The Sport Matrix: Thursday 17 July 2014

McIlroy seeking third career major

Rory McIlroy leads a British charge as The Open begins at Hoylake today. “If I were to win my third major here, it would be the third leg of a career Grand Slam,” the Ulsterman said. “Not many have done that.” Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell also hope to impress. MORE

Mickelson ready to defend Open crown

Phil Mickelson is looking forward to opening his defence of The Open at Hoylake today. “What made The Open so emotional for me were the challenges I had to overcome,” he said. “Challenges of learning links golf. It was an obstacle to overcome.” MORE

Tensions linger as series moves on

Relations between England and India remained sour last night in the wake of the Jimmy Anderson affair, with the captains taking differing views on the sequence of events at Trent Bridge last week. The Second Test of the five-match series begins at Lord’s this morning. MORE

Gooch: Cook must remodel his game

Former England captain Graham Gooch believes Alastair Cook’s struggles are more than just a temporary lack of form. “He has to go back and look at his game and remake it, work out ways to score,” he said. “It is a challenge he has got and it is up to him to find a way [out].” MORE

Barça: Suarez can learn from errors

Barcelona are convinced new signing Luis Suarez can “learn from his mistakes” after his move was confirmed. “We accept human beings with all their imperfections,” director Andoni Zubizarreta said. “People get things right and get things wrong.” MORE

Home favourite wins as Nibali leads

Tony Gallopin became the second Frenchman to win a stage at this year’s Tour inside the past week, taking the honours on stage 11 days after Blel Kadri triumphed. Vincenzo Nibali held on to the yellow jersey and leads by over two minutes. MORE

Troubled Serena retains her coach

Serena Williams will continue working with coach Patrick Mouratoglou, despite recent form and health worries. “Serena is going through a difficult period,” he said. “We had many hours of discussions and have restarted our work.”

Ajmal signs off in style with a win

Saeed Ajmal was afforded a victorious send-off at Worcestershire as he took his match total to seven wickets to help them to a 204-run win over Leicestershire. The promotion hopefuls were also aided by impressive all-rounder Joe Leach. MORE

Warburton fails Games drugs test

Gareth Warburton has spoken of his shock after becoming the first British athlete in an international team to fail a drugs test in three years. The 800m Welshman will now miss next week’s Commonwealth Games. MORE

David Tremayne

Nico Rosberg’s new deal is a no-brainer for Mercedes. And it is good news for Lewis Hamilton, too. They have raced since they were kids in karting and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. MORE