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A new era for Henman Hill: Wimbledon confirms expansion plans for 2027
Susan Mullane-Imagn Images

Wimbledon has announced an expansion of Henman Hill for the 2027 edition. The iconic tournament space, located next to Court One, earned its nickname thanks to former British No. 1 Tim Henman, as local fans gathered there to support their country’s tennis leader during the 90s and 2000s.

It remains one of the most popular spots at the All England Club, featuring a giant screen that allows spectators to enjoy the main matches of SW19 while sitting on the grass at the only Grand Slam played on grass courts.

According to Sky Sports, renovations will begin after this year’s Wimbledon, which will be held in the first two weeks of July. The current slope will be reduced, and retaining walls will be added to create more seating, allowing more fans to gather while also improving wheelchair accessibility.

Additionally, a new pergola-style roof will be installed to provide shade and protection from the rain, a crucial update given Wimbledon’s famously unpredictable weather. “The redevelopment of our world-famous Hill, in time for The Championships 2027, will allow even more tennis fans to enjoy its unique atmosphere and vantage point,” said AELTC chair Deborah Jevans.

“I am particularly pleased that these plans will increase the accessibility of The Hill for our guests using wheelchairs or who have additional accessibility requirements," she added. “It is an exciting opportunity as we look towards 2027 and the 150th anniversary of the first Championships.”

The tournament’s current two-time defending champion is Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, whose finals against Novak Djokovic were also broadcast on Henman Hill, allowing those without Centre Court tickets to experience the atmosphere of the All England Club.

This article first appeared on TennisUpToDate.com and was syndicated with permission.

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Steelers Insider Reveals Timeline for WR Move
NFL

Steelers Insider Reveals Timeline for WR Move

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Bears make big preseason decision amid reports of Caleb Williams' training-camp struggles
NFL

Bears make big preseason decision amid reports of Caleb Williams' training-camp struggles

Second-year Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and other starters were spectators for Chicago's preseason opener versus the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, first-year Bears head coach Ben Johnson confirmed things will be different when his club hosts the Buffalo Bills for an exhibition matchup this coming Sunday evening. "Everyone's going to play," Johnson said, as shared by Courtney Cronin of ESPN. Johnson added that how many snaps Williams will take versus the Bills is "to be determined." The Bears will first host the Bills for a joint practice on Friday. Johnson came to this decision following multiple reports detailing the supposed struggles that Williams has endured throughout training camp. Most recently, Monday’s practice was allegedly "a low point for" Chicago's first-team offense and featured "Williams and receiver Rome Odunze both looking frustrated" after some failed connections. "I've been pretty consistent with the thought of reps, reps, reps are the most important thing to get [Williams] up to speed," Johnson explained. "And by the plan that we had a week ago, we were able to get him probably somewhere between 80 and 100 more reps than we would've been able to do had he played in the game. This week, it's a different schedule. Different length of time in terms of in between games and all that. And so, our plan right now is the guys that sat out last week, they will be playing this week." Those running the Bears hope that the hiring of Johnson, an advertised offensive guru, will help Williams become a top-tier quarterback after the 23-year-old won only five of 17 starts during his rookie season. However, Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic is among those who have mentioned that Williams has been responsible for a noteworthy number of inaccurate passes this summer. "I think the trust that we've been talking about from the get-go, that's really where that comes into play," Johnson added about risking the health of his starters by playing them against Buffalo. "We haven't been here with this group as a coaching staff. That trust has been earning, and we've been developing that amongst each other. It's not a one-way street. It goes both ways. And so I think that's just another step in the progression, you know?" The Bears will wrap up the preseason with a game at the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 22. It's unclear if Williams or other Chicago starters will see any action that Friday night.

Former NFL executive 'all in' on this NFC QB
NFL

Former NFL executive 'all in' on this NFC QB

The Minnesota Vikings head into the 2025 NFL season with a quarterback looking to prove himself after an unfortunate start to his professional career in 2024. J.J. McCarthy, the former Michigan QB and 2023-24 national champion with the Wolverines, takes over for good after a torn meniscus to his right knee in the 2024 preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders sidelined him for the entirety of his rookie season. He made his first start of the 2025 preseason in the team's Week 1 game against the Houston Texans, completing four of his seven pass attempts for 30 yards in limited action. Despite the lack of playing time in the NFL and doubts about him being counted on to throw the ball more than he was used to at Michigan, ESPN analyst and former safety and executive Louis Riddick does not have any concern about McCarthy's ability. "People are so hesitant and scared to want to project when it comes to football players," Riddick said during a Wednesday appearance on "Get Up." ... "So for him, when people say look, he's never had to throw the ball more than 15, 20 times a game when he was at Michigan. Look, I think you can drop him back 25, 30 times. J.J. McCarthy is wired to do that. And when they asked him do it at Michigan, he was just fine at doing it. I think we kind of short change people until we see that they actually put pen to paper so to speak, and we're so reluctant to project. Not me. I am all in on this kid." McCarthy may not have been asked to do too much at Michigan in certain situations, given the team's strong rushing attack. Still, he completed 72.3 percent of his passes during the title-winning season. During both seasons as the starter for the Wolverines in 2022 and 2023, McCarthy combined for 44 TDs and only nine interceptions. His dual-threat ability deserves some recognition as well. He scrambled for 200 or more yards in his last two seasons at Michigan and combined for 10 rushing TDs in his career. A major benefit to McCarthy coming into the season is the returning production on a Vikings team that made the postseason one year ago with Sam Darnold under center. Some of that production, though, will not be there at the start of the season. The team announced on Tuesday that WR Rondale Moore suffered a season-ending knee injury in Saturday's preseason opener against the Texans. Moore, who was acquired by the Vikings in the offseason, will miss his second consecutive season with a knee injury. One week earlier, it was announced that WR Jordan Addison, who was second on the team with 875 receiving yards and nine TDs last season, was suspended for the first three games without pay for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Minnesota's leading receiver, Justin Jefferson, is dealing with a left hamstring strain. According to Ben Volin, Senior NFL Writer at The Boston Globe, head coach Kevin O'Connell says Jefferson is "definitely progressing," but the Vikings will not re-evaluate his return plan until next week, following their Week 2 preseason game against the New England Patriots on Saturday. There is no doubt that Minnesota has the talent around McCarthy to be successful. Until Addison returns and Jefferson is healthy enough to build some chemistry with him, it may take some time out of the gate for McCarthy to fully get acclimated as the team's starter.

Dolphins 2025 Camp: Detroit FirstJoint Practice Recap
NFL

Dolphins 2025 Camp: Detroit FirstJoint Practice Recap

DETROIT — The Miami Dolphins got their first chance to see how they measure up against the NFC powerhouse Detroit Lions on Wednesday, and this one session showed a team with a lot of work to do before their regular season opener. Put mildly, things didn't go well for the Dolphins on any level, including an injury that saw 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson leave the field on a cart. While it was too early to know the extent of Robinson's injury, there can be no doubt the Dolphins were outclassed. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who continues to deal with an oblique injury, did not take part in any competitive drill, which obviously some a factor in 11-on-11 work with the first-team Dolphins offense. Also not practicing were OLB Jaelan Phillips, RT Austin Jackson, LB Mohamed Kamara, S Ashtyn Davis and FB Alec Ingold. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who was kept out of the preseason opener because of a minor injury, took part in some competitive sessions but on a limited basis. The teams practiced for a solid two hours and will go again Thursday morning ahead of their preseason matchup at Ford Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. PRACTICE TAKEAWAYS -- With competitive action going on two fields at the same time, it's difficult for any reporter to see everything that's going on, so we teamed up with Detroit Lions on SI Publisher John Maakaron to have everything covered. -- To that end, I watched the Dolphins offense vs. the Lions defense and Maakaron watched the Lions offense vs. the Dolphins defense. -- The last session of the practice was a two-minute drill by each team's No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense. -- After the last play, when a flag was thrown against linebacker Jordyn Brooks for defensive holding, the teams started walking toward their respective huddle before there was a minor skirmish involving new Dolphins safety Ifeatu Melifonwu against his former Lions teammate Jameson Williams. THE DOLPHINS OFFENSE -- Before we get to specific plays, let's just say it was a really rough outing for the offense. -- Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa didn't throw a pick after his rough three-INT joint practice against the Chicago Bears on Friday, but he also didn't have a touchdown — unless you count a swing pass to Jaylen Waddle in a red zone drill where Waddle may or may not have been able to break a tackle around the 5-yard line and the officials marked him down — and failed to connect on several deep shots in the passing game. He clearly was not happy with the offensive performance when he spoke to reporters after practice. -- With Hill not doing any competitive drills and Waddle getting limited reps, it was an opportunity for the rest of the wide receivers to shine, but they came up short. There were a handful of drops on either easy or very catchable passes, but worse was a lack of separation on a lot of routes. -- Moving on to specific noteworthy plays involving the Dolphins offense, we can start with Dee Eskridge dropping a pass after beating Lions DB Tyson Russell in the one-on-one receiver vs. DB drill. -- One positive play in that session was rookie free agent Andrew Armstrong catching a pass on a slant against Lions free agent pick-up D.J. Reed, the former Jets starting cornerback. -- On the last play on that session, Erik Ezukanma got behind veteran DB Rock Ya-Sin to catch a TD pass from Zach Wilson. -- The seven-on-seven session started on a great note for the Dolphins, with Tagovailoa completing a pass to De'Von Achane down the right sideline over LB Jack Campbell for a sizable gain (30 yards maybe). -- But the drops continued with Malik Washington failing to catch a pass thrown slightly behind him by Tagovailoal -- Here comes a bad sequence for Zach Wilson, who throws two picks in five passes. -- The first comes when he's picked off by Ian Kennelly after his pass to a tightly covered Eskridge is tipped by Miami native Dicaprio Bootle. -- On the second, Wilson was picked off by good-looking first-year cornerback Nick Whiteside, who had good coverage against Tarik Black. -- Quinn Ewers actually probably was the most effective Dolphins quarterback on this day, though it was a low bar. He started off with a nice throw for a completion to Armstrong. -- Tua's closest call on a deep — or at least mid-range — throw came when he lofted a pass to tight end Julian Hill over the middle after he got behind linebacker Jack Campbell but Hill couldn't make what was a very catchable play. -- As an example of the kind of day it was for the offense, Tua had completion to Eskridge after escaping the pocket under pressure, but Eskridge was flagged for having stepped out of bounds first. -- Tahj Washington, who's had a very good camp, dropped a very catchable ball from Wilson and ackowledged by doing push-ups behind the offensive huddle. -- At the start of an 11-on-11 period, Tua was sacked when a group of Lions immediately broke through the line. -- This is the part where we mention the Dolphins offense was penalized a couple of times, including three holding calls. -- Eskridge came up with a nice low reception on a Wilson pass. -- But Wilson came back and badly misfired while rolling to his left when he had Ezukanma wide open about 12 yards downfield. -- Tua against was victimized by his receiver when NWI failed to make a low catch over the middle. -- Wilson was sacked a bit later, with the first Lions defender getting to him being linebacker Grant Stuard. Yep, the guy who created a storm with his comments about the Dolphins on Tuesday. -- Ezukanma later was flagged for offensive pass interference against Avonte Maddox. -- Tua throws the ball away while under pressure after Derrick Barnes beats Patrick Paul. -- Paul later was flagged for holding Chad Hutchinson after he stood him up, Hutchinson kept going and Paul wound up with arm around Hutchinson’s neck and threw him to the ground. Let's just say there have been a lot more egregious holding situation that have gone uncalled. -- Eskridge dropped a wide receiver screen. -- Tarik Black came up with the only clear touchdown of the day for the Dolphins when he made a great catch to keep his feet in bounds on a short pass by Wilson. -- At the start of another 11-on-11 period, Tua was sacked by Hutchinson twice in three plays. -- Wilson also was sacked during that period, but that one was a coverage sack. THE DOLPHINS DEFENSE -- This was the report from colleague John Maakaron of Detroit Lions On SI: -- Overall, it was not a good day for the Dolphins' defense. Detroit's offensive line was able to create space between the guard and tackles for multiple chunk run plays. Detroit's tight ends also were willing blockers. -- In the early competitive periods, which featured wide receivers battling against Dolphins defensive backs, Amon-Ra St. Brown was dominant. In one rep, he put a move on Kendall Sheffield and quickly blew past him for the easy completion. -- Detroit did have difficulties connecting early in the competitive period. Goff could not connect with Jameson Williams with Sheffield in coverage. -- Rookie cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. was battling Lions wideout Ronnie Bell early, with each wining a rep. -- The one-on-one pit drills saw a very competitive period between the Lions offensive line and the Dolphins defensive line. -- Those Dolphins with early clear wins with power-rush moves included Quinton Bell, Alex Huntley, Ben Stille, Derrick McLendon, Zach Sieler, Zeek Biggers, McLendon again, and Grayson Murphy. -- Overall, Amon-Ra St. Brown was simply a matchup nightmare for the Dolphins' secondary. He was able to get in space and was open whenever he needed to make a play. -- The Dolphins defensive line brought pressure and did force multiple sacks, including Murphy and Bradley Chubb on the first play of a first-team offensive period. Safety Dante Trader Jr., who missed the joint practice against the Bears with a training camp injury, was a willing tackler and demonstrated physicality all throughout practice. -- Jack Jones Jr. also popped for the Dolphins, as he showcased quick burst to the football and blew up a run call to Craig Reynolds during a third-team period. -- The Dolphins' best period on defense was the second-unit against Detroit's second-team offense. The Lions made numerous mistakes and the Dolphins second-team defensive line took advantage of a young Giovanni Manu. In one stretch, Manu jumped early and was beaten clean in back-to-back reps. Murphy would have had a sack, as he powered through the blocks of Manu and Kayode Awosika. -- Miami was simply outmatched in the red zone period. Goff found Jameson Williams open for a touchdown on the first play in the red zone. Jahmyr Gibbs had a touchdown run and St. Brown outworked Marshall and held on for a touchdown that had the football pinned to his arm after battling the defensive back. -- Jack Jones was not pleased with all the trash talk coming from Detroit's sideline. He grew increasingly frustrated during the red zone period and got into a skirmish with Isaac TeSlaa following a David Montgomery touchdown rush. -- One of the best pass rushes of the day for the Dolphins came from rookie Kenneth Grant, who used his power-rush moves to push back right guard Tate Ratledge into Jared Goff for a sack. -- Miami's third-team defense was able to capitalize on errors by Detroit before the situational period. Sione Vaki had the football punched out by Biggers and was recovered by Miami. TeSlaa had an uncharacteristic drop from Kyle Allen. -- The Dolphins defense, in a situational period with 54 seconds left in the second-quarter, did little to stop Detroit's offense. -- Goff found St. Brown with Cornell Armstrong in coverage for a 15-yard gain. Goff connected with tight end Brock Wright and Ronnie Bell. Nearing the red zone at the 27-yard line, Goff connected with Shane Zylstra. Goff could not connect with St. Brown on 2nd-and-12 and the practice ended with a penalty on the Dolphins defense for illegal contact in the middle of the field.

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