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The defeat of the favorites in Montreal allows Nadal to aim for number one in…
The defeat of the favorites in Montreal allows Nadal to aim for number one in…
Whatever happens, whoever lifts the trophy next Sunday to the Canadian sky, this edition of the Masters 1,000 in Montreal is already historic. Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas were, from the outset, the three favorites and the top seeds, in that order.
However, the first round (for their rivals it was the second) became a kind of black hole that sucked them in. The defeat of Medvedev and Alcaraz benefits Rafa Nadal, who has already confirmed his presence next week in Cincinnati . If he wins the tournament and the current number one does not advance to the quarterfinals, the player from Manacor will replace him at the top of the table.
In Montreal, the first to fall was Alcaraz against Tommy Paul, number 34 in the ATP ranking. The next victim was the Russian, who was left out after losing to Nick Kyrgios in three sets. Finally, the Greek, surprised by Jack Draper, a 20-year-old who ranks 82nd in the world. Since 2001, the two top seeds have not been left out of a Masters 1,000 in the first round.
The defeat of the favorites in Montreal allows Nadal to aim for number one in…
In that year, Gustavo Kuerten and Andre Agassi lost in their debut in Stuttgart against two much inferior rivals. The subsequent fall of Tsitsipas makes this Montreal edition even more extraordinary. After the elimination of the top three candidates for the title, and the also surprising defeats of Andrey Rublev or Diego Schwartzman, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Casper Ruud, Jannik Sinner and the enraged Nick Kyrgios remain as rivals to beat.
The Australian, with his victory over Medvedev (6-7, 6-4, 6-2), did a huge favor to his antagonist in the sport, Rafa Nadal. The Russian had just won in Los Cabos without major shocks, but this disappointment (if it can be considered that way taking into account the moment that Kyrgios is going through) brings the tennis player from Manacor closer to the possibility of accessing the top of the individual classification the week that comes in Cincinnati. For that, he would need to win the tournament and Medvedev not to reach the quarterfinals. If it doesn’t happen, he could still end the year on the throne if he puts in a strong performance at the US Open.
The clash between Kyrgios and the world number one showed the Australian’s change of heart. After seeing how his rival saved a critical situation and prevailed in the tie break of the first round, he did not lower his head and went up several revolutions. Intractable as always in the service and aggressive to the return, he did an exercise of resistance and constant wear and tear that ended up knocking down the sober Medvedev. “Kyrgios played unbelievable, he will soon be top 10,” acknowledged the Russian at the end of the match, surrendering to the level of a tennis player who has won 14 of his last 15 singles matches.
READ MORE: Daniil Medvedev makes Novak Djokovic US Open ban feelings clear with comments on rivals
Alcaraz’s loss was even more surprising, because it came against Tommy Paul, who despite being above Kyrgios in the ATP rankings cannot currently be compared to him. “Right now I’m angry. I made bad decisions. That has frustrated me,” the Murcian confessed at the press conference after the match. “It was the first time that I couldn’t withstand the pressure and I couldn’t control it. I felt the pressure of being the number two seed, the number four in the world,” he admitted, in some surprising statements for a player of his determination. , but understandable given his age and his lightning rise to the top.
The last to be eliminated in Montreal was Tsitsipas, number five in the world and third seeded in the Canadian tournament. His executioner was Jack Draper, a daring young man who, with his powerful left foot, dropped the Greek in two even sets (7-5, 7-6). Among so many disappointments, it should be noted that, despite the elimination of Alcaraz, it is still a positive championship for Spanish tennis.
In the round of 16 will be Albert Ramos, who surprised the Argentine Schwartzman; Roberto Bautista, who will fight against Casper Ruud; and Pablo Carreño, who will face another hard bone like the Italian Sinner, but who has crushed Holger Rune (6-0, 6-3).
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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
