Simon has been working with HEAD Tennis and (RED) on a campaign designed to raise awareness of and funds for the fight against AIDS.

Ahead of the French Open, Tramlines had a chance to have a brief exclusive chat with former world number six Gilles Simon.

The 28-year-old told us about the unique pressure that goes with being a Frenchman at Roland Garros, he's own childhood memories of the tournament and what it is like playing in arguably the toughest era in the history of men's tennis.

Tramlines: As a Frenchman with Roland Garros just around the corner it must be an exciting time of the season for you?

Gilles Simon: Yes, of course, it is a very important tournament for me and I'm always excited when it comes around. I'm

As two sets of supporters exit the tube on Saturday evening and wind down Olympic Way, the concrete sluice that channels 90,000 people to Wembley, they will pass under the Bobby Moore Bridge and towards a stadium guarded over by a statue of the late, great former captain – a quaint reminder that England once had the upper hand over Germany, if only briefly.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND V BAYERN MUNICH: LIVE FROM 7.45pm

Saturday’s Champions League final, though, is decisively Germany's. After those monumental defeats of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the semi-finals it is the crests of Borussia Dortmund and

Bayern Munich train at Wembley

If we analyse rationally, Bayern Munich are Champions League favourites.

First of all, experience weighs in their favour because they have reached three of the last four Champions League finals.

Secondly, they have the edge because they have reached a point of maturity both technically and tactically.

You need players who are 28 or 29 for that. Bastian Schweinsteiger (28) is their natural leader, while Franck Ribery (30), Arjen Robben (29) and Philipp Lahm (29) also play significant roles in the team.

They have already set the standard in European football - not just with the 7-0 win against

Desmond Kane caught up with Croatia's world number 12 and former Australian Open semi-finalist Marin Cilic to hear how his preparations are coming along ahead of the second Grand Slam of the season. The Croatian concedes grass is his favourite surface, but would like to at least equal his best returns at the French Open in 2009 and 2010 when he reached the fourth round.

How are preparations going for the tournament in Paris?

MC: It was a bit cold when I arrived. It actually felt a bit like winter. I'm just adjusting to the conditions. I've been out on the main court so get the feel of the

First and foremost, a big thank you to those who got involved in my last blog on the brutal Lebedev-Jones encounter a week ago.

Inevitably, there were a huge number of comments about banning the sport as a whole. Of course, my point was that boxing, a sport I love, ran the risk of giving such rash and melodramatic complaints even more ammunition because of just one instance, yet another instance, of fighters not being properly protected by the system in which they put their bodies on the line.

But those of you who came at the topic with more balanced and productive responses, thanks again, and I

Danilo Di Luca

Cycling fans were meant to be spending their Friday afternoon basking in the duel savagery of the Gavia and Stelvio for the first of two back-to-back mountain epics that would decide if not the destination of the pink jersey then at least the other minor podium places and the thrilling white jersey tussle between Messrs Majka and Betancur.

Instead, we've been dealt a double blow.

Not only has stage 19 been cancelled because of the unrelenting snow and foul weather that has blighted so much of the race, the UCI also announced that Italian veteran Danilo Di Luca – the self-styled "Killer" –

Next season there will reportedly be a very key change in the way that players are punished in the Premier League, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.

A three-strong panel of former referees will assess notable incidents from the weekend, handing down appropriate judgements where the original decision is deemed to be insufficient.

Special attention will be paid to reckless tackles which escaped the notice of the referee or his assistants.

The new scheme was agreed as the stakeholders of English football - the FA, Premier League and Football League - apparently agreed at a meeting on

Few players in the history of English cricket have divided opinion like Stuart Broad.

The Nottinghamshire bowler - who was once reckoned to be a future genuine all-rounder - has always been a hugely frustrating mercurial talent, and that shows no signs of changing any time soon.

As a case study, the first Test at Lord's demonstrated the best and the worst of Broad: a hapless three-ball duck, starkly contrasted by a fluent 25-ball 26 later in the match; a wayward and sluggish one for 64 in the first innings, followed by a quite breathtakingly potent seven for 44 in the second.

Every time his