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Tennis: Former Romanian tennis player Ilie Nastase (picture) will not be welcome at this year’s Wimbledon championships and could be stopped at the gate if he tries to attend, organisers said yesterday. The 70-year-old former French and US Open champion is provisionally banned from all International Tennis Federation (ITF) events after hurling allegedly racist and sexist comments during Romania’s Fed Cup tie with Britain last month. All England Club chairman Philip Brook said he “condemned” the behaviour of two-time Wimbledon runner-up Nastase. “In terms of an invitation to the Royal Box, he won’t receive one this year,” Brook told reporters yesterday.
Cycling: The Giro d’Italia has dropped controversial plans to award prizes for downhill speeds after coming under pressure from riders and officials. The year’s first Grand Tour begins its 100th edition tomorrow and was scheduled to include awards for riders producing the quickest speeds on descending sections of the three-week course. Cycling has been tinged with tragedy, including in recent years and months – Belgian rider Wouter Weylandt died during the 2011 Giro – and the UCI and riders’ groups were among those to express concerns to RCS Sport, the Giro organisers.
Basketball, NBA: Isaiah Thomas produced the goods when it mattered for the Boston Celtics as they beat the Washington Wizards 129-119 in overtime to go 2-0 up in their NBA play-off semi-final. Thomas scored a mammoth 53 points, including a crucial nine in the additional period, to lead the Celtics to victory in game two of the best-of-seven series. In his match-winning display, Thomas became just the fifth Celtics player to score 50 points in a play-off game.
Rugby Union: Three Wasps’ player have been short-listed for the Player’s Player of the Year award in a nod to the team’s stellar form this season that has propelled them to the top of the Aviva Premiership. Wingers Elliot Daly and Christian Wade and fly-half Jimmy Gopperth made the five-player short-list for the award next Wednesday. The other two are Northampton Saints forward Louis Picamoles and Saracens fly-half Owen Farrell. Daly, 24, has featured in 13 English Premiership matches, scoring four tries in Wasps’ charge to the play-offs.
Rugby League: Australian rugby league player Jarrod Mullen has been handed a four-year ban after testing positive for the banned steroid Drostanolone, the National Rugby League (NRL) said yesterday. The Newcastle Knights back, who represented New South Wales in the 2007 State of Origin series, had appealed to the NRL’s anti-doping body in March after a four-year ban was recommended by the Australia Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA). The basis of the 30-year-old’s appeal was that he had used the drug not for competitive advantage but to help with his recovery from a series of serious hamstring injuries.