SPORT | 18

Wolff takes

three-shot lead at

Rocket Mortgage

Classic

SPORTLiverpool maintain

100 percent home

record with win

over Villa

SPORT | 19

MONDAY 6 JULY 2020

Hattal wins QREC-sponsored Gr1 Qatar Derby in ChantillyTHE PENINSULA – CHANTILLY

The 2020 edition of the Group 1 Qatar Derby for 4-year-old Pure Arabians was won by Hattal (FR).

The race is one of the major races in European Arabian racing calendar. The 2020 renewal of the Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club (QREC)-sponsored event was run at Chantilly yesterday.

Trained by Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte and ridden by Iortiz Mendizabel, Hattal was having just his third career start in this race. He came to Chantilly off a win in Toulouse in the

Prix de l’Hippodrome de Toulouse 5 weeks ago, having debuted for a second place at the same track back in March.

The favourite in the race, Amyr Du Soleil (GB), in the colours of H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani, went off in front and set a good pace under jockey Julien Augé. He was unable to maintain his lead under the attacks of Hattal and Artemis (FR), also in the H H Sheikh Mohammed’s silks.

The JF Bernard-trained Artemis took the second place under Cristian Demuro three quarters of a length

behind the winner. Al Shaqab Racing’s homebred Snan (FR) was further two and a half lengths behind as he came to snatch third place from Amyr Du Soleil in the final strides.

The race would, in a normal year, have taken place on the 3rd weekend of June. The exceptional cir-cumstances of 2020 meant that it was moved to the first Sunday of July, joining as always the Prix de Diane Longines but also this year the Prix du Jockey Club on the racecard. This race crowns the summer leader of the 4-year-old generation of Purebred Arabians.

Jockey Iortiz Mendizabel and Hattal (left) reaching the finish line to win the Group 1 Qatar Derby for 4-year-old Pure Arabians, sponsored by Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club at Chantilly Racecourse in France, yesterday.PIC: SCOOPDYGA

Xavi to stay at Al Sadd for one more seasonTHE PENINSULA – DOHA

Spanish coach Xavi Hernandez (pictured) has extended his stay

at Al Sadd for another season, the club said in a report on its

official website yesterday.In an exclusive

statement to the club’s website,

Xavi, 40, said that he was

‘happy to renew the

contract’ with Al Sadd.

According to the deal, Xavi will continue with Al Sadd for the second year in a row, until the end of the 2020-21 season.

“I am happy to continue with Al Sadd and the team’s goal will always be to compete for all titles,” Xavi was quoted as saying in the report posted on the club website.

“I am happy that the squad is complete today after the return of the remaining first team players in preparation for this upcoming period and the resumption of the league championship,” Xavi said. Al Sadd are preparing for the resumption of the QNB Stars League from July 24.

The Barcelona star added that his “complete focus in this current period is to fully equip the players for the upcoming domestic and Asian competitions.”

The Spanish coach also stated that he is working with the club’s management during the current period on a number of issues, the most important of which is the renewal of Akram Afif’s contract, in addition to signing new foreign players to replace Gabi and Marco Fabian, the report added.

Xavi played for Al Sadd for four seasons before signing up as their coach at the start of the 2019-20 season, completing a swift tran-sition from a player to coach without a pause after his playing career ended.

Reports in recent times have shown that Xavi wants to return to Barcelona as their coach in the future. One report even suggested Xavi is almost certain to be Barce-lona’s coach next year.

The affable Spaniard broke through from the Barcelona academy in 1998 before going on to win four Champions League tro-phies and eight La Liga titles for Barcelona senior side.

Xavi appeared for Barcelona in 767 matches (1998-2015).

He also played 82 matches (2015-2019) for Al Sadd before becoming their coach last year.

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I am happy to continue with Al Sadd and the team’s goal will always be to compete for all titles: Xavi Hernandez

Hamilton hit with penalty as F1 action resumes

REUTERS – SPIELBERG

Valtteri Bottas won an action-packed Austrian Grand Prix for champions Mercedes yesterday as Formula One started its delayed season with plenty of drama, if no spectators, in a race with only 11 finishers.

Charles Leclerc finished a sur-prise second for Ferrari with McLaren’s Lando Norris celebrating a first podium after a time penalty dropped Mercedes’ six times world champion Lewis Hamilton to fourth.

“I managed to keep it together and control the race from my side and it’s a good start to the season,” said Finn Bottas, who had to keep his cool through three safety car periods.

Norris, at 20 the youngest driver in the race and now the youngest Briton to stand on an F1 podium, also set the fastest lap.

The race, on a sunny afternoon at the scenic Red Bull Ring was held in front of empty grandstands and no fans for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz made it a double points haul for McLaren in fifth, with Sergio Perez sixth for Racing Point and Pierre Gasly seventh for AlphaTauri.

Esteban Ocon, who last raced in 2018, took eighth for Renault on his return while Antonio Giovinazzi bagged ninth for Alfa Romeo and Sebastian Vettel, who had another nightmare, completed the top 10 for Ferrari.

Canadian Nicholas Latifi was the last car running with 11th for Williams.

There was drama even before the

race when stewards performed a U-turn after a Red Bull challenge and dropped Hamilton from the front row to fifth on the grid for a breach in Saturday’s qualifying.

That also promoted Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to the front row alongside Bottas on pole position.

Any hopes the Dutch youngster had of completing a hat-trick of Aus-trian wins, after 2018 and 2019, dis-appeared when he suffered an early technical problem and became the season’s first retirement.

In a race with three safety car periods, Bottas soon had Hamilton in his mirrors but the Briton’s chal-lenge vanished when he was handed

a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Red Bull’s Alex Albon while defending second place.

The Thai spun off into the gravel, his podium hopes shattered.

Leclerc, whose team had struggled in qualifying with Sebastian Vettel failing even to make the top 10, moved up to third against all expectations -- which became second after the chequered flag.

“I did not expect it. A huge sur-prise, but a good one,” said the Mon-egasque. “It feels like a victory today.” Racing Point’s Mexican Perez, who had run as high as third in the 2019 Mercedes lookalike, lost fourth place

to Norris two laps from the end but was already carrying a time penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit.

Anyone who had feared Mercedes running away in a race of their own, after the champions dominated practice and qualifying, need not have worried.

Mercedes, their cars changed from silver to black as part of an anti-racism campaign, fretted about gearbox sensors and warned both drivers to keep clear of the kerbs.

AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS

1. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/

Mercedes) 1 h 30:55.739

2. Charles Leclerc (MON/

Ferrari) at 2.700

3. Lando Norris (GBR/

McLaren-Renault) 5.491

4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/

Mercedes) 5.689

5. Carlos Sainz (ESP/McLaren-

Renault) 8.903

6. Sergio Perez (MEX/Racing

Point-Mercedes) 15.092

7. Pierre Gasly (FRA/

AlphaTauri-Honda) 16.682

8. Esteban Ocon (FRA/

Renault) 17.456

9. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa

Romeo Racing-Ferrari) 21.146

10. Sebastian Vettel (GER/

Ferrari) 24.545

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas celebrates after winning the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, yesterday.

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Bottas wins dramatic Austrian GP

18 MONDAY 6 JULY 2020SPORT

Relaxed rules give green light to two Silverstone racesAFP – LONDON

Silverstone will be able to host two Formula One Grand Prix in August as new quarantine exemptions for major sporting events in England were announced by the British government yesterday.

Champions League and Europa League football, international cricket, golf tournaments and the world snooker championships are also among the events that will benefit.

“The British summer of sport is

back on,” said culture Secretary Oliver Dowden in announcing the measures.

The easing of rules will see some sports stars and their support teams, as well as international film and TV stars, directors and producers, exempt from quarantine, if they are essential to the event or production.

Under the new rules, sporting authorities, event organisers and the screen industry will need to follow the government’s COVID-19 secure guidance and put in place “stringent

protocols” to ensure they have a minimal impact on public health.

Exempted individuals will have to live and work in controlled “bubbled” environments and events will continue to take place behind closed doors “I’m very pleased that we’ve agreed exemp-tions from border health measures for a limited number of athletes and events staff,” added Dowden.

The UK has been the worst hit country in Europe by coronavirus with over 44,000 deaths.

Most travellers to the UK at the

moment must quarantine for two weeks. However, from 10 July, people arriving in England from dozens of countries deemed “low risk” will not have to isolate.

The 2020 Formula One season got underway in Austria on Sunday after a delay of three months on Sunday.

Silverstone will host two races in back-to-back weekends on August 2 and 9.

England’s three Test series against West Indies begins this week to kick off the return of international cricket

with a further three Tests against Pakistan to come.

Manchester City should now be able to host Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie, while Manchester United and Wolves could host LASK Linz and Olympiakos in the returns legs of the Europa League last 16. Both European competitions will then be completed on neutral venues with Lisbon hosting the Champions League from the quarter finals and the Europa League final stages being held in Germany.

Super Rugby: Barrett gets Hurricanesoff the markAFP – WELLINGTON

Jordie Barrett highlighted a fine performance on his return from injury with a booming 60-metre penalty as he led the Wellington Hurricanes to a first win in Super Rugby Aotearoa, 25-18 over the Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton yesterday.

It was a morale-boosting victory for the ‘Canes in New Zealand’s revived Super Rugby competition even though they finished with only 14 players after Scott Scrafton was shown a red card after receiving two yellows.

But it added to a disap-pointing return to New Zealand for the Waikato-born and former Wales coach Warren Gatland as his side slumped to a fourth loss.

In a much-improved second half for the Chiefs they improved from a 20-3 deficit at the turn to be one converted try from drawing level, and Hurricanes skipper TJ Per-enara was relieved to hear the final whistle.

A dejected Chiefs captain Sam Cane said it was “hugely disappointing” to have lost four from four.

“It’s not like we’re not giving ourselves chances to win the game, we’re just not quite clinical enough to take them.” Barrett, who had been sidelined by a shoulder injury through the early rounds of the competition, made his presence felt from the start with a long cut-out pass that allowed Kobus Van Wyk to stroll over unmarked for the opening try in the fourth minute.

The Chiefs stayed in the hunt for most of the first half, and trailed 7-3 five minutes before half-time when Barrett led a 13-point burst to give the Hurricanes a 20-3 lead at the break.

The 22-year-old All Blacks utility punished the Chiefs with two penalties, including the monster from 10 metres inside his own half, and also con-verted a try by Du Plessis Kirifi.

Barrett, who brought a calming influence to the Hur-ricanes backline, was also instrumental after the break with a deft flick pass to put Van Wyk into space for his second try.

The Chiefs dominated pos-session but for much of the game they struggled to make headway against a staunch Hurricanes defence.

Their points came from two Damian McKenzie pen-alties, a penalty try and a try to Lachlan Boshier.

Wolff takes three-shot lead at Rocket Mortgage Classic

AFP – WASHINGTON

American Matthew Wolff had nine birdies in an eight-under 64 to take a three-shot lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where Bryson DeChambeau bombed his way up the leaderboard.

The 21-year-old Wolff, who is seeking his second USPGA Tour title, eagled the par-five 14th then seized the lead with a birdie on the next hole to reach 18-under.

Wolff closed with his ninth birdie of the round on 18 to reach 19-under 197, three shots ahead of fellow Americans DeChambeau and Ryan Armour heading into

Sunday’s final round at the Detroit Golf Club.

W o r l d N o . 1 0 DeChambeau and veteran

A r m o u r are tied for

second after both shooting

67s to get to 16-under 200.

Wolff, who missed the cut at this tournament last year, said he is doing a better job at keeping his mistakes to a minimum by con-

trolling his emotions.“My mindset going into

the week was to tell

myself to not care,” said the southern Californian. “That helps to take the pressure off my shots and keeps the rhythm going. It worked out pretty well.” Wolff’s lone Tour victory so far came last year at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota. The win allowed him to join Tiger Woods and Ben Crenshaw as winners of a PGA Tour event and an individual NCAA US college title in the same year.

If he wins, Wolff would become one of the youngest

two-time winners on the Tour. Tiger Woods won his first two PGA tournaments at age 20.

DeChambeau caught fire on the back nine, rolling in four birdies on his final six holes. He finished with six birdies and his only blemish came on a frustrating par-four sixth where he made bogey.

He hasn’t won since 2018 but was one of the pre-tournament favorites after gaining 20 pounds of bulk during the pandemic shutdown.

DeChambeau hammered one drive 374 yards on the par-four 13th, making it his longest of the day.

Armour got off to quick start with three bogeys in his first four holes and was in contention throughout the round. He missed a chance at being on the top of the leaderboard when he made double bogey on the par-five 17th.

He was kicking himself for trying to do too much on the hole instead of keeping a steady rhythm. “That’s not my game,” Armour said.

Chris Kirk, Seamus Power, Mark Hubbard and Troy Merritt are tied for fourth at 14-under, five strokes adrift of Wolff.

Former US Open winner Webb Simpson highlights a group of five players at 13-under 203.

“It is frustrating. Not my best stuff. I didn’t hit it close to the hole and hit more drives into the rough. Just one of those days,” said Simpson.

ROCKET MORTGAGE CLASSIC

Leading third round scores on Saturday in PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan (USA unless noted, par-72):

197 - Matthew Wolff 69-64-64 200 - Ryan Armour 69-64-67, Bryson DeChambeau 66-67-67 202 - Chris Kirk 67-65-70, Troy Merritt 68-67-67, Mark Hubbard 67-66-69, Seamus Power (IRL) 67-66-69 203 - Viktor Hovland (NOR) 69-67-67, Luke List 69-67-67, Webb Simpson 68-64-71, Wesley Bryan 69-69-65, Matt Wallace (ENG) 66-69-68 204 - Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) 68-67-69, Scott Harrington 71-66-67, Kevin Chappell 69-69-66, Kevin Kisner 65-69-70, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 71-68-65, Fabián Gómez (ARG) 70-68-66

QOC begins medical examinations for Team Qatar athletes and staff

NBA releases restart schedule

AGENCIES – LOS ANGELES

The NBA has released the scrimmage schedule for the upcoming 22-team restart.

From July 22-28, each team will compete in three inter-squad scrimmages at the ESPN Wide of Sports Complex near Orlando to prepare for the resumption of the season on July 30.

There will be three to six scrimmages per day on mul-tiple courts.

The Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Clippers tip off the action on July 22 at 3 p.m. ET.

Also playing on the first day are the Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets (3:30 p.m. ET), the New Orleans Pelicans and Brooklyn Nets (7 p.m.) and the Sacra-mento Kings and Miami Heat (8 p.m.).

Teams are scheduled to arrive in Florida from July 7-9.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Landry Shamet tested positive for the coronavirus and is unlikely to travel with the team to Florida, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported on Saturday.

In his second NBA season, the 23-year-old Shamet averaged 9.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 47 games (27 starts) before the 2019-20 season was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Clippers are scheduled to travel to the Orlando area on Wednesday to prepare for the league's 22-team restart on July 31 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

Los Angeles is the No. 2 seed in the Western Con-ference and considered one of the top contenders for the championship.

Philadelphia's first-round pick (26th overall) in the 2018 NBA Draft, Shamet was traded to the Clippers in February 2019 in a deal that sent forward Tobias Harris to the 76ers.

Dodgers’ Price to skip seasonAFP – LOS ANGELES

Former Cy Young Award winner David Price has announced he will pass on Major League Baseball’s COVID-19-shortened 2020 season due to corona-virus concerns.

“After considerable thought and discussion with my family and the Dodgers, I have decided it is in the best interest of my health and my family’s health for me to not play this

season,” Price wrote on social media. Price, 34, was supposed to fit into

the Dodgers starting pitching rotation behind Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw.

Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and pitcher Joe Ross, who helped the club win the World Series last year, and Arizona pitcher Mike Leake were the first to announce they would sit out the upcoming MLB season, which is set to begin July 23.

Leury Garcia of Chicago White

Sox throws the baseball

during summer workouts at Guaranteed

Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois,

United States, yesterday.

Matthew Wolff of the United States plays his shot from the 15th tee during the third round of the

Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan, on Saturday.

A healthcare worker collecting swab samples to be tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from

a Qatari athlete, yesterday.

QNA – DOHA

Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) yesterday announced the beginning the necessary medical examinations for Team Qatar athletes and the supporting staff in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in preparation of gradual sports activ-ities resumption.

QOC pointed out that this step coincides with the approaching date of the gradual return to practice sports activities in the country.

On May 17, the QOC announced

the extension of suspending local sporting activities and competitions until the current July, to resume the remainder of the sporting activity for the season 2019-2020 as of July 20.

The Olympic Committee stated, then, that the decision came in line with the preventive measures taken by the State of Qatar to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and in coordination with the MOPH to ensure the safety of all athletes, supporting staff and fans.

19MONDAY 6 JULY 2020 SPORT

Al Duhail striker Almoez Ali is seen during a team training session at Aspire Academy in Doha yesterday. Al Duhail is one of 12 teams preparing for the final phase of the QNB Qatar Stars League matches set to resume from July 24.

QSL adjusts the schedule of remaining matchesQNA - DOHA

The Qatar Stars League (QSL) has made an amendment to the schedule of matches in Weeks 18, 19 and 20 of 2019-20 season QNB Stars League after reviewing the latest developments and recommendations, and in co-ordination with the authorities concerned.

It has been decided to hold matches in each round over three days and reduce the number of stadiums to be used to two (Al Janoub and Al Sadd) in order to minimise the pressure on oper-ations and medical teams, against the backdrop of Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The kick-off timings and venues of matches in the last two weeks (21 and 22) will be finalised later based on the results and standings of teams in the table, as the QSL is keen to provide all clubs with equal opportunities.

‘Sci-fi’ England-Windies opener a new frontier for Test cricketAFP - LONDON

It will be Test cricket but not as we’ve known it when England face the West Indies in the opening match of a “bio-secure” series at Southampton starting on Wednesday.

With the coronavirus pandemic having brought the world game to a halt in March, there were fears this three-Test campaign might also fall victim to COVID-19.

But, with the West Indies agreeing to go ahead despite Britain’s virus death toll of over 44,000 being the highest in Europe, the series is set to mark cricket’s return from lockdown instead.

However, a number of anti-virus measures mean next week’s match will look like few others in 143 years of Test-match history.

For a start, both sides will be staying at on-site hotels at Southampton’s Ageas Bowl and Old Trafford in Manchester -- the venue for the second and third Tests -- in a series originally scheduled for else-where in England in June.

England have already settled in at the Ageas Bowl, where they played a three-day intra-squad match this week as the West Indies continued their preparations at Old Trafford.

‘BACK AT SCHOOL’Mark Wood, the England fast bowler,

said the environment, “feels a bit like a sci-fi movie”, with players subjected to repeated health checks.

“There is hand sanitiser at every turn,

and on the floor there are arrows, lines and footprints to show the way to go,” Wood told the BBC.

He added meal times were “like being back at school”, with players at individual desks “looking at the back of the person in front”.

But perhaps the most visible change will be the lack of any spectators.

For while sparse crowds are not unknown in Test cricket -- particularly when Pakistan played ‘home’ Test matches in the United Arab Emirates -- this series will be a completely behind closed doors affair.

That does help officials to honour lucrative broadcast contracts and so eliminate a ‘nightmare scenario’ of no cricket at all this season that, according to its own estimates, could cost the England and Wales Cricket Board £252m ($309m).

Meanwhile, Cricket West Indies pres-ident Ricky Skerritt insisted a $3m loan from the ECB was a “helping hand” at a time of economic crisis rather than a con-dition of touring England.

Quite how the lack of atmosphere, as well as being cooped up on the ground at night, will affect the players is uncertain, with West Indies captain Jason Holder admitting he would miss England’s loudest fans.

“I enjoy playing in front of the Barmy Army, to not hear them sing, to not hear them chant will take some getting used to,” he said.

England batsman Ollie Pope, however, was adamant the teams would have no trouble in maintaining the standards asso-ciated with cricket’s pinnacle format.

“Even if there’s not a single person in the crowd it’s still what we all dreamt of doing,” he said.

“When that Test match starts up, crowd or no crowd, you are going to be really up for it.”

Players will be barred from using saliva to shine the ball, although overhead con-ditions could still mean there’s swing for the faster bowlers.

The series will also take place against the backdrop of recent worldwide Black Lives Matter protests, with both teams set to have a BLM logo on their shirts.

But amid all the changes, which includes provision for virus substitutes if required, there will be a return to cricket’s past.

Travel restrictions mean there are set to be two on-field home umpires in a Test for the first time since 2002 when the International Cricket Council made neutral match officials mandatory in the five-day game.

Yet concerns about the alterations are outweighed by a sense of relief that the series is still going ahead.

England captain Joe Root -- before it was confirmed he would miss the first Test to attend the birth of his second child -- summed up the mood by saying: “I think the whole cricketing world will be grateful to see some cricket again.”

West Indies player Shai Hope is seen during a photoshoot prior to the opening Test against hosts England. The first Test begins on Wednesday. PIC:@SHAIDHOPE

Halep hopes to play in Palermo next monthREUTERS - BUCHAREST

Romanian women’s world number two Simona Halep hopes to take part in next month’s Palermo Open, the first WTA event to be held after the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, she said yesterday.

“I have not yet made a clear decision but I hope to start with Palermo,” last year’s Wimbledon champion Halep told reporters in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca before her return to the court after a four-and-a-half-month absence.

“It’s hard without tournaments, I miss them, I hope we can travel quietly and without fear soon, because it’s a little worrying.

“My life has changed, everything is different. But the fact that I didn’t travel a lot was also a good thing, because I rested a lot, I wanted this.

“I hope all the madness is over.”The 28-year-old Halep has not played since her win over

Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on February 22.

Halep agreed to participate in an exhibition doubles match in Cluj-Napoca yesterday, teaming up with her compatriot Horia Tecau.

“I miss playing and I really enjoy participating in this tour-nament,” she said.

The WTA season will return on August 3 with the Palermo event with organisers hopeful of inviting some of the world’s best players.

Last month Halep said she does not currently plan to play the US Open.

Halep, however, said she could reconsider if the pandemic situation improved by the entry deadline in mid-July.

No Wimbledon champions this year but plenty of winners in the pastAP - WIMBLEDON

When one thinks of Wimbledon, one thinks of royalty - the sort that sits in the Royal Box and hands out the trophies, and the sort that earns the right to accept that championship hardware.

There will be no tennis royalty or tennis champions at the All England Club in 2020,

though. There are no matches at all.The two-week grass-court Grand Slam

tournament was supposed to be in the swing of things right now but was cancelled for the first time in 75 years because of the corona-virus pandemic.

What better time to take a look through photos of the past and recall some of those who have ruled Centre Court over the decades?

Folks like Roger Federer, whose eight singles titles are the tournament record for a man, one more than Pete Sampras, or Martina Navratilova, who did Federer one better and holds the overall mark of nine singles trophies.

Or the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, who have made sticking around for the full fortnight a family tradition: One or the other - or both - played in the women’s singles final in 16 of the past 20 years.

They have accounted for a dozen singles titles in that span, seven for Serena (who also was the runner-up each of the past two years) and five for Venus, along with six in doubles as a pair.

Go back a little further to find other queens and kings of the courts, from Steffi Graf and Chris Evert to Boris Becker and John McEnroe.

And then, of course, there are the cham-pions of long ago, such as Billie Jean King, who claimed a record 20 triumphs in all at the All England Club: six in singles, 10 in women’s doubles, four in mixed doubles. She’d been at Wimbledon as a competitor or spectator every year for more than a half-century... until now.

Or Rod Laver, who won Wimbledon four times, including as part of true Grand Slams in 1962 and 1969.

A general view of Court 6 at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in this June 29, 2020, file photo.

Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time in 75 years because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Liverpool maintain 100 percent home record with win over VillaREUTERS - LIVERPOOL

Liverpool made it 17 wins out of 17 at Anfield after goals by Sadio Mane and Curtis Jones handed the champions a 2-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League yesterday which pushed Dean Smith’s side deeper into trouble.

Following their 4-0 mauling at the hands of Manchester City on Thursday, Juergen Klopp’s side struggled to break down a determined Villa.

Klopp fielded another strong side but with the ground empty and the title already in the bag, there was a lack of edge to

Liverpool’s play. The visitors’ were solid and organised and could even have gone ahead in the 52nd minute when Anwar El Ghazi forced a fine save out of Alisson.

But Mane broke the deadlock in the 71st minute, meeting a low ball from Naby Keita with a firm shot that rattled in off the underside of the cross-bar.

Substitute Jones scored the second, a minute from the end, with the 19 year old hooking home after Mohamed Salah headed an Andy Robertson cross into his path.

The goal was Jones’ first in the Premier League and came a day after he signed a new five-year contract with the club.

“That’s Curtis in a nutshell. He signed a new contract yesterday which is good for him and good for us. We’ll have a lot of fun with him,” said Klopp.

Liverpool are now unbeaten in their last 57 Premier League home games with 47 wins and 10 draws and they have won 24 home games in a row.

Klopp said the blustery conditions at Anfield had impacted the game.

“It was a very difficult game for different reasons. Villa are obviously organised and made it tricky for us. The wind made it tricky for both but it was really hard to play normal football,” said the German.

Villa, who have now lost 20 games, remain deep in relegation trouble.

“I don’t want to be a valiant loser because we are scrapping for points and we are running out of games. But I thought the game plan and the effort was excellent... but we never found that quality in the final third,” said Smith.

EPL RESULTS ��Burnley 1 (Tarkowski 43) Sheffield United 1

(Egan 80)��Newcastle 2 (Almiron 17, Shelvey 67) West

Ham 2 (Antonio 4, Soucek 65)��Liverpool 2 (Mane 71, Jones 89) Aston Villa 0��Southampton 1 (Che Adams 16) Manchester

City 0

PLAYED SATURDAY: ��Leicester 3 (Iheanacho 49, Vardy 77, 90)

Crystal Palace 0��Manchester United 5 (Greenwood 29, 54,

Rashford 35-pen, Martial 45, Fernandes 59)

Bournemouth 2 (Stanislas 16, King 49-pen)��Norwich 0 Brighton 1 (Trossard 25)��Wolves 0 Arsenal 2 (Saka 43, Lacazette 86)��Chelsea 3 (Giroud 28, Willian 43-pen, Barkley

90+1) Watford 0

PLAYING MONDAY: ��Tottenham vs Everton (1900 GMT)

Liverpool’s Curtis Jones celebrates scoring the second goal with Jordan Henderson, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold during an English Premier League match against Aston Villa at Anfield, Liverpool, Britain, yesterday.