Sports
The two great challenges for Rafael Nadal
The two great challenges for Rafael Nadal.
It may be incongruous, and even unfair, to talk about Rafael Nadal in terms of long-term and sporting goals yet to be achieved, but imagination flies very high and it is impossible to stop dreams. Few thought several decades ago that the Spaniard would remain established in the elite at 36 years of age, but nothing suggests an immediate withdrawal. Having resolved the urgent worsening that he suffered in his battered left foot and after having overcome numerous unforeseen events in 2022, what seems clear is that two things remain associated with his figure: the ambition to continue enjoying the competition to the maximum demand and the level of tennis necessary for it. As much as Rafa does not need incentives or historical records to continue, it is impossible to ignore the existence of some challenges that will raise expectations if they are within reach and would excite any athlete.
Although Rafa indeed denies having any type of obsession with adding titles and has made it clear on more than one occasion that he will not alter anything in his calendar because he is number 1 in the world, this being a secondary objective, it is evident that the possibility of continuing adding Grand Slam and Masters 1000 titles to his record is an important engine to boost the remainder of his career.
The two great challenges for Rafael Nadal
In both aspects, he maintains an exciting pulse with Novak Djokovic., as well as in many other statistics that show his triumphant longevity. We cannot forget that Rafa has been one of the few cases in the history of tennis whose early talent and meteoric emergence at a very young age, has been seconded by a long and successful career. This makes him eligible for numerous records, such as being the tennis player with the most weeks among the top three in the world, being only 69 behind Federer. But there are two other things whose significance may be especially noteworthy.
Become the player with the most weeks in the top 10 and qualify for 1,000 weeks in that select club
It sounds like science fiction and it can be daring to even imagine it, but anything is possible. This December 19, 2022, Nadal reached 900 weeks as top-10, breaking in for the first time on April 25, 2005, and not leaving this prestigious group for a single week. The fact of adding all of them consecutively already places him in a practically unattainable sphere, but if we analyze the overall number of weeks in the top 10, the Spaniard still has Roger Federer ahead, with 968.
The fastest way to achieve it would be adding one more whole year without leaving the top 10. If with all the injuries he has had he has never gotten out of there, it seems likely that he can achieve it, although everything can be marked by the start of the year, in which he defends the points obtained in 2022 in Melbourne, Acapulco, and Indian Wells.
In case he doesn’t lose too many points there, he would then have a breather until Roland Garros, but he has a significant margin compared to the eleventh. On December 4, he could reach 950 weeks as top-10, while to match Federer, he would have to reach that condition on January 29, 2024, that is, with another Australian Open in between. The utopia of 1,000 weeks as a top-10, something that nobody has ever achieved and it seems difficult to imagine that anyone would achieve, would take place, at the earliest, on November 18, 2024.
READ MORE: Djokovic saves pride but the Falcons are left without end
Participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
A revamped Philippe Chatrier, clay court, anthem of Spain under the Parisian sky, an audience dedicated to their idol… Can you imagine anything more poetic and emotional than Nadal winning an Olympic gold medal in his own home, on the track that has given him Seen making history over and over again? There are more and more who think that Rafa will squeeze all his options to attend this appointment in full condition.
He has never been able to play an Olympic Games on clay and seeing himself in Paris looking for a new medal could be the icing on the cake of an impeccable career. Nadal has already expressed his desire to return to play in the Davis Cup, at least one more time, and this could be an open door to think that the Olympic dream may be in his plans if the injuries respect him and his mind continues to be unsaturated.
THERE IS COMMENT BOX AFTER THE ADS, SHARE YOUR THOUGHT WITH US
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.”
THERE IS COMMENT BOX AFTER THE ADS, SHARE YOUR THOUGHT WITH USSports
$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.
THERE IS COMMENT BOX AFTER THE ADS, SHARE YOUR THOUGHT WITH USSports
“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
