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Novak Djokovic ‘sacks coach during Nick Kyrgios charity clash because of…
Novak Djokovic ‘sacks coach during Nick Kyrgios charity clash because of…
Novak Djokovic pretended to ditch his coach during his pre-Australian Open charity match with Nick Kyrgios as he sought advice from a member of the crowd which proved successful in winning the next rally. Goran Ivanisevic then joked that he had been “fired in front of 15,000 people” and was ready to fly home without his charge.
Djokovic and Kyrgios treated the Australian Open fans to a pre-tournament exhibition match on Friday, taking to a packed Rod Laver Arena for what the tournament had billed as an “arena showdown” for their first clash since the Wimbledon final. It was the Aussie who pounced first to take the opening set in a tiebreak and the nine-time Australian Open champion turned to a member of the crowd for some advice to help him in the second set.
The world No 5 walked back on the baseline and gestured for a spectator to lean down to give him some help, following his advice for the next point and winning it. Djokovic then pretended to fire his coach in the middle of the match, with Ivanisevic sitting watching courtside.
And the retired Wimbledon champion-turned-coach gave his verdict a few games later, remarking that he had been axed in front of a full stadium. “Yeah, I lost my job in front of 15,000 people,” the Croat said when asked about the incident.
Novak Djokovic ‘sacks coach during Nick Kyrgios charity clash because of…
The 51-year-old was already ready to part ways with Djokovic after being fired, as he added: “I have a flight at 10:45, Emirates, so I am okay, just watch and go.” Ivanisevic was also offered another job as he was asked whether he would consider coaching Kyrgios but the 2001 Wimbledon winner responded: “I don’t think he needs a coach, he is a one and only.”
It seemed the 21-time Grand Slam champion didn’t need Ivanisevic though as he managed to take the second set 4-2 in the fast 4 format – something that Djokovic was left confused by at the start of the match as the emcee needed to bring him a sheet of paper explaining the rules.
With everything all square at one set-all, the charity clash went to a decisive match tiebreak where wheelchair stars David Wagner and Heath Davidson joined the two men on the court and turned the clash into a doubles match. And they were later subbed out by two younger ones as Kyrgios and his young partner saved three match points to win 4-2 2-4 10-9.
READ MORE: NADAL: Australian Open draw was ‘canceled’ and then rescheduled due to Novak Djokovic’s farce
Djokovic and Kyrgios then sat together for a post-match interview as the Serb got serious and thanked the crowd for a warm welcome in his first match on Rod Laver Arena before he was deported from Australia last year after causing controversy when he arrived in the country unvaccinated with a medical exemption.
“It just feels great to be back in Australia, back in Melbourne,” he said. “This is the court and the stadium where I created the best memories of my professional tennis career. Back in 2008 the first time I won a Grand Slam was here, 15 years later I’m here again and competing at a high level so I must be very grateful for this opportunity to be here so thank you, guys, for welcoming me, I appreciate it.”
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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
