Latest - Top seed Novak Djokovic recovered from a torrid start to overwhelm Britain's Cameron Norrie 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 in their semi-final at Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic Photo: TAKUYA MATSUMOTO
For an hour on a sun-baked Centre Court, inspired ninth seed Norrie outshone the 20-time Grand Slam champion and looked capable of a huge upset in his first major semi-final.
The partisan home crowd roared its approval as Norrie capitalised on a rash of errors from a tense-looking Djokovic to win five successive games and take the opening set.
Djokovic, bidding for a fourth successive Wimbledon title and seventh in all, found his usual rhythm though and gradually seized the initiative as Norrie's level dropped.
From the moment the Serbian broke Norrie's serve in the eighth game of the second set it was one-way traffic.
Norrie battled hard in the fourth set as the crowd found its voice again but ultimately could not resist Djokovic's march into a men's record 32nd final from 68 Grand Slam events.
Australian Nick Kyrgios, handed a walkover in the semi-final by injured Spaniard Rafa Nadal, now stands between the 35-year-old Djokovic and a 21st Grand Slam title.
- Reuters
Young Tall Blacks squad named
Coach Pero Cameron has named a young Tall Blacks squad for the FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia from July 12-24.
Pero Cameron Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The squad includes Flynn Cameron, Isaac Davidson, Jordan Hunt, Kane Keil, Kruz Perrott-Hunt, Max Darling, Sam Mennenga, Sam Timmins, Taine Murray, Taki Fahrensohn, Taylor Britt and Tohi Smith-Milner.
With four players - Davidson, Keil, Darling, Mennenga - all in line for their first Tall Blacks cap, and a combined 14 caps for six other players on the roster, Cameron views this tournament as an opportunity to gain experience.
"We've got a young group no doubt, but I'm excited about some of these young guys coming through the programme," Cameron said.
"We have some US College-based players here that we haven't been able to get in the past, and obviously we've got a couple of experienced leaders in the team in Tohi Smith-Milner, Taylor Britt and Sam Timmins to help steady the ship.
"For some players it's their first time in the black singlet, while a few others have been part of our age group teams that have gone to World Cups in the past. There's a lot of really good things about this squad and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do as a unit."
The Tall Blacks play their first game against India on July 13.
- RNZ
Verstappen on pole in Austria as Mercedes crash
Formula One leader Max Verstappen handed his Red Bull team a home pole position for the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix after Mercedes rivals Lewis Hamilton and George Russell crashed in qualifying.
Max Verstappen Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 24-year-old Dutch driver produced a best lap of one minute 04.984 seconds at the end of a nail-biting two-minute shootout as the red-flagged session resumed in Austria.
Hamilton and then Russell had both spun off into the tyre barriers, halting the decisive final phase of qualifying while pushing hard.
Already on provisional pole, Verstappen then fended off Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by just 0.029 seconds.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who took his first Formula One win less than a week ago at Silverstone, put his Ferrari third with the top three separated by just 0.082.
Verstappen leads the overall standings by 34 points from team mate Sergio Perez, who qualified fourth but was demoted to 13th after his final lap times were deleted for exceeding track limits in the second phase.
Had the violation been punished at the time, Perez would not have made it through to the final phase at the expense of AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly, who now moves up to 10th.
- Reuters
Pogacar pips Vingegaard to extend Tour lead with stage seven win
Tadej Pogacar strengthened his grip on the Tour de France as he extended his overall lead with victory on the seventh stage after being given a run for his money by his main rival, Jonas Vingegaard, in a thrilling finale.
Tadej Pogacar Photo: DAVID STOCKMAN
The twice-defending champion pipped last year's runner-up Vingegaard of Denmark to the line after a lung-destroying final effort at the end of the ascent to the Super Planche des Belles Filles, a 7-km climb at an average gradient of 8.7 percent.
Emerging from a cloud of dust in the final kilometre raced on dirty roads, German Lennard Kaemna looked close to victory as he led the group of favourites by some 40 seconds.
That is when Pogacar decided to take the matter into his own hands as the gradient went over 20 percent, putting the hammer down in the first mountain-top finish of the race.
The 23-year-old's acceleration left his rivals gasping for air but Vingegaard managed to take his wheel and countered after the duo caught Kaemna with less than 100 metres to go.
The Dane had a couple of bike lengths on Pogacar and seemed to be heading for victory when the UAE rider produced a final burst of speed to go around Vingegaard and take his second stage win in two days.
Overall, Pogacar leads Vingegaard by 35 seconds with Britain's Geraint Thomas sitting in third place, one minute and 10 seconds off the pace.
- Reuters
Blatter, Platini cleared of fraud in Swiss trial
Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and France footballing legend Michel Platini were both cleared of corruption charges by a Swiss court after a seven-year investigation during which they were booted out of the sport.
A judge said the pair's account of a gentlemen's agreement for FIFA to pay Platini over 3 million dollars for consulting work was credible.
Blatter who had been accused of fraud, mismanagement and forgery says the result is a huge relief.
Blatter led FIFA for 17 years while Platini was the president of European football's governing body.
- Reuters
Tringale holds steady against wind
Cameron Tringale shot a 2-over-par 72 Friday but held onto a three-shot lead after the second round of the Scottish Open.
Thanks to Tringale's opening-round 61, he still stands at 7 under through two rounds, comfortably ahead of Gary Woodland (72 Friday) and Doug Ghim (69) at 4 under.
Tringale, 34, is in position to make a run at his first PGA Tour victory.
The Scottish Open, a popular spot for players to tune up the week before the Open Championship, was co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour for the first time this year. Fourteen of the top 15 players in the Official World Golf Ranking were in the field.
Among those who missed the cut of 3-over 143 were world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, defending Open champion Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris and Billy Horschel all at 5 over; Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Viktor Hovland of Norway at 7 over; and Justin Thomas at 10 over.
Mito Pereira of Chile was tied for fourth after an opening-round 66, but posted an 81 Friday and fell to 7 over, missing the cut.
- Reuters