When the outcome is success, a high-risk decision can look courageous and wise. But if it doesn’t go to plan, questions are asked.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina opted for an underarm serve at a crucial point in his third-round Wimbledon match against Holger Rune on Saturday.

After nearly four hours on Court Three, the pair were embroiled in a fifth-set tiebreak and all-square at 8-8 when the Spaniard rolled the dice with his risky strategy.

Rune, the 20-year-old sixth seed, comfortably dealt with the ball – hitting a fierce return winner for match point, eventually clinching an entertaining 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-4 7-6 (10-8) win.

“Yeah, that was crazy. That was very unexpected, for sure,” the Dane, who had saved two match points, told reporters afterwards. “In a way, it’s nice, because he was serving really well during the match. But also, you know, it’s pressure, because imagine I missed that one. That would feel awful.”

Asked if he would have served underarm at such an important period, the Dane said “no.”

“Every player has a different style. If he made it, it would have been the right shot. It’s tough to say,” he added.

“But yeah, I wouldn’t have done it. I thought that I would trust my serve and go big, also like I did in the match points, the match point I saved. I think it’s different from person to person.

“It was obviously surprising, but I don’t think he even bounced the ball, so I was aware that something was different.

“Then when I saw it, I just ran for it and tried to hit it where he wasn’t there. I mean, I choose to go cross. That was the right way. Yeah, I was maybe a little bit lucky, but I’m happy to be through.”

Davidovich Fokina, the world No. 34, had served seven aces in the match, winning an average 70% of points on his first serve and 60% on his second.

It was the second successive year he had lost a match at Wimbledon in unusual circumstances, receiving a penalty point when match point down last year for hitting a ball in frustration.

He told reporters, per Reuters: “I cannot explain what is going through my mind there in that moment because a lot of things are going through your mind, everybody is shouting and you are nervous.

“I cannot explain to you what is happening in my head.”

Rune, who lost in the first round at Wimbledon last year, will next play either 10th seed Frances Tiafoe or 21st seed Grigor Dimitrov.

Elena Milashina, a prominent Russian journalist who uncovered the horrific crackdown on gay men in Chechnya, has been beaten up alongside a lawyer while visiting the southern Russian republic.

Milashina and attorney Alexander Nemov were attacked while they were on the way to attend a court sentencing of a human rights activist in Chechnya’s regional capital, Grozny.

She said her attackers “knew what they were doing,” and were “in a hurry,” explaining she believes they intended to frighten her and gain access to her and Nemov’s devices.

“They beat us up two times,” Milashina said in a recorded interview with her employer Novaya Gazeta. “They were very specific, they knew what they wanted, knew what their limits were, beyond which they could not go.”

In the video interview Milashina is shown visibly bruised, her head shaved off and painted green.

“They did this,” she says when asked about her hair. “I don’t have any wounds, thank God, just bruises,” she added, going on to explain she believes Nemov and her were targeted for their professional activity,.

Nemov was beaten and stabbed with a knife, but he still planned on attending the court hearing, according to the Novaya Gazeta.

The newspaper reported that the perpetrators are unknown, also noting that Milashina and Nemov were asked to give a statement to police at the hospital but refused.

Milashina and Nemov were attending a court ruling in the case of Zarema Musaeva – the mother of Chechen activists, the Yangulbaev brothers, who are vocal critics of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Musaeva was sentenced to five years and six months in prison on charges of fraud and violence against a police officer, TASS said.

The Kremlin called it “a very serious attack” that required investigative actions and serious measures to be taken. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed of the attack and the incident is being handled by Russia’s human rights ombudsman.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched an investigation into the attack.

In a statement to Russian state media RIA Novosti, Moskalkova confirmed that the pair were attacked by unknown people and that Milashina’s fingers were broken. Moskalkova also said she asked the Commissioner for Human Rights in Chechnya to ensure the safety of the journalist.

‘Cowardly assault’

Human rights groups have condemned the violent assault, calling for a swift investigation.

Sergey Babinets, the head of the Russian human rights organization the Crew Against Torture, said that the attackers had mentioned Milashina’s work and previous court reporting while beating the pair. “This is clearly not a gangster attack, this is a direct attack for their work,” he said in a statement

“Amnesty International condemns this cowardly assault in the strongest terms and calls on the Russian authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure the safety of those who seek truth and justice,” Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director, Marie Struthers, said.

Milashina has been previously threatened for her journalism. Following her reporting on a crackdown on gay men in Chechnya in 2017, Muslim clerics in Chechnya called for “retribution” against her and other journalists. She faced death threats and was temporarily forced to flee the country.

The 2017 crackdown saw hundreds of men allegedly held and tortured in detention.

The detentions prompted heavy international criticism of Russia. The country has a checkered record on gay rights, breaking up gay pride marches and passing anti-gay propaganda laws.

But the allegations of detention camps and torture emerging from Chechnya were unprecedented. In response, Chechen leader and Kremlin-backed strongman Kadyrov said there were no gay people in his republic, and that if there were any they should be taken away from the region

The BBC has confirmed it is looking into allegations of sexual misconduct by one of its presenters.

“We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them,” a BBC spokesperson confirmed in a statement on Saturday.

“As part of that, if we receive information that requires further investigation or examination we will take steps to do this. That includes actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail and understanding of the situation,” the BBC statement said,

“If we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact that can limit our ability to progress things but it does not mean our enquiries stop. If, at any point, new information comes to light or is provided – including via newspapers – this will be acted upon appropriately, in line with internal processes,” the BBC spokesperson said.

On Friday, UK tabloid newspaper The Sun published a report on a woman accusing an unnamed male BBC presenter of paying her teen child for sexually explicit photographs.

The BBC spokesperson would not confirm the identity of the presenter or their current status at the broadcaster.

The report led to several BBC presenters to release public statements on Twitter denying that they were the subject of the article.

Large crowds of protesters across Israel have come out in the 27th consecutive week of demonstrations against the government’s judicial overhaul plans.

Organizers say protesters are out in force and estimate 365,000 people have come out in cities around the country, with 180,000 people in the streets of central Tel Aviv alone, among the largest protests so far.

The protests come just before the bill to lessen judicial oversight of the executive and legislative branches will get its first reading in the Knesset, the national legislature, on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has renewed its efforts to pass judicial overhaul, this time in stages, after six months of fierce opposition from center, left and even right-wing citizens, military reservists, and political parties.

This second effort is galvanizing protesters across the country, with a spokesman for the national protest movement promising an “all nighter.”

At the end of June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one the most controversial aspects of his government’s proposed judicial reform, a provision allowing the Knesset to overturn Supreme Court rulings, has been dropped.

Israel has no check on the power of the Knesset other than the Supreme Court.

As the protests reached their peak this Saturday, social media videos and Israeli press reported Israeli police using water cannons to clear demonstrators from blocking one of Tel Aviv’s main highways.

At least 22 people have been killed and dozens injured in an airstrike in the city of Omdurman, Sudan, according to a Reuters report citing the Sudanese ministry of health.

In a statement released Saturday, the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said that more than 31 people were killed with homes demolished and dozens of civilians injured.

“The Rapid Support Forces condemn the most severe aircraft bombing on Saturday morning, on innocent citizens in a number of residential neighborhoods,” the statement read.

“We call on all activists at home and abroad to do their responsibilities to monitor and document the killings committed by the coup d’etatists and the ruling system on a daily basis.”

Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF erupted in April, killing hundreds and injuring thousands more, officials say – while parts of the capital Khartoum have become a war zone.

SAF said they carried out an operation on Saturday in Omdurman, Sudan’s most populous city, killing a number of rebels and destroying combat vehicles.

Data from the United Nations International Organization for Migration, (IOM) said nearly 2.8 million people have fled Sudan, many without passports, for neighboring countries like Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya.

A restaurant in China that challenged its customers to eat more than 100 dumplings in return for a free meal has fallen foul of authorities, who are investigating whether it has violated the country’s anti-food waste law.

Local authorities in Yibin city in the southwestern province of Sichuan swooped on the restaurant after hearing of its “king of big stomach challenge,” the state-affiliated news outlet The Cover reported this week.

The challenge reportedly involved patrons competing to eat 108 chaoshous, or spicy wonton dumplings, as quickly as possible to win a free meal and additional prizes.

To drum up interest, the restaurant had advertised the offer on social media to entice patrons only to find itself in the hot seat when the State Administration for Market Regulation said it would open an investigation into whether it had breached the law surrounding food waste.

While eating contests are relatively common in Western countries and can bring fame for their winners – like Joey Chestnut, who last week won Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island by downing 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes – they can be a sensitive matter in China.

Many in the country still have memories of the famine of the 1950s and 60s that killed an estimated 45 million people.

The Cover said the restaurant, which it did not name, was one of several being probed by the authorities over similar competitions.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has in the past called food waste “shocking and distressing” and in March this year said agricultural supplies were like the foundation of national security.

The law against wasting food was enacted in 2021, following pointed government criticisms of online bloggers who live-streamed themselves binge eating to draw in viewers. Many of their accounts were subsequently suspended by the social media platforms.

Under the law, restaurant owners can be fined up to 10,000 yuan ($1,400) if their establishments “induce or mislead customers to order excessively to cause obvious waste.”

Radio and television stations, as well as online video and audio providers, face a maximum fine of 10 times that amount if they are found to be involved in “making, publishing, promoting programs or audio messages about eating excessively and binge eating and drinking.”

The restaurant in Yibin “demonstrates behaviors of binge eating and drinking and inducing customers to order excessively,” the Cover said, citing the local market regulator.

However, some Chinese internet users have criticized the authorities for overreaching.

“Is this counted as a waste? Why not let people compete for the biggest eater? Will the food not consumed there actually go to the poor?” wrote one user on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.

Another user pointed to the country’s poor track record on food safety, which has included scandals ranging from contaminated baby milk powder to the use of “gutter oil” – recycled oil tainted with food waste or even sewage.

“You didn’t regulate food safety … but this?” the user said.

The Chicago Cubs earned their first win in franchise history at Yankee Stadium on Friday night, as pitcher Jameson Taillon led the team to a 3-0 victory over the New York Yankees.

Taillon, who played for the Yankees in 2021 and 2022, threw eight scoreless innings to help snap the Cubs’ 0-12 streak in the Bronx, which included a 0-5 record at the current Yankee Stadium, according to MLB.com, which New York moved to in 2009.

“It felt good to be back,” Taillon said of his return to New York. “Playing in this environment didn’t catch me off guard. I had a good pitch-mix going. I feel like I was on the attack. I feel like I was in a lot of good counts.

“I felt like for once I had a lot of hard-hit balls right at people. They did square some balls up. I do feel I made a lot of good pitches throughout the night. No free passes. Overall, I thought it was solid.”

“I feel like for a while there, I’ve been trying to keep my head down and grind and put up results for that reason. I don’t know if Cubs fans truly know exactly what I am about yet when I’m good and right,” Taillon added.

“I’ve been putting in the work, and it’s nice to see it come to fruition. Hopefully we can keep knocking them out. This isn’t something to jump for joy. It’s definitely a nice night. I’ll take my notes and remember what I did well tonight.”

The Yankees have now lost three straight while the Cubs earned their third win in four games.

Edwin van der Sar, who won the Champions League with Ajax and Manchester United during a glittering 21-year soccer career, is in intensive care following bleeding around his brain, Ajax said in a statement.

The Dutch club described Van der Sar’s condition as “stable but still concerning” on Saturday and said it was sharing the news on behalf of his wife, Annemarie.

“The Van der Sar family, along with Ajax, is grateful and deeply touched by the many messages of support,” the statement read.

Manchester United wrote on social media: “Sending all our love and strength to you, Edwin.”

As well as his two Champions League titles, the former goalkeeper also won four Premier League titles with Manchester United and four Eredivisie titles with Ajax during an illustrious career.

The 52-year-old, who won 130 caps for the Netherlands, was widely considered one of the world’s best goalkeepers for the majority of his career.

After retiring in 2011, Van der Sar went on to join the board at Ajax before becoming chief executive in 2016. He resigned from the position in May after Ajax finished third in the Dutch first division, missing out on the Champions League for the first time in 14 years.

Ajax said Van der Sar “will remain in intensive care for the time being.”

There was a period during Andy Murray’s second-round match against fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas where it seemed the former champion was going to roll back the years and produce another memorable victory on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

But the 36-year-old Briton ultimately fell to a 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (2-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 defeat, and this latest Wimbledon loss felt particularly crushing for a 36-year-old who had hopes of reaching the latter stages of this year’s tournament after a difficult few years.

Murray, a two-time winner of this grand slam, led by two sets to one in a thrilling battle before play was stopped Thursday because of the tournament’s 11 p.m local time curfew.

On resumption on Friday, Tsitsipas – 12 years younger than Murray – took the upper hand, drawing level after a fourth-set tie-break and securing the final set to leave Murray pondering whether he’ll play at his home grand slam again.

When asked how confident he was of competing at Wimbledon next year, Murray told reporters: “I don’t know. Motivation is obviously a big thing.

“Continuing having early losses in tournaments like this doesn’t necessarily help with that. I don’t plan to stop right now. But, yeah, this one will take a little while to get over.”

Murray exited Wimbledon at the second round last year and lost in the third round in 2021. He has not gone beyond the third round in a major since 2017.

After winning two tournaments in the build up to Wimbledon this year, and skipping the French Open to focus on the grass court season, the former world No.1 hoped for better this time around.

“Ultimately this was an opportunity for me. I had a good chance of having a proper run for the first time in a long time at a slam. I didn’t take it,” said Murray, who had career-saving hip surgery in 2019.

“Regardless of the atmosphere and those things, it’s still very, very disappointing to be sitting here right now.”

US Women’s National Team star Megan Rapinoe, a two-time Women’s World Cup winner, has announced she will retire at the end of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season.

Rapinoe, an Olympic gold medalist from London 2012, will play in her fourth and final World Cup this summer in Australia and New Zealand, before returning to her NWSL team OL Reign.

In addition to her many on-field achievements, Rapinoe is well-known for her work on social issues, ranging from LGBTQ+ rights to racial inequality to gender and pay equity. In 2022, Rapinoe became the first soccer player to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“I’ve been able to have such an incredible career, and this game has brought me all over the world and allowed me to meet so many amazing people,” Rapinoe told reporters at a press conference ahead of USWNT’s friendly match against Wales.

“I feel incredibly grateful to have played as long as I have, to be as successful as we’ve been, and to have been a part of a generation of players who undoubtedly left the game better than they found it. To be able to play one last World Cup and one last NWSL season and go out on my own terms is incredibly special.”

“I will forever cherish the friendships and support over the years in this game, and I am beyond excited for one last ride with the National Team and the Reign,” she added.

Since making her USWNT debut in July 2006, Rapinoe has gone on to win 199 caps for her country and was described by US Soccer as “one of the most impactful figures in the history of soccer in the United States and in the global women’s game.”

The 38-year-old has scored 63 goals and registered 73 assists for the USWNT and in 2019 won the Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s The Best award after a scintillating Women’s World Cup in which she earned the Golden Ball and Golden Boot.

In her domestic career, Rapinoe won the French league title and French Cup with Lyon in the 2012-2013 season and has won three NWSL Shields with the Seattle Reign and OL Reign.

“Megan is a generational talent,” said USWNT general manager Kate Markgraf. “When you talk about players performing on the biggest stages, she’s right up there with the best to ever do it for the US Women’s National Team.

“And that’s just her contributions on the field. Her contributions off the field are the epitome of someone who saw that she had a large platform and used it for good.”

USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski called Rapinoe “one of the most important players in women’s soccer history and a personality like no other.”

“She has produced so many memorable moments for her team and the fans on the field that will be remembered for a very long time, but her impact on people as a human being may be even more important,” Andonovski added.

“It’s been a wonderful experience to coach her in the NWSL and for the National Team and I’m looking forward to her being an important part of our team at the World Cup.”