Sportsworld

Delyth Lloyd is joined by the BBC's tennis correspondent Russell Fuller, former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski, and WTA Tour winner Jill Craybas to reflect on the 2025 tennis season.With Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner winning the last eight Grand Slams between them, the panel discuss whether their dominance could become boring.World number seven Alex de Minaur tells us how the packed tennis schedule is impacting on players' physical and mental health.We look at the contenders for the women's majors in 2026.And Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool join us to chat about ending the year as the world number one doubles pairing.Timecodes: 00:56 - 2025 highlights 03:45 - Alcaraz and Sinner's dominance in 2025 09:20 - Will Sinner's doping ban tarnish his career? 11:24 - Could Alcaraz and Sinner's rivalry become boring? 15:07 - Alex de Minaur interview 21:31 - Is the tennis schedule too intense? 28:00 - Aryna Sabalenka the dominant force in the women's game 30:59 - The unpredictability at the top of women's tennis 32:58

The club versus country row often causes friction, but midfielder Soren Lerby once found a way to satisfy both.He played for Denmark and Bayern Munich on the same day. In different countries.On the afternoon of 13 November 1984 - exactly 40 years ago - Lerby lined up for his national team in Dublin for their final qualifier for the 1986 World Cup.Bayern, meanwhile, had a last-16 German Cup match at Bochum later that evening.Photo: Soren Lerby of Denmark in may 1986 (Credit: VI Images via Getty Images)

The Women’s Cricket World Cup is being held in India for the fourth time, the three previous editions have all been won by Australia. The best performance from India on home soil was a semi-final back in 1997. Their best result anywhere was a runner-up position in England 20 years later. When the India men won the World Cup for the first time in 1983 it was a cultural turning point, igniting a national passion for cricket and instilling belief in the country's potential. So, Prakash Wakankar, Alison Mitchell and former India international Samantha Lobatto investigate whether a win for this women’s team could do the same. Image: Amanjot Kaur of India celebrates with team mate Harmanpreet Kaur after taking the wicket of Kavisha Dilhari of Sri Lanka (not pictured) during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup India 2025 match between India and Sri Lanka at Barsapara Cricket Stadium on September 30, 2025 in Guwahati, India. (Photo by Matt Roberts-ICC via Getty Images)

Awaiting the start of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, Sam Kendricks had just been at the USA Track and Field team meeting and posed for the team photograph when he received a notification which said his name in English and, alongside it, one word: POSITIVE.In that moment, everything changed. The reigning world champion and Rio Olympic bronze medallist would play no further part in the Tokyo Olympics. Sam takes us back to that time and shares exactly what happened to him. It is a harrowing account. The experience has left a lasting impression and made him wonder whether he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. During our discussion, Sam relives the whole ordeal. He offers his thoughts on whether it is ever right, under any circumstances, to detain someone for ten days the way that he was. He felt like a prisoner and no-one was able to free him.Now, four years on, he’s returning to Tokyo for the World Championships. How will he make peace with the country? How much will the memories of what happened in 2021 cast a

Cordell Tinch went to college on a Football scholarship, but soon found he preferred Track and Field. Then the pandemic happened and he came home and got a job. At that stage, there were no thoughts about completing his education, or pursuing Track as a career. Three years went by, and then he received a phone call. It was the beginning of his return to college and to the sprint hurdles.Since 2023, he’s risen through the rankings to become one of the fastest 110 metre hurdlers in the sport’s history. There have still been bumps along the way. Carrying an injury in Olympic year, he finished fourth at the US Trials and wasn’t selected for Paris 2024. But that set-back was just more fuel for what he’s been able to achieve in 2025. He ran 12.87 seconds to win the Shanghai Diamond League meeting, the joint fourth fastest time in history. But he knows that it will be the Tokyo World Championships which define his season and his career so far.Cordell explains his journey to this point and how he looks after his ment

Emmanouil Karalis was born to a Greek father and a Ugandan mother, and experienced racism growing up in Athens. He was told ‘black people don’t pole vault’ and seriously considered quitting the sport in which he was already proving to be world class. He explains what it was like being a young person of mixed heritage in Greece during a time when the far right ‘Golden Dawn’ party was enjoying it’s greatest period of influence.It wasn’t ‘sunshine and rainbows’ he tells us during a ‘horrible’ time for non-white Greeks. When he reached the age of 18, he decided it was time to speak out about the racism and about his mental health. He says opening that door and taking that first step has helped those athletes who have come after him.Emmanouil - known more familiarly as Manolo – has been winning global and continental medals since the age of 15. He’s had success all the way up through the age-groups and first competed against Mondo Duplantis when both were still just boys. Their rivalry and their friendship has co

Prudence Sekgodiso won South Africa’s first World Indoor gold when she took the 800 metres title at the 2025 Championships in Nanjing, China.She discusses that victory, and her belief that it will lead to more titles. Prudence also describes wanting to quit the sport in 2021, after a positive test for Covid prevented her from competing at that year’s World under-20 Championships. She explains what happened, and who was there for her when she needed support.Growing up, there was no running track in her village – just gravel. The possibility that running could be her career didn’t seem like a reality until she moved to Pretoria. Her first national senior title soon followed at the age of just 17.Prudence is coached by Caster Semenya’s former coach. She says that what Caster achieved in the sport is an inspiration to her. They also competed together at the World Cross Country Championships where Prudence experienced first-hand how good Semenya was at motivating their team. Prudence takes us back to the last edit

Ethan Katzberg won Olympic Hammer gold in Paris. He was already the World champion and, at the age of just 23, his dominance of the event has led to him being nicknamed ‘Canadian Thor’.He describes in depth how he discovered hammer throwing, and how success came with some difficult decisions along the way – like telling his parents he was dropping out of college.He takes us back to the final in Paris, where he led from the first round. Did that ease the pressure on him, or add to it? We also discuss the mechanics of throwing the hammer, and just how wrong it can go; Ethan’s first experience of a global championship was at the World under-20s in 2021, where he failed to register a distance. He takes us back to that final where he ended up with ‘no mark’ against his name and explains the lessons it taught him. Ethan can throw the Hammer out beyond 84m, but the event’s world record is more than 86m and was set in 1986, during the era of the Soviet Union. Does Ethan think that record is casting a shadow over the

Cole Hocker won Olympic 1500m gold in Paris. He describes in depth how the last lap of the race unfolded and how he claimed the greatest victory of his career.Cole discusses the era he’s running in and how this period compares to what’s gone before. He explains the impact that Steve Prefontaine had on him growing up, from watching videos of his races to drawing inspiration from his quotes. Bearing all of that in mind, Cole gives us a real insight into his decision to attend the University of Oregon in Eugene – meaning he’d be joining the same college track team which produced Prefontaine and so many others. What was it like to embrace that opportunity and the inevitable pressure that came with it?Paris was Cole’s second Olympic Games. Had Tokyo gone ahead as planned in 2020, he’s doubtful he would have made the team. As it turned out, the delay caused by the pandemic meant that he was ready by the time the Games were staged in 2021. How was the journey through that year’s US Trials all the way to the f

Former England international, Natasha Dowie, and Euros winner, Fran Kirby, join John Bennett as we look ahead to Euro 2025. Will England defend their crown or will Spain add the title to their 2023 World Cup win? Who else is among the favourites and what about debutants Wales and Poland? We hear from England captain Leah Williamson, Poland and Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor – the top scorer in the world in 2025 – and other stars who will be playing in Switzerland for the Championship.

Mackenzie Little won Commonwealth Javelin silver in 2022 and World bronze in 2023. She won those medals whilst qualifying as a medical doctor.Following her bronze at the Worlds in Budapest, she was due back at the hospital to continue her training, but had to delay her departure for Australia so that she could attend her medal ceremony. She describes how flying back from a Worlds or an Olympics and going straight into a night shift is a very grounding experience with no time to dwell on the highs or lows of competition.After her medal in Budapest, there were patients who couldn’t have cared less where she’d just been. Equally though, after personal disappointment at the Paris Olympics, her patients’ enthusiasm and excitement for her even being at the Olympics gave her a sense of perspective on what she had achieved.Mackenzie is currently a second year doctor. She explains how she plots a course through life that allows her to continue her medical training and her track and field career. We recorded this episo

New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr had a golden 2024. He was one of a handful of athletes who won the World Indoors in March, and then followed it up with an Olympic title at the Games in Paris.But Hamish almost missed that final. He was facing elimination in the qualifying round at the Stade de France. After two failures at 2.20 metres, he tells us he thought about retiring if he failed again and crashed out of the Olympics. Hamish explains how, after going to that ‘dark place’, he knew he had the mental strength to win gold in the final.At the previous Olympics in Tokyo, Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi had elected to share the High Jump gold medal and not to enter a jump-off to determine the winner. Hamish describes how early on in his final he began to wonder whether he’d have to make the same decision. As it turned out, he and Shelby McEwen did finish the competition with identical records and couldn’t be separated. So why did they choose to jump-off for gold? It’s the High Jump’s equivalent of a penal

Dominica’s Thea LaFond had a golden 2024. She was one of a handful of athletes who won the World Indoors in March, and then followed it up with an Olympic title at the Games in Paris.That night, the entire population of her native Dominica could have fitted inside the Stade de France. Her gold at the Games was the island nation’s first of any colour in any Olympic sport, just as her World Indoor title was their first medal of any colour at those Championships. Having moved to the United States at the age of five, Thea describes how hard it was to adapt to a different kind of life. Dance, and later track and field, helped her with that transition. She remembers trying the Triple Jump for the first time, taking off and doing three ballet-style leaps with straight legs before the coach told her that wasn’t the way to do it!Thea has remained a child of both countries, and is rightly proud of everything she’s achieved wearing the vest of Dominica. She was their only representative at the Glasgow World Indoor

Karsten Warholm has been one of the biggest stars in world athletics since winning the 400m hurdles world title in 2017, going onto become Olympic champion and win multiple World and European titles.But why has the Norwegian felt like he has needed a ‘reboot’ ahead of targeting a fourth world title at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo?Warholm shares more in a special podcast with Sportsworld’s Lee James ahead of the start of the 2025 season, including an insight into his training, how the new 300m hurdles Diamond League event came about and whether there could be a head-to-head race between him and 110m hurdles world champion Grant Holloway.Image: Karsten Warholm of Norway with flag after competing in the Men's 400m Hurdles during Day 14 of Athletics - Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 9, 2024 in Paris, France. (Credit: BSR Agency/Getty Images)

Sebastian Vettel dominated the sport in his Red Bull car before leaving to join the most successful and iconic team on the grid - Ferrari.The German went onto win 53 Grand Prix's during his career and came close to delivering the Italian team their first drivers title since 2007 when he twice finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton. After retiring from the sport in 2022, Vettel has dedicated his efforts to sustainability projects and uses his platform to promote many environmental and social causes around the world.In a special podcast, Sportsworld's Lee James finds out more about Vettel's life after Formula One.Photo: Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Aston Martin F1 Team receives a guard of honour on the grid prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on November 20, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Credit: Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Julien Alfred made history in 2024 when she won the women’s 100m gold in Paris becoming St. Lucia’s first ever Olympic medallist.In a special Sportsworld podcast, the sprinter sits down with Sportsworld’s Lee James to look back on her historic year, what it took to become Olympic champion and what it was like receiving a hero’s welcome back home.Also hear how Alfred’s athletics career started with her first coach Cuthbert Modeste and the impact it’s had on St. Lucia with Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports in Saint Lucia, Dr. Uralise Delaire.Image: Julien Alfred of Team Saint Lucia celebrates winning the gold medal during the Women's 100m Final on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 03, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

A new era is beginning at Manchester United with former Braga and Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim officially installed as head coach. He'll take charge of his first match against Ipswich Town, but who is Ruben Amorim and what makes him tick? In a special Sportsworld podcast, United We Stand fanzine editor Andy Mitten joins Delyth Lloyd to find out more about Amorim from those who know him best - his childhood friends, former colleagues, players who have worked with him, as well as discovering what it takes to manage one of the biggest clubs in the world. Photo: Ruben Amorim visits Old Trafford on November 13, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Credit: Manchester United via Getty Images)

Ahead of the start of the Paralympics in Paris which will see 4,400 athletes competing in 22 sports, Mani Djazmi looks ahead to the Games.Mani is joined by 16-time British Paralympic gold medallist Tanni Grey-Thompson, Australia’s most successful Paralympian Ellie Cole and journalist Andy Stevenson.Indian shooter Avani Lekhara explains how sport has transformed her life, while French wheelchair tennis superstar Stephane Houdet expresses his excitement about the prospect of competing in a home Games.Photo: A general view of the 'Three Agitos' Paralympic symbol as it is installed at the Arc de Triomphe ahead of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games on June 28, 2024 in Paris, France. Paris will host the Summer Paralympic Games from August 28 till September 8, 2024. (Credit: Getty Images)

After 16 days of competition across 32 sports with 329 gold medallists the Olympic Games in Paris has drawn to a close. Lee James is joined by French broadcaster Julian Laurens to assess the impact of the Games and the legacy they can have on the city of Paris and the nation of France.The team look back at the memorable moments and athletes from the Games, and what may be to come in Los Angeles in 2028 with the help of USA Today’s Rachel Bowers as well as Sportsworld's Ed Harry and Ade Adedoyin.Image: A general view inside Eiffel Tower Stadium following the Women's Semifinal match between Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Team Australia and Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa of Team Brazil on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on August 08, 2024 in Paris, France. (Credit: Getty Images)

BBC World Service introduce you to the five bosses who’ll be making their managerial debuts in the Premier League this season.Find out all you need to know about the managers including Pep Guardiola’s former assistant, the man following in Jurgen Klopp’s footsteps and the youngest permanent coach in Premier League history. Plus two managers who are tipped for big things after winning promotion last season.Sportsworld’s John Bennett is joined by former Tottenham defender Sebastien Bassong and journalist Carl Anka, plus four experts who’ll give you an insight into the personality of the new head coaches you’ll be hearing during Sportsworld’s Premier League coverage this season.Image: Head coach Arne Slot of Liverpool yells from the side line in the first half during their pre-season friendly against the Real Betis at Acrisure Stadium on July 26, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)