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Berhalter: 'Work to do' on Gio Reyna relationship

Published in Soccer
Friday, 16 June 2023 17:07

LAS VEGAS -- Reappointed U.S. men's national team coach Gregg Berhalter admitted "there's work to do" in terms of repairing his relationship with midfielder Gio Reyna.

The relationship between Berhalter and the Reyna family was at the heart of a messy affair that led to Berhalter's contract being allowed to expire at the end of 2022. With Berhalter officially reassuming his post on Friday, one of his most important tasks will be rebuilding the connection with Reyna, who remains one of the most talented players on the U.S. roster.

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"I'd certainly acknowledge that there's work to do, and Gio is an important player to this team," Berhalter said at a news conference. "He's an extremely talented individual, and I have the obligation and the commitment to coach him like I coach every other player, and I want to get the best out of him.

"We want to get the best out of him, and we know that if we can unlock his talents, he's going to be a game changer for this program. So there's work to do, and part of it is working together with [sporting director] Matt [Crocker] and trying to rebuild a relationship that we know will be important moving forward."

Speaking at a leadership conference after the 2022 World Cup, Berhalter recounted how he nearly sent an unnamed player -- later identified as Reyna -- home for poor behavior.

This drew an angry response from Reyna's parents, Danielle and Claudio, both former U.S. internationals, who informed then-USSF sporting director Earnie Stewart of a domestic violence incident involving Berhalter and his now-wife Rosalind when the two were in college.

An investigation followed, with the USSF accepting Berhalter's explanation and steps he took to make amends, but he was left in limbo as he waited for the USSF to hire a new sporting director and conduct a search for a new manager. The managerial position was filled by two interim coaches, first Anthony Hudson and later B.J. Callaghan.

When asked later during Friday's availability about when he would reach out to Reyna, Berhalter said he would give the player some space ahead of Sunday's Concacaf Nations League final against Canada, as well as letting Reyna enjoy his offseason.

"With Gio, I think the most important thing for him right now is to focus on playing in a final and winning the final," he said. "I can imagine after that he wants some vacation and meeting with me is not the priority. It's for him to get rest and prepare for the upcoming season. We'll have time to do that. It is a priority, but we'll have time to do that before the September window."

Berhalter added that he had also not spoken with players who were among the last cuts from the World Cup squad, including Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen and Augsburg forward Ricardo Pepi.

"I have not spoken with them and like the Gio case, I think there's a number of individuals that you want to speak with," said Berhalter. "Ideally what you have is alignment with everybody, and all we're doing is trying to be great together and it needs the relationships to be good. It needs the players to be focused on what we're doing and there's certainly be time for that in these upcoming months."

News of Berhalter's reappointment through the 2026 World Cup on home soil came after sources told ESPN this week that he was a candidate for the manager's job at Mexican giants Club América.

Berhalter confirmed that he did have talks with the Liga MX side, but it was clear his heart was set on returning as U.S. manager.

"I think it was an intriguing possibility," he said. "But one thing I told them when I got the date for this interview is I have to do this interview. I know that we have something that we're discussing, but I have to go through with this because I would regret it the rest of my life if I never gave myself the opportunity. And so thankfully they were accommodating and I got the job obviously and now I'm here."

One twist to Berhalter's return is that he won't be managing the U.S. at the upcoming Gold Cup, with current interim coach Callaghan continuing in his role.

Crocker stated that there are some strategic items that he and Berhalter will be going over, and therefore he didn't want Berhalter jumping straight back in. Those tasks were viewed as being more important than an immediate return to the coaching the team.

"It gives myself and Gregg the real great opportunity of spending some real time together, working through and piecing together the framework of that strategy for 2026 that we can then bring back to the staff and players and start to get their input," he said.

Tammy Beaumont scored a double-century as England Women piled on 510 runs in a day to build a huge 390-run lead against Australia A Women during a three-day warm-up for the Women's Ashes Test at Trent Bridge next week.

Beaumont retired out on 201 from 238 balls in Derby with England 611 for 7 in response to 221 all out by an Australia A side captained by left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen, the only member of Australia's Test squad to move into the A side for the build-up game.

Beaumont and Emma Lamb, who fell for 10 on Thursday when she was caught by Tahlia Wilson off the bowling of Maitlan Brown, are England's incumbent Test openers, having done the job in last year's draw with South Africa at Taunton. Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophia Dunkley all scored half-centuries and Amy Jones cruised to 88 off just 65 balls before Jonassen had her caught by Brown.

Jones was full of praise for Beaumont's knock, which resumed on 65 on the second morning with England 120 runs behind with nine wickets in hand. She shared a 170-run partnership with captain Knight for the second wicket and 148 with Sciver-Brunt, Knight's deputy, for the third.

"Five hundred runs in a day is a great effort and Tammy set that up brilliantly," Jones said. "I thought it was an incredible innings really. I don't remember any chances. She just looked really free flowing and soaked up pressure in the harder moments of the game as well, so she was brilliant and we had some good partnerships throughout which is good to see."

But an intriguing sub-plot was developing in Leicester, where England A, led by captain by Lauren Winfield-Hill, took a lead of 278 runs after two days of their three-day warm-up against Australia's Test players. Winfield-Hill, who lost her England central contract ahead of this season amid a nine-month period of being overlooked for the senior side, reached 106 from 148 deliveries batting at No. 4 before legspinner Alana King had her caught by Georgia Wareham.

Meanwhile Danni Wyatt, who is part of England's Test squad but moved to the A side this week, scored 37 off 43 balls at No. 5 before she was trapped lbw by Australia pace spearhead Darcie Brown. Wyatt had moved to the top of the order in the shorter formats last year when Winfield-Hill lost her place during the 50-over World Cup and Beaumont was dropped from the T20 side ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Winfield-Hill made a return to T20Is during England's winter tour of West Indies, twice batting at No. 3 below Wyatt, who has played 245 white-ball internationals but is yet to make her Test debut.

Paige Scholfield, the leading run-scorer in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy so far this season, also scored a century, while Bess Heath and Grace Scrivens, who led England to the Under-19 T20 World Cup final earlier this year, scored a half-centuries against the Australians.

Ashleigh Gardner, the Australian allrounder named Player of the Tournament after helping her side lift the T20 World Cup in February, didn't bowl as a precaution after being hit on the right index finger while catching before play on Thursday. While there was some swelling, the injury didn't trouble her while batting or fielding and she was expected to be fit for the Test starting on Thursday.

England A closed on 562 for 9 in reply to Australia's first-innings 284, which was built on opener Beth Mooney's century. Kim Garth was the pick on a "tough day" for Australia's bowlers, with 4 for 69, and King claimed three wickets.

"There is a lot of positives to come out of it though," Garth said. "I think we actually did quite well on a wicket that's not offering much for the bowlers. Credit to them as well, they did bat very well. If you asked the coaching staff upstairs, I think they probably would have wanted a game like this rather than just cruising through three days of cricket so I think there's plenty to take out of it into next week."

Patriots CB Jones arrested on weapons charges

Published in Breaking News
Friday, 16 June 2023 21:49

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots second-year cornerback Jack Jones was arrested Friday after two firearms were found in his travel luggage at Boston's Logan Airport, according to Massachusetts state police.

Jones will be arraigned next week in East Boston District Court. His bail was set at $50,000.

"We have been notified that Jack Jones was arrested at Logan Airport earlier today. We are in the process of gathering more information and will not be commenting further at this time," a Patriots spokesman said.

Jones, 25, was charged with two counts of the following offenses, according to state police: possession of a concealed weapon in a secure area of the airport, possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm and possession of a large-capacity feeding device.

Jones, a 2022 fourth-round draft choice out of Arizona State, had his rookie season end in late December because of a team suspension for an unspecified violation of club rules.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick had said in March that the suspension was in the past, and Jones was lining up with the top unit at times in spring practices.

The Patriots' offseason program officially ended Friday.

LOS ANGELES -- The PGA Tour, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and the sovereign wealth fund's governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, filed a motion on Friday to voluntarily dismiss with prejudice all legal claims against each other in a federal antitrust lawsuit, according to court records.

In a stipulation filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, the sides agreed that LIV Golf, which is being funded by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), voluntarily dismisses with prejudice its claims against the tour, and that the tour voluntarily dismisses with prejudice its claims against LIV, PIF and Al-Rumayyan.

On June 6, the PGA Tour announced that it plans to form an alliance with the DP World Tour and PIF. A new commercial entity would combine the PGA Tour's and PIF's commercial activities, including LIV. In a news release announcing the deal, the sides said they would end all legal action against each other.

Because the claims will be dismissed with prejudice, neither LIV Golf's antitrust claims nor the Tour's counterclaims that LIV Golf interfered with its contracts with players can ever be refiled again.

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a review of the planned alliance, according to a report Thursday by The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations have also opened reviews of the new partnership.

Justice Department officials were already scrutinizing the PGA Tour's alleged monopolistic practices, which were outlined in a federal antitrust lawsuit filed by 11 LIV Golf League players in August. They accused the PGA Tour of using its monopoly powers to quash competition and discourage vendors, media companies and others from working with LIV Golf.

LOS ANGELES -- Rickie Fowler followed up a historic 8-under 62 in the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open with a 2-under 68 in Friday's second round to grab a one-stroke lead over Wyndham Clark heading into the weekend at the Los Angeles Country Club.

Rory McIlroy (67) and Xander Schauffele (70) were each two strokes back in third.

With a scorecard that resembled a roller coaster, Fowler continued his chaotic but impressive play by making eight birdies, four pars and six bogeys in his second round. His erratic scoring was emblematic of a course that prides itself on rewarding good shots and punishing errant ones.

"It's not that easy out there," Fowler said. "Yes, I've made a lot of birdies, and that is doable out there. It's still a very hard test. You hit fairways and hit greens, yes, you can score well, but you get out of position and it's going to eat you up."

After carding 10 birdies in Round 1, Fowler now has 18 birdies, the most birdies or better in the U.S. Open through two rounds. It's also the most birdies or better over any two-round span within a major over the past 30 years, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Fowler's 13 non-pars Friday are the most he has ever had in a competitive round.

With a total score of 130 through two days, Fowler tied Martin Kaymer's performance at Pinehurst in 2014 for the fewest strokes through two days of a U.S. Open. Coincidentally, it was at that 2014 U.S. Open that Fowler had one of his best major finishes as he finished tied for second.

That year was a banner one for Fowler, who finished top five in every major and twice in second place. Over the next few years, he added six other top-five finishes in majors but was unable to get over the hump and add one to his résumé.

This time could be different. Fowler has had at least a share of the 36-hole lead at a major only once in his career (2017 Masters), but he has never been the outright leader at a major through 36 holes until Friday.

"Having a lead right now doesn't really mean much," Fowler said. "A little different once you get to after 54 holes because that's when things really heat up."

Though Fowler has been trending in the right direction this PGA Tour season with six top-10 finishes and one runner-up, he is coming off only two major appearances over the past two years, both at the PGA Championship, where he missed the cut a month ago.

"I sure hope everyone can relate to struggles because everyone deals with them," Fowler said. "No one's perfect. I think you'd be lying if you haven't been through a tough time, especially if you play golf."

So far this week, Fowler isn't exactly lapping the field on any one statistic, but he has been solid throughout the bag, gaining a total of 4.25 strokes, good for 13th best in the field. Fowler said he thought the only area where he gave away some shots was on long-range putts. He said he would look to clean up those mistakes ahead of Saturday, knowing that holding on to the lead for another 36 holes will be difficult.

"I'm looking forward to the weekend," Fowler said. "It's been a while since I've felt this good in a tournament, let alone a major. It's going to be a challenge, but I'm definitely looking forward to it."

Schauffele, who matched Fowler's record-breaking 62 on Thursday, had a wild ride of his own.

He was tied for the lead at one point early on the back nine, approaching a few holes that could yield birdies. They produced bogeys instead, both times with a wedge in hand on the par-5 14th and the 115-yard 15th hole.

He birdied the final two holes to stay very much in the game.

"Just leaking some oil," Schauffele said. "I bogeyed two holes I was supposed to have good birdie looks on. But I'm happy with how I finished."

Clark, who last month broke through with his first PGA Tour title against an elite field at Quail Hollow, started strong with a bold flop shot that set up a birdie and a 40-foot birdie putt on the back nine, and then he held it together over his final nine holes.

Closing fast was McIlroy, without a major in nine years, overcoming a rugged start with four birdies on his last five holes. He was at 132, the sixth time he has been 8 under or lower going into the weekend at a major. He won three of those previous five times.

"I felt like coming into this week that was going to be a key for me if I could put the ball in play. You can play from there and create some scoring opportunities," McIlroy said. "That's really my game plan over the next couple days. Put the ball in play off the tee, and I think I'll be just fine from there."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Police detail interview with woman suing Bauer

Published in Baseball
Friday, 16 June 2023 19:54

Former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer declined to be interviewed by police in Arizona about a sexual assault complaint filed against him, while the woman who accused him gave police varying accounts about her alleged pregnancy, according to two police reports obtained by ESPN on Friday.

The woman, whom ESPN has chosen not to name, said in a civil lawsuit that Bauer sexually assaulted her in December 2020, which led to her "unplanned pregnancy." The woman reported the incident to the Scottsdale Police Department in December 2022, a week after she filed the suit against Bauer. Bauer's attorneys, in court filings, have described the encounter as "consensual" and claim the woman fabricated the pregnancy. Jon Fetterolf and Rachel Luba, co-agents for Bauer, told ESPN in a statement that he "categorically denies" the allegations made in the woman's statements to police and within her court filings, reiterating a statement they made earlier this week calling the woman's claims "untethered to reality."

Attorneys listed on the woman's court documents have not responded to ESPN's requests for comment.

According to the police reports obtained by ESPN, when the Arizona woman was interviewed by police following her report of sexual assault, she "initially stated she had a miscarriage, but later referred to the miscarriage as an abortion," the detective noted in his report. "At the time during the interview I questioned [her] whether she had a miscarriage or an abortion because they're two separate things. During the interview, [she] stated 'they're pretty much the same thing' and said she no longer wanted to talk about it," the detective wrote.

A month later, the woman told the detective she did not have an abortion, but miscarried just before going to a clinic located in another state, according to the report. She told police she "did not visit medical persons for any treatment, rather, she saw her OBGyn in Scottsdale when she returned to AZ," according to the report. The detective added that the medical records she had provided "do not indicate" whether she "was in fact pregnant."

In January, one of Bauer's attorneys, Anne Chapman, also contacted the Scottsdale Police Department to file a criminal complaint accusing the woman of "theft by extortion." According to that complaint, Chapman told police that the Arizona woman "had demanded financial compensation from her client for a pregnancy and abortion that was alleged to be false."

In February, police investigating Bauer's extortion complaint concluded that his case did not meet the criminal statute.

In March, on the same day news broke that Bauer signed a one-year deal to play in Japan, police asked to interview him. A representative for Bauer told ESPN that Bauer signed with the Yokohama BayStars on Feb. 26 after agreeing to terms the previous week.

Eleven days after police requested to interview Bauer, Chapman declined "due to Bauer recently moving overseas." The case was listed as inactive "due to no probable cause having been established."

"Mr. Bauer cooperated with the Scottsdale Police Department's investigation," the Bauer representative said. "He was out of state for a family medical emergency at the time of the interview request before traveling to Japan for the season. His attorneys offered to address further questions following his initial statement and exhibits but that was not needed as the case became inactive."

In April, Bauer's attorneys filed a countersuit in Maricopa Superior Court accusing the woman of fraud, which she has denied.

On Tuesday, the woman's attorneys filed an amended complaint on her behalf, stating for the first time in the court record that she had a miscarriage.

Both sides have told the judge presiding over the case that they will be ready for a jury trial by May 2024.

Dodgers' Pride festivities draw protesters, police

Published in Baseball
Friday, 16 June 2023 19:54

In the hours before the Dodgers hosted the San Francisco Giants on the team's 10th annual Pride Night on Friday night, Phoenix-based Catholics for Catholics organized what it called "a prayerful procession" in a parking lot outside Dodger Stadium. A couple of hundred people, many wearing red clothing in honor of the sacred heart and toting signs, gathered in advance of the game.

The group had urged participants not to bring children because "we do anticipate hostility from anti-Christian protestors."

The gathering attracted a large Los Angeles Police Department presence, with officers standing around watching as traffic approaching stadium backed up. Three helicopters flew overhead.

One woman held a blue sign invoking the name of the late Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, a devout Catholic, that read, "Vin Is Sad." In her other hand, a white sign said, "Uphold Dodger Code of Conduct. No Mocking Religion."

The gathering came as this year's edition of Pride Night has prompted reactions from religious people, including prominent faith leaders, Catholic nuns and even the team's All-Star ace.

Under a barrage of criticism from some conservative Catholics, the team rescinded an invitation to a satirical LGBTQIA+ group called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to be honored at Pride Night. The Sisters' performers -- mostly men who dress flamboyantly as nuns -- are active in protests and charitable programs.

A week later, after a vehement backlash from LGBTQIA+ groups and their allies, the Dodgers reversed course -- reinviting the Sisters' Los Angeles chapter to be honored for its charity work and apologizing to the LGBTQIA+ community.

The Dodgers' reversal was welcomed by LGBTQIA+ allies, including some Catholic nuns. But it infuriated many conservative Catholics, even at the highest levels of the U.S. hierarchy.

On Monday, the team was lambasted in a statement from Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Services.

They asked Catholics to pray on Friday "as an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord we see in our culture today."

"A professional baseball team has shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His Mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated," the archbishops said. "This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere; it is blasphemy."

Criticism wasn't confined to Catholic ranks. The Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told listeners of his syndicated radio show that the Dodgers "completely capitulated."

"The company is falling all over itself with what one author called years ago, 'The Art of the Public Grovel,'" Mohler said.

Pitchers Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Trevor Williams of the Washington Nationals criticized the Dodgers for reinviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, saying they resented the group's mockery of Catholicism. Williams, on Twitter, encouraged his fellow Catholics "to reconsider their support of an organization that allows this type of mockery of its fans to occur."

But each pitcher said he had no objection to the broader tradition of Pride Nights.

"This has nothing to do with the LGBTQ community or Pride or anything like that," Kershaw said. "This is simply a group that was making fun of a religion. That I don't agree with."

Some athletes have objected to Pride Nights in recent years. Last season, five pitchers with the Tampa Bay Rays cited their Christian faith in refusing to wear Pride jerseys.

Late last month, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass apologized for expressing support on social media for anti-LGBTQIA+ boycotts of Target and Bud Light.

During the recent NHL regular season, seven players opted out of wearing rainbow-colored jerseys on their teams' Pride Nights. The Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild did not wear rainbow warmup jerseys after doing so in previous seasons.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sox's Houck hit on face by liner in 'scary moment'

Published in Baseball
Friday, 16 June 2023 19:54

BOSTON -- Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck received stitches and was checked out at a hospital after he left Friday's matchup with the New York Yankees when struck on the face with a line drive.

"He was conscious the whole time, so that's good," manager Alex Cora said after Boston's 15-5 win. "He's got a cut, he's in the hospital right now getting further tests. Obviously, we'll know more at the end of the night. But he got lucky."

With Boston leading 10-1 in the fifth inning, New York's Kyle Higashioka led off and fell behind 1-2 in the count, before lining Houck's 92 mph sinker straight up the middle and hitting Houck. Cora said it cut him in his cheek area.

"He knew where he was right away and he kept saying he was fine," Cora said.

Houck immediately went to the ground and stayed down for a few minutes while he was attended to by athletic trainers. His face was bleeding, but he was able to get to his feet and walk off the field on his own power.

"Just a scary moment," teammate Justin Turner said. "To see him go down like that, not sure where it got him. But to see him get up and walk off the field, I didn't get a chance to talk to him in the clubhouse but a couple of other guys did. He was in pretty good spirits before he went to the hospital to get some scans. I'll check in on him. Hopefully it's just a few stiches and he'll be back out there."

He covered his nose with a towel and raised his left fist to the crowd as he walked down the steps into the dugout. Houck was replaced by Joe Jacques.

Houck allowed one run and four hits, with two strikeouts and a walk.

Britain's Andy Murray extended his winning run to eight matches as he beat Switzerland's Dominic Stricker to reach the last four of the Nottingham Open.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, 36, is hoping to move into the world's top 32 to be seeded for Wimbledon.

In the women's event, three British players reached the semi-finals too.

Heather Watson and Katie Boulter meet in one semi-final, while Jodie Burrage will face France's Alize Cornet after she beat American Elizabeth Mandlik.

"This week has been great and a couple of weeks ago we were hearing that British tennis is not doing well," said Murray after completing a 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 victory.

"You want all the players to reach their potential. Not everyone is going to win Wimbledon or a Grand Slam, but you want everyone to make the most of this opportunity to play tennis.

"The women have done really well and it should be a fun weekend for the British fans. It's rare that we have so many players in the later stages of a tournament."

For Murray, given a wildcard to play in this event, he is the top seed at 44th in the world and trying to get into the top 32 before Wimbledon, which begins on 3 July.

He had not dropped a set in his last two wins at Surbiton and also the first two matches at Nottingham - against Joris de Loore of Belgium and Frenchman Hugo Grenier.

Eighth seed Stricker took Murray to a tie-break in the opening set, which the Briton won 7-2 and included a superb passing winner with Stricker at the net.

Stricker, 117th in the rankings, also broke Murray's serve in the fourth game of the second set, but the advantage only lasted a few minutes before the Scot immediately broke back.

Murray then broke 20-year-old Stricker's serve in the 11th game of the second set before serving out to seal the success.

"It was a really tight match against one of the best young players in the world," he added. "He has a really good game, huge shots from the back of the court and a nice touch at the net so I'm really glad to get through.

"That was the best I've played in the last two weeks in terms of how I hit the ball, so that's really positive."

Britain's George Loffhagen, 414th in the world, had never previously won a match at Challenger Tour level before he beat Finland's Otto Virtanen and China's Shang Juncheng, ranked 131st and 176th respectively.

But the 22-year-old could not repeat the feat in his quarter-final against fifth-seeded Dominik Koepfer, who won in three sets, 7-5 4-6 6-3.

Koepfer plays unseeded Frenchman Arthur Cazaux in Sunday's final.

Skupski and Koolhof reach final in the Netherlands

Britain's Neal Skupski, along with Dutch team-mate Wesley Koolhof have reached the men's doubles final of the Libema Open in Rosmalen, the Netherlands.

The pair won 6-2 6-2 against the pairing of American Maxime Cressy and France's Fabrice Martin.

Skupski and Koolhof will now play the duo of Gonzalo Escobar of Ecuador and Aleksandr Nedovyesov in the final.

In the Stuttgart Open in Germany, American third seed Frances Tiafoe is now the highest-ranked player left in the tournament after he beat Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 to move into the semi-finals.

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to Richard Gasquet in the last 16 on Thursday, before the Frenchman was beaten by unseeded German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 7-5 in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Elsewhere, there were wins for Poland's Hubert Hurkacz and Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics over Australia's Christopher O'Connell and American second seed Taylor Fritz respectively.

Sara Cox, the world's first female professional rugby union referee, has been awarded an MBE.

She was the first woman to referee any men's top-tier game in England in 2018 in a Premiership Rugby Cup game.

Cox, who has officiated at the past two Olympic Games and three Women's World Cups was named in the King's Birthday Honours list for services to the game.

"I'm really proud, there's a lot of years and a lot of hard work and tears that have gone into it," said Cox, who turned professional as a referee in 2016 after injury cut short her playing career.

"There's been a lot of times that I have stood there and said 'I'm not sure that this is the pathway I want to take any more', but I've stuck with it, I've brought myself out of that and really been determined to keep going with it and keep achieving stuff.

"To get an MBE really nicely encompasses all the hard work that I've gone through and some of the sacrifices that I've had to make as well."

Cox - who was part of the first all-female officiating team in a European Challenge Cupexternal-link match earlier this season - only told her mother about her award prior to it being announced.

She says she does not feel being a woman has had much impact on her role - which also sees her regularly officiate in the men's second-tier Championship and the women's Premier 15s competition.

"The gender side of stuff gets taken out of it once you get onto a rugby pitch," she told BBC Radio Devon.

"You're there to do a job and you're there to be a professional, just like those guys that are on there.

"It's all a pressure cooker and you're surrounded by people that this is their livelihood, so the winning is what matters.

"For us, sometimes you do get things a little bit wrong and you do make a decision that they don't potentially like, so you do get a bit of conversation.

"But as a sport we're very, very keen on keeping respect and values and we do a lot of work around values in the background."

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Website: www.idig.com
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