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Novak Djokovic embraces pantomime villain act with blockbuster Alcaraz showdown looming

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Novak Djokovic embraces pantomime villain act with blockbuster Alcaraz showdown looming

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Novak Djokovic baited the Roland Garros crowd again on Sunday, as he eased into the last 16. But this time, by contrast with his ill-tempered showing in the previous round, he did it with a sense of humor.

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Djokovic was briefly booed by the fans during the first set of his comfortable 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas. The barracking came as he was beaten by a flashing backhand winner and he responded by holding out his arms towards his support team in a gesture of exasperation.

But the mood of these notoriously mercurial Parisian spectators would turn on a sixpence, with the jeers suddenly becoming cheers.

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Just two points later, Djokovic pulled off one of the feats of escapology that he is famous for, chipping back a series of Varillas attacks until his opponent yielded. Now he held his hand up to his ear, before waving at the crowd as if to say – Delia Smith-style – “Let’s be ‘avin you!

To be clear, he was very much in pantomime-villain mode and wore a broad grin rather than the glare we had seen on Friday.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Djokovic played down his previous criticisms of the local spectators, and described the crowd – which chanted his name during his on-court interview – as “great”.

“I didn’t say [on Friday] that the crowd is disrespectful, that’s not true,” explained Djokovic, whose complaints after his previous win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had instead been aimed at certain individuals “who love to boo every single thing you do”.

Novak Djokovic embraces pantomime villain act

“[Today] I thought they were great, especially in the end. They gave me a very nice chanting and support. As a player, you always want to receive that love from the crowd.”

Varillas is a total newbie at this level, having only played in the main draws of two previous slams and losing in the first round both times. As such, he was a much more comfortable opponent for Djokovic than Davidovich Fokina, which probably explains the difference in Djokovic’s demeanor.

On Friday, Djokovic had roared aggressively at the fans on seizing the key second set – a response he later justified because “99 percent of the time I will stay quiet [but] sometimes I will oppose that because I feel when somebody is disrespectful, he or she deserves to have an answer.”

This time, Djokovic needed only 1hr 57min to overcome Varillas, maintaining his perfect record of dropping no sets in the tournament. His reward was a 17th visit to the French Open quarter-finals, which – amazingly – is one more than the “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal has managed.

This result also left Djokovic tantalizingly close to a first best-of-five-set meeting with Carlos Alcaraz, the man he has been exchanging the world No1 ranking with for the past nine months.

This would be a big moment for the sport because the two biggest beasts of the men’s tour (at least, since Nadal began his injury-related decline) have never actually faced each other during that time. Indeed, they have only ever shared a match court on one occasion. That came in Madrid 14 months ago and delivered a close and thrilling victory for Alcaraz.

READ MORE Novak Djokovic sends special message to Rafael Nadal after Surgery

As it happens, Alcaraz won through on Sunday by the same scoreline as Djokovic – the only difference being that he was facing an opponent with a real pedigree on this surface. Lorenzo Musetti, the 17th seed from Italy, might have despatched British No1 Cameron Norrie in ruthless style on Friday, but he was completely outclassed by Alcaraz in 2hr 8min.

Now both these heavy hitters need to come through their quarter-finals to set up that dream match on Friday. All the evidence suggests that it will decide the eventual champion, as the early exits of Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner have left the bottom half of this draw looking short on clout.

Djokovic was asked on Sunday whether he ever looks beyond his next opponent – in this case, the burly Russian Karen Khachanov – to a match further down the line. “You always follow the top guys in your half or whatever,” he replied. “Of course, you’re looking, you’re analyzing everyone’s game.”

So far, statistics suggest that Djokovic and Alcaraz stand well clear of the pack. After four rounds, they are respectively winning 46 and 54 percent of their opponent’s service games – both of which are outrageously high figures for the men’s tour.

The only other man lighting up the leaderboards after week one is an unexpected name: Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, who is due to play last year’s runner-up Casper Ruud on Monday. Having played three rounds, the 6ft 6in Jarry has dropped serve only three times – an intriguing anomaly at an event where most male players are broken at least once per set.

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Kimi Raikkonen Becomes KRT MXGP Racing Team Principal

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Kimi Raikkonen Becomes KRT MXGP Racing Team Principal

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KRT Team Principal Kimi Raikkonen attends every year selected rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship, and we took the opportunity to have a chat with him recently. In the second year of operation with Kawasaki in the MXGP class, the team has already claimed numerous podium results including five GP wins in-a-row for team leader Romain Febvre.

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Kimi, did you race motocross yourself and how did it start for you?
As a child, I started the same way a lot of kids did back in the day with an Italjet mini-bike. It was a 50cc auto that taught me about balance, machine attitude and throttle control. I suppose that is where my love of off-road and MX came from. I did not compete on two wheels so much as a youngster but later I did some club races on a KX250. I’ve always liked the challenge that MX riding gives you and how physical it is. It’s such a great feeling and after riding you always feel you have really challenged yourself – in a really positive way.

Were you allowed to race motocross as a Formula One driver?
Sometimes I went riding in small club races but it was just for fun and I have a small track at home here with the kids. I did not race at a high level and I felt it was part of my fitness programme. I don’t know what any of my teams thought about it as I never mentioned it to them.

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Kimi Raikkonen Becomes KRT MXGP Racing Team Principal 

How did you start to build the team?
At first of course it was with completely different people but it wasn’t how I wanted; it was too messy. Then I spoke to Antti around 2010; in fact I almost hired him as a rider at first. Then half-a-year later, when I heard he was stopping, I called him again to come and run the team. Now the direction is very good. We always wanted to come back to Kawasaki; now is the second year together and we have a great relationship with the Japanese people and the whole Kawasaki group. Kawasaki is pushing a lot and it’s great to be part of the team and the group, helping them to develop the bike.

You must be delighted with the recent success; five wins-in-a-row.
Of course it’s nice to win and we have been working for this for many years. But sometimes results come, sometimes not, and injuries are part of the whole business; we always want to win but it’s a small difference between fifth and winning. It’s great to be winning, and we take it when it comes, but we know how easy it is for it to go the other way. Last year was tricky with Romain injured and of course it was also the first year for us with Kawasaki. Romain has been riding well and is now winning, and Mitch is getting stronger so we can hopefully get two bikes up-front before too long.

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READ MORE : “Michael Schumacher’s Close Friend Drops Bombshell: ‘His Case Is Hopeless,’ Says Roger Benoit in Exclusive Interview!”

Are you satisfied with the development?
Yes; it’s been a busy couple of years, first changing the manufacturer last year and then taking on the new bike. It was almost like starting again from zero this year with the new bike, but we were prepared and we now have everything how we want. There are always things which can be improved even more but it needs to be a process that makes sense. You can do things very quickly but it needs to work well; it has to be 100% what you want. And the work is never-ending to make the riders even more satisfied.

Did you ride the new KX450 yourself?
We have a new baby this year so I’ve been busy with family and haven’t had the chance to ride the new bike myself yet, but hopefully I can find time to ride again this winter. In fact I have a KX250 and a KX450.
Franky speaking I was amazed how easy and good they are to ride. For sure, my riding has gone to the next level with the Kawasaki bikes I have.

Is the 450 good for you or do you prefer the 250 for everyday riding?
I don’t train or ride every day so I prefer 250 at my own track in Finland. Maybe the 450 for me is better suited to a bigger track and if I had more time to ride. It’s a serious bike and you have to approach it in a serious way.

 

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“Michael Schumacher’s Close Friend Drops Bombshell: ‘His Case Is Hopeless,’ Says Roger Benoit in Exclusive Interview!”

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“Michael Schumacher’s Close Friend Drops Bombshell: ‘His Case Is Hopeless,’ Says Roger Benoit in Exclusive Interview!”

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Michael Schumacher ‘s health remains an absolute unknown, but little by little more details and some news are becoming known. This year he will make 10 of the accident in the French ski resort of Méribel and everything surrounding the figure of the Formula 1 legend is unknown. Yes, some close people reveal some details , but they are very small.

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Hopeless with Michael Schumacher

A few days ago, journalist Roger Benoit, a close friend of Schumacher and one of the few who have permission to visit him, commented in an interview in the Swiss newspaper Blick that Schumacher’s case ” is a hopeless case .” Some words that portend the worst and that continue to leave this unknown.

“Michael Schumacher’s Close Friend Drops Bombshell: ‘His Case Is Hopeless,’ Says Roger Benoit in Exclusive Interview!”

He also wanted to refer to the responses of the driver Mick Schumacher, the son of the seven-time F1 world champion, in which in a Netflix documentary he explained that “I would give anything to talk to dad .” Benoit adds that ” this phrase says everything about what the father has been through for more than 3,500 days .”

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In this same documentary Mick Schumacher assures that “dad and I understand each other in a different way now, simply because we speak a similar language, the language of motorsport.” And he adds that “we have a lot more to talk about and at least that’s where my head is most of the time. That’s when I think, I would give up everything just to have that.”

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READ MORE : “Formula 1 Feud Escalates: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Shocking Silent Showdown Leaves Fans Stunned!”

Doubts about Michael Schumacher’s health

Therefore, the news is still not positive , but much more is not known about the subject either. For years there has been speculation in what conditions Michael Schumacher is living in and how the accident affected him. For now, few more details to know a little more about the situation .

However, it is also true that other close people have explained some more things over time. For example, Jean Todt, former president of the International Automobile Federation and former director of Ferrari, said a few years ago that ” his fight continues alongside his family and doctors .” He also stated that “I go to see him regularly and we watch TV together.”

ichael Schumacher continues fighting, but badly, without speaking and without much hope. That is what can be concluded from the words that the people closest to the former F1 driver have been saying in dribs and drabs. A Schumacher who is already 54 years old and who physically does not seem to be able to improve much . We will continue to wait and listen carefully for news about Michael Schumacher’s health.

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“Formula 1 Feud Escalates: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Shocking Silent Showdown Leaves Fans Stunned!”

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“Formula 1 Feud Escalates: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Shocking Silent Showdown Leaves Fans Stunned!”. Mercedes’ Decision-Making: The Bottas-Russell Gamble and Its Tense Aftermath

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Mercedes, one of the powerhouses in Formula 1, has recently been under scrutiny for their decision to replace Valtteri Bottas with the promising George Russell. This bold move was anticipated to inject new vigor into the team, but recent events have sparked debates over its wisdom. A video circulating in the media, capturing an apparent snub between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, has raised questions about team dynamics and the implications of this choice.

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Equal Terms, Unequal Results: The Hamilton-Russell Saga

Mercedes’ policy of allowing Hamilton and Russell to compete on equal terms was expected to lead to thrilling battles on the track. Singapore witnessed a fierce pursuit of Norris and Sainz, culminating in Hamilton’s pressure forcing Russell into a dramatic crash. The Japanese Grand Prix intensified this rivalry, with aggressive racing and strategic dilemmas pushing the team to a breaking point.

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“Formula 1 Feud Escalates: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Shocking Silent Showdown Leaves Fans Stunned!”

The Suzuka Showdown: Strategy and Strain

During the Japanese Grand Prix, Russell’s overtaking of Hamilton was met with swift retaliation. Their battle continued, but a strategic call to swap positions created confusion and frustration. This move, aimed at securing points in the constructors’ battle, ultimately backfired. Mercedes lost five vital points to Ferrari, escalating the tension between the teams and raising doubts about Mercedes’ decision-making.

Unacknowledged Tensions: The Silent Fallout

The aftermath of the race highlighted the strain within the team. Hamilton and Russell, once seen as potential allies, failed to acknowledge each other, raising concerns about the cohesion of the Mercedes camp. This icy exchange signaled a potential crescendo in the internal tensions, leaving fans and pundits alike speculating about the future dynamics of the team.

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READ  MORE : “Rising Star Mick Schumacher Breaks Silence About His Alpine Contract!”

The Road Ahead for Mercedes

As the season hurtles towards its conclusion, Mercedes finds itself not only in a battle on the track but also within its own ranks. The decision to bring in George Russell was bold, aiming for fresh energy, but its execution and the resultant tensions have put the team in a precarious position. The upcoming races will not only determine the team’s position in the championship but also shed light on the effectiveness of their driver choices and management strategies. Mercedes faces a challenging road ahead, one that requires not only speed on the track but also harmony within its own ranks.

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