MONTE CARLO: Charles Leclerc finally broke his Monaco Grand Prix curse on Sunday as Red Bull had an off weekend with Max Verstappen sixth and Sergio Perez crashing out on the first lap.
Leclerc ended years of frustration at his home race by taking the jewel in the Formula One calendar from pole at his third attempt.
A tearful Leclerc said: “No words can explain this. It means a lot, it’s the race that made me dream of becoming a F1 driver.
“Tonight is going to be a big night!“
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri followed the man from Monaco across the line with Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari in third.
Leclerc had started at the front of the grid at the circuit he used to travel along on the bus to school as a kid in 2021 and 2022 only for misfortune to stop him winning on both occasions.
With Ferrari now a much smoother run ship under Fred Vasseur this was a far slicker Ferrari team than then, and Leclerc dictated the pace perfectly from the front, until the end of the first lap.
That was when the red flag had to come out to stop the race after a three car pile-up with Perez’s Red Bull ripped apart.
Perez spun after being hit hard from behind by Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.
Nico Hulkenberg in the other Haas was a third innocent casualty.
The race on the narrow streets of the Principality was interrupted for around 30 minutes to allow debris to be cleared off the circuit.
All three crash victims were missing at the restart along with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who joined this unhappy group of onlookers after he was forced to retire following a tangle with his team-mate Pierre Gasly.
Leclerc escaped all the drama and led for the rest of the race to claim a hugely popular success.
With three-time world champion Verstappen only sixth, Leclerc moved to within 31 points of the Dutchman ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc wins first home F1 Monaco Grand Prix
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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc wins first home F1 Monaco Grand Prix
- McLaren’s Oscar Piastri followed the man from Monaco across the line with Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari in third
Tickets on sale for 2024 Next Gen ATP finals as future tennis stars descend on Jeddah
- 8 best men’s under-20s will compete from Dec. 18-22
- It will be the second edition of the finals presented by PIF as part of 5-year partnership between the ATP Tour and Saudi Tennis Federation
JEDDAH: Tickets are now on sale for the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals, as Jeddah prepares to welcome the world’s best male tennis players aged 20 and below.
The 2024 tournament is the second in a five-year partnership between the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Saudi Tennis Federation, putting the tennis stars of the future in the spotlight.
The 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals, presented by the Public Investment Fund, will take place on hard indoor courts at King Abdullah Sports City from Dec. 18-22 with an increased total prize fund of $2.05 million. Tickets and packages start from SR30.
First hosted in 2017, the finals moved to Jeddah in 2023. It marked a historic turning point as the first professional tennis tournament held in Saudi Arabia and played a pivotal role in the Saudi Tennis Federation’s ambition to inspire a million people to take up the sport by 2030.
Arij Mutabagani, president of the Saudi Tennis Federation, said: “Building on the success of last year’s tournament, we are thrilled to welcome the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF back to Jeddah for the second year. This event not only showcases the future stars of tennis but also highlights our commitment to fostering a vibrant sports culture in Saudi Arabia.
“As part of our vision to inspire 1 million people to play tennis by 2030, (the finals) play a crucial role in igniting passion and interest among Saudi fans and young players by bringing the best young talent in the world to our doorstep.”
ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said: “This tournament is a glimpse into the future of tennis, and we are proud to partner with the Saudi Tennis Federation to bring it to life. By showcasing the talent and ambition of these young athletes, we hope to inspire a new generation of tennis players, both in Saudi Arabia and around the world.”
The top seven players qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals based on their Race to Jeddah ranking points accumulated throughout the 2024 ATP Tour season. The eighth place is reserved for a wildcard entry.
The final field will be confirmed once the ATP Challenger Tour season finishes on Dec. 2. The eventual winner will join a star-studded list of Next Gen ATP Finals champions, including current world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz, and 11-time ATP Tour winner Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The finals are played in a round-robin format with the eight players split into two groups of four. The top seed is placed in Group A and the second seed in Group B, with the remaining seeds drawn in pairs and allocated to a group. The top two from each group advance to the knockout semifinals, with the Group A winner facing the Group B runner-up and vice versa.
The Next Gen ATP Finals are known for their groundbreaking innovation and unique format, designed to make tennis faster while bringing fans closer to the action and players.
They align with the Saudi Tennis Federation’s goal of attracting 1 million players to tennis while developing and nurturing young homegrown talent. Among several new initiatives is the “Tennis For All” program, in collaboration with the Saudi Sports For All Federation, aimed at introducing the sport to more than 60,000 boys and girls in schools across the Kingdom.
‘He’s the best sportsman in Spanish history’ – Feliciano Lopez pays tribute to Rafael Nadal ahead of Davis Cup farewell
- Tournament director and longtime friend and teammate is bracing himself for an emotional week in Malaga
MALAGA: “I think no one would have ever imagined a script like this,” Feliciano Lopez tells Arab News at the Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga, where Rafael Nadal is set to play the last tournament of his professional career alongside his Spanish teammates in the Davis Cup Finals.
Lopez, a longtime friend and teammate of Nadal, is the tournament director of the Davis Cup Finals and finds it poetic that the Spanish legend has chosen this team competition to be the last stop of his storied career.
“2004 Rafa wins the Davis Cup in Seville, I think that was probably the first big turning point of his career, in my opinion,” reflects Lopez.
“And then 20 years later, his career is coming to an end, playing the same competition, playing in Spain, in his country, alongside Carlos Alcaraz, who I think is a true blessing, because in a country like Spain, it’s very difficult to see that kind of athlete.
“Rafa is going to be playing his final professional tournament and we have Carlos Alcaraz having already four Grand Slams, it’s a true blessing.”
Spain’s greatest sports icon ending his professional tennis career by sharing a team with his heir apparent is indeed as good as it gets for the home fans that will fill up the 11,000-capacity arena when Nadal and Co. take on the Netherlands in the quarterfinals on Tuesday (5pm local time, 7pm KSA time).
“Also the fact that David (Ferrer, the former world No. 3) is the captain, it’s another nice coincidence. They are friends, they were teammates, they were rivals as well,” added Lopez, referring to Spain’s Davis Cup captain.
“Me here as a tournament director, I don’t know who would have been able to write this beautiful script. But I think it’s going to be very emotional, a lot of things coming to our minds, but of course Rafa is going to be the one playing the main role I think this week.”
Lopez, who officially retired from professional tennis last year and serves as tournament director at the Davis Cup Finals and the Madrid Open, first met a 15-year-old Nadal in Seville – just 200km north-west of Malaga – where they shared a practice session together.
“I was amazed by the intensity he was putting already at 15 years old,” he recalls.
Lopez’s funniest memory of his countryman was when Nadal made his Davis Cup debut in an away tie against the Czech Republic in 2004.
Nadal was still 17 at the time and lost in straight sets in his first singles and doubles matches that weekend. But the tie was still in play thanks to Tommy Robredo, who won the other singles clash, allowing the Spaniards to enter the last day of action trailing the Czechs 1-2, with two singles showdowns to come.
Just as Lopez was about to take to the court for a do-or-die match against Tomas Berdych, a teenage Nadal stopped him in his tracks.
“I was literally almost putting my feet on the court and I saw Rafa coming towards me, running. I was a bit concerned, ‘What’s going on, what’s wrong Rafa?’” Lopez recounted.
“He said, ‘No, no Feli, I just want to wish you good luck, and please, you have to win this match and I will take care of the rest’.
“I will never forget, he was 17 years old, he made his debut, lost the two matches he played and he was convinced and he was so determined that he was going to win the deciding match; and that tells you everything about the way he thinks and the way he is. I will never forget that.”
Nadal, of course, clinched the tie for Spain by winning the fifth match in straight sets over Radek Stepanek, who was wanked 49 in the world at the time. A few months later, he shocked world No. 2 Andy Roddick of the United States to help Spain secure the Davis Cup title at home in Seville.
Spain is not short on sporting legends, but Lopez does not hesitate to dub Nadal the greatest of them all.
“He's the best sportsman of our history of course, with all respect to the others, because we have plenty of them, and very good ones,” said the 43-year-old.
“He’s by far our best athlete and his legacy is going to be also as a human being. Because his titles, of course, are not going to be forgotten, that’s for sure. But it’s very rare to see someone that good, tennis-wise, but also his legacy as a human being is going to be maybe bigger and better than his legacy as a tennis player.
“This is for me something unbelievable.”
In a career that spanned over two decades, Nadal won 92 titles, including 22 Grand Slams. Novak Djokovic is the only man in history to have amassed more major trophies.
Asked what he personally believes makes Nadal special, Lopez said: “I think his passion – he’s someone very passionate, he does everything with a lot of passion in his life.
“As a tennis player, I will say his intensity, from the first point until the last point, and this is something very rare to see. Tennis matches can be very long and you see up and downs all the time with almost every player, but with Rafa it’s a different story. He’s able to play with a lot of intensity and his self-belief also is something I think out of this world. That’s really something also remarkable.”
Lopez added: “But also tennis-wise, he’s a very complete player. He’s so powerful, the speed of his ball is completely different than any of the players. There was always a lot of talk regarding his fitness condition, his mentality and his intensity, all these things, but I think tennis-wise he’s top three in the history of the sport, otherwise I don’t think he would have been able to achieve everything that he achieved.”
Tickets for Tuesday evening’s quarterfinal between Spain and the Netherlands were sold out the minute Nadal announced he would be retiring after the Davis Cup and even participating players and captains have joked that they’re unable to score a seat in the arena for the Mallorcan’s farewell event.
“We can't get tickets. I think the tickets are going for $100,000. If you want to pay for me, I'll go,” laughed USA team captain and doubles legend Bob Bryan.
“Of course since Rafa decided that this is going to be his last professional tournament, the expectations increased all over the world and everyone wants to be present here today and there’s no room for everyone. So we’re getting ready for a big week,” said Lopez.
Roger Federer tells friend and rival Rafael Nadal that he made him enjoy tennis more
- Federer began his message with the word “Vamos” and said: “As you get ready to graduate from tennis, I’ve got a few things to share before I maybe get emotional”
- “Let’s start with the obvious: you beat me — a lot. More than I managed to beat you”
MALAGA, Spain: Roger Federer says Rafael Nadal made him enjoy tennis “even more” during a rivalry that spanned 40 matches over 15 years.
Writing on social media Tuesday, hours before the start of the Davis Cup Final 8, Nadal’s last event before heading into retirement, Federer began his message with the word “Vamos” and said: “As you get ready to graduate from tennis, I’ve got a few things to share before I maybe get emotional.”
“Let’s start with the obvious: you beat me — a lot. More than I managed to beat you. You challenged me in ways no one else could,” Federer said. “On clay, it felt like I was stepping into your backyard, and you made me work harder than I ever thought I could just to hold my ground. You made me reimagine my game — even going so far as to change the size of my racquet head, hoping for any edge.”
Federer, now 43, was established at No. 1 in the rankings when Nadal, now 38, came along. Federer started his career with a 7-0 record in Grand Slam finals before his first loss at that stage arrived against Nadal in the 2006 French Open final, the first of their three consecutive title matches in Paris — each with the same result.
Nadal also defeated Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final, ending the Swiss star’s bid for a sixth championship in a row at the All England Club.
In all, Nadal led their head-to-head series 26-14, including 10-4 at Grand Slam tournaments and 6-3 in Slam finals.
Still, Federer told Nadal in his post, referring to him by the nickname Rafa: “You made me enjoy the game even more.”
They helped form the Big Three of men’s tennis along with Novak Djokovic, who is still active at age 37 and has won a men’s-record 24 major trophies. Nadal is next on the list with 22, followed by Federer with 20.
“What an incredible run you’ve had,” Federer posted. “Including 14 French Opens — historic! You made Spain proud ... you made the whole tennis world proud.”
When Federer left the sport by playing a doubles match at the Laver Cup in September 2022, his partner was Nadal. The two sat side-by-side afterward, crying.
“It meant everything to me that you were there by my side — not as my rival but as my doubles partner,” Federer wrote Tuesday. “Sharing the court with you that night, and sharing those tears, will forever be one of the most special moments of my career.”
Nadal’s Spanish team was scheduled to meet the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarterfinals Tuesday. Neither Nadal nor Spain’s captain, David Ferrer, would say Monday whether Nadal will play singles or doubles, both — or neither.
“Rafa, I know you’re focused on the last stretch of your epic career. We will talk when it’s done,” Federer wrote. “I want you to know that your old friend is always cheering for you, and will be cheering just as loud for everything you do next.”
Saudi Arabia set for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualifier in Qatar
- Saudi Arabia are familiar with their rivals after taking part alongside them all in T20 tournaments this year
Qualification for the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in India and Sri Lanka, is in full swing. From Nov. 19-28, Doha takes center stage for Asia Sub-Regional Qualifier Group B.
With seven nations taking part it looks set to be an exciting competition, with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bhutan, Cambodia, Thailand and the UAE joining hosts Qatar. The teams are competing for the last two places in the Asia-East Asia-Pacific regional final, to be held in Malaysia in August 2025.
Malaysia and Kuwait emerged successfully from the Asia Group A qualifier, while Samoa and Japan won the East Asia-Pacific A and East Asia-Pacific B qualifiers, respectively. Nepal, Oman and Papua New Guinea have already qualified by virtue of taking part in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies.
The seven teams competing for these last two places will play in a round robin league, with the top two teams in the table progressing to the next qualifier.
Saudi Arabia are familiar with their rivals after taking part alongside them all in T20 tournaments this year. These matches were in either the Asia Cricket Council T20 Challenger Cup in Thailand or the ACC Premier Cup that followed in Nepal. In the Challenger Cup, Saudi Arabia convincingly beat Bhutan, Thailand, Japan and Cambodia in Bangkok, the latter in the final. This maintained their excellent record in Thailand, where they won the ACC 50-over version in 2023.
Saudi Arabia’s convincing qualification in February for the ACC T20 Premier Cup provided an opportunity for the team to test itself against strong opposition in Nepal. The bridge proved too large to gap, however, as only one match out of four played was won.
This ought not to be the case in the current Asia Group B qualifier in Qatar. The UAE are arguably favorite to win, sitting 16th in the ICC T20I men’s rankings. Closest to them are Bahrain (26), Qatar (28) and Saudi Arabia (33). Behind them come Cambodia, ranked 42nd, Thailand in 59th and Bhutan in 77th. Saudi Arabia have comfortably beaten each of them in the ACC T20 Challenger Cup so it is the matches against the three higher-ranking teams that are likely to prove crucial.
Three matches will be played each day for 10 days at either the West End Park International Cricket Stadium or the University Stadium in Doha from Nov. 19. Saudi Arabia’s first match is against Bahrain, who are just ahead in the T20I rankings.
If the Saudi team can start their campaign with a victory, they will have a good chance of challenging for one of the top two spots in the table — and a place in the Asia-East Asia-Pacific regional final. From there, the dream is the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Six-time Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy celebrates as Dubai Basketball earns dominant home victory over Krka
- Dubai Basketball record impressive win in their first home game in a month, advancing to 7-2 on the season
- Golfing legend Rory McIlroy celebrates courtside and misses full-court charity putt by just inches
DUBAI: After three straight games on the road, Dubai Basketball made it a homecoming to remember as they stormed to a 91-76 victory against Slovenia’s Krka in front of an energized crowd that included Sunday’s Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy.
It was the first time in a month fans could watch their team in action at Coca-Cola Arena and the hosts put on an impressive performance to bounce back from last week’s defeat and improve their ABA League record to 7-2.
The Dubai Basketball team was welcomed by more than 3,300 spectators, including Rory McIlroy — one of the greatest golfers of all time and an avid basketball fan. The five-time Ryder Cup winner and four-time major champion put it an appearance just hours after triumphing at the DP World Tour Championship and landing his sixth Race to Dubai title at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
McIlroy also took part in a full-court “Putt for Purpose” challenge, bidding to donate 1 million dirhams ($272,258) to charity for a hole-in-one, but missed out by just a few inches.
The hosts started slowly, finding themselves 7-3 down, but soon found their rhythm to level the score at nine apiece, thanks to Danilo Andusic’s three-pointer. Elevated by the passionate home support, Dubai continued their momentum with Isaiah Taylor’s jump shot and a two-pointer from JaCorey Williams helping the team take a 21-15 lead before they closed out the first quarter at 24-23.
In the second quarter, the noise went up a notch when Filipino Thirdy Ravena took to the court. He was almost on the scoresheet within seconds, his driving layup sadly hitting the arc.
Dubai picked up where they left off in the second half, taking a healthy 13-point advantage into the final quarter at 70-57. From there it was one-way traffic as Klemen Prepelic, Nate Mason and Williams were among the scorers sealing the victory. Andusic ended with a game-high of 18 while Leon Radosevic hit eight rebounds.
Williams said the home support had spurred the team on and added he cherished the opportunity of meeting McIlroy, who had brought along the Race to Dubai trophy.
He said: “We knew it was going to be a difficult game, especially ahead of a break. It’s always hard to play these types of games. But we did a good job of staying locked in defensively. I think when we lead with our defense, our offense just flows. First half, we had some turnovers. They scored a lot of threes on transition from the turnovers. In the second half, we corrected that mistake and kept the defense at a high level and we got the big win.”
He added: “Rory is a very high-level player in his sport and much respect to him. We’re in Dubai so we see all kinds of people, it was good to see him though. I got to hold a trophy and I’ve never seen a trophy like that in real life. It was kind of cool … and heavy, too.”
Off court, cheerleaders from Sharmila Dance Center took the spotlight, dazzling the crowd with jaw-dropping dance moves that brought fans to their feet with non-stop cheers. The performers captured everyone’s attention, turning the halftime break into a spectacular display of talent.
Global Village, one of Dubai’s top attractions, brought along a selection of its roaming artists, making the evening even more memorable.
With no ABA League games scheduled next week, Dubai Basketball return to on-court action in Serbia on Nov. 29, when they face FMP. Their next game at Coca-Cola Arena is against Mornar Bar on Dec. 15.
