Bjorn Borg’s son Leo, Borg, has secured his first ATP Tour match on clay at the Swedish Open, defeating Elias Ymer in straight sets.
Borg, 20, received a wildcard entry and defeated Swedish compatriot Ymer 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 at the Bastad Tennis Stadium.
Borg, who is ranked 437th, primarily competes on the ITF Tour, the lowest level of men’s professional tennis.
“I’ve worked so hard for this, so many years, and some days you get results and today I got a win,” he said.
Borg is set to compete against Argentina’s Federico Coria in the tournament‘s last-16 stage.
Renowned as one of tennis’ all-time greats, he secured 11 Grand Slam titles during the 1970s and early 1980s, including an impressive five consecutive Wimbledon victories, before retiring at the young age of 26.
English cricketer, Joe Root claims that the “kick up the backside” he received from his half-century in the second innings of England’s first-Test victory over New Zealand.
The former captain’s streak of seven Tests without a hundred is his longest in the past two years.
“I’ve not performed for a little while, so I had the bit between my teeth in the second innings,” said Root.
“It’s given me a little sharpener, a kick up the backside, that this is how I need to play my cricket, how I can be consistently useful in this group.”
Root was in unmatched form from the start of 2021 to the middle of last summer, scoring 11 hundreds in 24 Test matches while averaging 61.
Even though his captaincy collapsed , with England winning just one of his final 17 Tests, his batting form held up well.
After relinquishing the captaincy in May of last year, Root’s form initially remained strong, with three hundreds in four Test matches.
However, Root’s form has declined as England has improved under Stokes—the victory at the Bay Oval was their 10th in 11 games.
The 32-year-old believes it will “take some time” for him to fully adjust to England’s ultra-aggressive style under Stokes.
“There was the initial relief of coming out of the captaincy and now I’m just trying to find out what my role is within this team,” said Root.
“I’ve maybe got a bit caught up in it, but I’m not too far away from what’s given me success. I didn’t feel I tried to force it in the second innings and when I’m playing well that’s one of my strengths: I can score freely and I can rotate the strike.
“I felt like I found a really good tempo in how I wanted to bat. “
Under the leadership of Stokes and Brendon McCullum, England’s swashbuckling batting has seen Root regularly reverse-scoop pace bowlers.
In the first innings at Mount Maunganui he executed the stroke against left-armer Neil Wagner and picked up a boundary. When he attempted the stroke again, he was caught at slip to be dismissed for 14.
But the Yorkshire player says that setback will not stop him from attempting the shot again in Test cricket.
“You take calculated risks,” said Root. “I’ve got where I’ve got to by trusting my gut. It just didn’t quite work out.
“It’s not going to stop me playing it. It’s now part of my Test game and I’ll continue to utilise it when it’s the right time.”
England will look to win the series in the second and final Test in Wellington, which begins on Friday (22:00 GMT Thursday).
The tourists are aiming for a seventh successive Test win, a feat not achieved by England since Michael Vaughan’s team won eight in a row in 2004.
England limited-overs coach Matthew Mott hopes he can lure Ben Stokes out of ODI retirement ahead of the Cricket World Cup in 2023.
Star all-rounder Stokes called an end to his 50-over international career in July as he suggested the workload amid a packed schedule was “unsustainable” alongside his Test captaincy.
The 31-year-old did not bow out of the shortest format, though, and proved his white-ball worth with a vital 52 not out in Sunday’s T20 World Cup final victory over Pakistan.
Stokes became just the third player to score 50-plus runs in finals of both an ODI World Cup and a T20 World Cup, having starred against New Zealand in the dramatic Lord’s showpiece in 2019.
England are the first side to boast duel limited-overs titles at the same time, and Mott hopes he can convince Stokes to return to defend their ODI crown in India next year.
“When he spoke to me about his ODI retirement, one of the first things I said was that I’d back any decision he made,” Mott told Sky Sports.
“He didn’t necessarily have to retire, he could just not play 50 overs for a while. I did say ‘you could always un-retire’. It’s his decision. He’ll do what’s right for English cricket and he always has.
“It’s going to be a World Cup year and we don’t play much T20 cricket for a while but it will be a decision that’s up to him. The more we can get him is great. He’s a world-class player.
“He’s doing an amazing job with the Test captaincy but he is a very big cog in the wheel when he comes back to white ball. I can’t speak more highly of the way he’s been around this group.”
Stokes and Sam Curran, who took the second-most wickets by a pace bowler (13) at an edition of the T20 World Cup, both delivered on the biggest stage for England.
But Mott also pinpointed the influential figures of Reece Topley and Jonny Bairstow, who both missed the tournament in Australia due to injury.
“Reece Topley was a big part of our preparation for here,” the Australian added. “I was absolutely gutted for him, such an innocuous injury. Seeing him leave our group was hard.
“I must admit he was one of the first blokes I thought of (after England’s win) – and Jonny as well.
“Those guys, it’s hard for them when you prepare so much to do something like this, and they don’t come round that often, to have to miss that opportunity is heartbreaking.”
England’s success Down Under could be somewhat credited to Australia, though, given Mott was partnered by Mike Hussey and David Saker in his coaching setup.
“Players make coaches, coaches don’t make players at this level,” Mott continued “There’s no doubt it was a real advantage in Australia to have some Australian coaches around.
“A lot of people just said I got my mates in to do the role. But both of those appointments were suggested by players within our group and had worked with both of them before.”
According to Leicestershire Police, they received a number of resources, including the deployment of additional officers from the West Midlands, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire.
They said Thames Valley Police horses were also stationed in the city.
Extra assistance was provided through the normal mutual aid process and some officers were diverted from going to London to help.
The disorder has led to 47 arrests, with a faith leader saying it was sparked by a “country-based dispute” after the cricket.
Amos Noronha, 20, was sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to possessionof an offensive weapon in connection with the violence.
Suleman Nagdi, from the city’s Federation of Muslim Organisations, said it was the first time he could remember the communities becoming violent.
The violence is believed to have been between Muslim and Hindu communities, with Mr Nagdi saying “loyalties kicked in” after the cricket.
