The Morning Sports Briefing

Serena and Sharapova set for semis

Serena Williams came from a set down to beat Victoria Azarenka 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 at Wimbledon yesterday, booking her a place in the semi-finals and keeping her on course for the 'Serena Slam'.

She’ll meet Maria Sharapova in the last four, after the Russian also dropped a set before powering back to beat American Coco Vandeweghe, a 23-year-old Mormon whose grandmother was once named Miss America, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2.

The other semi final will see Garbine Murguruza take on Agnieszka Radwanska after they came past Timea Bacsinszky and Madison Keys respectively.

Yesterday also saw Novak Djokovic's fourth round match against Kevin Anderson come to an end after it was postponed for bad light on Monday night, the world number one eventually finding a crack in the South African's serve to win 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.

Dan Martin’s Tour diary

In his latest Tour de France diary Dan Martin looks back at Monday's third stage to Huy in which he came fourth after running out of steam and yesterday's fourth stage to Cambrai, which saw him crash during his first time riding on cobbles.

The stage was won by another Martin, Tony, who took the yellow jersey off Chris Froome despite having to borrow a teammate's bike.

Rovers reach next round

Shamrock Rovers are through to the second round of Europa League qualifying after a goal from David Webster and a Kieran Marty-Waters brace saw them beat Luxembourg's Progres Niederkorn 3-0 in Tallaght last night.

Meanwhile champions Dundalk pulled further away at the top of the League of Ireland following a 4-2 win away at Galway.

Alan O’Connor the key for Cork

In his column Darragh Ó Sé reflects on the brilliant performance of Cork in last weekend's drawn Munster final against Kerry and the midfield masterclass delivered by Alan O'Connor.

After a recent referees review which concluded 2015 had been relatively problem free and without major incident, Sean Moran looks at a weekend which brought with it a number of controversial moments.

Dublin play Westmeath on Sunday in the Leinster football final and forward Kevin McManamon is eager to add a fifth provincial medal to his collection, although he is not ensured a place in the starting line up at Croke Park.

Wexford take on Kilkenny in the Leinster under-21 hurling final at Wexford Park tonight as they look to secure a third straight title, something which hasn't been achieved since 1966.

Three time All-Ireland winner John Leahy has stressed the importance of Tipperary's Munster hurling final against Waterford on Sunday as they look to end a three year wait for a provincial championship.

Six Nations to stay free-to-air

The BBC and ITV have formed an unlikely alliance, producing a combined bid of €70 million to keep the Six Nations Championship on terrestrial television, gazumping Sky in the process.

What to watch out for:

Cricket

England face Australia in the first day of the first Test match of the 2015 Ashes at Cardiff today, looking to avenge a 5-0 whitewash down under in the last series. Sky Sports 2 10am.

Hurling

Wexford take on Kilkenny in the Leinster U-21 hurling final at Wexford Park. TG4 7.30pm.

Cycling

The fifth stage of the Tour de France from Arras to Amiens gets underway. Eurosport, 1.15pm-4.45pm. TG4, 1.10pm-4.40pm. ITV4, 2pm-4.30pm.

Tennis

It’s men’s quarter-final day at Wimbledon, with Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic all in action. BBC 1, 11.30am-6pm. BBC 2, 3.30pm-9pm. Setanta, 1pm-7pm.

Order of play (1pm):

Centre Court

Vasek Pospisil (CAN) v Andy Murray (GBR, 3)

Novak Djokovic (SRB, 1) v Marin Cilic (CRO, 9)

No1 Court

Gilles Simon (FRA, 12) v Roger Federer (SUI, 2)

Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI, 4) v Richard Gasquet (FRA, 21)