Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Wellington Phoenix captain Ulises Davila has left the club as the 2020/21 A-League football season comes to a close.

General manager David Dome said the club had put considerable resource into re-signing Davila, following his two impactful seasons with the Phoenix.

"The Wellington Phoenix put forward the single-largest contract ever in its history in order to retain Ulises, who has shone in the A-League within coach Talay's system," Dome said.

"But Ulises and his family have chosen to pursue a different challenge for next season and we fully respect that."

Dome said that the silver lining was the ownership's clear commitment to investing in the Phoenix's future.

"While the club is disappointed in Ulises' decision, this process signals that the Welnix ownership group are prepared to do whatever it takes to build a winning team - including investing heavily in retaining and recruiting players next season to help build a stronger Phoenix squad."

Davila will join A-League newcomers Macarthur next season on a multi-season deal.

Zverev into French Open semis

Alexander Zverev settled some early nerves before beating Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4 6-1 6-1 to reach the semifinals of the French Open for the first time.

After his frustration wore off following an early argument with chair umpire Alison Hughes over a line call, Zverev clicked into gear while an increasingly despondent Fokina wavered.

Sixth seed Zverev, the first German to reach the last four at Roland Garros since Michael Stich in 1996, was simply too good for the world No. 46, who managed to hold serve only three times for his first appearance on court Philippe Chatrier.

Hitting winner after winner while his 21-year-old opponent failed to keep the ball on court, Zverev raced to a routine win as he claimed his 15th consecutive set in Paris.

Zverev will face either Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev of Russia.

- Reuters

Robinson's apology accepted

Fast bowler James Anderson says England players have accepted Ollie Robinson's apology for racist and sexist comments he posted on social media as a teenager.

Robinson has been ruled out of England's second test against New Zealand starting at Edgbaston on Thursday after historic tweets came to light last week when he made his test debut at Lord's.

The 27-year-old fast bowler had apologised "unreservedly" in the dressing room for the 2012-13 Twitter posts and Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker, said that was accepted.

"The language and things talked about are obviously not acceptable," he added.

"He stood up in front of the group and apologised, and you could see how sincere he was and how upset he was.

"As a group, we appreciate that he's a different person now. He has done a lot of maturing and growing since then and he's got the full support of the team."

The ECB is also investigating a second England cricketer for historical "offensive" social media posts, cricket website Wisden.com reported on Monday.

Wisden said it had uncovered a racist tweet but chosen not to disclose the identity of the player because he was under 16 when it was posted.

- Reuters

Mo'unga claims Crusaders gong

All Blacks first five-eighth Richie Mo'unga has won a second consecutive Crusaders Player of the Year award at the club's annual awards evening.

Five awards were presented throughout the evening, with the Rookie of the Year, Forward of the Year, Back of the Year and Player of the Year all decided by the Crusaders coaching group.

One further award, the Champion Crusader of the Year, is a peer-voted award recognising a player's overall contribution to the team environment both on and off the field.

21-year-old prop Tamaiti Williams was named Rookie of the Year following an impressive debut season for the club, while Crusaders vice-captains Codie Taylor and David Havili won Forward and Back of the Year, respectively.

Taylor, as last year's Champion Crusader, presented this year's award to hardworking loose forward, Ethan Blackadder.

Hunt back with Broncos

Former Wallabies centre Karmichael Hunt will return to the Brisbane Broncos after 12 years when the dual-code international plays against the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL) this weekend.

Hunt started his professional career with the Broncos in 2004, winning the NRL championship in 2006 before leaving the club at the end of the 2009 season.

He returns to the Brisbane side, who are languishing in the second-bottom spot in the NRL, as five-eighth.

The 34-year-old was capped 11 times for Australia's national "Kangaroos" rugby league side from 2006-08 but has not played the game at an elite level since leaving the Broncos.

After his Broncos exit, Hunt switched to rugby union in a short-term deal with French side Biarritz before returning to Queensland to play Australian Rules football for the Gold Coast Suns in the professional AFL competition from 2011-14.

He switched back to rugby union to play for Super Rugby side Queensland Reds and earned six caps with the Wallabies in 2017 as a centre under former coach Michael Cheika.

A second cocaine-related scandal in three years at Queensland saw him frozen out by Reds coach Brad Thorn in 2018 but he resumed his career in Sydney the following year after the Waratahs threw him a lifeline.

- Reuters

Boks centre burned

South Africa centre Damian de Allende has played down fears he could miss the British & Irish Lions series after he was burned in a fire pit accident along with three other Munster team mates.

De Allende and Springbok lock RG Snyman were with Irish internationals Mike Haley and CJ Stander last weekend when petrol was poured onto the fire, causing an explosion.

World Cup winners De Allende and Snyman sustained burns to their legs, hands and face, but after treatment in hospital the Bok centre says there are no fears of him missing the Lions series.

"They thought it was a lot worse when we went into hospital on Saturday night but when we saw the specialist on Sunday he said it wasn't as bad as they got told. We should be okay in a few weeks."

De Allende is an integral part of the Bok side and would be a big miss.

South Africa play the Lions on three consecutive Saturdays from July 24.

- Reuters