Having recovered from the horror of Stan Wawrinka’s French Open-winning shorts, the tennis world slipped gratefully into the crisply starched whites of the British grass court season. Andy Murray underlined his credentials for Wimbledon, which starts next week, with his fourth Queen’s Club triumph in London, an assured 6-3, 6-4 victory over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson. In Germany, seven-times Wimbledon champion Roger Federer suggested an eighth title is not out of the question after victory in the Halle Open in straight sets over Italy’s Andreas Seppi. Last year’s beaten Wimbledon women’s finalist, Angelique Kerber, took her first grass-court title at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, with a three-set win over Karolina Pliskova.
England’s one-day wonder
It just wasn’t cricket, at least not the sort that followers of England’s one-day team were used to anyway, as Eoin Morgan’s new-look, new-outlook side battered their way to an unexpected 3-2 series triumph over New Zealand. A three-wicket win in a rain-affected series decider at Chester-le-street, powered by Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 83, vindicated England’s new carefree approach. They passed 400 in one of the games and chased down 350 in another, hitherto unknown territory for a side more accustomed to dour consolidation followed by defeat. It will have been noted with interest by Australia as they stole almost unnoticed into the UK ahead of next month’s Ashes series. Bangladesh, meanwhile, were celebrating the achievement of a first-ever one-day series win over India following a six-wicket victory in Mirpur.
Rosberg shakes up F1 season
Nico Rosberg took the honours in the Austrian Grand Prix, the latest Mercedes win in a Mercedes-dominated F1 season that makes previous Mercedes-dominated seasons look open and competitive. In winning a race he had led from the first bend, the German cut Lewis Hamilton’s championship lead to 10 points, injecting a bit of life into the drivers’ title race. It wasn’t enough to impress Austrian fans though, with the attendance down by almost half on last year.
Brazil exit Women’s World Cup
Australia sprung the first big surprise at the Women’s World Cup in Canada, eliminating Brazil 1-0 in the round of 16. Germany, China, Canada and France were among those also making it through to the quarter finals. In Chile, the Copa América moved towards its endgame with Mexico the only big name falling short of the knockout stages. “You have to accept the failure. We didn’t understand the magnitude of the event we were playing in,” claimed Mexico coach Miguel Herrera, a slightly bizarre excuse given the 43 previous stagings of the world-renowned tournament.
