Iga Swiatek glides past Collins to become live Wimbeldon contender
One positive consequence from Iga Swiatek’s relatively poor clay court run has been the benefit of added time.Instead of arriving for the grass court season exhausted from her efforts, for once she had additional time to train, work and adapt her game to the one surface she has yet to conquer.Swiatek’s growing comfort was reflected in an efficient performance as she dismantled the dangerous Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.Swiatek will face Clara Tauson.The 23rd seed upset the 2022 Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina, the 11th seed, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
“I was just in the zone,” said Swiatek.“I knew what I wanted to play and I knew I needed to be brave and just let my hand do the job.Play fast and grab it from the beginning.You can’t let Danielle play her winners.I’m really happy with the performance because there were no ups and downs.
”After winning five grand slams, establishing herself as the most successful player of her generation and spending most of the past few years as the world No 1, the No 8 seeding next to Swiatek’s name, reflective of her recent difficulties, looks very strange.The 24-year-old has not won a title since the 2024 French Open and has been open about how her perfectionism, one of her biggest strengths, has been her biggest weakness in recent months, often leading to her becoming overwhelmed by negative thoughts.Even though she was unable to win a fourth consecutive French Open title last month, it appeared to mark a turning point for Swiatek as she stopped overthinking and began to play with greater freedom again.Putting together a series of confident performances to reach the semi-finals, Swiatek left Paris after her defeat to Aryna Sabalenka feeling as if she had regained her confidence.While an exhausted Swiatek would usually prioritise rest after her triumphs at Roland Garros, often returning home to Poland for a few days and then playing catch up for the rest of the grass court season, this year she headed straight to Mallorca for grass court prep.
Sign up to The RecapThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionafter newsletter promotionHer run to the final in Bad Homburg on the eve of the Championships, her first final of the year and her first final on grass, represented another good result despite her loss to Jessica Pegula.“It’s much more fun this year,” she said.“I had some practices where the ball was listening to me, which was pretty new on grass.I’m just looking for that feeling for the matches as well and today was a good day.In Bad Homburg, I played many good matches so I’m getting confidence.
It’s a new experience feeling good on the grass.”There was plenty of subtext to this match.Last year, at the Olympic Games in Paris, the pair had an extended conversation at the net after Collins’s retirement from their quarter-final.Collins revealed she had called Swiatek “insincere” during their handshake.Collins has made it clear she does not care for Swiatek.
In May, Collins was responsible for one of Swiatek’s worst clay-court losses in recent years in the third round at the Italian Open,This time, however, the American had no response to an excellent performance,Swiatek served brilliantly, winning 86% of points behind her first serve,Despite holding on to only one break for most of the second set, she did not lose her serve all match,On her groundstrokes, Swiatek also struck her forehand brilliantly, constantly using it to dominate the baseline exchanges.
She showed her increased comfort with her movement by effortlessly soaking up Collins’s and forcing errors with her defence.With her spinny forehand, her preference for slower surfaces that afford her more time on the ball, her serving struggles and the general challenge of moving well on grass, there are countless reasons why Swiatek has struggled to produce her best on the surface.Many different players and playing styles are capable of thriving on these more forgiving modern courts.Sometimes you just need time.
‘We promised change but people aren’t feeling it yet’: Labour rues poor first year
In a stiflingly hot room at a health centre in East London, as he announced the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS on Thursday, Keir Starmer was confronted with a brutal assessment of his first year in power.“You’ve U-turned on your reforms, your MPs don’t trust you, and markets worry that you’ve lost resolve on fiscal discipline. It’s the epitome, isn’t it, of sticking-plaster politics and chaos that you promised voters you would end?” a television journalist asked.Initially, Starmer avoided answering the question, but he eventually addressed the fall-out from his government’s chaotic handling of its welfare bill. “I’m not going to pretend the last few days have been easy: they’ve been tough,” he admitted
Reform councillor’s boast about removing ‘trans-ideological’ books from children’s library sections falls flat
A boast by a Reform UK councillor that he ensured the removal of “trans-ideological material and books” from the children’s section of his county’s libraries has fallen flat after it emerged that no such material ever existed there.Paul Webb, the cabinet member for communities at Kent council, whose portfolio covers libraries, posted a video to X in which he said he had been “recently contacted by a concerned member of the public who found trans-ideological material and books in the children’s section of one of our libraries”.He said: “I’ve looked into this and this was the case. I’ve today issued instructions for them all to be removed from the children’s section of any of our libraries.“They do not belong in the children’s section of our libraries
Sultana’s alliance with Corbyn shows Starmer there is life in the Labour left yet
A year ago, many around Keir Starmer believed the Labour left had been sealed in a tomb. The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn, the disciplinary action against Labour MPs including Zarah Sultana and the push to the political centre were supposed to fracture the party’s leftwing.But this week’s drama, which included the prime minister narrowly avoiding defeat on the welfare bill after 49 Labour MPs rebelled, the chancellor’s tears during prime minister’s questions and Sultana announcing she was quitting the party to join Corbyn’s Independent Alliance, has shown that the forces are very much alive.It has also shown that the votes for a populist challenge remain there for the taking, if anyone can get organised enough to harness them.In the months after Starmer’s landslide win, figures excluded from Labour’s selection processes have been regrouping in the spaces he does not occupy: outside Westminster
Ban on Palestine Action to take effect after legal challenge fails
Being a member of, or showing support for, Palestine Action will be a criminal offence from Saturday after a last-minute legal challenge to suspend the group’s proscription under anti-terrorism laws failed.A ban on Palestine Action, which uses direct action to mainly target Israeli weapons factories in the UK and their supply chain, was voted through by parliament this week but lawyers acting for its co-founder Huda Ammori had sought to prevent it taking effect.After a hearing at the high court on Friday, however, Mr Justice Chamberlain declined to grant her application for interim relief. Ammori said: “The home secretary is rushing through the implementation of the proscription at midnight tonight despite the fact that our legal challenge is ongoing and that she has been completely unclear about how it will be enforced, leaving the public in the dark about their rights to free speech and expression after midnight tonight when this proscription comes into effect.”Chamberlain said: “I have concluded that the harm which would ensue if interim relief is refused but the claim later succeeds is insufficient to outweigh the strong public interest in maintaining the order in force
Jeremy Corbyn confirms talks about forming new party with Zarah Sultana
Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he is in discussions about creating a new leftwing political party, hours after the MP Zarah Sultana announced she was quitting Labour to co-lead the project.Sultana, the MP for Coventry South who had the Labour whip suspended last year for voting against the government over the two-child limit on benefits, said on Thursday night she was quitting Labour and would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with Corbyn.Her announcement took some on the left of Labour by surprise and was seen as premature and potentially counterproductive.While Corbyn has long hinted at plans to establish a more organised platform for leftwing and pro-Palestinian campaigning, he has so far avoided confirming any formal structure or leadership arrangements.Corbyn, the MP for Islington North, is understood to be reluctant to take on the title of leader, as he has a preference for collective decision-making, and he believes imposing a hierarchy too soon could risk fragmenting the coalition of like-minded MPs he has spent months encouraging to work together
Jeremy Corbyn says ‘discussions are ongoing’ after Zarah Sultana claimed she would ‘co-lead new party’ with him – as it happened
Jeremy Corbyn has said that “discussions are ongoing” after former Labour MP Zarah Sultana said that she would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with the ex-Labour leader.In a post on social media, the independent MP and former Labour leader said:Real change is coming.One year on from the election, this Labour government has refused to deliver the change people expected and deserved. Poverty, inequality and war are not inevitable. Our country needs to change direction, now
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