yesterday.
Continue reading “Newcastle’s fast-growing pursuit of Sandro Tonali says plenty for both sides”
What a day of finals action. USA swept Italy in the inaugural United Cup, before American teenager Coco Gauff and world no. 5 Aryna Sabalenka both prevailed in straight-sets to clinch their first WTA singles titles since May 2021 while Novak Djokovic recovered from the brink – match point down – to eventually overwhelm Sebastian Korda to win his 92nd ATP title. Continue reading “USA secure United Cup, Sabalenka and Gauff win clean while Djokovic saves match point to pip Korda”
USA vs. Italy awaits in the United Cup final after both nations took care of business. Coco Gauff faces Spanish qualifier Rebeka Masarova in tomorrow’s finale, while Tallon Griekspoor became a first-time ATP tour-level titlist with a recovery win over Benjamin Bonzi. Elsewhere, Sebastian Korda’s steady tennis helped him book a final berth, but not before witnessing an emotional outburst – while Novak Djokovic bested Daniil Medvedev despite weathering an injury scare. Continue reading “USA vs. Italy sealed for United Cup final, Gauff-Masarova and Djokovic-Korda finals plus more”
Jessica Pegula ended a four-match losing streak against the world no. 1, while Martina Trevisan played spoiler to sting Greece as the United Cup semi-finals got underway. Elsewhere, there were big wins for Sebastian Korda and Linda Noskova, while two first-time finalists will play each other in Pune. It’s always fun to get a Djokovic-Medvedev matchup too, right? Continue reading “USA and Italy lead in United Cup semis, Noskova-Jabeur and Djokovic-Medvedev confirmed”
Maria Sakkari called this one of the best weeks in her career. Jessica Pegula spoke for team USA, stressing their excitement for what’s to come. Poland are deadly in unison and we’re only halfway through: the United Cup’s final four nations were sealed after a manic day’s action – with a few surprising results as expected across tour-level tournaments elsewhere today. Continue reading “Tennis: United Cup’s final four teams confirmed, Rybakina and Andreescu lose in Adelaide and more”
There were straight-set victories for Matteo Berrettini, Maria Sakkari and Stan Wawrinka among others but the big story came in the evening as home favourite Jason Kubler recovered from a 5-0 second set deficit to overwhelm world no. 27 Dan Evans and secure Australia’s first-ever United Cup triumph, on an eventful second day of group action at the tournament. Continue reading “United Cup: Berrettini, Sakkari, Wawrinka all prevail before Kubler clinches big win for team Australia”
After surpassing his previous best, earning a semi-final finish at this year’s Australian Open, 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini has spoken about how he plans to utilise the upcoming United Cup as an opportunity to build towards an even better run in mid-January at Melbourne Park – where his deficiencies were laid bare by Rafael Nadal 11 months ago.
Continue reading “Australian Open 2023: Berrettini to use United Cup as confidence boost for long Grand Slam run”
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