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Snooker - Ladies champ Evans beaten, White stuns Walden at Wuxi Classic Reanne Evans lost 5-2 to Zhu yinghui in a wild card qualifier at the Wuxi Classic ranking event in China. The nine-time world ladies snooker champion missed out on a last 64 clash with 2010 Crucible champion Neil Robertson...

Snooker - Ladies champ Evans ready to make statement at Wuxi Classic Reanne Evans hopes her participation in the Wuxi Classic ranking event will help raise the profile of women in a male-dominated sport. The nine-time world ladies snooker champion qualified for the Chinese ranking opener, but...

Williams has mental edge over rest at Wimbledon Serena Williams heads to Wimbledon to defend her title with seeds of doubt and defeatism already sown in the minds of her opponents. The psychological scars of playing the younger Williams ****** run deep in the women's game and, now that the...

Ullrich finally admits doping, says it wasn't cheating Disgraced former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has admitted that he underwent ***** doping procedures under the guidance of a Spanish doctor at the heart of a major ***** scandal. The 39-year-old German, who was ****** for two years in...

Murray out to crash Big Three's Wimbledon party There will be an unfamiliar whiff of British success in the air at Wimbledon this year when Andy Murray, and thousands of patriotic fans, will try to stop the party-pooping antics of champions Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal...

Katusha pack team with climbers to aide Rodriguez Katusha believe they have named a Tour de France team that can help Joaquim Rodriguez claim overall victory. Rodriguez finished seventh in his only previous Tour de France tilt in 2010 but showed his Grand Tour pedigree last season with a...

Serena Williams apologises for **** case remark Serena Williams has apologised for comments she made in a forthcoming interview in which she appeared to assign blame to the 16-year-old victim in a **** case for being *****. The comments were reported in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine...

Castroviejo claims Spanish ITT Jonathan Castroviejo won the Spanish national time-trial championship in Bembibre. The Movistar rider finally claimed the 'rojigualda' jersey after finishing sixth in 2009, fifth in 2010 and second in the past two years. The Basque showing beat favourite Luis...

Brit duo fall in Wimbledon qualifying The last two remaining British women in Wimbledon qualifying fell to second-round defeats at the Bank of England Sports Centre. Naomi Broady lost 7-6(6) 7-6(3) in a tight encounter to Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia while Jade Windley dropped to a 6-4 6-1 loss...

Wiggins: I might never ride Tour again Sir Bradley Wiggins has strongly hinted that he will not consider competing in the Tour de France again. "For me it was always about winning the Tour," he told the Guardian. "I've done that. "If I'm honest I don't think I'm prepared to make those...

Berdych finds form on grass at Boodles World number six Tomas Berdych beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 4-6 6-2 7-6(8) in a tight match on day two at The Boodles exhibition. The match was eventually decided in a champion’s tie-break after the Czech player roared back from a set down against the...

Rowsell claims British Championships time trial victory Olympic track cycling champion Joanna Rowsell admitted she felt at home in the outdoors as she claimed her first road crown with victory in the women's time trial at the British Championships in Ayrshire. Rowsell claimed London 2012 gold...

National ITT round-up: Dowsett retains British crown Alex Dowsett won his third consecutive British time trial championship in East Ayrshire. A tyre malfunction saw the 24-year-old rider fly off his bike early on the first lap but his time of 1:02.30 hours was enough for victory, with Matt...

Robson, Baltacha and Watson all lose at Eastbourne Laura Robson dropped out of the WTA Eastbourne event as she lost to fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-4 in the second round. Robson showed patches of quality in the match against the former world number one but ultimately produced too many...

Russia's Kuznetsova pulls out of Wimbledon Twice Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova pulled out of Wimbledon on Wednesday with an abdominal strain. Officials said Czech Klara Zakopalova had been installed as 32nd seed following the Russian's withdrawal with the original seeds between 32...

Cofidis leave one spot open on Tour team Cofidis have left one spot open after naming eight of their nine riders for the Tour de France. Jerome Coppel, Dani Navarro and Rein Taaramae have been named as team leaders for the French outfit who, without a realistic GC contender, will hunt stage...

Forgotten man Bastl revelling in 'new career' Scraping around the fringes of professional tennis, at tournaments in unglamorous locations, without umpires and ball boys and against players not old enough to remember his golden moment, George Bastl is determined for one last hurrah. At 38, the...

Van den Broeck and Greipel headline Lotto team Jurgen Van den Broeck and Andre Greipel will lead Lotto Belisol at the Tour de France. Van den Broeck was fourth on GC last year for the second time in his career and will aim for a podium finish after those near misses. In the mountains he will...

Top-seeded Raonic beaten at Eastbourne Canadian top seed Milos Raonic has suffered a surprise second-round defeat to Ivan Dodig at Eastbourne. World number 54 Dodig won comfortably in straight sets 6-2 7-6 (9-7) after a sloppy performance from the Canadian. Raonic lost his first two service...

Cannondale make Sagan focal point of squad Cannondale have built their squad for this year’s Tour de France around Peter Sagan, who looks to claim a second green jersey in succession. Sagan’s three stage wins and points classification supremacy at the 2012 Tour came despite Cannondale’s focus...

Sky announce Froome's support cast Team Sky have named four British riders in their line-up for the Tour de France with a strong line-up assembled to support Chris Froome in his bid for the coveted yellow jersey. Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard and Peter Kennaugh are joined by Richie Porte...

Second seed Murray could face Nadal in last eight Andy Murray has been seeded second for Wimbledon, meaning French Open champion Rafael Nadal may await in the quarter-finals. Rafa Nadal could face world number one Novak Djokovic, defending champion Roger Federer or home favourite Murray as...

Quick visit to mum puts Li Na right Who can a woman turn to when everything falls apart? Her ******, of course - even if, in Li Na's case, it necessitated a 12-hour flight from Paris to China after her early exit from the French Open. Wimbledon might not be her most successful tournament but...

Vacansoleil-DCM name all rounders Vacansoleil-DCM are bidding for stage victories at the Tour de France after naming a team of all rounders. Dutchmen Wout Poels, Johnny Hoogerland, Lieuwe Westra and Boy and Danny van Poppel are joined by Belgians Thomas De Gendt and Kris Boeckmans plus former...

Tipsarevic edges out Dimitrov at Boodles Janko Tipsarevic, Marin Cilic and Sergiy Stakhovsky all enjoyed wins on the opening day of The Boodles Challenge exhibition event at Stoke Park. There was little to choose between Tipsarevic and up-and-coming Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the opening...

Cancellara wins eighth national time-trial title Fabian Cancellara won his eighth national time-trial championship in Switzerland with victory on the 38.8km course around Satigny near Geneva. The Radioshack Leopard Trek rider was seven seconds behind after the first split but ended up romping...

Venus Williams withdraws with back injury Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has withdrawn from this year's event with a back injury. The American has been struggling with the injury all season and has not won a match since April. She lost to Laura Robson in straight sets at the WTA...

Kenny Dehaes wins Halle-Ingooigem Lotto Belisol’s Kenny Dehaes recorded his third win of the season in the one-day Halle-Ingooigem on Wednesday. The Belgian, who has previously shown his speed by winning the Trofeo de Palma Mallorca and the Handzame Classic, sealed a fine victory in Ingooigem...

No SW19 return for Bogdanovic after qualifying exit Alex Bogdanovic's disappointing Wimbledon record continued as he crashed out in qualifying to former top 50 player Evgeny Korolev. Bogdanovic was awarded a wild card to the main Wimbledon draw for eight successive years between 2002-2009 but...

Peak performers poised Innovation and tradition: these are the secrets behind the longevity of the Tour de France – and for the 100th edition of the Grande Boucle in 2013 both facets are commemorated in equal measure. While the Tour celebrated its 100th anniversary back in 2003, the 100th...

Robson sets up Wozniacki clash at Eastbourne Laura Robson set up a second round clash against Caroline Wozniacki at Eastbourne after winning her opener at the Aegon International. The British number one had little trouble disposing of Yulia Beygelzimer, as some good serving set her up for a...

Schleck to lead RadioShack-Leopard on the Tour Luxembourg's former champion Andy Schleck will lead RadioShack-Leopard on the Tour de France even though he has been struggling with his form for a year, the team said on Wednesday. Since he broke his pelvis in June 2012, Schleck has failed to...

Ferrer stunned by Malisse in Netherlands World number four David Ferrer suffered a shock first round loss to Xavier Malisse at the Topshelf Open in s'Hertogenbosch. The Spaniard's preparations for Wimbledon were dealt a big blow as the veteran Belgian recorded a 7-6 6-3 victory. The...

Saxo-Tinkoff team name Tour squad Saxo-Tinkoff team has named its nine-man Tour de France squad that contains no Danes. "On a personal level it has been a tough decision for me to not have a Danish rider in the lineup," team owner Bjarne Riis of Denmark said in a team statement. "But we have...

Ward beaten in Eastbourne British number two James Ward was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Australia's Bernard Tomic in the first round at Eastbourne. World number 64 Tomic has endured a difficult season and was ****** to retire from the French Open at the first round stage with a hamstring injury but was...

ORICA-GreenEDGE name three debutants in squad ORICA-GreenEDGE has named its nine-man Tour de France squad. The line-up includes six riders who raced the Australian outfit’s inaugural Grand Boucle alongside three riders making their Tour de France debut. “The team objective this year is to win...

SW19 holds no fear for Radwanska any more Wimbledon can hold no fear for Agnieszka Radwanska this year, after she survived all the way to the final last July. Having got her maiden Grand Slam final out of the way, conquering her nerves and taking eventual winner Serena Williams to three sets...

Froome ready to meet off-road demands in Tour Winning the Tour de France is about mastering the surroundings as much as riding the bike, a maxim that Chris Froome fully grasps as he prepares for a maiden win in the world's greatest cycling race. The Briton was second overall to team mate...

Baker wins in qualifying, British pair fail Jamie Baker became the first Brit to win through the opening round of Wimbledon qualifying with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 win over Matteo Viola. Baker, a wildcard who also qualified for last week’s tournament at the Queen’s Club before bowing out in the first...

Same support cast for Cavendish Mark Cavendish will have the same lead-out train at the Tour de France as he had at the Giro d’Italia after the Omega Pharma-Quickstep team confirmed their team. Tony Martin, Matteo Trentin and Gert Steegmans are the men charged with helping the Brit add to his...

Watson progresses in Eastbourne, Ivanovic out British number two Heather Watson made a winning start to WTA Eastbourne as she beat Varvara Lepchenko of the USA 6-3 6-4 in their first-round match. Watson, ranked at number 57 in the world, dropped her serve early on but ****** her way back in...

Sprinters Kittel and Degenkolb lead Argos-Shimano Argos-Shimano will have two cards to play in sprint finishes after including both Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb were named in their Tour de France team. Kittel has 11 victories this year, winning Scheldeprijs plus stages at the Tour of Oman...

Britain's Edmund wins first Tour match to progress at Eastbourne Britain’s Kyle Edmund won his first ATP Tour match as he defeated Kenny de Schepper 6-4 6-4 in the first round in Eastbourne. Edmund, a wildcard, sealed his progression at the grass-court Wimbledon warm-up tournament in 64...

Mollema to lead sprinter-less Blanco Bauke Mollema will lead Blanco at the Tour de France. The 26-year-old Dutchman comes into the race in strong form after second place overall at the Tour of Switzerland. Mollema, who was fourth at the Vuelta, is preferred as team leader to Robert Gesink...

Radwanska, Haase through at Den Bosch Urszula Radwanska progressed into the next round of WTA Den Bosch after she cruised past Olga Govortsova 6-2, 6-0. Radwanska lost to Russian Nadia Petrova in last year's final but took just a little over fifty minutes to dispatch Govortsova. Also in action...

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Murray wins third Queen's title Top seed Andy Murray capped his return from injury by winning the Aegon Championships title at Queen's with a 5-7 7-5 6-3 victory over defending champion Marin Cilic. After a three-hour rain delay to the start of the match, Murray added the 2013 title to those...

Costa takes overall win in Tour de Suisse Rui Costa won the final stage of the Tour de Suisse – a tough 26.8km time trial – to secure a second consecutive overall win in the race in its 77th edition. Mathias Frank (BMC) led going into the final stage with a 13 advantage over the Portuguese...

Brit Baltacha claims Nottingham title Elena Baltacha won her first title since returning from career-threatening injury, beating seventh seed Tadeja Majeric in the Aegon Nottingham Challenge final 7-5 7-6(7). Baltacha came from behind in both sets to wear the world number 135 down in under two...

Costa takes overall win in Tour de Suisse Rui Costa won the final stage of the Tour de Suisse – a tough 26.8km time trial – to secure a second consecutive overall win in the race in its 77th edition. Mathias Frank (BMC) led going into the final stage with a 13 advantage over the Portuguese...