Expresso National and International Sports News Update at 3:30 pm on 22nd June 2022

Serena Williams made a sensational comeback as she along with her partner Ons Jaberu defeated Sara Sorribes and Marie Bouzkova at the Eastbourne International in the Doubles category. The former world number one had not played competitive tennis as she got injured of last year’s first-round match at Wimbledon.

Williams said.
“It was so fun to play with Ons, we had fun. “I caught some fire behind me! I needed that. It was good. We’re just taking it one day at a time.””
“Defending champion Novak Djokovic will head into Wimbledon as the men’s top seed with Russian world number one Daniil Medvedev banned from taking part while Germany’s second-ranked Alexander Zverev is out injured.

Organisers of Wimbledon have banned players from Russia and Belarus from playing at this year’s Wimbledon following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a ‘special operation’.

Zverev had surgery on torn ligaments in his right ankle this month after he was forced to retire from his French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic, who was unable to defend his 2021 Australian Open title and the 2,000 ranking points he earned due to his non-vaccinated status against COVID-19, recently lost his world number one spot to Medvedev.”
“After going down by a set and a break, Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev lashed out at his coach, who reacted by leaving the stadium. The video of the incident has gone viral where coach Gilles Cervara stood up from his seat and stormed out of the court after being yelled at by Medvedev

Medvedev was visibly frustrated and angry after Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz dominated Medvedev in the Halle final as he handed the Russian a 6-1 6-4 loss.

One of the commentators said on air, “Gilles Cervara has seen enough. I’m not sure if there’s been something said there or whether it was just the nature of that point but he is leaving the OWL arena.”””
“Meanwhile, in some football news,

Arsenal have completed the signing of attacking midfielder Fabio Vieira from Portuguese champions Porto on a long-term contract.

Porto said last week they had agreed a deal worth up to 40 million Euros, whic was roughly $42.11 million with Arsenal for the transfer of Vieira.

The 22-year-old scored seven goals and made 16 assists from 39 appearances in all competitions last season as Porto won the league and Cup double. He also represented Portugal at the Under-21 level, scoring 13 goals in 21 appearances.”
“Former Cameroon forward Samuel Eto’o has been given a suspended prison sentence in Spain for tax fraud during the time he played for Barcelona, a Spanish court said on Tuesday.

In an agreement with tax authorities, Eto’o received a 22-month prison sentence and will repay nearly 4 million euros which was around $4.2 million in taxes owed. He avoided serving time because in Spain, sentences shorter than two years can be suspended for first-time offenders.

Eto’o, who was also fined, accepted the conviction but blamed his representative, José Maria Mesalles, for what happened. Mesalles was handed a one-year prison sentence.

The 41-year-old Eto’o played for Barcelona from 2004-09, winning two Champions League titles and three Spanish league trophies.”
“Former Wales and Manchester United player, Ryan Giggs on Monday evening announced that he has stepped down from his role of head coach of the Wales men’s national team.

The 48-year old, who has been charged with domestic violence, said he didn’t want to “destabilise or jeopardise” Wales’ World Cup campaign over his trial which is scheduled to begin in August in Manchester.

The former Manchester United winger has been accused of controlling and coercive behavior and causing bodily harm to his former girlfriend Kate Greville between August 2017 and November 2020, and her younger sister, Emma Greville, at his home in Greater Manchester, in November 2020.

Giggs has denied all the charges and has pleaded not guilty”
“Talismanic striker and former skipper Rani Rampal was on Tuesday axed from the 18-member Indian women’s hockey team, to be led by goalkeeper Savita Punia, for next month’s FIH World Cup.

Rani, an inspirational skipper and forward who led the Indian women to the historic fourth-place finish at the 2020 Olympics, was picked for the recent FIH Pro League matches in Belgium and Netherlands after recovering from a hamstring injury, which had kept her out of action after the Tokyo Games.

Although part of the squad, Rani didn’t feature in the first four games of the side’s European leg of Pro League, raising doubts about her full fitness, which eventually cost her a place in the World Cup-bound squad.”
“And finally,

The International Rugby League on Tuesday announced that it has banned transgender players from women’s international competition until further notice. The decision comes following the global swimming’s call to restrict trans athletes’ participation at the elite level.

A statement read, “Until further research is completed to enable the IRL to implement a formal transgender inclusion policy, male-to-female trans women players are unable to play in sanctioned women’s international rugby league matches.

”

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