Murray won't win Wimbledon

Andy Murray may have sent BBC1 ratings through the roof (no pun intended), caused mild angina in middle-aged women across the land and ultimately reached the quarter-finals, but his five-set struggle against Stanislas Wawrinka encouraged more doubts over his ability to win Wimbledon.

Murray has always favoured the US Open, but large swathes of British fans believe the tennis season lasts two weeks in June and July. The Scot could win six majors overseas, but still wouldn't be truly adored by the SW19-centric, face-painted flag wavers. Only a Wimbledon title will do.

But they'll have to wait at least a year longer. Juan Carlos Ferrero will provide stiff opposition on Wednesday and, if he wins that, either former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt or two-times runner-up Andy Roddick await.

Should Murray reach the final, the mere mortal that isn't Roger Federer provides the final obstacle - the sporting equivalent of scaling Snowdonia, then being faced with Everest. Murray has time to fulfil his and the British public's dreams; for Federer, Pete Sampras' record is just days away.

Can Murray win Wimbledon? Send in your thoughts using the boxes below.

F1 gossip column... Red Bull one-off?

Our F1 insider has been pacing up the pit lane to uncover more juicy rumours for you petrol-junkies.

In this week's F1 gossip column, he claims Red Bull's dominant display at the British Grand Prix could be a one-off.

Check out his rumour round-up and send in your thoughts using the boxes below.

Nelson's Column: Vaughan to retire

For all his achievements, the career of Michael Vaughan, who is set to announce his retirement from first-class-cricket on Tuesday, was somewhat unfulfilled.

A superb captain no doubt - probably the best ever for England; at his greatest, a batsman of seering beauty and elegance; as a human being, a personable, eloquent, intelligent and down-to-earth chap. Vaughan will be lovingly remembered by English cricket.

But a career average of 41.44 suggests a player who ultimately underachieved, given his vast talents. A chronic knee injury undoubtedly troubled him for the second half of his career and the weight of captaincy caused a sad and rapid late decline.

His average peaked at 51.57 in 2003, the year of his truly astounding success in Australia. Scores of 177, 145 and 183 against the world's best touched greatness. His captaincy in the victorious Ashes series was beyond rebuke; imaginative, inspirational and ridiculously laid-back despite the pressures.

By the end of his career, though, he was a mental (and, perhaps, physical, wreck) - and his figures reflected this. Add in his frustrating failures at ODI and Twenty20 and there's a disappointing sense of underachievement to cloud the glorious sight of that textbook cover drive.

Was Michael Vaughan an England great or an underachiever? Send in your views using the boxes below.

Lions lose Test series

The British and Irish Lions lost a third successive series after succumbing to a nail-biting 28-25 defeat against South Africa in Pretoria.

For so long, the Lions looked to have the game won but the Springboks, true to their tag as the world's best, clawed the deficit back and moved ahead in a pulsating final few minutes.

In what seemed the final twist of the afternoon, Stephen Jones had seemingly done enough to keep the series alive as he levelled the scores at 25-25 with a massive penalty, but the Boks had a final trick up their sleeve - or more to the point, Ronan O'Gara produced a moment of stupidity.

The Ireland No.10 took out Fourie de Preez with an illegal tackle and with it gifted the opposition the series, Morne Steyne stepping up to thump over the match-winning penalty.

The result robs the series of the finale everyone wanted in the Johannesburg Test, which will sadly be little more than a dead rubber, although the Lions will be keen to save face and avoid the prospect of a series whitewash, which could yet mark the beginning of the end for future Lions series...

What did you make of the second Test and do you think the Lions deserved to win? And what does this mean for the future of the Lions - should they face a whitewash, should future series be scrapped? Post your comments below...

Lions change five for second Test

At first glance, it's difficult to know whether Ian McGeechan has made a knee-jerk reaction to a narrow defeat or a bold move in a bid to claw back the Test series with the side he's named.

In all, there are five changes from the side. No one can doubt that the Lions have made the right call in bringing in Welsh duo Adam Jones and Matthew Rees after Phil Vickery and Lee Mears struggled in the first Test.

And there always looked set to be a casualty at lock although Alan Wyn-Jones is perhaps a tad unlucky. Had his fellow second rower from the Durban Test, Paul O'Connell, not been the Lions captain then surely he would have kept his place. The ultimate throw of the dice and the right choice on form would have been to move O'Connell to the bench and play Simon Shaw, who's played well enough for his first Test start in what is his third Tour, alongside Wyn Jones. But perhaps McGeechan was worried about the message that dropping his skipper might have sent to both his players and the opposition.

In the backs, Rob Kearney is the sensible choice to replace Lee Byrne, although the Lions would probably have done better with Delon Armitage, who never even made the squad. And that leaves Ugo Monye, the unluckiest man of all to miss out on the starting line-up - Luke Fitzgerald replaces him - after a solid enough first Test performance. And being dropped altogether from the match-day 22 won't have helped his confidence.

But all in all, the Lions have made some bold moves that shouldn't be enough to unsettle the make-up of their side but should give a Springbok outfit with just one change something to think about. But will it be enough?

F1 peace deal brokered

At long last, peace finally reigns in Formula 1 - however tentatively - after the FIA and the Formula One Teams' Association agreed a deal to continue with the championship in 2010.

Wednesday's meeting in Paris was hailed as the final chance to resolve the dispute centring on budget cuts, but both parties have announced an end to weeks of squabbling.

Mosley said "now there is peace" after the meeting, but there is still certainly plenty of animosity between both sides and past experience would suggest Mosley does not forget his enemies and those he feels have wronged him easily. That said, he has also announced that he will not be standing for reelection as FIA president - which is music to the ears of many on the grid.

Finally we can get on with the action on track and Jenson Button's battle to fend off the Red Bulls in what promises to be a thrilling second half to the season... that is until the next row breaks out.

What have you made of all this infighting and who's to blame - Max Mosley, Bernie Ecclestone or the teams themselves? And would you have rather seen a breakaway series formed or was that never realistic? Post your comments below...

Tennis: Stop handing out Brit wildcards

After eight British players from the 10 entered failed to reach the second round at Wimbledon, it's time to stop giving these losers wildcards.

The whole lot of them are an embarrassment, none more so than Alex Bogdanovic, who has now lost eight out of eight first-round ties at SW19. Not far behind is Anne Keothavong, who reached the top 50 this year, but then surrendered meekly to Patricia Mayr (ranked 29 places below her) before crying in her press conference.

Good grief. If this is the fragile mental state of our number one female tennis player, what hope is there for the rest? Not much, is the answer.

Katie O'Brien and Georgie Stoop both crumbled when the pressure was on at the end of the third sets of their respective matches while Melanie South lost two narrow sets. Thank goodness for Elena Baltacha, who turned in an impressive winnning performance against Alona Bondarenko. And there's always Laura Robson, who is surely a star in the making, unless her peers' loser mentality wears off on her.

It's no better in the men's section, save for Andy Murray. Dan Evans and James Ward were hammered, unsurprisingly by Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco respectively, but Josh Goodall blew his big chance to beat Michael Llodra.

When you think that each first round loser gets £10,750, the performances of these Brits is more scandalous than the MPs filing dodgy expense claims. It's daylight robbery, especially as players with some pedigree such as Xavier Malisse, Diminik Hrbaty and Karol Beck are forced to battle through qualifying.

Unless these Brit flops can get up the rankings and qualify for Wimbledon by right, they should not be allowed the privilege of stepping onto the hallowed turf.

What do you think of Britain's shocking tennis results at Wimbledon? Send in your thoughts below

Lions held by Emerging Springboks

The British and Irish Lions' midweek match against the Emerging Springboks was billed as a chance for some key men to lay down their marker for a place in the Lions Test team on Saturday.

But the 13-13 result did little to put pressure on those that were on the tourists' losing side against South Africa at the weekend.

Martyn Williams had looked in line for a Test call-up after the weekend but was strangely innocuous for a player so normally key to every match he is involved in.

In fact, just three players really stuck their hands up. Wing duo Luke Fitzgerald and Shane Williams gave Lions coach Ian McGeechan a selection headache with two solid performances, and Ugo Monye's late appearance as a substitute would suggest his place in the Test side might be at peril from the above two.

The Test lock pairing of Alun Wyn Jones and Paul O'Connell proved reasonably ineffective for the first half on Saturday at the very least and Donncha O'Callaghan gave the sort of all-round performance so desperately lacking in the set pieces as well as open play.

But McGeechan will be more disappointed that players like Ronan O'Gara, James Hook, Harry Ellis, Nathan Hines and Andy Powell didn't quite give the performances he might have hoped for. And sadly this apparent lack of competition for Test starting places will only add to the Springboks' confidence heading to Saturday.

What did you make of the Lions' performance against the Emerging Springboks? And did any players force their way into the Test side? Post your comments below...

F1 gossip column... French GP in doubt

Our F1 insider has been pacing up the pit lane to uncover more juicy rumours for you petrol-junkies.

In the latest rumour in this week's F1 gossip column, he reveals another setback for the French Grand Prix.

Check out his rumour round-up and send in your thoughts using the boxes below.

Latest transfer rumours (Sun July 5)

Orange brings you the pick of the day's transfer tittle-tattle from the papers throughout the transfer window. You can also click here to check out the biggest completed deals.

- Samuel Eto'o is prepared to drop his huge wage demands to secure a move to Manchester United (News of the World)

- Chelsea have told John Terry to hand in a written transfer request to prove his intentions as Man City make a second move for the England skipper with a £30m offer (News of the World)

- Everton are lining up a move for Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes (Daily Star Sunday)

- Barcelona are pressing ahead with a move for Javier Mascherano despite Yaya Toure signing a new contract (News of the World)

- Chelsea are to switch attention to Real Madrid's Rafael Sneijder after giving up their pursuit of Franck Ribery (News of the World)

- Newcastle are preparing a double swoop for Manchester United striker Fraizer Campbell and Manchester City forward Ched Evans (News of the World)

Have you heard any hot rumours on the grapevine? Spotted John Terry in a Burnage chippy? Who should your club be buying in the summer? Have your say in the boxes below.