'Didn't know what to do': Brit baffled by Bublik puzzle
Alexander Bublik continues to write the most amazing and unlikely story at the French Open, making Alex de Minaur's defeat by the crazy Kazakh look better by the day.
Bublik's second-round win over ninth seed de Minaur left the Australian bereft and in the mood for a spot of self-blame, but he found himself in good company on Monday when British hotshot Jack Draper, the fifth seed, also simply couldn't handle his demise by drop shot from the inspired world No.62.
"I didn't know what to do," admitted a flustered Draper, who'd been compared physically to a UFC fighter by Bublik but who was pummelled into submission by his stringbean adversary's fabulous shot-making.
"I have a certain skill set to play tennis, and it worked marvellously today. One hundred percent, one of the best days of my life and one of the best matches I have ever played in my life. As simple as that," said Bublik, who's reached the quarter-final .
He had had everyone laughing the previous round when he explained how a "hangover" trip to Las Vegas had been his way of escaping the pressures off too much hard training, the sort indulged in by what he felt were athletic "robots".
And the father of a young son was quick to double down after his win over Draper that he's not prepared to sacrifice everything to push his tennis life to new levels.
"There's no way around hard work — don't get me wrong, I work hard — but on my terms. Will I put my life and health on the line to have a "might"? Maybe? No," he affirmed.
"I will continue my path. I will work my way because I still practise, guys. I still do the exact minimum and maximum at the same time in order to be the player I am, to be in the position I am, and I will continue with this path because I think I prioritise tennis and life in equal ways."
It sounds a refreshing approach but, frankly, he'll have to top even his recent miracles to down Jannik Sinner next as the Italian blitzed Andrey Rublev 6-1 6-3 6-4, making the world No.17 largely look like helpless fodder.
He's not the first one to feel that way. The Italian has now marched to the last-eight without losing a set and for the loss of just 30 games. Who can beat him?
Novak Djokovic doubtless fancies his chances as he ticked off another landmark in his peerless career, earning his 100th career French Open victory, a mark surpassed among men only by Rafael Nadal, as he demolished Briton Cam Norrie 6-2 6-3 6-2.
Like Sinner, he still hasn't ceded a set and "everything is solid and positive", he declared.
But it will start to get interesting next up when the record 25th grand-slam seeking Djokovic tackles last year's finalist, No.3 seed Alexander Zverev, who progressed when his Dutch opponent, Tallon Griekspoor, quit with abdominal trouble when 6-4 3-0 down.
"He definitely knows how to play tennis. He definitely knows what it means to be on the big stage and to play big matches," Zverev said about Djokovic. "There is no doubt about that."
Djokovic improved to 100-16 at the French Open, while Nadal, who retired at the end of last season, went an unbelievable 112-4 while winning 14 championships.
"From now on I have the toughest draw in the tournament," Zverev said. "I'm looking forward to the battles ahead, and I'm looking forward to playing the best in the world."
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News.com.au
37 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Boisson continues dream French Open run, Djokovic, Sinner eye semis
An inspired Lois Boisson delighted Roland Garros as the French world number 361 downed Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday to set up a French Open semi-final against Coco Gauff, before Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic both chase men's last-four berths. Boisson, making her debut at a Grand Slam event, powered her way to a thrilling 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 victory on a raucous Court Philippe Chatrier to become the first Frenchwoman to reach the semis since Marion Bartoli in 2011. The 22-year-old, who was due to play at last year's French Open but suffered a knee injury the week before the tournament, is the lowest-ranked woman to reach a major semi-final in 40 years. "It was incredible to play in front of this crowd and feel support like that," said Boisson, after hitting 24 winners past Russian sixth seed Andreeva to follow up her fourth-round win over world number three Jessica Pegula with an even more surprising victory. A dramatic first set saw Andreeva miss a set point after leading 5-3, before Boisson fought back only to see three chances of her own come and go in a marathon 12th game. But the wildcard fought off another set point in the tie-break, before taking her next opportunity, cupping her ear towards the adoring crowd in celebration. Andreeva gathered herself and quickly built a 3-0 lead in the second set, only to be left jumping up and down in anger after a missed backhand gave Boisson a much-needed hold of serve. The 18-year-old Andreeva started to crumble under the pressure, being given a warning for slamming a ball into the top tier of the stands as the atmosphere heated up under the Chatrier roof. She was roundly booed when she then argued with the umpire over a line call, and was broken later that game after another double-fault to suddenly trail 4-3. Boisson made it six consecutive games to secure a seismic victory as Andreeva, one of the pre-tournament favourites, completely unravelled. Second seed Gauff battled back from a set down to defeat fellow American, and Australian Open champion, Madison Keys in an error-strewn opening match 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-1. The former US Open champion upped her level enough after dropping the first set to get through a quarter-final littered with 14 double-faults and a whopping 101 unforced errors. "It means a lot, especially getting through this tough match today, it wasn't an easy match and I'm very happy to get through it," she said. Gauff, the 2022 losing finalist, will be hoping to go at least one better than when she lost to Iga Swiatek in last year's semi-final. Swiatek continues her bid for a fourth consecutive Roland Garros title in a blockbuster clash with world number one Aryna Sabalenka in Thursday's other semi-final. - Zverev eyeing Djokovic scalp - Djokovic will compete in a record 19th French Open quarter-final against last year's runner-up Alexander Zverev in the night-session match. The German third seed will be well rested after his last-16 opponent Tallon Griekspoor retired on Monday with an abdominal injury while trailing 6-4, 3-0. Zverev, who lost to Carlos Alcaraz in last year's final, continues his latest bid for a maiden Grand Slam title after three runner-up finishes. "For me, Carlos is the favourite. Then I would say the next three in line are Jannik, myself, and Novak, right? I still believe that," said Zverev, who could meet world number one Sinner in the semi-finals. Zverev has made at least the last four at the past four French Opens and is into his seventh quarter-final. The 28-year-old has won five of his 13 career matches with Djokovic, including in Melbourne in January when the Serb retired injured from their semi-final. - 'Pretty dominant' - Djokovic, a three-time champion at Roland Garros, is just the second player to record 100 wins at the event after 14-time winner Rafael Nadal (112). "It's a very pretty number, but 101 victories sounds better," said 38-year-old Djokovic who has reached the quarter-finals at the clay-court major for a 16th consecutive year. World number six Djokovic is chasing a record 25th major title. Italian Sinner takes on unseeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik, who hailed his emotional four-set win over fifth seed Jack Draper in the last 16 as the "best moment of his life". Sinner leads 62nd-ranked Bublik 3-1 in previous meetings. The Italian reached the semi-finals last year where he lost a five-set battle to Spaniard Alcaraz.
Herald Sun
an hour ago
- Herald Sun
Lewis Hamilton's social media following dwarfs rest of Formula One grid
Don't miss out on the headlines from F1. Followed categories will be added to My News. From recreating a famous scene from a cult Hollywood movie to high-end fashion shoots, 'iconic' team debuts and daredevil exploits away from the track – one driver is the clear-cut king of social media on the Formula 1 grid. His first season for Ferrari might not be humming as much as he would like, but seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton remains far-and-away the most popular driver based on his huge social media following. The undisputed 'rock star' of the F1 grid, the British driver is open to sharing his passions away from the track with his fans – and they lap it up. Hamilton has a combined following of more than 48 million across platforms Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), more than double the next closest driver – his Monegasque Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc (22 million combined). Red Bull's four-time world champion Max Verstappen has more than 18 million combined followers, while Australia's championship leader Oscar Piastri has almost 5 million across both Instagram and X. While Hamilton shares plenty of action from race days like most of the other drivers, it is his fashion-forward life away from the track which has opened him up to a massive audience. The 40-year-old almost broke the internet when he shared the first image of himself as a Ferrari driver in January wearing a double-breasted suit and long black coat standing alongside a Ferrari F40 out the front of team founder Enzo Ferrari's old house in Maranello. The image, which was dubbed 'iconic' by his former Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, had more than 56K comments on it on Instagram, including fellow Brits Lando Norris replying 'Don' and his former Silver Arrows teammate George Russell 'Auguri fratello'. PREMIUM CONTENT 'Coolest driver in F1 history': How Piastri pulled off the impossible 'What are you doing?': Teen mates lift lid on young Oscar's wild start In March, Hamilton also set the web alight when he celebrated his first season at Ferrari by recreating an iconic scene from cult 1980s movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In the scene featuring his 'dream car', Hamilton plays the garage employee who takes the Ferrari owned by Cameron Frye's father for a joy ride through the Chicago streets. The video, which landed just before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and his first race with the Scuderia, also went viral on social media. 'No better way to start the season than by fulfilling another dream,' Hamilton wrote on Instagram. 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off has been one of my favourite movies since I was a kid. This is to pay homage to the iconic film and to celebrate my first season with Ferrari. 'It definitely took a lot of cutting edge tech, production and planning to get right. Had to get the exact car too … it's been a dream car since seeing the movie.' Hamilton also regularly appears in fashion shoots on his social media, including his iconic looks from the Met Gala. He has also shown his adrenaline-chasing exploits away from the track, sharing videos of himself skydiving, surfing and on the ski slopes. Hamilton's beloved bulldog, Roscoe, has also featured regularly in his social media feed. Social media's next most popular driver on the grid, Leclerc also isn't afraid to have a bit of fun on social media, posting a video last week testing his speed off the track with an attempt at cracking the world record for the most ice-cream cones scooped in one minute (he didn't succeed). He has also flaunted his talent away from the cockpit as a pianist tinkering the ivories with his faithful canine companion, Leo, sitting at his feet. Like Roscoe, Leo also features often in Leclerc's social media feed and even has his own Instagram account. Leclerc's home town of Monaco provides a picturesque backdrop for many of his fashion collaboration shoots, while he has also shared his off-season snowscapades. Piastri might be leading the drivers' championship standings, but the Melbourne-born star is still building his social following. The title frontrunner posts mostly about his days at the track and some behind the scenes of his training and preparation, but has shared some personal snaps alongside his girlfriend Lily Zneimer holidaying during the off-season and some sweet images of himself as a kid. Piastri's love of cricket also features, sharing his catch-ups with the Australian cricket team, including a picture alongside captain Pat Cummins captioned: 'Bowling royalty meets part-time medium pacer'. But the 24-year-old's mic-drop moment on social media happened before his F1 career had even taken off in August, 2022, when he famously rejected Alpine's announcement that he would be racing for the team the following year. Piastri's viral tweet had 392K likes, was shared 97K times and had 13,000 comments. 'I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year,' Piastri wrote. Piastri also shares images of his regular paddle ball battles, which has become a favourite pastime among many of the F1 cohort. Verstappen prefers to focus on his action at the track, but has shared some personal snaps alongside his partner Kelly Piquet and, most recently, celebrating the birth of their first child together, a daughter named Lily. 'Welcome to the world, sweet Lily,' Verstappen wrote. 'Our hearts are fuller than ever – you are our greatest gift. We love you so much.' Verstappen's love of sim racing also features regularly, with the Dutch champion recently featuring in a social media video from his sim racing team cutting a virtual lap of Mount Panorama. Piastri's teammate Lando Norris' interest in photography features heavily in his timeline with the McLaren star often pictured with his own camera in hand. Norris, who boasts the fifth most followers on Instagram with 10 million, had more than 8000 comments on a picture he posted last year of Verstappen and himself from their karting days congratulating his Red Bull rival on his fourth straight championship. 'Congrats on the 4th title in a row mate, awesome drive this year. Was fun fighting you for it. Feels like yesterday we took this pic in karting,' Norris wrote on Instagram. The Brit's most viewed video on Tik Tok was a collaboration with Australian Olympic gold-medal winning skateboarder Keegan Palmer, which had 11.7m views. The drivers aren't afraid to engage in a bit of banter, either, with Russell last week quipping on his social media that 'Dinner (is) on you tonight Albono!!!' to Alex Albon after the Williams driver held him up during the Monaco Grand Prix. Albon replied, 'I'll take you to a drive thru' with a laughing emoji. He did end up taking Russell out to dinner and picked up the bill, revealing ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix the Mercedes star ordered a lobster pasta, but skipped on dessert. The fourth most followed driver on Instagram, Williams' 'smooth operator' Carlos Sainz shares his love of cycling regularly and the slick Spaniard captured plenty of attention wearing a tuxedo to attend this year's Cannes film festival. In a nod to the original smooth agent, 007 James Bond, Sainz posted a playful video having fun with his on-track nickname. 'My name is Operator. Smooth Operator,' Sainz said before walking off laughing. The Instagram video before his walk on the Cannes red carpet captured almost 8000 comments. Originally published as Lewis Hamilton's social media empire shows how much Oscar Piastri can grow
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Error-fest as Gauff downs Keys to reach Open semis
Coco Gauff huffed and puffed into the French Open semi-finals with a 6-7 (8-6) 6-4 6-1 victory against fellow American Madison Keys in a error-infested match both players will quickly want to forget. More than half of Gauff's points came from the Australian Open champion soft mistakes and the world No.2 got away with a total of 10 double faults. Altogether there were over a 100 errors. The 21-year-old will need to make dramatic adjustments when she faces either France's Lois Boisson or Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva for a place in Sunday's final. Keys, who was looking to reach the last four at Roland Garros for the second time after 2018, bowed out with her 60th unforced error to end a forgettable contest. "I'm happy to get through this match today, I have a lot more work to do, I'll be ready tomorrow," Gauff said. "I changed something at 4-1 (in the first set). It's tough to play against her because she hits the ball so fast, so low, I was just trying to fight for every point ... to get the ball to the other side of the net." Gauff, who reached the final here in 2022, is the youngest woman to claim 25 main-draw wins at Roland Garros since Martina Hingis (1995-2000). The opening set was a scrappy affair, with the first three games going against serve. Keys secured the first hold to lead 3-1 and broke again before Gauff clawed back a break and held for the first time to close the gap to 4-3. In a flurry of breaks, Gauff levelled at 4-4 and held once more to edge ahead, putting the pressure on Keys, who saved a set point to force a tiebreak. While the quality was patchy at best, the drama was undeniable, with momentum swinging wildly. In the end, Keys edged the tiebreak as Gauff double-faulted three times, handing the opener to her opponent. Things did not get better in the second set. "So many unforced errors," Gauff said on court, in one of the understatements of the season. She levelled the contest as Keys looked out of sorts and cantered through the decider. Coco Gauff huffed and puffed into the French Open semi-finals with a 6-7 (8-6) 6-4 6-1 victory against fellow American Madison Keys in a error-infested match both players will quickly want to forget. More than half of Gauff's points came from the Australian Open champion soft mistakes and the world No.2 got away with a total of 10 double faults. Altogether there were over a 100 errors. The 21-year-old will need to make dramatic adjustments when she faces either France's Lois Boisson or Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva for a place in Sunday's final. Keys, who was looking to reach the last four at Roland Garros for the second time after 2018, bowed out with her 60th unforced error to end a forgettable contest. "I'm happy to get through this match today, I have a lot more work to do, I'll be ready tomorrow," Gauff said. "I changed something at 4-1 (in the first set). It's tough to play against her because she hits the ball so fast, so low, I was just trying to fight for every point ... to get the ball to the other side of the net." Gauff, who reached the final here in 2022, is the youngest woman to claim 25 main-draw wins at Roland Garros since Martina Hingis (1995-2000). The opening set was a scrappy affair, with the first three games going against serve. Keys secured the first hold to lead 3-1 and broke again before Gauff clawed back a break and held for the first time to close the gap to 4-3. In a flurry of breaks, Gauff levelled at 4-4 and held once more to edge ahead, putting the pressure on Keys, who saved a set point to force a tiebreak. While the quality was patchy at best, the drama was undeniable, with momentum swinging wildly. In the end, Keys edged the tiebreak as Gauff double-faulted three times, handing the opener to her opponent. Things did not get better in the second set. "So many unforced errors," Gauff said on court, in one of the understatements of the season. She levelled the contest as Keys looked out of sorts and cantered through the decider. Coco Gauff huffed and puffed into the French Open semi-finals with a 6-7 (8-6) 6-4 6-1 victory against fellow American Madison Keys in a error-infested match both players will quickly want to forget. More than half of Gauff's points came from the Australian Open champion soft mistakes and the world No.2 got away with a total of 10 double faults. Altogether there were over a 100 errors. The 21-year-old will need to make dramatic adjustments when she faces either France's Lois Boisson or Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva for a place in Sunday's final. Keys, who was looking to reach the last four at Roland Garros for the second time after 2018, bowed out with her 60th unforced error to end a forgettable contest. "I'm happy to get through this match today, I have a lot more work to do, I'll be ready tomorrow," Gauff said. "I changed something at 4-1 (in the first set). It's tough to play against her because she hits the ball so fast, so low, I was just trying to fight for every point ... to get the ball to the other side of the net." Gauff, who reached the final here in 2022, is the youngest woman to claim 25 main-draw wins at Roland Garros since Martina Hingis (1995-2000). The opening set was a scrappy affair, with the first three games going against serve. Keys secured the first hold to lead 3-1 and broke again before Gauff clawed back a break and held for the first time to close the gap to 4-3. In a flurry of breaks, Gauff levelled at 4-4 and held once more to edge ahead, putting the pressure on Keys, who saved a set point to force a tiebreak. While the quality was patchy at best, the drama was undeniable, with momentum swinging wildly. In the end, Keys edged the tiebreak as Gauff double-faulted three times, handing the opener to her opponent. Things did not get better in the second set. "So many unforced errors," Gauff said on court, in one of the understatements of the season. She levelled the contest as Keys looked out of sorts and cantered through the decider. Coco Gauff huffed and puffed into the French Open semi-finals with a 6-7 (8-6) 6-4 6-1 victory against fellow American Madison Keys in a error-infested match both players will quickly want to forget. More than half of Gauff's points came from the Australian Open champion soft mistakes and the world No.2 got away with a total of 10 double faults. Altogether there were over a 100 errors. The 21-year-old will need to make dramatic adjustments when she faces either France's Lois Boisson or Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva for a place in Sunday's final. Keys, who was looking to reach the last four at Roland Garros for the second time after 2018, bowed out with her 60th unforced error to end a forgettable contest. "I'm happy to get through this match today, I have a lot more work to do, I'll be ready tomorrow," Gauff said. "I changed something at 4-1 (in the first set). It's tough to play against her because she hits the ball so fast, so low, I was just trying to fight for every point ... to get the ball to the other side of the net." Gauff, who reached the final here in 2022, is the youngest woman to claim 25 main-draw wins at Roland Garros since Martina Hingis (1995-2000). The opening set was a scrappy affair, with the first three games going against serve. Keys secured the first hold to lead 3-1 and broke again before Gauff clawed back a break and held for the first time to close the gap to 4-3. In a flurry of breaks, Gauff levelled at 4-4 and held once more to edge ahead, putting the pressure on Keys, who saved a set point to force a tiebreak. While the quality was patchy at best, the drama was undeniable, with momentum swinging wildly. In the end, Keys edged the tiebreak as Gauff double-faulted three times, handing the opener to her opponent. Things did not get better in the second set. "So many unforced errors," Gauff said on court, in one of the understatements of the season. She levelled the contest as Keys looked out of sorts and cantered through the decider.
