SPORTS
Kyrgios to Face Nadal in Wimbledon Semi-finals
Nick Kyrgios reached the first Grand Slam semifinal of his chequered career with a comfortable 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Chile’s Cristian Garin at Wimbledon yesterday.
The unseeded 27-year-old lost the opening nine points on Court One but ultimately had too much firepower for Garin who had hoped to become Chile’s first Wimbledon semi-finalist.
In surpassing his previous best Wimbledon run to the quarterfinals eight years ago, Kyrgios becomes the first Australian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Lleyton Hewitt at the 2005 US Open.
On the eve of the match, Kyrgios was summoned to appear in a Canberra court next month on an alleged common assault charge, hardly ideal preparation for one of his biggest matches.
But any off-court distractions he managed to put to one side in a relatively low-volume display sprinkled occasionally with the instinctive shot-making that makes him such a draw.
As in his five-set win over American Brandon Nakashima in the previous round, Kyrgios kept his volatile temperament under wraps, although he regularly lambasted his sizeable entourage as the match dragged on, calling for more support.
Once again his serve underpinned his game, digging him out of trouble whenever Garin threatened to drag himself back into a contest that drifted away from him after his fast start.
Kyrgios saved eight of the nine break points he faced, including two at 4-4 in the first set.
Garin, who beat Kyrgios’s compatriot Alex De Minaur from two sets down in the previous round, battled hard to extend the third set to a tiebreaker and led 5-3 in it before Kyrgios hit back to win the last four points.
One of tennis’s great enigmas will now face Rafael Nadal or Taylor Fritz in the semis.
“An amazing atmosphere again,” world number 40 Kyrgios, the lowest-ranked semifinalist at Wimbledon since Marat Safin (75) and Rainer Schuettler (94) in 2008, said.
“I never thought I’d be in the semifinal of a Grand Slam. I thought that ship had sailed – that I may have wasted that window in my career.
“I’m really happy I was able to come out here with my team and put on a performance.”
By Torough David, Abuja
D’Tigers power forward Chima Moneke has joined Serbian franchise Crvena Zvezda on a two-year deal from Spanish outfit Saskia Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz ahead of the new season.
The 29-year-old Nigerian takes his trade to Serbia following his impressive outing for Baskonia where he became one of Euro League’s most sought-after forwards.
He enjoyed a fruitful 2024/25 season with Baskonia in the Euro League, where he averaged 14. 0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game, while shooting 64.5 per cent from two-point range and 81.3 per cent from the free-throw line.His average minutes per game stands at 28.2, making an average of 0.
88 steals and 0.27 blocks per game, though his turnover rate was recorded at 1.85 per fixture.Moneke was the subject of interest from other franchises before agreeing to join Zvezda following several rounds of negotiations. He will reportedly earn an annual salary of €1.7m euros per season in the Eastern European country.
Zvezda are currently embarking on an ambitious summer rebuild, with the aim of dominating both in the country and on the continental stage. They recently tied down their Greek head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos to a new two-year deal, which will run until the end of the 2026/27 season.
Moneke has been on a nomadic journey ever since his arrival on the European basketball scene, though his rise has been swift and impressive. He was named MVP of the Basketball Champions League in the 2021/22 season and had a short spell in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings in the 2022/23 campaign.
He returned to Europe where he had a short stint with AS Monaco in early 2023, before landing at Baskonia, where he built a reputation as one of the league’s elite players.
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By Torough David, Abuja
Champion jockey Oisin Murphy has been charged with drink driving and failing to co-operate with police after a car crash in April.
The 29-year-old was arrested after a grey Mercedes A Class crashed into a tree in Hermitage, Berkshire.
Thames Valley Police said he has been charged with one count of driving a motor vehicle while over the prescribed limit of alcohol and one count of failing to co-operate with a preliminary test at the roadside.
“The charge is in connection with a single vehicle road traffic collision around 12.05 BST on Sunday 27 April this year when a grey Mercedes A Class left the road and crashed into a tree,” police said in a statement.
Murphy, a four-time champion jockey, is due to appear at Reading Magistrates’ Court on 3 July.
He was charged on 19 June, the day he rode two winners at Royal Ascot.
A British Horseracing Authority statement read: “The BHA is aware of an update issued by Thames Valley Police this afternoon regarding Oisin Murphy.
“We are now seeking to gather as much information as possible in order to consider what, if any, implications there are as a result of this development.”
In October Murphy spoke about how he had been having counselling, saying it had helped him greatly.
He returned from a 14-month suspension in March 2023 having been banned for breaches of Covid-19 rules and twice failing racecourse breath tests for alcohol.
Former Nigerian international Sunday Oliseh has advised Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen to play in the Premier League if he wants to remain in the limelight.
The Galatasaray star has been a major transfer target for clubs in Europe and in the Saudi Football League this summer after his impressive display in the Turkish league.
Speaking with, the former Super Eagles head coach described Osimhen as a huge asset to Nigerian football.
“I think he (Osimhen) is a huge asset to Nigerian football. But like every top asset, we all have our shortcomings. We have to be able to find solutions and work around it,” Oliseh told Lagos Talks.
“This is a player that if he wants to continue to be in the limelight, he has to go to the Premier League.
“Nigerians want to see him there. He has been linked with Arsenal and Chelsea for a long time.
“But for him to play that way, for him to become that big, there are many things he has to change.”
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