Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Michael Venus and his German partner Tim Puetz are through to the double's final at the ATP 250 tournament in Stuttgart.

The top seeds have beaten fourth seeds Frenchman Fabrice Martin and German Andreas Mies 6-3 7-6 (9) in an hour and 29 minutes in the semi-finals.

There were two breaks of serve in the opening set with Mies losing his second service game and then at 5-3 Martin was broken.

By contrast the second set was extremely tight with the server's dominant. It was decided in a tie break that went the distance with Venus and Puetz winning on a third match point after saving a couple of set points on their opponents serve.

It will be a tough final tonight against third seeds Hubert Hurkacz and Mate Pavic. Although they are not regular partners, they are both tremendous doubles players in their own right.

Venus will be chasing his 18th ATP doubles title and second of the year in the final.

Meanwhile Venus and Puetz will head to Halle after the Stuttgart final for the ATP 500 tournament there to round out their preparations for Wimbledon.

They are the third seeds and have been drawn against Italy's Simone Bolelli and Dutchman Matwe Middelkoop in the first round.

Wilde wins in Leeds

New Zealand triathlete Hayden Wilde has scored his first victory in a World Championship Series event, coming home first in the latest round in Leeds.

Wilde, the Olympic bronze medalist, outsprinted Frenchman Leo Bergere with 2.5km to go to grab the tape with Germany's Lasse Luhrs third.

Wilde did benefit from a crash on the bike leg, which he admitted later he probably caused.

The crash took out Briton's Alex Yee and Jonny Brownlee along with fellow New Zealander Dylan McCollough.

"I have mixed emotions right now", said Wilde after crossing the finish line. "I'd like to firstly apologise to Jonny Brownlee, Alex Yee and my teammate Dylan McCullough.

"Up the hill, Dylan (McCullough) had his shoulder out a touch, a bit of wind blew, I hit him and a few people came down. That's how racing goes.

Wilde is now third in the overall standings.

Andrea Hansen was 41st in the women's race.

Leclerc on pole again

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc put in a blinding lap in qualifying to seize pole position for the Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix.

The Monegasque lit up the timing screens with a one minute, 41.359 second lap, beating Red Bull's Sergio Perez by a handy 0.282 seconds.

His championship rival Max Verstappen, who holds a nine-point advantage over Leclerc in the overall standings, was third 0.347 seconds adrift, while Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari was fourth.

Leclerc's performance earned him his sixth pole from eight races so far this season, and fourth in a row.

It made the 24-year-old the first driver to take a repeat pole around the Baku street track, having also started last year's Azerbaijan race from the front. If he converts it tomorrow, it would make him the race's first multiple winner.

George Russell was fifth fastest with Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes seventh.

-Reuters

Case against Ronaldo dismissed

A U.S. judge has dismissed the Las Vegas rape lawsuit against Manchester United and Portugal soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo.

The ruling comes nearly three years after prosecutors said Ronaldo would face no charges in Las Vegas in connection with a 10-year-old sexual assault allegation because the case cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Kathryn Mayorga filed a civil lawsuit in September 2018 in state court in Nevada accusing Ronaldo of raping her in a Las Vegas hotel penthouse suite in 2009, then paying her half a million dollars in hush money.

Ronaldo, who plays for Premier League club Manchester United, has maintained he is innocent.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey kicked the case out of court over the way documents were obtained.

-Reuters

Murray beats Kyrgios to make final

Former world number one Andy Murray looked back to his best on grass as he beat Nick Kyrgios 7-6(5) 6-2 to move into the final of the Stuttgart Open after the Australian lost his cool in the second set and said he was racially abused by a fan.

The final is the 70th of Murray's career and his second of the year after a runner-up finish in Sydney in January. The 35-year-old will face second seed Matteo Berrettini who is playing his first Tour-level final of the season.

After an entertaining opening set where there was nothing to separate the two players, Murray sealed it in the tiebreak after which Kyrgios broke his racket and earned a point penalty as well as a game penalty in the second set.

The Australian, who was constantly complaining to the umpire, then refused to continue playing, sitting in his chair until the supervisor came out and convinced him to finish the match.

A frustrated Kyrgios later said that he had retaliated after hearing a racial slur.

Murray, whose last Tour title came in 2019 in Antwerp, was sympathetic in his on-court interview, admitting that he did not have to work as hard in the second set after a "high quality" opener.

-Reuters

Fury set for unification bout

WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury is in talks to face the winner of Anthony Joshua's rematch against Oleksandr Usyk despite having repeatedly spoken of hanging up his gloves.

Fury knocked out fellow Briton Dillian Whyte in front of a sell-out crowd at Wembley Stadium in April to retain his heavyweight crown, telling fans afterwards it was unlikely he would fight again.

His wife, Paris, later told BT Sport that he would return only for a title unification bout.

Usyk beat Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September last year to seize the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts.

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn told the BBC that Joshua had signed his contract to fight Usyk in a re-match in Saudi Arabia in August, with a formal announcement expected next week.

The bout has been delayed several times after Usyk returned home to Ukraine to join a territorial defence battalion following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".

-Reuters

New Zealand driver in Le Mans contention

Champions Toyota led the 24 Hours of Le Mans in one-two formation at the Sarthe circuit, with the number seven and eight hypercars swapping the lead in the opening hours.

Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi started from pole position in the eight car before Britain's Mike Conway took over at the front on 45 minutes in the number seven after the first pitstops.

Conway, who won last year with Japan's Kamui Kobayashi and Argentine Jose Maria Lopez, was 19 seconds clear at the two hour mark. Buemi shares his car with New Zealander Brendon Hartley and Japan's Ryo Hirokawa.

The other New Zealander in the field, Shane van Gisbergen is running 39th overall and seventh in the LM GTE Pro class.

The entire field is running with a 100% renewable fuel for the first time.

The endurance race, which will celebrate its centenary next year, ends Monday morning NZ time.

-Reuters

Reed joins LIV

Former Masters champion Patrick Reed has become the latest golfer to join the lucrative LIV Golf Invitational Series, the Saudi-backed league said.

Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, has 12 wins on the PGA Tour and the European Tour.

The 31-year-old American joins former world number one Dustin Johnson, six-times major champion Phil Mickelson and former U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau in joining the LIV Series which had its inaugural event in London this week.

The PGA Tour has already suspended players who turned out for the LIV event but some golfers had already resigned from the Tour before the sanctions were announced on Thursday.

-Reuters

English club rugby finalists found

Leicester will face Saracens in their first English rugby Premiership final in nine years after they survived a severe test from local rivals Northampton to emerge 27-14 winners in a bruising semi-final at Welford Road.

Trailing, a man down and up against it early in the second half, Leicester hit back with tries by George Ford and Freddie Steward and Ford then made sure with a drop goal and penalty to take his tally to 22 points.

The win sparked wild scenes among the home fans, who for years lorded it but who have had to suffer thin times in recent seasons.

Leicester are England's most successful side with 10 league titles but the last of them came in 2013. That was their ninth successive final appearance but they then lost four successive semis and had not made the playoffs since.

Defeat means Chris Boyd's four-year tenure as Saints director of rugby ends without a trophy... he will now return to New Zealand.

The final will be between the teams who finished first and second in the regular season.

Saracens beat Harlequins 34-17.

-Reuters