Team News

Yair Rodriguez failed to face the reigning champion of UFC 290, Alexander Volkanovski. A knockdown in the third round of the fight where the latter was confirmed as one of the strongest fighters on the planet in the sport of MMA.

The confrontation between the two took place on Saturday evening in Las Vegas, where the former US president, Donald Trump, was present among the guests in the company of the head of the UFC, Dana White.

The match was stopped by the referee after Volkanovski laid the rival in the ring by attacking him wildly and in order not to risk dangerous injuries for the Mexican, the match was stopped. The undefeated Australian is due to defend his title again in the coming months and will next face Ilia Topuria.

Formula 1 drivers are doing their best to change, with the aim of increasing the rivalry between the teams, however the Red Bull team at the moment looks like it comes from space, from another planet and understandably so unless something extraordinary happens Dutchman Max Verstappen that can now be considered a triple champion in the world’s fastest motoring competition.

Last season, the “flying Dutchman” recorded a total of 15 victories in the 22 races held. Translated differently, such a statistic is worth 68.18%, so put in a much simpler way, the reigning champion of Formula 1 managed to triumph last edition in more than 2/3 of the races programmed in the calendar.

This year, despite the great efforts of Ferrari or the leaders of the Mercedes team to improve their cars, the difference instead of narrowing seems to be increasing more and more, but above all it is very difficult to understand that until how hard is the Austrian team really trying?

Effort seems like a big word that probably doesn’t match the reality, if one notices the ease with which the Red Bull single-seaters command the races.

The teams have moved to Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, but the leaders of the Austrian team do not know how to stop. At the moment, the Red Bull team has won in all the continents where it has competed, and above all, where the 25-year-old Dutchman could not succeed, the Mexican Sergio Perez did his job best.

Checo triumphed in two of the first four stages of the 74th edition of Formula 1, in the Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, immediately leaving behind his teammate. Of course, in the current world of Formula 1, the main enemy is considered the colleague or partner of the team, and taking into account the things carried over from the end of the last season, it seemed as if between the two pilots Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez there was fun.

Checo hinted to various media that the leaders of the Austrian team were helping the 2-time world champion at his expense, however, time proved the opposite, giving the Dutch pilot the right.

If in the first half of 2023 Verstappen has not fallen below second place on the other side, the 33-year-old from Guadalajara has finished 4 of the first 9 races of the season outside the podium, where of course the result of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix stands out, where Checo was positioned in 16th place.

On the streets of the Principality Sergio Perez ended his adventure two laps behind Verstappen and the situation in the general classification of drivers is significant. After the first nine races Max Verstappen has accumulated 229 points, a full 81 points more than his teammate. Halfway through the championship, the Red Bull Racing team continues to dominate the season, winning all available races.

In the constructors’ world standings, the Austrian team leads with 377 points, i.e. more than double the points compared to the performance of the closest followers. Currently, the Mercedes and Aston Martin teams are classified in second and third place with 178 and 175 points respectively, while Ferrari, which is also considered the most successful team in the history of Formula 1, is positioned only in fourth place, with a quota of 154 points.

So Red Bull’s hegemony is clear and this season could well represent another record breaking year. Last weekend there were many controversies and fines for various drivers who exceeded the speed limits in certain corners, in a way opening old wounds for the drivers, however such problems were not at all the Red Bull team, who dominated in almost every home race aspect.

The only negative note in Spielberg was probably the second place of the Mexican Sergio Perez, because the reigning champion who won everything could be won. Leaving aside the superiority of the Red Bull single-seaters, Verstappen’s ability to control any kind of situation is still impressive.

So, for example, in the Austrian Grand Prix with a lot of arrogance the reigning champion had time at the end of the race to make an extra pit stop, to change tires with the aim of getting the extra point for the fastest lap, after starting from pole position and also triumphing in the sprint race.

This weekend the aim is to triumph at the legendary Silverstone circuit, where the Austrian team has failed to win in the last decade. Red Bull’s most recent British Grand Prix successes were achieved by German Sebastian Vettel in 2009 and Australian Mark Webber in the 2010 and 2012 seasons.

So only three wins in total for the Austrian team, so the Dutchman Max Verstappen will give his best to continue the path of success and mark his name on this legendary Formula 1 track.

The next eight days will be filled with anxiety for Juventus, who are awaiting the decision of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Control Chamber.

Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the Bianconeri were found guilty of inflating player transfer fees to falsify capital gains last season, which led to a 10-point drop in Serie A.

Last year, Juventus agreed a Financial Fair Play deal with UEFA based on questionable balance sheets that saw them sign a deal and pay a small part of the €23m fine. only about 3.5 million euros.

Because of this, Juventus will likely be banned from European competition for a season and forced to pay the rest of that €23m fine. It is expected that this decision will be taken before July 14.

If a decision is not reached before then, the punishment would be postponed until the 2024-25 season, something that would represent a greater economic loss for the whites, who expect to reach qualification for the Champions League next season.

Stefanos Tsitsipas says a row with Andy Murray over bathroom breaks is “forgotten” as he prepares to take on the Briton at Wimbledon on Thursday.

The Centre Court contest is a rematch of their feisty 2021 US Open encounter where Murray was angered by the Greek having an eight-minute toilet break.

“I think it has been settled already a long time ago,” Tsitsipas said.

British women’s number one Katie Boulter plays a day after a protester interrupted her previous match.

Compatriots Liam Broady and Jan Choinski are also in action on day four, while Elena Rybakina will continue her title defence.

Murray and Tsitsipas follow Rybakina’s match against French world number 74 Alize Cornet on Centre Court.

In the first round of the US Open two years ago, Murray, 36, lost in five sets to Tsitsipas after the Greek took a lengthy bathroom break before the deciding set.

Murray said after the match the incident was “a joke” and that he had “lost a lot of respect” for his opponent.

Tsitsipas, who lost to Murray last year in Stuttgart in their only other encounter, said after his opening-round win at Wimbledon the matter was over.

“We had to play Laver Cup together in the same team. I’ve forgotten about it. He has forgotten about it,” the fifth seed said.

At that time, Murray was ranked 112th in the world and still recovering from serious hip injury that left him facing retirement but he has since broken back into the world’s top 50 and had a positive build-up on grass.

“He’s someone that I respect,” said Tsitsipas. “He has done great things in tennis. I’m looking forward to this match. That court over there is almost like his living room.”

Murray has had an extra day to prepare than Tsitsipas, having beaten compatriot Ryan Peniston on Centre Court on Tuesday, while Tsitsipas was taken to five sets by Austrian Dominic Thiem in a match played over two days after rain delayed the conclusion until Wednesday evening.

Tsitsipas did, however, add his body was feeling fine after the match.

“My body feels good. I know it was a five-setter, but I feel like there isn’t any soreness or any major fatigue on my body right now,” he said.

On Friday it will be the 10-year anniversary since Murray beat Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon for the first time and it is an occasion Tsitsipas, who was 14 at the time, remembers well.

“A few years ago I witnessed his first Wimbledon title and thinking about it now gives me goosebumps, I felt what he went through, and every time I watch that moment it gives me shivers all over my body,” he said.

Before Murray’s match on Thursday, fellow Briton Broady will face a tough challenge in the form of Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud, who reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2021.

Boulter faces Viktoriya Tomova for place in the third round, while Choinski continues his surprise run at the All England Club with tricky opposition in the form of Polish top-20 player Hubert Hurkacz.

Men’s third seed Daniil Medvedev takes on Frenchman Adrian Mannarino on Court Two in the second round, while German 19th seed Alexander Zverev will only be playing his first-round match after his encounter Dutch player Gijs Brouwer was postponed two days in a row.

Following the cancellation of all play on the outdoor courts on Tuesday, Wednesday was once again hit by rain delays with a daunting 87 scheduled matches to get through.

Play got under way at around 12:30 BST and, but for one 30-minute blip around two hours later, continued throughout the day.

However, several players still saw their matches incomplete or chalked off the order of play with 56 of the scheduled matches seen through to their conclusion and 31 cancelled.

The weather forecast shows much better conditions on Thursday with no rain scheduled and organisers will hope they can get the tournament fully up to speed.

The doubles will also get under way with Britain’s Jamie Murray and New Zealand partner Michael Venus in action in the men’s, while fellow Britons Jodie Burrage and Emily Appleton team up in the women’s doubles.