https://arab.news/w74xe
RIYADH: Jon Jones will defend his UFC heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 11.
The clash, officially booked for UFC 295, was announced by UFC President Dana White as part of the promotion’s International Fight Week celebrations.
The victor will claim unofficial greatest heavyweight of all time status.
Jones, 35, who has made the most consecutive title defences at light-heavyweight in the UFC, will make his first defence of the heavyweight title against Miocic. The undefeated 2 Division world champion is regarded by many in the mixed martial arts community as the all-time greatest.
Miocic, 40, is also no stranger to records, holding consecutive defences of the heavyweight championship. Miocic, who has not fought since March 2021, will be aiming to regain his title, and become the first man to hand Jones a loss.
White said: “For the heavyweight championship of the world, Jon Jones, the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, will defend his title against the greatest heavyweight champion of all time, former champ Stipe Miocic.
“This is the fight that Jon Jones wanted, this is the fight that Stipe wanted; it is a legacy fight for both of these guys,” he added.
WIMBLEDON, England: Twice, Iga Swiatek was a single point from exiting Wimbledon on Sunday, a single point from the sort of confounding defeat at the place that gives her so much more trouble than any of the other Grand Slam tournaments.
Down a set and 6-5 in the second against Belinda Bencic, the No. 1-ranked Swiatek steeled herself and dispensed with the pair of match points. She erased the first with a booming forehand, the second with a forceful backhand, and soon enough, Swiatek was not just back in the contest, she was controlling it.
Frustrated in the late afternoon sunshine at Center Court, so close to defeat in the early evening shadows, Swiatek managed to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time by coming back for a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over the 14th-seeded Bencic.
“I threw everything I could at her,” Bencic said, “and I pushed her to the limit.”
Swiatek, a 22-year-old from Poland who will face wild-card entry Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a semifinal berth, extended her unbeaten run to 14 matches, which includes claiming her fourth major title at the French Open last month.
Swiatek has won three championships at Roland Garros, and one at the US Open, but she never before had been past the fourth round at the All England Club. Last year, she had a 37-match winning streak snapped during a third-round Wimbledon loss.
So comfortable on the red clay of Paris, so capable on the hard courts in New York — and at the Australian Open, where she has made it to the semifinals — Swiatek is just not quite the same player yet on the grass used at the year’s third Grand Slam tournament.
So how does she feel about the green surface nowadays?
“Every day, my love is getting bigger, so hopefully I’m going to have as many days as possible to stay here and play on this court,” Swiatek said. “For sure, this is my best year on grass, so I feel really kind of motivated, because I know that even when you’re not playing 100 percent, the hard work is paying off.”
Svitolina, a 2019 semifinalist at Wimbledon who had a baby last October and returned to the tour this April, advanced Sunday by edging two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9).
“After giving birth to our daughter, this is the second-happiest moment in my life,” Svitolina said.
The other quarterfinal on the top half of the women’s bracket will be No. 4 Jessica Pegula vs. 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova.
The men’s quarterfinals established Sunday were No. 7 Andrey Rublev against Novak Djokovic or No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz, and No. 8 Jannik Sinner against Roman Safiullin.
The big-hitting Bencic unfurled a right upper arm heavily wrapped in beige and white tape from her shoulder to above her elbow to deliver powerful shot after powerful shot. It was the kind of display that carried her to two medals for Switzerland — a gold in singles, a silver in doubles — at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and a semifinal appearance at the 2019 US Open.
And Swiatek frequently displayed signs of dismay.
She slapped her right thigh after ceding one point. After another, she looked up at her coach and her sports psychologist in the guest box with arms spread and palms up, as if to say, “What is happening?” Swiatek then walked behind the baseline with her back to the net and stared straight ahead at the green wall behind the Royal Box. During a changeover, she blocked everything out by draping a purple-and-green tournament towel over her head.
Swiatek certainly had her chances to move in front far earlier than she did.
Six times in the first set, she held a break point. Six times, she failed to cash in. Two came when she held set points while ahead 5-4 in the opener, but after Swiatek did not convert either, Bencic raced to a 6-1 lead in the ensuing tiebreaker before sealing it.
Swiatek headed to the locker room after that set and seemed to be back to her best immediately, finally breaking and eventually going up 3-1. But she let that advantage slip away by dropping the next three games and suddenly needed to erase the match points while behind 6-5.
Once past that key stretch, Swiatek straightened things out in the next tiebreaker.
From 2-all, she reeled off five consecutive points, the last of which was a double-fault by Bencic, to send the encounter to a third set.
And that, at long last, is when Swiatek looked like the woman who took over at No. 1 in the rankings in April 2022 and hasn’t loosened her grip on that spot.
“She’s incredibly precise or just has great depth and, kind of, the balls are really, really deep into your feet,” Bencic said, noting that plenty of Swiatek’s shots landed right on the lines.
Bencic screamed after missing a forehand to hand over a break point, then double-faulted for the 10th time to gift-wrap another 3-1 lead for Swiatek in the deciding set.
Swiatek protected that margin this time, and 23 minutes later — about an hour after being a point from losing — she was punching the air after delivering a cross-court forehand winner to end it.
 
LONDON: Ons Jabeur survived her biggest test yet at Wimbledon this fortnight to storm into the second week and a highly-anticipated fourth round meeting with two-time champion Petra Kvitova.
Here’s a closer look at the Tunisian’s opening week at these Championships, and how she has fared so far after making history with a historic run to the Wimbledon final last year.
Supreme serving
A positive sign that things have been going well for Jabeur at SW19 is the fact she has dropped serve just three times in 30 service games she has contested through three matches.
The world No.6 has fired a total of 17 aces in her opening three rounds – the sixth-highest tally among all 128 players at Wimbledon this fortnight – and has won 84 percent of her first-serve points, which is the second-highest success rate in the women’s field.
Experience matters
After posting two routine victories in her first two rounds – her second-round victory over Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan lasted just 45 minutes – Jabeur was pushed to her limits by 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the third round on Saturday.
Andreescu took the first set and led by a break in the decider but Jabeur struck back before rain halted play for an hour, during which the Tunisian regrouped and received some valuable advice from her coach Issam Jellali. She broke in the ninth game of the third set to secure a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win and a place in the last 16.
“Tennis requires a lot of patience and I think this tournament especially has tested me several times already, between the rain and the tough scheduling, but thankfully I feel like I’m learning a lot,” Jabeur told Arab News after her win on Saturday.
“I’m learning to accept situations I have zero control over. I’m trying to see the positive side of this. I managed to play well in two matches in consecutive days, and the rain delay actually helped me because it gave me the chance to speak to my coach and get some tips.”
Consistency and versatility
Jabeur has now made the second week in four of her last five Grand Slams and has made the quarter-finals or better at each of the four majors.
“She has a great game on any surface, actually. I played her on hard, practiced with her on clay, now I played her on grass again. She’s an all-around player,” Andreescu said of Jabeur on Saturday.
“She can kind of do everything. If I had to choose a player to lose to, it would be her. Also because she’s very nice. She’s just great. I really hope she does well in this tournament.”
Solid teamwork
Jabeur is accompanied by her coach Jellali, her husband and fitness trainer Karim Kamoun, her psychologist Melanie Maillard and her agent Stuart Duguid at these Championships.
The team has been helping her stay focused on the task at hand and Jabeur spoke about how vital Jellali’s role was in her third-round win over Andreescu.
“Issam is a very positive coach and he was very enthusiastic during the rain delay,” said Jabeur.
“When he talks to me, you see the enthusiasm, you see how much he is trying to help me in any way possible, and is giving me all the information I need. He was very positive with me in the rain delay. I was a bit emotional and he was calming me down. His role was crucial in this break.”
It only gets tougher from here
If you look ahead, Jabeur may have to defeat five consecutive Grand Slam champions in order to lift the Wimbledon trophy.
Having already ousted Andreescu in round three, Jabeur has Kvitova next before a potential quarter-final with reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, a possible semifinal with Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka, and a looming final against four-time major champion Iga Swiatek.
It’s arguably the toughest draw anyone can think of at this point in a second week of a Slam.
Overall, Jabeur feels positive about her opening week.
“I think the level was okay. Today was the big test for me,” she said on Saturday.
“I’m honestly trying to find my rhythm more. That’s the stages of a Grand Slam where you need to play your best tennis. It’s starting from maybe the next round. I’m going to do my best to be ready 100 percent. I believe that the first week, matches to get used to the tougher week right now.”
Jabeur is 1-4 head-to-head against Kvitova and lost to the Czech lefty in their sole previous meeting at Wimbledon, back in 2019.
“We played here a long time ago. Maybe I was kind of bit injured, so it wasn’t my best match,” says Jabeur, reflecting on that match from four years ago.
“She’s an amazing player. I have much more experience right now. I definitely want to go for my revenge. I know the next match I need to be focused, I need to be calm, I need to believe more in myself that I can beat someone like Petra. She plays amazing. She plays very fast. But I will do my best to really do 100 percent to really get ready for that match.”
Kvitova is carrying an eight-match winning streak into her clash with Jabeur, having won the title on grass in Berlin in the build-up to these Championships.
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain signed Bayern Munich defender Lucas Hernandez on Sunday, the club’s fifth signing this week.
The French 2018 World Cup winner joins Manuel Ugarte, Milan Skriniar, Marco Asensio and Lee Kang-in as Parc des Princes newcomers since Luis Enrique’s appointment as coach on Wednesday.
Hernandez has signed a deal until 2028 at the Qatari-backed side which approaches the upcoming season with Enrique now in the dugout after the sacking of Christophe Galtier.
“I’m feeling so happy, I’ve been waiting to join PSG for some time now and at last it’s happened,” said Hernandez, who will be experiencing Ligue 1 for the first time in his career.
The 27-year-old’s transfer was estimated at around €40 million ($44 million) by a source close to the deal, way below the 80 million originally sought by Bayern.
A question mark hangs over Hernandez’s fitness with the player only turning out 107 times for the Bundesliga giants in four years.
He has been sidelined since undergoing surgery after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the ninth minute of France’s opening World Cup match against Australia in Qatar.
Hernandez will link up in defense with Slovakia captain Skriniar, who joined on a free transfer the day after Enrique’s unveiling as manager, with forward Asensio moving from Real Madrid.
Uruguay midfielder Ugarte followed the day after from Portuguese club Sporting, with the Ligue 1 champions signing South Korean international Lee from Real Mallorca on Saturday.
Former Barcelona and Spain boss Enrique has been quick to recruit as major doubts persist over the future of Kylian Mbappe.
PSG must sell their superstar player in the current transfer window or likely lose him for nothing when his deal ends next season.
Elsewhere, in English Premier League, Mauricio Pochettino is ready to “risk” his reputation at troubled Chelsea, but the new Blues boss won’t be bolstered by a reunion with Harry Kane.
Kane has been linked with a move away from Pochettino’s former club Tottenham and a switch to Stamford Bridge could have suited both parties.
Pochettino needs a top-class striker to improve on the club’s dismal goal-scoring record last season and England captain Kane fits the bill perfectly.
Tottenham’s record goalscorer, who rose to prominence under Pochettino, is keen to leave the north Londoners after failing in his bid to engineer a transfer to Manchester City two years ago.
Linked with Bayern Munich and Manchester United, Kane’s Tottenham contract expires next year, increasing the urgency to resolve his future.
However, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy might see the prospect of selling Kane to a London club, and one managed by the man he sacked in 2019, as a bridge too far.
Speaking at his first Chelsea press conference on Friday, Pochettino reacted with mock horror before breaking into a grin when he was asked if he would try to sign Kane.
“I don’t like to talk about players in another club, but you are talking about one of the greatest, one of the best strikers in the world,” he said.
“It’s not fair to talk. Fans are not stupid, they are so clever and they know my relationship with him was always amazing.
“I saw him when he was young, grow up and achieve all he was achieving and of course we have a great relationship.
“At the moment we are thinking in different ways. We are not thinking about that (Kane).”
If a blockbuster move for Kane is off the agenda, Pochettino has to look elsewhere to solve Chelsea’s striker crisis.
The Blues, who have sold German forward Kai Havertz to Arsenal, mustered just 38 goals in 38 Premier League games as they finished in 12th place.
“We have to time to work. I think for sure we are going to add players that can score,” Pochettino said.
Pochettino was linked with a return to Tottenham before accepting Chelsea’s offer.
The 51-year-old spent five years at Tottenham, leading the club to their first Champions League final appearance just months before his surprise dismissal.
Asked if Tottenham had made an approach before appointing Celtic’s Ange Postecoglou as their manager, the Argentine said: “We have a very good relationship with Daniel and with all the Tottenham people.”
LONDON: Andrey Rublev held his nerve to beat Alexander Bublik in a five-set thriller and reach his first Wimbledon quarterfinal on Sunday after squandering a two-set lead.
The Russian seventh seed was not broken once in the whole match on Center Court as he avenged his defeat in last month’s Halle final, winning 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4.
Rublev, who needed medical treatment for a cut finger early in the match, was gifted the opener when Kazakh 23rd seed Bublik double-faulted twice in the 12th game.
A single break in the sixth game of the second set proved decisive as Rublev established an iron grip on the match.
Neither player was able to force a break in the third set, which went to a tie-break, with Bublik squandering three set points before unleashing a vicious forehand passing shot to claw his way back into the contest.
Rublev appeared to be on the cusp of victory when he carved out two match points in the 10th game of the fourth set but Bublik saved them both with some impressive serving and came out on top again in the tie-break.
The players settled back into their rhythm on serve in the decider but Rublev forced the crucial break in the seventh game, letting out a gutteral roar.
He produced an astonishing diving forehand to set up match point and sealed the win with an ace.
“It was the most lucky shot ever,” said Rublev, referring to his breathtaking effort. “It was luck, nothing else. I don’t think I can do it one more time.”
He said he kept believing the chances would come even though Bublik was so strong on serve throughout the match.
“I was just thinking it doesn’t matter, I lost the third set and fourth set,” he added. “I said if I keep playing I would have one chance, and in the end I had it, played a really good volley and was able to break him.
“Every set I had chances, on match point he served full power. I kept thinking just keep playing, don’t start to explode before the match is over. In the end I was able to make it.”
Rublev, who fired 21 aces to Bublik’s 39, will next face the winner of the match between seven-time champion Novak Djokovic and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
LONDON: US tennis ace Christopher Eubanks has been a locker room favorite for many years, his charisma and bubbly personality allowing him to strike friendships and deep connections with players across both the men’s and women’s tours and beyond.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka once turned up at an Association of Tennis Professionals event in Dallas to support Eubanks in his qualifying match, while Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx was there to watch his incredible march to the recent Miami Open quarterfinals.
The 27-year-old is a character people gravitate toward, and as he enjoys the best Grand Slam run of his career at Wimbledon, the world is getting to know Eubanks for a lot more than being tennis’ resident BFF.
Into the fourth round of a major for the first time, Eubanks is carrying an eight-match winning streak, having lifted a maiden ATP title in Mallorca last week before claiming victories over Thiago Monteiro, British No. 1 Cameron Norrie, and Christopher O’Connell to make the last-16 stage at Wimbledon.
His booming serve has seen him fire 72 aces through three matches at the All England Club this week – the highest tally among all competitors at these Championships – and he has won 93 percent of his service games, getting broken just four times in 59.
After three years studying and playing tennis at Georgia Tech, Eubanks turned pro at the end of 2017, and it took him nearly six years before he finally broke into the top 100. That milestone was hit when he won his third-round match in Miami in March. The Atlanta native sat at his bench after the win, fighting back tears, letting it all sink in. Teen star Coco Gauff was one of the first people to FaceTime him after the match.
 
A post shared by Jamie Foxx (@iamjamiefoxx)
 
Three-and-a-half months later, Eubanks is not just a top-100 player, he will crack the top 40 thanks to a heroic grass campaign which will pit him against world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Wimbledon fourth round.
It is a remarkable position to be in, given Eubanks was considering an alternative career in 2021 after spending years hovering between 150 and 200 in the rankings.
He said: “I had a real sit-down with my agent in 2021 and I said, ‘listen, if I’m still 200 by next year and injuries haven’t played a part, I can do something else with my time.’ Like, it’s not that glamorous if you’re ranked around 200.”
That conversation with his agent led to Eubanks getting into the commentary booth for the Tennis Channel in the spring of 2022, while still grinding his way on the Challenger Tour.
“Now I think doing the commentary has kind of helped my game in a sense, and it’s something that I’m looking forward to continuing, no matter what, no matter what my ranking is,” he added.
Commentating is not the only reason Eubanks is currently playing the best tennis of his life.
He said: “I’ve been a lot more diligent in a lot of the stuff; the warm-ups and the cooldowns and getting extra treatment on my body even if my body is feeling fine. Those minor, minor things.
“On court it’s still pretty much the same. I still train the same way but I’m just more diligent I think in the little details that I’m starting to see make a big difference.
“I thought everything was done really on court and in the gym. The other stuff, I was like, I’m fine, my body feels good, I don’t really need to see the physio because I feel fine, so why am I going to go in there? I’d rather go back and rest and just watch tennis on my computer, so that was kind of my mindset.
“I didn’t appreciate it, I didn’t value it, I didn’t understand the importance of it, that’s probably the biggest thing,” he added.
Eubanks received help on his grass game from former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters. After his first week playing on the surface in Surbiton, Eubanks – who became friends with Clijsters during World Team Tennis a couple of years ago – texted her to complain about how much he was struggling on grass, how the uneven bounces were driving him crazy, and how ineffective he felt his serve was on it. 
 
How it started vs. How it’s going

Major THANK YOU to @Clijsterskim for keeping my spirits up at the start of this grass court season. I really appreciate you pic.twitter.com/ZgKlQdG6zf
 
Clijsters, a Hall-of-Famer and four-time Grand Slam champion, gave him some tips on how to adapt to the grass, particularly when it came to movement, and the rest as they say is history. He is a title winner on grass and in the second week at Wimbledon.
Should Clijsters expect a commission now from Eubanks’ earnings these past couple of weeks?
“Hey, if she asks, she’s gonna get it. She’s a big, big contributing factor to I think some of the success, just keeping my mind fresh and keeping me up in spirits when I wasn’t,” he said.
Other conversations that have helped instil belief in Eubanks were with American world No. 10 Frances Tiafoe, who himself has managed to break through by discovering the power of discipline and attention to detail.
“I think for a lot of my career especially after a couple of years out there and still in the Challengers, I questioned whether or not I was good enough to be in the top 100.
“My conversations with Frances have been more along the lines of him telling me and like beating me over the head with like, ‘you’re good enough, you’re good enough, you’re good enough.’
“He has just always reinforced the fact that like, ‘no, you belong here, you’re good enough,’” Eubanks added.
 
Second week mood @Wimbledonpic.twitter.com/wsJQKpNa3x
 
With every victory, Eubanks has been believing more in himself, and the key to his current success has been keeping things simple.
He said: “At the end of the day it’s still tennis. I’ve been playing tennis since I was two, so the lines are still the same, the net’s still the same height.
“Being around as long as I have been, the certain level of experience that I think I’ve had that although I haven’t played at this level that much, I’ve still been able to learn from mistakes of the past.”
One thing that will also still be the same is Eubanks’ approach to life on tour. While others may prefer to stick to their teams and limit their interactions with their peers, Eubanks values the relationships he builds along the way and has no intention of changing that.
“To me I think it’s huge. I mean everybody is different. There are some players on tour I think their focus is primarily on just being the best tennis player they can be and just winning as much as they can. There’s nothing wrong with it, they go about it however they do it.
“For me, I’m still trying to be myself, I’m not going to change and be something I’m not, like this person who is just overly obsessed with winning at all costs.
“Of course, I want to win, everybody out here wants to win, but for me I have to have joy, I have to have fun, I have to joke around in the locker room. I have to do that in order to keep my mind at peace.
 
After her doubles win with Leylah, Taylor Townsend and Chris Eubanks ran into each other. Love this! pic.twitter.com/gKppMwoTot
 
“If I come around and I’m too like, ‘I gotta win, I gotta win, I gotta win,’ I don’t play well. I had that those two weeks before Indian Wells when I lost in Acapulco and Monterrey, I was just so focused on winning and getting to the top 100, I played terribly.
“So, for me, I’ve got to do what feels right. And if joking around in the locker room and just laughing and being myself helps me play my best tennis, then I’ll do that.
“It’s not necessarily like I’m making a concerted effort to just like be everybody’s friend, I’m just trying to be myself and if people like it, then great, if they don’t, that’s fine too, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”
As he gets ready to take on Tsitsipas in the last 16, have his feelings about the grass changed compared to five weeks ago?
“At this point I think borderline I might say it’s my favorite surface,” he said.  

source