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Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Mozart of tennis' Gasquet bows out in Paris
French Open 2025 Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros Coverage: Live radio commentary on BBC 5 Sports Extra, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app One small step for Jannik Sinner marked one giant leap into a new life for Richard Gasquet. World number one Sinner's 6-3 6-0 6-4 victory over the 38-year-old Gasquet marked the end of the Frenchman's playing career. The terracotta courts of Roland Garros provided a fitting setting for the fond farewell, almost 30 years after Gasquet first came to the nation's attention. Gasquet's legacy will be his ravishing backhand. His career will be measured not by Slam wins but largely by the pleasure his signature shot brought, particularly to the adoring French public. In 2023, the website ranked Gasquet's backhand as the fifth greatest single-hander of the Open era. It described it as possibly "the most aesthetically pleasing one-handed backhand drive" of that period. Only major winners Stan Wawrinka, Ken Rosewall, Justine Henin and Federer, occupying top spot, outranked Gasquet. It was not for nothing that a 15-year-old Gasquet was compared to Mozart by then French Tennis Federation president Lionel Faujare. "When I stop, even after 10 years, I'll still be able to hit backhands," Gasquet said in April . Gasquet became famous in France at the age of nine, when Tennis Magazine put him on their cover, with the headline: "Richard G. Nine years old. The champion France has been waiting for?" Living up to the billing was a daunting assignment. Aged 12, he beat Rafael Nadal in the junior Les Petits As tournament, but as a professional the head-to-head was 18-0 in Nadal's favour. He was 2-19 against Roger Federer and 1-13 against Novak Djokovic. Gasquet won French Open and US Open junior singles titles, and the senior mixed doubles as a 17-year-old at Roland Garros in 2004 with Tatiana Golovin. He reached three Grand Slam semi-finals, including two at Wimbledon, and won 16 ATP titles, a Davis Cup in 2017 with France and an Olympic doubles bronze at London 2012. In March 2009, he tested positive for cocaine and was provisionally banned for a year but later cleared, successfully arguing he was unknowingly contaminated after kissing a woman, known as Pamela, in a Miami nightclub. He reached seventh in the world rankings and matched a Federer record - winning matches in 24 consecutive seasons at ATP level. But the backhand - that was everything. Franck Ramella, Gasquet's biographer and tennis writer for L'Equipe: "I think he is happy with his career. Because he never wanted or ever claimed to be the ultimate champion. "He never recognised himself in what others expected of him. What was complicated for him was the expectations. "We had a lot of hope. We've been waiting for a men's champion since Yannick Noah [in 1983] at Roland Garros, so there's a kind of failure syndrome [in French tennis]. So as soon as someone can win, we put a lot of intensity into it, a lot of belief. France really believed in him. "Every time he lost or didn't make it to the final, there was disappointment but he was incredibly good." Watch: 'Are you kidding me?' Gasquet hits incredible winner against Federer Watch: How fast can Gasquet re-grip?
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Mozart of tennis' Gasquet bows out in Paris
French Open 2025 Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros Coverage: Live radio commentary on BBC 5 Sports Extra, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app One small step for Jannik Sinner marked one giant leap into a new life for Richard Gasquet. World number one Sinner's 6-3 6-0 6-4 victory over the 38-year-old Gasquet marked the end of the Frenchman's playing career. Advertisement The terracotta courts of Roland Garros provided a fitting setting for the fond farewell, almost 30 years after Gasquet first came to the nation's attention. Gasquet's legacy will be his ravishing backhand. His career will be measured not by Slam wins but largely by the pleasure his signature shot brought, particularly to the adoring French public. In 2023, the website ranked Gasquet's backhand as the fifth greatest single-hander of the Open era. It described it as possibly "the most aesthetically pleasing one-handed backhand drive" of that period. Only major winners Stan Wawrinka, Ken Rosewall, Justine Henin and Federer, occupying top spot, outranked Gasquet. Advertisement It was not for nothing that a 15-year-old Gasquet was compared to Mozart by then French Tennis Federation president Lionel Faujare. "When I stop, even after 10 years, I'll still be able to hit backhands," Gasquet said in April . Twelve-year-old Richard Gasquet at Le Petits As in 1999 - the tournament where he beat Rafael Nadal and won the title [Getty Images] Gasquet became famous in France at the age of nine, when Tennis Magazine put him on their cover, with the headline: "Richard G. Nine years old. The champion France has been waiting for?" Living up to the billing was a daunting assignment. Aged 12, he beat Rafael Nadal in the junior Les Petits As tournament, but as a professional the head-to-head was 18-0 in Nadal's favour. He was 2-19 against Roger Federer and 1-13 against Novak Djokovic. Advertisement Gasquet won French Open and US Open junior singles titles, and the senior mixed doubles as a 17-year-old at Roland Garros in 2004 with Tatiana Golovin. He reached three Grand Slam semi-finals, including two at Wimbledon, and won 16 ATP titles, a Davis Cup in 2017 with France and an Olympic doubles bronze at London 2012. In March 2009, he tested positive for cocaine and was provisionally banned for a year but later cleared, successfully arguing he was unknowingly contaminated after kissing a woman, known as Pamela, in a Miami nightclub. He reached seventh in the world rankings and matched a Federer record - winning matches in 24 consecutive seasons at ATP level. Advertisement But the backhand - that was everything. Richard Gasquet at the centre of France's Davis Cup celebrations [Getty Images] What they said about Gasquet Franck Ramella, Gasquet's biographer and tennis writer for L'Equipe: "I think he is happy with his career. Because he never wanted or ever claimed to be the ultimate champion. "He never recognised himself in what others expected of him. What was complicated for him was the expectations. "We had a lot of hope. We've been waiting for a men's champion since Yannick Noah [in 1983] at Roland Garros, so there's a kind of failure syndrome [in French tennis]. So as soon as someone can win, we put a lot of intensity into it, a lot of belief. France really believed in him. Advertisement "Every time he lost or didn't make it to the final, there was disappointment but he was incredibly good."
BBC News
19-04-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
'I've let myself & the team down' - Norris on qualifying 'shunt'
Saudi Arabian Grand PrixVenue: Jeddah Date: 20 April Race start: 18:00 BSTCoverage: Live radio commentary online and BBC 5 Sports Extra; live text updates on the BBC Sport website and app Lando Norris says he has a "big job" on his hands to try to recover in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from his crash in Briton, who leads McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by three points in the drivers' championship heading into the race, starts 10th after his accident. Red Bull's Max Verstappen is on pole position, ahead of Piastri and Mercedes' George said: "I don't think it's going to be an easy one because I don't think it's very easy to overtake around here."We have a strong car but clearly not as good as we would like because Max is on pole and George is only 0.1secs behind, so it's not like things are plain sailing at the minute."[I've got] a big job to try and do." McLaren showed extremely strong race pace during the practice sessions in Jeddah but Norris said he was "going to need a bit of luck" in the grand said that to "get close" to Verstappen, Piastri and Norris was "not very realistic"."It's almost impossible to overtake around here, so I'm not expecting anything magical," Norris said."But we have a good car, so if we can work our way up to the top five, six, I will say I'll be happy."Norris lost control on the exit of Turn Four, his car sliding on to the kerb at Turn Five and flicking into the wall on the swore and called himself an "idiot" over the radio to his team in the immediate aftermath of the accident."Makes sense," he later said of his frustration in the car. "I agree with it. I should be fighting for pole and, especially on a Q1 lap, not taking any silly risks like I seem to have done."We will review it but it's not a guarantee we would have been on pole, because Red Bull were quick the whole qualifying."It would have been nice to be in that fight. I was doing well until then and feeling comfortable. I shunted, so I am not going to be proud, I'm not going to be happy, I've let myself and the team down and the guys have a big job to do to fix it."Verstappen, eight points behind Norris in the championship, said he was surprised to have been in the fight for pole after a difficult time through the practice sessions, adding that until taking pole he had been "not very confident" for the race."My long runs weren't particularly great compared to Oscar or Lando," he said. "Naturally, with how the car was reacting today, it will be a bit better. But I don't think it'll be enough to be super competitive."But the car definitely took a bit of a step forward compared to what we were testing yesterday. So I hope that will help our tyre life out as well, but difficult to say that gives an opportunity to fight." Verstappen's pole was his second of the season. After his first, in Japan two weeks ago, he held off Norris and Piastri for the entire grand prix to though, said the three zones in which the drivers can use the Drag Reduction System overtaking aid might make it easier for him to have a try at passing Verstappen than in Australian said: "I'm feeling confident in what we've got. There's a lot of DRS zones around here, which is a nice difference to Suzuka. So, yes, let's see if we can make some said he and Verstappen had agreed that McLaren were still the team to beat."Max and I were just talking now," Russell said. "We both recognise McLaren are the standout favourites and definitely have the pace on everybody else."If Oscar gets into the lead, you'll probably see a repeat of Bahrain. If we stay in the order we qualified, I think it could be a tight race until the pit stops."Russell added that the decision to bring a softer range of tyres for Saudi Arabia this year could also impact the race."The medium tyre this year was last year's soft, which only one driver used in the whole race."We saw the tyres were too hard in Japan. We've all pushed to have softer tyres. Hopefully, it won't make it a slam-dunk one-stop, and there could be a couple of different strategies on the table."
BBC News
14-04-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Marko has 'great concern' over Verstappen future
Saudi Arabian Grand PrixVenue: Jeddah Dates: 18-20 April Race start: 18:00 BST on SundayCoverage: Live radio commentary of practice, qualifying and race online and BBC 5 Sports Extra; live text updates on the BBC Sport website and app Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko says he has "great concern" about Max Verstappen's future with the team in the context of their current four-time champion finished sixth in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, while Oscar Piastri scored McLaren's third win in four races so far this Verstappen is third in the drivers' championship, eight points behind leader Lando Norris of told Sky Germany: "The concern is great. Improvements have to come in the near future so that he has a car with which he can win again."We have to create a basis with a car so that he can fight for the world championship."Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull until 2028. But Marko told BBC Sport this month that it contains a performance clause that could allow him to leave the team. The wording of this clause is not known publicly but it effectively says that Red Bull have to provide Verstappen with a winning won the Japanese Grand Prix a week before Bahrain but that victory was founded on a pole position lap that many F1 observers regarded as one of the greatest of all overtaking was next to impossible at Suzuka, Verstappen was able to hold back the McLarens of Norris and Piastri and take his first win of the has qualified third, fourth and seventh for the other three races in Australia, China and Red Bull is on average over all qualifying sessions this year the second fastest car but 0.214 seconds a lap slower than the has complained all year about balance problems with the Red Bull, which is unpredictable on corner entry and has mid-corner Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted after the race in Bahrain that the car's balance problems were fundamentally similar to the ones that made the second half of last year a struggle for won just twice in the final 13 races of last season, but managed to win his fourth world title because of the huge lead he built up when Red Bull were in dominant form in the first five races of the also said the team were having difficulties with correlation between their wind tunnel and on-track performance. Essentially, the car performs differently on track than the team's simulation tools say it should. Verstappen had a difficult race in Bahrain including delays at both pit stops, one with the pit-lane traffic light system and one with fitting a front one stage he was running last, and he managed to snatch sixth place from Alpine's Pierre Gasly only on the last said that the hot weather and rough track surface had accentuated Red Bull's said: "Here you just get punished a bit harder when you have big balance issues because the Tarmac is so aggressive."The wind is also quite high and the track has quite low grip, so everything is highlighted more."Just the whole weekend struggling a bit with brake feeling and stopping power, and besides that also very poor grip. We tried a lot on the set-up and basically all of it didn't work, didn't give us a clear direction to work in."Verstappen has said this year that he is "relaxed" about his and his management - his father Jos Verstappen and Dutchman Raymond Vermeulen - have open minds and are waiting longer to see how this season decision about moving teams for 2026 is complicated by the fact that F1 is introducing new chassis and engine rules that amount to the biggest regulation change in the sport's history, and it is impossible to know which team will be in the best it is widely accepted in the paddock that Mercedes are looking the best in terms of engine performance for F1 boss Toto Wolff has made no secret of his desire to sign two parties had talks last season but have yet to have any discussions this season about the future.
BBC News
05-04-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
F1 officials hoping rain will solve grass fire issues
Japanese Grand PrixVenue: Suzuka Dates: 4-6 April Race start: 06:00 BST on SundayCoverage: Live radio commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC 5 Sports Extra, race live on BBC Radio 5 Live from 05:30. Live text updates on the BBC Sport website and app Formula 1 officials are hoping that predicted overnight rain will solve the problem of grass fires that have afflicted the Japanese Grand Prix grass alongside the track igniting in different places has so far caused five red-flag stoppages at Suzuka, including one in qualifying on weather is expected from the early hours of Sunday morning, which should solve the problem before the the forecast is wrong, a spokesperson for governing body the FIA said, officials will water the grass around the track again in an attempt to prevent the problem out a pre-emptive burn of the most at-risk areas around the 3.6-mile track has been this is not an option favoured by officials because of the risks if the burn is not kept under control, environmental concerns and the aesthetics of blackened areas of grass around the the temperatures have been in the region of 13-15C so far at Suzuka, Japan's rainy season is in the summer and the grass is very dry. After two fires disrupted second practice on Friday, key areas of grass were watered before final practice on were the driest areas and those at fast corners, where there is the highest likelihood of sparks from the titanium skid plates under the cars, which are causing the same areas of grass were watered again, with greater quantities of water, after two further fires disrupted final practice.A fifth fire broke out in qualifying at the exit of the 200mph 130R corner, causing a red flag in the second session of Bull's Max Verstappen, who will start on pole for the race, said: "It will rain overnight and that will help. The grass is very dry and I guess with the sparks it can ignite."McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who starts third, added: "With the rain overnight, I don't think it will be as much of a problem."
