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Rafael Nadal shares positive news
Rafael Nadal shares positive news
The 22-time Major winner Rafael Nadal is back on the practice court at home in Mallorca. Rafa has not played singles matches since the US Open, struggling with an abdominal injury and giving his best to prepare for Paris and Turin.
Nadal is back inside the top-2 for the first time since May 2021, defending no points in the rest of the season and hoping to fight for the year-end no. 1 honor with Carlos Alcaraz. Rafa did not play in the second part of 2021 and made a perfect return at the start of the new campaign.
He claimed 20 consecutive wins in 2022 and lifted his first Australian Open crown in 13 years following a memorable comeback against Daniil Medvedev in the final. Rafa conquered the ATP 500 event in Acapulco over Medvedev and Cameron Norrie in February and headed to Indian Wells as the favorite.
Rafael Nadal shares positive news
Nadal experienced a fractured rib and could not do much against Taylor Fritz in the title clash, losing for the first time this year and skipping Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
The Spaniard returned in Madrid and Rome and did not play his best tennis after such a long break. Also, he struggled with a foot injury and gathered dark clouds over his Roland Garros preparation. As many times before, Nadal was a player to beat in Paris, receiving injections ahead of every match and toppling seven rivals to secure the 22nd Major title!
Nadal set his eyes on the first Wimbledon crown in 12 years, hoping for a good run in his first All England Club campaign in three years. The Spaniard reached the semi-final following an epic victory over Taylor Fritz in five sets.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic’s comfortable debut in Astana
Still, it marked the end of his campaign, dealing with an abdominal injury and revealing a seven-millimeter tear. Rafa could not serve at his best throughout the tournament and skipped Montreal to rest his body. Nadal hit the exit door in Cincinnati in the second round against Borna Coric and did not look good ahead of the US Open.
A four-time champion reached the fourth round in New York before falling to Frances Tiafoe in four sets and wrapping up his season at Majors with two trophies. Nadal competed alongside Roger Federer at the Laver Cup and could not serve at his best.
Rafa will use the following weeks to train and recover, hoping to play at his best at the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals.
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Michael Schumacher’s ex-manager has hit out at the former F1 star’s daughter following her recent wedding.
Schumacher, 55, is a seven-time F1 champion and retired in 2012.
The German has not been seen in public since sustaining a head injury while skiing on the French Alps in December 2013.
There has been little public information about his condition or recovery since the incident, with his family asking for privacy.
Due to his sporting prestige and the shocking accident he was involved in, the Schumacher family are subject to regular media attention.
Schumacher’s son, Mick, has carried the family name representing Haas in F1 between 2021 and 2022. Since then, the 25-year-old has served as a reserve driver for both Ferrari and most recently Mercedes in 2024.
However, the family name has been the reason for some controversy in recent weeks.
Mick’s sister Gina Schumacher married her boyfriend Iain Bekthe at a luxury £27m villa in Majorca in September, according to Daily Mail.
Gina is said to have changed her name on her Facebook profile to her husband’s surname – now reading Gina Bekthe, according to BILD.
Schumacher’s former manager, Willi Weber, voiced his thoughts on the decision to change her name, and it’s safe to say he did not approve.
“Why would you just drop such a big name?” Weber responded.
“I don’t understand it!
“Giving up a name like that. It’s a brand. It’s connected to her father. I wouldn’t have done that. But that’s her decision! The other is my opinion.”
Gina is a well-known equestrian and usually competes under the name ‘Gina Schumacher Bethke’.
Her Instagram handle remains ‘Gina Schumacher’.
Weber previously revealed how he was unable to attend the wedding due to ‘health issues’ and stressed how he has already ‘said goodbye’ to Schumacher – during an interview in September.
“I’m thinking about my successes with Michael – our goals and our victories,” he told BILD.
“I remember Michael the way he was. And we probably won’t see each other again.
“It was my fault that I didn’t visit Michael after the accident and stand by him. Because I thought the media reports were exaggerated.
“I thought I’d better wait a few days, and then everything would be fine. But it was too late. For a long time I blamed myself for not reacting immediately.
“Since then, I’ve said goodbye to Michael in my heart in order to find my peace again.”
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Blind Bulgarian mystic Baba Vanga made two alarming sporting predictions for 2025 – including one involving Lewis Hamilton.
Vanga, real name Vangelia Pandeva Gushterova, is said to have developed a knack of producing eerily accurate predictions about some of the most memorable events to happen.
Though she died in 1996, she is credited with predicting the death of Princess Diana, the 9/11 attacks and the election of Barack Obama as US president, among other things.
Prior to passing away, Vanga, who was blind since childhood, is claimed to have come up with prophecies right up until 5079.
And Vanga, Balkan Nostradamus’ has some very interesting predictions for what is coming next year in 2025.
Incredibly, Vanga reckons aliens will make first contact on earth during a major sporting event.
It’s not known whether the extraterrestrial life will be friendly or not, but it is worth remembering that Vanga did claim aliens were on the way in 2022 and that did not happened.
Will it be the Super Bowl in New Orleans? Will Michael Jordan need to assemble the Tune Squad again? All shall be revealed.
But in a slightly more realistic shout, Vanga has said Lewis Hamilton will win a record eighth world championship in Formula One.
Hamilton’s last triumph came in 2020 but the sport has been dominated by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who has won the last three titles.
The 39-year-old endured major disappointment in his last race when he spun out and ended up in the gravel, receiving a ‘DNF’.
It’s already been confirmed that Hamilton will be moving from Mercedes to Ferrari next season in a reported $446 million deal, replacing the departing Carlos Sainz Jr.
Vanga predicts Hamilton will surpass the legendary Michael Schumacher’s world championship tally.
The 2025 season begins in Australia in March and concludes in December in Abu Dhabi.
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Martin Truex Jr. wasn’t sure what happened in the lap-89 incident involving playoff drivers Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick. The incident took both championship contenders out of contention in Sunday’s race at Las Vegas.
During lap 89 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Truex was running closely on the inside of Chase Elliott. While this was going on, Tyler Reddick lurked behind the two in his. As the cars worked their way off turn four, Elliott slipped up on the outside of Truex, sending him into Reddick’s car and crashing together, while also collecting Brad Keselowski. The 23XI Racing driver suffered a violent wreck as his #45 Camry flipped multiple times on the front stretch.
In an interview posted to X by racing insider Dalton Hopkins, the 2017 Cup Series champion was questioned about the crash:
“I was on the bottom coming off [turn] four there,” Truex said. Thought we were two wide. Spotter said leave a lane. Not sure. We were kinda close together and the 9 lifted all of a sudden, so I’m not really sure what happened. I didn’t know we were three wide until it was too late, but I still felt like there was plenty of room, and the 9, I think, jumped out of the gas. Not really sure what happened.”
The New Jersey native then questioned the reporter if he had done something wrong, to which the latter responded by saying Elliott and Reddick expressed frustration with Truex on the radio.
Truex added:
“My spotter told me I didn’t do anything wrong, so I’d have to go look at it.”
Truex finished sixth in Sunday’s race, while Elliott placed 33rd and Reddick 35th. Elliott is 53 points below the cut-off and Reddick is 30 points below with two races remaining in the Round of 8.
Martin Truex Jr. announced this past June that 2024 would be his final full-time season in the Cup series. The 44-year-old has won 34 Cup Series races and was the 2017 series champion.
In a press conference on the Friday before the Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway, Truex said he’s ready to slow down in life and enjoy other activities aside from racing.
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