Serena Williams to play doubles with sister Venus at Wimbledon

London: Serena Williams will play at Wimbledon for the first time since 2022 after the American legend was given a wildcard to play the doubles event with her sister Venus on Tuesday.

Williams made a sensational return to tennis last week when she won her first-round doubles match at Queen's Club with partner Victoria Mboko. saltysenoritaaz.org

The 44-year-old had not played professional tennis for four years after saying she was "evolving away" from the sport following the 2022 US Open.

But the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion was keen to play in front of her two young daughters and made the shock announcement of her return just prior to the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen's.

Williams was unable to play more than one match at Queen's after Mboko pulled out with an injury, but she is due to continue her remarkable comeback in the Berlin Open doubles alongside Karolina Muchova this week.

الأخبارالبريطاني كير يحطم الرقم القياسي لسباق الميل ضمن الدوري الماسيحطم البريطاني جوش كير الرقم ‌القياسي العالمي لسباق الميل، وذلك خلال مشاركته اليوم في لقاء لندن ضمن الدوري الماسي لألعاب القوى. وسجل العداء ‌البالغ من العمر 28 عاما زمنا قدره 3:4...فتح →

The Williams sisters are six-time doubles champions at Wimbledon, winning their last title on their most recent appearance together a decade ago.

Following speculation that Serena would be tempted to play in the singles at Wimbledon, which starts on June 29, the American was absent from the list of wildcard entries into that part of the tournament.

After so long away, she had no ranking to secure automatic entry into tournaments, leaving her to rely on wildcards.

There is still one singles wildcard place for Wimbledon to be announced.

Doha, Qatar: More than two decades after one of the greatest upsets in FIFA World Cup history, France and Senegal are set to renew acquaintances when they launch their Group I campaigns at the New York-New Jersey Stadium today.

For France, the memories are impossible to ignore.

Back in 2002, Les Bleus arrived in Seoul as reigning world and European champions and overwhelming favourites against World Cup debutants Senegal. Ninety minutes later, Papa Bouba Diop had written his name into football history with the only goal of the match as the fearless Lions of Teranga stunned France 1- 0 and sent the holders on a downward spiral that ended with a humiliating group-stage exit.

Twenty-four years later, the two nations meet again for only the second time, with Senegal still holding a perfect record in the fixture and carrying the confidence that history has already shown they are capable of upsetting one of football’s giants.

France arrive in the United States among the favourites to lift the trophy. Didier Deschamps’ side breezed through European qualifying and are aiming to reach a third consecutive World Cup final after winning the title in 2018 and finishing runners-up to Argentina in Qatar four years ago. Led by one of the few men to have won the World Cup as both a player and a coach, France possess an enviable blend of experience and attacking talent.

“I have a lot of top-quality players, but for many of them this will be their first World Cup. I’m not going to say that France is stronger than everyone else, but Spain is the clear favourite,” said Deschamps.

“This first match is very important,” said Deschamps. “Starting with a win in a four-team group is ideal; that’s always the aim going into the first match. Senegal are a very, very high-level opponent. We have the same expectations and the same respect as we do for other opponents, but I know Senegal’s potential,” he said.

France coach, Didier Deschamps

They have won four of their last five matches and are widely expected to challenge for top spot in Group I, which also features Norway and Iraq.

Senegal have established themselves as one of Africa’s leading forces and have shown they can compete with the world’s elite after reaching the Round of 16 in Qatar.

Although they are still recovering from the disappointment of losing the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations final to Morocco, Pape Thiaw’s side believe they boast enough quality to trouble any opponent.

Veteran forward Sadio Mane remains the team’s inspirational figure. The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich star enjoyed another productive campaign with Al Nassr, contributing 23 goals and assists while helping the Saudi club capture their first league title.

Alongside him, Nicolas Jackson and Iliman Ndiaye will ensure Senegal have plenty of attacking weapons capable of unsettling the French defence.

France, meanwhile, will once again look to Kylian Mbappe to lead the charge. The Real Madrid striker continues to rewrite records and enters his third World Cup within touching distance of becoming France’s all-time leading scorer. He is also climbing rapidly up the list of the competition’s greatest marksmen.

Les Bleus also possess one of the most feared attacks in the tournament, with in-form stars Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Desire Doue providing ample support for Mbappe, and are widely tipped to make another deep run.

World Cups have a habit of producing unforgettable moments and this latest chapter between France and Senegal promises to be one of the standout fixtures.

With Norway lurking in what many regard as a fiercely competitive Group I which also features Iraq, neither side can afford to make a false start.

Seattle: Belgium and Egypt drew 1-1 in their World Cup opener on Monday after a second-half Belgian equalizer spoiled Mohamed Salah's 34th birthday.

Emam Ashour opened the scoring early in the first half in Seattle, before Romelu Lukaku came off the bench after the hour to force Egypt's Mohamed Hany into an own goal.

With the draw, seven-time Africa Cup of Nations champions Egypt's wait for a first victory at a World Cup goes on.

This is their fourth participation in the global showpiece and with Group G fixtures to come against Iran and New Zealand, they will hope to break that hoodoo in North America.

For Belgium, this tournament is likely the last chance for the remnants of their golden generation to better their third-placed finish in Russia eight years ago and finally win silverware.

Veterans Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Lukaku are the main protagonists of that group still involved in Rudi Garcia's squad.

With all eyes in the Pacific Northwest on Salah and De Bruyne, it was the ex-Manchester City playmaker that created the first moment of note in the match when he dragged a sharp effort narrowly wide in the seventh minute.

However, it was Ashour who upstaged the pair just before the hydration break when he received the ball in a similar position to De Bruyne but his sweetly-struck effort left Courtois no chance as it whistled into the bottom-right corner.

It was just the second time in their history that Egypt had taken the lead in a World Cup match -- after Salah opened the scoring in a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in 2018.

De Bruyne came within inches of levelling early in the second period when he whipped a close-range free-kick over the Egyptian wall, only to see it rocket off the outside of the post.

Salah responded at the other end as he ghosted into the box but had his downward header punched away by Courtois with Ashour getting his follow-up effort all wrong.

The match became stretched as both sides came close on a couple of occasions, including a screaming left-footed volley by Belgian captain Youri Tielemans.

With 65 minutes gone, Rudi Garcia decided to send on Lukaku.

The change immediately paid dividends as Belgium's all-time top goalscorer showed his predatory instincts to dash in on a Thomas Meunier cross, with his presence enough to destabilize Hany who put through his own net.

Salah departed the field with 15 minutes remaining as Egypt sought to shut up shop and ultimately held out for a point.

It’s not the voice you’d expect to hear during an adrenaline-fuelled race week, but Andrea Bocelli is joining the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix line-up for 2026 When you think of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Andrea Bocelli probably isn’t the first name that comes to mind. Yet the legendary Italian tenor is set to become […]

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