The Romanian has worked on her mentality as well as her groundstrokes and both were in fine fettle as she dismantled the great Serena Williams on Centre CourtIt took 56 minutes into the biggest match of Simona Halep’s career for her legs to go finally wobbly. But at that point her opponent, Serena Williams, was shuffling towards the net, head bowed and hand outstretched. And Centre Court was rising and roaring to salute a performance of staggering intensity.Watching on it seemed impossible that when Halep was a young child in Romania she used to cry before going onto court because she was so shy. Yet on the game’s biggest stage the tiny introvert was transformed into a lion with ice...
The conclusion of the third round of this year’s Open will be greeted by flutes and drums in Portrush and a depressing look back to a Northern Ireland beset by sectarian divisionWhen the Portrush Sons of Ulster’s Facebook page becomes essential reading, you realise this year’s Open is no ordinary championship.As the third round of the final major of the year concludes, spectators will exit Royal Portrush to the sound of flutes and drums. The R&A wants us to cast our minds dreamily back to 1951, when Max Faulkner triumphed on Antrim’s north coast; Saturday evening will instead catapult us back to 1690 and the Battle of the Boyne. Continue reading...
Botched launches of Arsenal’s kit and Nike’s trainer exposes halfwitted naivety among wizards of merchandisingDoes any profession attract a higher percentage of sweet summer children than sportswear marketing? We are encouraged to think of this most modern discipline as a sophisticated, perhaps even cutthroat world, where promotional and sales whizzes compete to be the best of the best in the battle to market various symphonies in sweat-wicking polyester and cheap leather.In which case, why does the appearance of halfwitted naivety continue to dog these 360-degree thinkers? This week alone, Adidas and Arsenal have had to shut down a social media initiative after its promise to tweet pictures of its new kit with fan Twitter handles on it saw the official...
Steph Houghton’s missed spot kick ensured Phil Neville’s side were beaten 2-1 by USA in the Women’s World Cup semi-final on a night when they came agonisingly close to making historyEngland’s dizzying progress at this Women’s World Cup came to a painful – if familiar – end in the semi-finals last night as their captain Steph Houghton missed a late penalty as they were beaten 2-1 by the United States.It was an instant classic, although that will come as cold comfort to England’s players, who went out despite throwing everything at their opponents in a desperately exciting final 30 minutes. Related: Alex Morgan fires USA past England into Women’s World Cup final Related: England 1-2 USA: Women's World Cup 2019...
Fans flocked to the Red Sox-Yankees clash in their droves to guzzle hot dogs, belt out YMCA – and see a sublime openingBaseball makes cricket look like an almost stat-free zone. This weekend in London records have been falling over themselves with a regularity that probably constituted a record in itself.But the one that will resound through Major League Baseball’s executive suite is this: its first two games played in Europe drew the sport’s highest attendances in 16 years. US baseball no longer even has a stadium that can hold 60,000 spectators, never mind fill it, near as dammit, in mid-season. So by coming to London the sport seems to be on to something – if not big, then at...