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WATCH NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S SON STEFAN HIT AN AMAZING BACKHAND WINNER AGAINST GORAN IVANISEVIC
WATCH NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S SON STEFAN HIT AN AMAZING BACKHAND WINNER AGAINST GORAN IVANISEVIC.
The eight-year-old young son of the 21-time Grand Slam champion has been courtside for his father’s matches in Turin and it seems he has also inherited some of the family’s tennis talents.
Stefan is still at a formative stage of his tennis development, but he has been showing some great promise as he has been hitting on the practice courts at the ATP Finals.
Sharing a court with 1992 Wimbledon champion and his father’s coach Goran Ivanisevic, Stefan showed his tennis skills are developing rapidly, with former British No 1 Tim Henman impressed by the youngster’s promise.
“You can see there are some pretty good genes out there,” declared Henman on Amazon Prime, as he stood courtside watching Stefan.
“The way he has been hitting forehands and backhands has been impressive, even though the racket he is using is half the size of him.
“The most important thing at this stage is how much he is enjoying it. He’s chasing down every ball and getting a nice cheer from the crowd as well. It looks like he is loving it.
“Novak might be struggling to get on the court as his son won’t want to leave!
“It looks like he has been playing for a few years and he has a good repertoire of shots. Trying the one handed-slice at his age is not easy as you need a bit of extra strength, but I’m sure that will come.”
https://twitter.com/petexiao1/status/1592524729495486464?
WATCH NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S SON STEFAN HIT AN AMAZING BACKHAND WINNER AGAINST GORAN IVANISEVIC
The former world No 1 spoke about his son’s passion for tennis and revealed he is excited to be around a tournament featuring some of the game’s biggest stars.
“My son is playing tennis, he’s eight years old now and he’s aware of what is happening, who is who,” said Djokovic.
“He just loves going around, getting signatures, playing some tennis, assisting Goran with the ball picking, then coaching on the warmup sessions and training sessions when I’m on the court.
“He loves to be around and for him, this is a unique experience and for my daughter, of course, and for me. I am really grateful to have them around.”
Djokovic went on to suggest the presence of his two children in Turin has inspired him to reach new heights on the court.
After a challenging year that saw him banned from several high-profile events due to his Covid vaccine status, the Serbian has confirmed he is in a good place with a strong family supporting him.
Djokovic’s son and daughter watched on with enthusiasm as Novak beat Andrey Rublev on Wednesday and he confirmed they were great cheerleaders.
“I think it is probably the first match that both my daughter and son, and of course my wife, have watched the entire match from the first to the last minute,” Djokovic said.
“We played for just over an hour. It is so great to have them.
“For me, that is one of the biggest motivational factors that I have right now competing at the highest level. Having them courtside, watching and celebrating, hopefully with me.
“Making history in this sport is always a big motivational factor for me.
WATCH NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S SON STEFAN HIT AN AMAZING BACKHAND WINNER AGAINST GORAN IVANISEVIC
“It doesn’t maybe necessarily affect the whole approach to the specific match because I’m experienced enough and I know myself well and what I need to do in order to prepare for my next challenge and next opponent.
“But, of course, I’m aware of the possibility to make history again. It is a great pleasure and honour to be in that position. So it does motivate me and inspire me to play even better tennis.”
Djokovic was given a huge boost earlier this week when it was confirmed he will be allowed to compete in January’s Australian Open.
The nine-time Australian Open champion expressed his relief at having his visa ban overturned which will allow him to compete in next year’s Australian Open.
The 35-year-old was detained and then deported from Australia last January in a dramatic process after trying to enter the country without having a Covid-19 vaccination.
He was subsequently given a three-year visa ban, but the Australian government has since overturned that decision, freeing him up for a return to Melbourne Park in early 2023.
“I was very happy to receive the news,” added Djokovic. “It was a relief obviously knowing what I and the people closest to me in my life have been through this year with what happened in Australia and post-Australia.
“I could not receive better news for sure – during this tournament as well.
READ MORE: Rafael Nadal Apologise and Promises Fans that…
“Did it affect my game today? I would like to believe it did. Why not? I don’t think it did affect me too much because I’m familiar with what I need to do in order to prepare myself for every match.
Originally appeared on Tennis 365
“Of course, knowing that I have clarity now, what I do in the off-season, starting the season in Australia, also of course it did relieve some of the pressure me and my team felt. Just giving that clarity makes it great for us.
“Australian Open has been my most successful Grand Slam. I made some of the best memories there. Of course, I want to go back there, I want to play tennis, do what I do best, hopefully have a great Australian summer.
“I’m always thankful to go through experiences, no matter what the experiences are. I try to be optimistic and positive in life. I look forward to starting the new year in Australia, and we’ll see how the next year goes.”
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Max Verstappen has once again claimed that he is the target of ‘British bias’ in the media after watching the fallout from his battle with Lando Norris. The three-time world champion’s defending was criticised by a number of drivers, including Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen and Norris shared a titanic battle at the Circuit of the Americas last weekend, but the flashpoint came at Turn 12 as the Dutchman deployed a signature tactic, lunging deep into the corner to get to the apex first before running both himself and his title rival off the road.
Norris opted to keep his foot in and overtook the Red Bull driver around the outside, although this decision landed him a five-second time penalty that dropped him back behind Verstappen in the general classification. This sparked a major debate with other drivers – Hamilton included – calling for the FIA to take action and outlaw this style of defending.
Verstappen has been frustrated by this debate. Quizzed by Viaplay in Mexico on whether he’d like to see the rules changed, he replied: “No, not really. But I have the wrong passport.” Asked if he was referring to a British passport, he confirmed as much.
“Yeah, it’s the wrong country, on that aspect… with complaining” he replied. “I love my passport but on that aspect, I should have had a different passport, actually.” The Dutchman also complained of ‘British bias’ earlier this season following comments made by Adrian Newey.
When asked about the debate surrounding Verstappen’s on-track conduct, former title rival Hamilton was quick to point out that the Dutchman has been employing these tactics for some time, dating back to their no-punches-pulled fight in 2021.
“It’s always been a grey area, that’s why he’s got away with it for so long,” Hamilton explained ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix. “They probably need to make some adjustments for sure.
“Also, we do have inconsistencies through rulings, weekend in, weekend out, obviously depending on which years it is. I mean, as a sport, we do need to level up on all areas and if you look at other global sports, they have full-time refs, for example, and I’m sure that wouldn’t be a bad thing for our sport.
“I experienced it many times with Max, you shouldn’t be able to just launch the car on the inside and be ahead and then you go off and still hold your position. So, they need to definitely work on this.”
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$200M Jeff Gordon teams up with Chase Elliott and Co. to decode the HMS driver behind the “Don’t judge me” old tweet
Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon teamed up with Chase Elliott and other HMS drivers in a lighthearted fun exercise for fans where they attempted to solve the mystery behind an old tweet from their current driver.
The anonymous tweet reads, “Don’t judge me, but I can’t wait to see the new twilight movie haha,” and it’s believed to belong to one of the HMS’s driver lineups, which includes Elliott, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Alex Bowman.
Jeff Gordan, who has a net worth of $200 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth), and HMS drivers tried to guess, but none of them were correct. Bowman and Elliott named Byron, while Byron went with Elliott, but it was Larson. He accepted that it was his tweet in 2011 and revealed that he likes Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight movie.
HMS shared the video of the fun investigative activity on Instagram with a caption:
“Hold on tight, spider monkey”
Watch the Jeff Gordon and HMS’s guesses below:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBjQ7EzP3A7/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=e5182e01-3688-440a-ae00-0bf669973e15&ig_mid=01331E07-1F15-4C86-B3DB-7587302F0125
Three out of four HMS drivers are still in contention for the 2024 NASCAR Cup championship. Larson and Byron are in good position in the playoffs points table, with 35 and 27 points above the cutline.
However, 2020 Cup champion Elliott is in danger of getting eliminated from title contention, as he’s 53 points behind the cutline heading to this weekend’s Homestead-Miami race.
In an interview with NBC Sports earlier this season, Jeff Gordon spoke about the competition between their two best drivers, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, for the regular season championship. Gordan wanted to see both top drivers perform well and race aggressively against each other while maintaining sportsmanship in their chase for the regular season title.
However, neither Larson nor Elliott won the championship; it was Tyler Reddick who clinched the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship. Speaking to NBC Sports, the four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon said:
“I think it’s pretty clear at Hendrick how we expect teams and drivers to race against one another and how they’ve got to go and compete not only against their competitors but against one another.
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“Kyle Busch is an a**”: Brad Keselowski publicly chastised his fierce NASCAR rival in front of over 150,000 spectators
Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski birthed one of the fiercest rivalries in NASCAR. The duo had multiple run-ins throughout their careers, but the seed of their feud was sown at the 2010 Xfinity Series race hosted by the Bristol Motor Speedway. In the aftermath, Keselowski publicly castigated Busch in front of over 150,000 fans during driver introductions.
Busch kicked off his Food City 250 from third place in his #18 Toyota while Keselowski began in 13th. However, as the 250-lap battle inched closer to its conclusion, the then-Penske Racing driver held the domination while the former #18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver fought hard for the lead.
After struggling to overtake for nearly a dozen laps, Busch, with 31 laps until the checkered flag dropped, lunged ahead of Keselowski, only to be wrecked from behind and lose the spot again.
However, the JGR driver quickly retaliated and spun out Keselowski’s #22 Dodge. The move propelled the #18 Toyota to the victory lane while the Penske driver fell from a potential win to settling in 14th place.
The bitter feeling inside Brad Keselowski surfaced during the Bristol Cup Series race driver introductions the following day. After Kyle Busch introduced himself, his fierce rival took the mic and blasted Busch with his “a**’ comment.
“Brad Keselowski, driver of the Penske Racing Dodge. Kyle Busch is an a**,” he said.
However, when asked why he slammed Busch, Keselowski said that Juan Pablo Montoya challenged that he can’t call the JGR driver an “a**”. It’s worth mentioning that the crowd’s roar on the Penske driver’s introduction notched 104.2 decibels.
“Sometimes you just don’t like a guy”: Kyle Busch publicly slams Brad Keselowski during their 2017 title fight
The bitter rivalry between Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski was such that both made unapologetic comments about the other from time to time. Despite the latter publicly extending an olive branch to the former in 2015, their relationship remained sour.
Max Verstappen addresses ‘British bias’ at Mexican GP after Lewis Hamilton put-down
$200M Jeff Gordon teams up with Chase Elliott and Co. to decode the HMS driver behind the “Don’t judge me” old tweet
