Katie Taylor outpoints Amanda Serrano in tactical finale to classic fistic trilogy

• Taylor outpoints Serrano in tactical trilogy finale

• MSG hosts historic all-women’s card for trilogy bout

• As it happened: Taylor beats Serrano by MD 10

Katie Taylor outboxed Amanda Serrano over 10 tense, tactical rounds on Friday night to win a majority decision and retain her undisputed junior welterweight title, sealing a 3-0 sweep in one of the most significant rivalries in women’s boxing history.

Two judges scored it 97–93 for Taylor, while a third had it level at 95–95 – a fair reflection of a fight that lacked the all-out fury of their first two meetings but showcased Taylor’s footwork, precision and ring IQ. (The Guardian had it 97-93 for Taylor.)

Published: July 12, 2025, 4:47 am

No one ever got rich writing off Novak Djokovic, but even he can’t stretch time for ever | Jonathan Liew

We can’t tell how much is left for tennis’s ultimate champion, but semi-final defeat by Sinner could be the moment Project 25 was buried for good

The Moment comes at the start of the third set. Nobody in tennis can spot a Moment like Novak Djokovic. The Moment is where he lives, breathes, puts gluten-free food on his family’s table. What happened before was irrelevant. You can rattle and bully him. You can pummel him off Centre Court for an hour, as Jannik Sinner has done. Djokovic will still prowl the chain-link fence all evening, probing it, waiting for the one gap wide enough to let him squeeze through. The point of greatest weakness is where he finds his greatest strength.

Sinner’s at 30-30 on his own serve. A defensive backhand from Djokovic sits up invitingly in mid-court, pleading to be dispatched. The world No 1, utterly impeccable to this point, swings a giant fist at the ball and somehow sends it flying in the vague direction of Tooting Broadway. The crowd yelps in shock. Next point Sinner nets a weak forehand, Djokovic raises a fist of defiance, and in the space of a few minutes – plus a few extra for the now-traditional Djokovic treatment break – this particular Italian job has had its bloody doors blown off.

Published: July 11, 2025, 8:35 pm

Venus Williams, 45, accepts wildcard invitation to DC Open

• Venus accepts wildcard for DC Open singles draw

• 45-year-old hasn’t played since 2024 Miami Open

Venus Williams accepted a wild-card invitation to play singles at this month’s DC Open, which would be the seven-time grand slam champion’s first tournament in more than a year.

Williams, who turned 45 in June, is listed as “inactive” on the WTA Tour’s website.

Published: July 11, 2025, 5:41 pm

Tour de France 2025: Pogacar beats Vingegaard to stage seven win and regains yellow jersey

• Favourite takes over race lead from Mathieu van der Poel

• Vingegaard beaten to line as Britain’s Onley finishes third

In this Tour de France wherever Tadej Pogacar goes Jonas Vingegaard follows. They were locked together at the top of the Mûr-de-Bretagne, in the Côtes-d’Armor, with the ­defending champion winning stage seven of the 2025 Tour just ahead of the Dane and regaining the yellow jersey.

Pogacar is usually the ­quickest of the pair in uphill sprints, but ­Vingegaard has always been on his shoulder, with the world champion, Remco Evenepoel, still close behind.

Published: July 11, 2025, 3:05 pm

Spain overcome early Italy scare to win and set up tie against hosts Switzerland

There are suggestions that the era of possession heavy, carefully choreographed, positional play, may have passed its zenith but, if that message worries Pep Guardiola disciples, Spain’s women remain unperturbed.

As usual the world champions hogged the ball as they won a third consecutive group game at Euro 2025, scoring their 12th, 13th and 14th goals of the tournament in the process.

Published: July 11, 2025, 9:26 pm

‘A terrible injustice’: Parish hits out after Crystal Palace axed from Europa League

• Club chair furious at demotion to Conference League

• He calls for Uefa president Ceferin to overturn decision

Crystal Palace have been banned from the Europa League and moved into the Conference League after Uefa concluded the FA Cup ­winners were in breach of its multi-club ownership rules.

The Palace chair Steve Parish described the decision as “probably one of the greatest injustices that has ever happened in European football” and said that the club - who have never played in a major European competition - are likely to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport.

Published: July 11, 2025, 9:48 pm

Luis Enrique shrugs off praise for PSG’s season with Club World Cup final to come

• Paris Saint-Germain coach cautious of difficult game against Chelsea

• ‘I have been better when I lost,’ Enrique says

There is just one game left in the season in which Paris Saint-Germain finally won the first Champions League in their history to complete a historic treble and that game is the Club World Cup final, but Luis Enrique says it has not been his best. He was better, he claims, when he lost. Besides, the PSG coach said, Manchester City remain the best team around and his side must face a Chelsea team he likened to his own which can still deny them the perfect campaign and have a manager he “loves”.

“The Champions League was our first and it was very important: that was our main objective when we came to Paris last year,” Enrique said. “And on Sunday we have the chance, with the last game of the season, to win another one, with the Club World Cup. But it is important that we are conscious of the difficulty of the game. [Enzo] Maresca is a coach I love. I love the way he has of playing with the ball. They have a lot of good individual platers but they also have a real sense of duty. They are a bit like our team. They are physically strong too. It will be a very even game and a very difficult one.

Published: July 12, 2025, 1:14 am

Liverpool retire No 20 shirt in honour of Diogo Jota after forward’s death

• Number will no longer be used across all club’s teams

• 28-year-old died alongside his brother in car crash

Liverpool have permanently retired their No 20 shirt in honour of Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car crash alongside his brother, André Silva, last week. The club have announced that the No 20 will no longer be used across all levels of the club, including the men’s team, the women’s team and through academy levels.

The tribute, the first in Liverpool’s history, is a reflection of how valued the Portugal international was as a player and a person at the club. Liverpool fans have called for the retirement of the No 20 shirt since the 28-year-old and his brother died in north-western Spain. Liverpool deliberately timed the announcement at 20:20 BST on Friday.

Published: July 11, 2025, 7:20 pm

Cayman ends Portugal hopes of Euro 2025 knockout place with victory for Belgium

Belgium’s Tessa Wullaert and Janice Cayman struck in a dramatic 2-1 victory in their final Group B game at Euro 2025 on Friday that extinguished Portugal’s dreams of advancing to their first European knockout round.

Belgium, who had already been eliminated from quarter-final contention before kick-off, finished third in Group B, while Portugal, who needed a win to advance, were fourth. Spain and Italy both went through after the world champions won their match 3-1.

Published: July 11, 2025, 9:56 pm

Coffees, cabin fever and social media: the dos and don’ts of a tournament bubble | Emma Hayes

Win over the Netherlands shows Sarina Wiegman has kept spirits high in the Lionesses’ camp as decisive matches loom

England are back on track. They really needed that display against the Netherlands and it was a pivotal moment for them. It was a very, very commanding performance.

Physically, they showed their dominance and exposed the Netherlands’ weaknesses at the back. With Lauren James, in what I think is her best position, playing from the right and being able to drift in, you can maintain your midfield structure. Her performance showed why Sarina Wiegman has selected her and the team performance showed why she stuck with the group that she did.

Published: July 11, 2025, 12:22 pm

‘I was really dizzy’: Enzo Fernández reveals scare in heat of Club World Cup

• Temperatures made Argentinian lie down in semi-final

• He brands playing conditions in US as ‘very dangerous’

Enzo Fernández has said that the high temperatures at the Club World Cup are dangerous and revealed that he needed to lie down during Chelsea’s win over Fluminense because the heat left him feeling “really dizzy”.

The Argentina midfielder is the latest player to criticise the tournament’s scheduling and call for Fifa to make changes before the World Cup takes place in Canada, Mexico and the US next summer.

Published: July 11, 2025, 6:33 pm

Premier League holds talks with Ifab over plans to introduce Ref Cams next season

• Footage used at Club World Cup for instant replays

• Could be trialled during pre-season pending approval

The Premier League wants to introduce Ref Cams to offer extra in-game footage to broadcasters. The tiny cameras, mounted on a referee’s ear to provide TV viewers with a unique view of the action, have been trialled by Fifa during the Club World Cup over the past month.

The Premier League has held talks with the International Football Association Board (Ifab), which determines the laws of the game, about whether the trial can be extended to domestic competitions.

Published: July 11, 2025, 2:11 pm

Morgan Gibbs-White move to Spurs on hold as Nottingham Forest consider legal action

• Forest also preparing complaint to Premier League

• Spurs alleged to have made illegal approach for player

Morgan Gibbs-White’s expected £60m move to Tottenham is on hold because Nottingham Forest are considering legal action over an alleged illegal approach for the player.

Forest are also preparing a complaint to the Premier League, arguing that Spurs’ conduct surrounding the proposed transfer has been inappropriate. It had been expected that Gibbs-White would have a medical on Friday before completing the move.

Published: July 11, 2025, 12:59 pm

New Zealand v Australia: women’s rugby union Test – live

• Wallaroos face Black Ferns in Wellington

• Any thoughts? Email Megan Maurice

No contest from NZ on the line out and Australia get into a good position and create some space for Caslick to dive over the line.

4 mins: The conversion is missed and the Wallaroos get a much-needed penalty and win the line out. They put on a rolling maul close to the line. It’s nearly a try, but the referee rules it’s held up. She was playing advantage, so the Wallaroos get another penalty.

Published: July 12, 2025, 6:13 am

Gout Gout wins again in Monaco as Jess Hull and Peter Bol break national records

• 17-year-old dazzles in under-23 200m at Diamond League meet

• Bol fourth in fast 800m final that sees world record fall

The remarkable Gout Gout story speeds on with the Australian producing another blistering performance to further his European track education in Monaco.

Guesting in an invitational 200 metres at the prestigious Diamond League meeting at the Stade Louis II in the principality during his school holidays on Friday, the teenage phenomenon raced away to another striking win in 20.10 seconds into a headwind.

Published: July 12, 2025, 12:33 am

Italy 1-3 Spain: Women’s Euro 2025 – as it happened

Spain came from behind to defeat Italy and top Group B thanks to goals from Athenea del Castillo, Patri Guijarro and Esther González

We are lucky enough to have the legendary Chelsea manager, WSL icon and United States women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes on board as a columnist throughout Euro 2025. Here is what she had to say in her latest column…

Today’s match officials:

Referee: Iuliana Demetrescu

Assistant referees: Mihaela Tepusa, Franca Overtoom

Fourth official: Katalin Kulcsár

VAR: Dennis Higler

Assistant VAR: Tamás Bognár

Published: July 11, 2025, 9:31 pm

Portugal 1-2 Belgium: Women’s Euro 2025 – as it happened

Janice Cayman scored a late winner to secure victory for Belgium over Portugal

2 mins: Belgium make the early running and Vanhaevermaet has a good chance, heading a cross towards goal which Morais does well to hold onto.

Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!

Published: July 11, 2025, 9:21 pm

‘You can’t keep slowing the game down’: Root wants to limit number of ball changes

• India had ball switched twice in first session of day

• Root proposes limit of three challenges every 80 overs

Joe Root has called on authorities to limit the number of times Test sides can ask umpires to check potentially misshapen balls, after the morning of the second day at Lord’s was characterised by complaints and exchanges, with the ball being changed twice, and a drinks break being extended while India’s captain, Shubman Gill, argued with the umpires about the quality of one of the replacements.

Jasprit Bumrah refused to comment on the balls, saying: “I work very hard and bowl a lot of overs, so I don’t want to say any controversial statements and get my match fee deducted. We were bowling with the ball we were given and that’s how it is.”

Published: July 11, 2025, 7:41 pm

My age makes it very difficult to win grand slams, admits beaten Djokovic

• 38-year-old felt ‘half empty’ physically in Sinner defeat

• But he insists he will return to play Wimbledon again

Novak Djokovic said he must accept the reality that his ageing body continues to make it extremely difficult for him to win another grand slam title after struggling physically in his emphatic defeat by the world No 1, Jannik Sinner, in the semi-finals of Wimbledon on Friday.

A month after suffering a straight sets defeat by Sinner in the semi-finals of the French Open, Djokovic was subjected to an even more one-sided 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 defeat by an imperious Sinner. The 38-year-old moved sluggishly throughout and he took a medical timeout after losing the second set.

Published: July 11, 2025, 7:35 pm

Wimbledon 2025 semi-finals: Sinner destroys Djokovic, Alcaraz beats Fritz – as it happened

Jannik Sinner ruthlessly defeated Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-3 6-4 and Carlos Alcaraz saw off Taylor Fritz 6-4 5-7 6-3 7-6 to set up a repeat of that French Open final

Is there a cultural reason Americans enjoy using what we in the UK consider to be surnames as first names? I know we’ve noted it – so too did Billy Connolly – but is there a reason? Perhaps Fritz Taylor can advise.

Nothing to do with tennis, but I’ve got the cricket on my second screen and they’re telling us about the Ruth Strauss Foundation. My eyeballs may be sweating, but Andrew Strauss: what a father, what a husband, what a man. Support him if you can.

Published: July 11, 2025, 6:59 pm

Katie Taylor beats Amanda Serrano by majority decision to retain undisputed title – as it happened

• Taylor beats Serrano by majority decision to retain titles

• Rivals headline first all-women’s boxing card at MSG

A jubilant Amanda Serrano comes to the ring first. And it’s a highly theatrical entrance to Bad Bunny’s NUEVAYoL while accompanied by her promoter Jake Paul and about a dozen dancers. She’s wearing a red, white and blue leather robe and the crowd is eating it up.

And now it’s Katie Taylor’s turn. And the Bray fighter emerges from the tunnel to a mix of boos and cheers to Even Though I Walk by Hannah McClure and Bethel Music. She’s ambling slowly to the ring, completely focused with a stony expression, wearing a black robe with gold trim. The two entrances couldn’t possibly be more different.

Published: July 12, 2025, 4:30 am

Boxer Gervonta Davis arrested on domestic violence charge in Florida

• Boxing star arrested Friday on battery charge

• Davis allegedly hit ex-girlfriend on Father’s Day

• Held without bond in Miami-Dade County jail

Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis was arrested Friday in Florida on a domestic violence charge, nearly a month after allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend outside her home on Father’s Day.

Davis, 30, was taken into custody in Miami Beach and booked at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County. He is being held without bond, according to jail records.

Published: July 11, 2025, 4:35 pm

Carlos Alcaraz channels Sampras to see off Fritz and close on Wimbledon treble

• Defending champion seals 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory

• Alcaraz matches American’s firepower on sweltering day

On a blast furnace of a day Carlos Alcaraz came through the fire. The double Wimbledon champion survived the might and spite of Taylor Fritz’s serve, as well as the 31C heat, to book his place against Jannik Sinner in the men’s final.

But what a struggle this semi-final turned out to be. At one point, as Fritz smashed 135mph serves and howitzer forehands for fun past him, Alcaraz was just one point away from a fifth set. But, as usual, he somehow found a way to flip the narrative and emerge triumphant.

Published: July 11, 2025, 4:04 pm

‘It’s a player-led team in America’: Rory McIlroy weighs in on US Ryder Cup captaincy debate

• Keegan Bradley poised to be player-captain at Bethpage

• McIlroy: ‘The US is better with Keegan playing than not’

Rory McIlroy believes the increasing likelihood of Keegan Bradley playing for and captaining the United States in this year’s Ryder Cup epitomises a difference in approach between the competing teams. Bradley’s recent win on the PGA Tour means he is poised to take on a dual role as the US tries to regain the cup from Europe at Bethpage in September. Advantage Europe?

A year ago at the Scottish Open, McIlroy insisted the concept of a playing captain was a seriously flawed one. After posting a 65 on Friday to fire himself into contention at the tournament’s 2025 edition, McIlroy addressed the same issue with a laugh. “Hopefully it is impossible,” he said of a playing captain.

Published: July 11, 2025, 2:01 pm