International - Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers

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Rain stopped play? Biggest worry now in British sport is extreme heat | Emma John

Climate crisis is on show every day when sportspeople do their thing and the rest of us sweat on the sofaNothing sharpens the distinction between professional athletes and the rest of us like a week of truly hot weather. While we’re apologetically crying off long-in-the-diary engagements – so sorry, just can’t face it in this weather – elite sportspeople are blinking the rivulets of sweat out of their eyes while squinting under a hot-and-heavy helmet, then doing 22-yard sprints with a couple of kilos of padding strapped to their legs.As one of nature’s non-athletes, I speak not just with admiration, but with genuine wonder. My experience of the past week has been working out how not to do things, or if forced, doing them half-heartedly because, you know, I haven’t slept. My friends and I message each other the latest innovations in fan strategy (“apparently putting a frozen bottle of water in front of it helps”) and talk about our journeys on public transport as if we’ve just survived the Somme. Continue reading...

2 hours ago

Wimbledon’s big talking points: Serena’s return, Sinner’s recovery and Sabalenko’s slump

All-time greats have questions to answer in SW19 while Raducanu and Draper have to show they can stay fitSerena Williams left it until the last minute to take the final available singles wildcard at Wimbledon and dramatically escalate her comeback from retirement. It is hard to imagine this was all part of her master plan. If she knew she was ready to compete against the best in the world from the beginning of the grass court season, Williams would have surely tested the waters at Queen’s Club or in Berlin, rather than playing doubles. But here she is, unable to resist the pull of Wimbledon, where she has won seven times in singles. Williams’s career has been filled with so many magical moments and at 44 years old, after four years of retirement, she is back at SW19 attempting to create a few more magical moments. Continue reading...

5 hours ago