Southampton owner will not sack apologetic Eckert despite role in Spy…

• Saints head coach issues apology in club video message

• Dragan Solak wants to ‘close the chapter and look ahead’

Tonda Eckert has apologised for orchestrating the Spygate scandal that culminated in Southampton being kicked out of the Championship playoff final. Southampton, who observed training sessions of three opponents last season, were denied the chance to win promotion after an independent disciplinary commission found the club “seriously violated” the integrity of the competition.

Eckert, publicly addressing the six charges made by the English Football League for the first time in a video message released by the club, said he accepted “full responsibility”, adding: “I apologise to all of the clubs that have been involved and mostly I apologise to our supporters.” In a similar address, the Southampton owner, Dragan Solak, said he wants the German head coach who is under investigation from the Football Association, to lead the club into the Premier League next season.

The second major of the year has been turned upside down after consecutive third-round defeats for top seed Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. With Carlos Alcaraz absent due to a wrist injury, the tournament guarantees a first-time finalist and major winner in Paris.

Flavio Cobolli advanced to his first Roland Garros quarter-final on Monday, surviving a scare against Zachary Svajda. The 10th seed nearly blew a 5-1 lead in the fourth set before finally closing out the match in a tense tie-break.

Cualquier detalle juega su importancia en un partido de tenis de la relevancia de unos cuartos de Roland Garros. Alexander Zverev se ha levantado este martes con buenas noticias. Y es que la previsión meteorológica prevé lluvia intermitente a lo largo de todo el día en la ciudad de París después de nueve días de sol y altas temperaturas. Este tiempo inestable está previsto que se prolongue en lo que resta de semana.

Updates from Tuesday’s quarter-final matches in Paris
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If Cirstea can keep holding, the set’ll come down to a few points here and there, but up 40-15 she invites pressure by going long on the forehand … then closes out the game with a serve out wide and clean-up swing-volley. Andreeva leads 6-0 1-2.

This is, of course, a sad day for all ADHD-types – no longer can our eyes dart around three or four screens, various matches compartmentalised into various parts of brain, while merging into one in another. But what an opportunity to hyper-focus and fully immerse into what we hope will be a succession of epics … in which regard Cirstea has closed from 40-0 to 40-30 with the help of a lovely backhand winner and a double, then Andreeva goes long and do we got ourselves a ball-game? Er, well a forehand winner is followed by an ace – the umpire has to check the mark as both players thought it was wide – and we’re level at 1-1 in set two.