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How Emma Raducanu was discovered by a Driver at 8years old
How Emma Raducanu was discovered by a Driver at 8years old
Emma Raducanu’s New York miracle represents a transformational moment for tennis in Britain. Or, at least, it should do – as long as the Lawn Tennis Association manages to harness her extraordinary marketability.
However, there is a beginning to every journey in life.
No grand-slam nation has come up with a surefire method for success, although the Czech women and Italian men offer a glimpse of what can be achieved. In Britain’s case, meanwhile, Raducanu’s New York miracle has provided posthumous vindication for “Talent ID” – a controversial development pathway established by Draper soon after his appointment in 2006.
Clipboard-wielding coaches tested children as young as eight on various physical and technical metrics, before forwarding the highest-scoring kids into a system of competition based around colored balls. They started on red squishy things the size of a small grapefruit and then worked their way through orange and green before reaching the standard yellow.
Talent ID was bold and innovative. Other governing bodies around the world sent scouts over to see what the LTA were doing. At the same time, though, it created massive ill-feeling within the British junior game. Junior tennis is always characterised by a fair amount of jealousy and dissatisfaction, such are the often unrealistic expectations that tennis parents have of their children, but this was now compounded by the extra sin of novelty.
How Emma Raducanu was discovered by a Driver at 8years old
Making predictions at the age of eight is a challenging business. One common objection was that the chosen ones. – who received so-called matrix funding based on their ranking and results. – were often natural athletes who lacked competitive fire, and thus consistently lost junior matches to more dogged and driven characters.
But Talent ID could have been made for Raducanu. She was monstrously good at every aspect of it. Mark Hayden, who now works as the LTA’s National Pathway. Coach for the South East, remembers her performing a fan drill, which requires the child to pick up balls laid out in a pattern around her as quickly as possible.
“Her balance, her change of direction, her foot-speed – it was on a different level,” said Hayden. “Let’s say that the other kids were doing it in 18 seconds. She would take 16 and a half.”
One coach who worked at Bromley Tennis Centre remembers. Raducanu chewing opponents up with the green ball at the age of eight or nine.
“The green ball is a bit weird because you move up to a full-sized court after orange mini-tennis on a half-court. It plays very dead, like an ordinary ball that has had the stuffing knocked out of it. And that can favor people who play horrible, hacky tennis. Not in Emma’s case, though. She was outstanding because she covered the big court so well. Which most of the young kids couldn’t do.
I was watching her at the US Open thinking. ‘She is such a good front-runner,’ and then I realized that that is what she is used to doing. She has been slaying people from an early age.”
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Great rumor about Schumacher – but bad memories are already coming back
The dream is still alive – but the glimmer of hope is shrinking more and more! Mick Schumacher actually wanted to use the wild driver market to slip back into Formula 1. However, some prominent options are already off the table.
The latest rumor about the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher is all the more surprising. He is very familiar with this Formula 1 racing team. But the current situation brings back bad memories.
Formula 1: No Audi, no Mercedes
After the departure of Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes would have been the dream solution for Schumacher. He has been a test driver for the Silver Arrows for over a year and receives praise from all sides. Here he could finally have presented himself in a competitive car. However, there are increasing signs that his name is not on team boss Toto Wolff’s list of possible candidates. Especially since he’s already digging Max Verstappen ( find out more here ).
+++ Next Red Bull shocker? Helmut Marko spills the beans +++
Audi’s hopes also recently received a severe setback. The German carmaker chose Nico Hülkenberg as the face of its own campaign. In addition, Carlos Sainz, who has to leave Ferrari, will probably follow. Schumacher couldn’t compete with the Spaniard’s charisma.
Place on the chaos team?
So what options remain in Formula 1? According to the “F1 Insider” portal, Alpine could suddenly become an issue. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are actually set here. Because things aren’t going well this season, the former in particular is aiming for a change after the season.
The connection to Schumacher is definitely there, as he has been driving for the Alpine endurance team since this year. So far he has been able to impress with fast lap times. Is this his ticket back to the premier class?
Formula 1: Alpine on the brink
Only: How much would it bring him? During his first F1 phase, Schumacher sat in a Haas with no chance and in which it was impossible to shine. Something similar is currently looming at Alpine. Instead of fighting for podiums, the car is a cucumber and hasn’t scored a single point yet. A fate that is shared with Williams and Sauber – but that was also to be expected with them.
There is also a lot of background noise surrounding layoffs and resignations. Mick Schumacher probably wouldn’t hesitate if he were offered a return to Formula 1. But Alpine’s current state bodes ill for its chances of success.
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After Hamilton’s commitment: Ferrari changes name
The commitment of Lewis Hamilton as a driver pays off twice for Ferrari. The Italian racing team has a new title sponsor and is changing its name.
Munich – Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 move from Mercedes to Ferrari for the coming season caused a huge stir . With the seven-time world champion, the Scuderia wants to launch the major attack on Red Bull and Max Verstappen in 2025, which currently seems unassailable.
And the Hamilton deal pays off twice for Ferrari: On the one hand, the Italian racing team gains what is probably the biggest name among active drivers. On the other hand, the name Hamilton attracts major sponsors. One of them will now become the main and title sponsor. This means: Ferarri is even changing its name.
Ferrari completes deal with new title sponsor
As the racing team announced on Wednesday, the US technology company Hewlett-Packard (HP) will be the new title sponsor. From now on, the two current drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., whom Hamilton will replace in the coming season, will no longer be racing for “Scuderia Ferrari” but for “Scuderia Ferrari HP”.
“Our founder passed on to us his constant desire for progress. This results in our pursuit of innovation on the road and on the racetrack. In HP we have found the same values, which makes the company an ideal partner. We look forward to starting our collaboration and facing new opportunities and challenges together,” Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna is quoted as saying in a press release.
HP deal brings Ferrari new look
The sponsorship deal will also change the look of the cars and racing suits. For the first time, the HP logo will appear on the cars of Leclerc and Sainz Jr. at the Grand Prix in Miami on May 5th. be visible. However, the exact appearance of the cars is not yet known.
Denny Hamlin Takes a Shot at Kyle Larson as the HMS Driver Brings Up Petty Issues
After the Wurth 400 Race, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch expressed their displeasure in their respective post-race interviews at Dover, blaming their loss primarily on the aero blocking associated with the next-gen cars. Where Larson is listed as the 5-1 favorite to win at Dover, for Busch, it was his second career Dover pole. After the race, Busch emphasized how previous models at least allowed some room to maneuver for passes, a flexibility that seems absent in the next-gen cars.
Larson, expanding on this, pointed out that aero blocking is particularly significant at the front of the pack. He noted that drivers leading the race could easily use their in-car cameras to keep tabs on challengers behind them and block effectively. #5 suggested that removing these cameras could potentially alleviate the problem.
However, Denny Hamlin, the Dover winner, who once again “beat your favorite driver” doesn’t see eye to eye with this viewpoint. He actually downplayed the impact of in-car cameras, considering their removal a minor tweak rather than a significant solution to the overarching issues with next-generation cars.
Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are at loggerheads with each other
#5 Hendrick Motorsports driver recently floated the idea that NASCAR should ditch the rear-view cameras to make air-blocking tougher. He repeatedly described how “easy” it is to block using these cameras, explaining, “It’s really hard to pass the lead car. […] Honestly, if they took the cameras out of the car, that’s probably one of the little things that could fix it. It’s hard to see out of the rearview mirrors, but the cameras are so easy. I would be for it if they took the cameras out. I don’t know if he ;[Hamlin] runs the camera, he probably does and it’s really easy.”
However, Denny Hamlin doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Kyle Larson. In his post-race comments, the JGR driver mentioned he rarely used the camera at Dover, noting, “Yeah, I mean, I use it at times. I didn’t use it much today simply because Dover is just a track where things happen so fast. I feel like personally if I take my eyes off the road for a second, I take it to the camera, I’ll miss my line kind of rely more on the spotter to defend than I do the actual camera just simply because I don’t think I’m good enough to drive and look backwards.”
Denny Hamlin wasn’t buying the camera removal idea as a fix for aero blocking. He flat-out said it wouldn’t make a difference. “No, it wouldn’t change anything because the spotters would tell you where to drive,” he explained. He said that he would rather see changes to the car, tires, or something more substantial. According to him, the current cars just can’t stand being in traffic or trailing another car, which is why they perform best on wider tracks where the following driver has room to maneuver. It’s all a strategic game.
But besides these camera and aero-blocking discussions, there’s something else worth celebrating for Denny Hamlin. With his latest win at Dover, Denny Hamlin has now matched a legendary driver in the record books.
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