Lewis Hamilton has defended the casting of Brad Pitt as a Formula One driver with the Hollywood actor to start filming for his new blockbuster at the British Grand Prix on Friday.
Pitt will race an adapted Formula Two machine between practice sessions at a sold-out Silverstone for the movie which Hamilton is helping to produce.
It is understood that the 59-year-old American will play the role of a veteran driver returning to the grid after a 30-year absence.
The plot line has raised eyebrows, given Pitt’s age, but Hamilton said: “Brad looks like he’s ageing backwards. He looks great for his age.
“Of course that was a big topic at the beginning when we were discussing the first story. But he’s super-fit.
“He is such an iconic actor. He’s always done such an incredible job. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have Brad Pitt in Formula One. It’s incredible.”
Pitt has been getting up to speed in Formula Two machinery for two months – first at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France and then here at Silverstone.
While Pitt will be alone on track at Silverstone in a modified car prepared by Hamilton’s Mercedes team, it is believed that the assistance of computer generated imagery will make him look as though he is racing this season’s grid.
A garage has been set up in the paddock to replicate a fictional “11th team”, called Apex GP. They will also have a presence on the grid ahead of Sunday’s race, but will be withdrawn before the event gets under way.
“There are nerves because it is something we’ve been working on for so long,” added Hamilton.
“We want everyone to love it and to really feel that we encapsulate what the essence of this sport is all about.
“I don’t know if this would have been possible 10 years ago when the old management was in place. They wouldn’t have perhaps seen this as an important step in terms of the sport’s growth.
“But we’ve already seen the great work and impact of the Netflix show, and this will take it to new heights beyond that.”
Apple has bought the rights to the movie with a reported budget of 140 million US dollars (£125 million).
Joseph Kosinski, the man behind Top Gun: Maverick, will direct the film, while Jerry Bruckheimer – who also worked on the Tom Cruise blockbuster – is listed as a producer.
Filming will continue at a number of races over the remainder of the season.
Katie Boulter battled into the Wimbledon third round for the second straight year and set up a potential meeting with reigning champion Elena Rybakina.
The sole British woman remaining in the singles draw recovered from a second-set wobble to beat Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-0 3-6 6-3 on Court 12.
Watched by Australian boyfriend Alex De Minaur, who won his delayed first-round match earlier on Thursday, Boulter equalled her best showing in SW19.
Tomova is ranked 10 places below Boulter at 99 in the world, but she appeared a dangerous opponent having recorded her first top-30 win in the opening round by defeating 27th seed Bernarda Pera.
Yet Boulter was all over her from the start, an aggressive opening return game securing the first of three breaks of serve.
Having seen the first set race away from her in just 27 minutes, Tomova finally got on the board in the second and then nicked a break from the previously impeccable Boulter serve.
The British number one hit straight back with a glorious winner, but Tomova had got in her stride, switching tactics and changing angles to unsettle her opponent and level the match.
Back-to-back net cords helped Boulter break for 2-0 in the decider and after that second-set blip, she regained her composure and asserted herself on the contest once more.
The Boulter serve was back on song, but she needed to come out on the right end of an epic 24-shot rally before converting a third match point with her 36th winner to wrap up a fine victory.
Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Dillian Whyte has been announced for August 12 at The O2 in London.
After discussions over taking on Tyson Fury broke down, former world champion Joshua had been linked with a fight against Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua, though, will now face off against Whyte again, having defeated his rival in a British and Commonwealth title clash in December 2015 to avenge a defeat when they had met as amateurs.
Joshua is continuing to build up his record again, having beaten Jermaine Franklin on points in April after suffering back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, the unified champion who is set to face Britain’s Daniel Dubois in Poland next month.
“I’ve been clear that my plan is to be active this year,” said Joshua. “August 12 is the date, I’ll be ready to fight. I look forward to dealing with business.”
Whyte, 36, recovered from his sixth-round loss against WBC champion Fury at Wembley in April 2022 with his own victory over Franklin in November last year.
If Joshua comes through his rematch with Whyte, which will be shown live by broadcaster DAZN, he is then expected to go on to meet Wilder in another lucrative heavyweight showdown.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said: “At times it may have looked like a game of bluff, but now we are set and with everything that’s on the line this is an absolute must win for both.
“The rivalry runs deep and there is something about these two where they will never back down from each other.
“Just like the first time at The O2, get ready for fireworks August 12 and a huge night of boxing.”
Stan Wawrinka rates his chances of winning Wimbledon as “zero” but can complete a notable set by knocking out his old rival Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.
Wawrinka, 38, defeated 29th seed Tomas Etcheverry 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2 to reach the last 32 at the All England Club for the first time since 2015.
The Swiss veteran has won only six of his 26 previous meetings but two of those came in grand slam finals, at the French Open in 2015 and the US Open the following year, while he has also beaten him at the Australian Open.
Wawrinka is finally back in the top 100 after years spent trying to battle back from knee and foot surgeries, and he was determined to play down his chances against Djokovic.
“There’s zero opportunity to win Wimbledon for me, I think,” he said. “I’m happy to have won today again. I think it was a great match. I’m playing better each match and I think it’s an honour to play Novak here.
“I was missing that on my career to play him in the grand slam in Wimbledon. It’s going to be a difficult challenge. Hopefully I can make a competitive match, but, if you will look at recent results, I don’t really stand a chance.”
Asked if he believes he can beat Djokovic, Wawrinka said with a smile: “I don’t know. I have to be on the court, play my best tennis and like I did in the past, but right now it’s been a long time I didn’t play at that level.
“He’s the perfect player. If you look, everything is so clean. He plays the perfect shot in the right moment. I love to watch him play, as much as I was loving to watch Roger (Federer) play. He’s serving amazing, he’s returning everything. He can do everything.
“I like to watch tennis. So I’m going to be playing tomorrow and then watching the rest of the tournament.”
While Wawrinka insisted his last comment was a joke, it will suit him to pile all the pressure on Djokovic for the clash of the veterans.
The match will be the oldest combined age for a men’s singles match at Wimbledon since Ken Rosewall faced Barry Phillips-Moore in 1974.
Djokovic, 36, is now on a 30-match winning streak at Wimbledon and will be a big favourite but he will be wary of the power of Wawrinka.
“He took away two grand slams from me,” said the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
“After several surgeries of his knees, he keeps going strong and trying to create some more history for himself and tennis. We cannot forget that he’s a three-time grand slam champion and Davis Cup winner and also Olympic gold. He had a fantastic career.
“One of the nicest one-handed backhands that I have ever played against, ever seen. Very powerful player. Very strong. Very complete. He can play equally well on all surfaces.”
Max Verstappen believes next season’s Formula One calendar is too long and hinted it will be a factor in whether he stays in the sport beyond 2028 – but George Russell thinks the Red Bull driver simply wants more money.
The Dutchman is powering towards a third successive drivers’ title – holding an 81-point lead heading into this weekend’s British Grand Prix – but has again suggested that ongoing disgruntlement with elements of the sport might cause him to walk away at the end of his current contract.
The 2024 Formula One calendar was released on Wednesday and it will feature a record 24 races – starting on March 2 and ending on December 8.
Verstappen says that is too many and, having already hit out at the increase in the number of sprint races and the new car regulations for 2026 this season, says he will need certain conditions if he is to extend his stay in the sport.
“It is too many (races) for me but we just have to deal with it,” Verstappen, whose Red Bull deal expires in 2028, said.
“I think it (the calendar) is a bit more logical the way that it is planned at least, I guess that is better for everyone.
“But more things will have to come together for me to make my mind up over whether I stay longer (than 2028) or not. But I think that these things are definitely not helping for sure.”
Mercedes driver Russell believes talk of retirement is a tactic from Verstappen but admitted that the lengthening calendar and the commitments on the drivers is an issue.
“I think he is whingeing because he wants more money!” Russell said.
“He is the highest paid on this grid and rightly so for what he is achieving but I think it is all a big tactic of his, this threat of retirement.
“I hope he doesn’t – I hope he stays for as long as I stay because I want to fight against the best drivers in the world.
“I think we are in a great place at the moment with the sport.
“It is challenging, we can’t just keep adding more commitments and races, there has to be a point where if you add something then something has to be taken off.
“We are adding more races and more commitments and we are working overtime and I’m pretty sure that’s the case at Red Bull.
“If we didn’t have any other commitments I’m pretty sure we’d be happy to race every weekend.
“I am doing what I love. Almost the more the merrier to a certain extent. We are the most privileged people in the world to be Formula One drivers. There are a lot of things that come with it.
“I would happily take more races but less commitment outside of the race weekend.”
Should Aidan O’Brien win the Coral-Eclipse for a seventh time with Paddington on Saturday, he will have created yet another piece of Turf history.
Currently he shares the record with Alec Taylor Jnr, famed as the ‘Wizard of Manton’ due to his success in the early 20th century, and Sir Michael Stoute.
O’Brien admitted the Eclipse – a race named after the horse whose footprint on the sport is still around today with his long-distance descendants – was vitally important in his early career.
His first winner, Giant’s Causeway, is regularly brought up in discussions of O’Brien’s best horses.
It was already his fifth race of the season and his first against older horses and 10 furlongs, having just won the St James’s Palace Stakes, and O’Brien is clearly keen to take advantage of the weight-for-age concession the Classic generation receive, given four of his six winners have been three.
“The Eclipse is obviously a very prestigious race for a stallion. It’s the first time the generations really meet and everybody gets a feel of where they all are,” he said.
“The people gone before us have always got it fairly right with the weight-for-age scale. Obviously a three-year-old is not usually as mature as the older horses yet, but as the year goes on it levels up.
“The Eclipse is a very prestigious race to win, Sandown is a good track that is always very well maintained and you get a good picture of where you’re going after.”
Paddington is following a similar route to the Eclipse as Giant’s Causeway, having taken in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes before running at Sandown.
“Paddington is a three-year-old and he’s running in a lot of the races that Giant’s Causeway ran in as well, but it’s just the way it worked out,” said O’Brien.
Another three-year-old to score for Ballydoyle two years ago was St Mark’s Basilica, who was also by the same sire, Siyouni.
“Paddington is out of a Montjeu mare whereas St Mark’s was out of a Galileo mare, but they are both by Siyouni,” said O’Brien.
“Paddington can quicken, he’s a miler that can quicken but then St Mark’s did that as well.
“I think he’s only the second Siyouni we’ve had this far among the colts, we’ve a few more two-year-olds by him but they are the only others.
“We’ve won the Eclipse with some of great horses. So You Think was an unbelievable horse really, and he’s still at stud now and doing very well.
“Hawk Wing was a big powerful horse who had run in the Guineas and Derby, St Mark’s was very good and obviously Giant’s Causeway was very important to us.
“He was our first really good horse at that level and I remember George (Duffield) giving him an unbelievable ride. Pat Eddery was riding Kalanisi for Sir Michael and they were second, a great race.
“They are the days you don’t forget and they were very important days for us.”
When asked how early in the season he would identify a horse for the Eclipse, O’Brien said: “We enter them in all the big races. In Paddington’s case we were going to Goodwood (Sussex Stakes), but he was so fresh and well after Ascot, he started doing a few bits of work.
“The Eclipse is always an option. When the lads discussed it with us we said he could probably take it in with his well-being and when we spoke to Ryan (Moore) we decided to let him do it.”
Roger Teal’s Ocean Wind returns after 771 days out of action in the Coral Marathon at Sandown on Friday.
The gelding, now a seven-year-old, was a high-class bumper horse who made the switch to the Flat after finishing sixth behind Ferny Hollow in the 2020 Champion Bumper at Cheltenham.
His first Flat term was a success as he won a couple of valuable handicaps, including the Cesarewitch Trial at Newmarket, and in 2021 he stepped up a grade to finish second in the Listed Further Flight Stakes and second again in the Sagaro Stakes at Ascot – a Group Three in which he came within a length of staying hero Stradivarius.
Injury curtailed that season after his third in the Henry II Stakes and he has not been seen on course since, meaning his return to racing for Sandown’s two-mile Listed event comes after an unusually lengthy absence.
“He’s been off for a couple of years so it’ll be good to see him back on the track,” said Teal.
“He’s bound to be a bit rusty after being off for so long, he’s not the most enthusiastic work horse and he’s a bit lazy at home but he always seems to wake up on the track.
“He’s as fit as we can get him and obviously he’ll come on 100 per cent for the run.
“It’s a nice little race for him and hopefully he can run well, come on for the run and we can go forward from that.
“You’ve got to take into account that it’s such a long time off, he saves a bit for himself so you can’t really assess him quite as well as you’d want to.
“Hopefully he puts his best foot forward on Friday and runs a solid race.”
Ocean Wind will cross paths with Godolphin’s Yibir, a multiple Group winner who was most recently sixth in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
Trainer Charlie Appleby said via the Godolphin website: “We have been happy with Yibir since the Gold Cup, which was a good first effort over a proper staying trip.
“We were encouraged with what we saw that day and dropping back to two miles should suit. If he can build on his last run, he should be very competitive.”
There is further Listed action on the card in the five-furlong Dragon Stakes, where Sean Woods’ Nazalan looks to back up a course and distance success last time out.
The chestnut was third on his debut and then won smartly in Esher on the next time of asking, with both the runner-up and the sixth-placed horse from that event going on to win again since.
Woods said: “He’s an uncomplicated little horse, he’s been training very well and it’s a natural progression to go back to the Dragon Stakes as he handled Sandown very well last time.
“He’s a very straightforward colt, Tom (Marquand) rode him first time up at Nottingham so he rides him again and we’re looking forward to it.
“The runner-up from Sandown (Notta Nother) has gone out and won and the sixth-placed horse of Roger Varian’s (Markakol) has as well so it looks a pretty good form line.”
Opposing Nazalan will be Alice Haynes’ Hala Emaraaty, a Kodiac colt who beat Mick Appleby’s Big Evs in a Redcar novice in May.
Both horses headed next for the Windsor Castle at Ascot, where Big Evs was the winner but Hala Emaraaty still ran with credit to finish seventh of 23.
“He came out of the Windsor Castle great, obviously a couple of these he beat in the Windsor Castle and there’s a couple to beat,” said Haynes.
“Ideally we did want to step him up to six, but the stiff five will definitely suit him and we’re hoping for another big run.
“The form is all there, I know he turned that round in the Windsor Castle but I definitely feel like it’s worth taking a shot at this race.
“He was flat out all the way, he’s a tough horse who handles his races well and it’s great to be going there with a live chance.”
The third Listed race of the day at the Esher venue is the 10-furlong Davies Insurance Solutions Gala Stakes.
Sure to be popular will be Wolferton Stakes fifth Saga, trained by John and Thady Gosden and owned by the King and Queen. Ryan Moore takes over from the suspended Frankie Dettori.
Following him in the market is Simon and Ed Crisford’s Poker Face, who finished down the field with a luckless run in the Wolferton but has Group form under his belt from earlier this season.
Ed Crisford said: “Poker Face was slightly disappointing in the Wolferton but he was quite far back that day and not much was coming from further back off what was a strong pace. You can put a line through that.
“He is a lightly-raced horse that is climbing up the ladder and he has been very well since that run. There is a small field for this race as well and he has to have a chance in it.”
Woods is represented by Savvy Victory, another who was also well beaten in the Wolferton but this time due to interference.
“He was very unlucky at Ascot, he got knocked over when he was making his run,” the trainer said.
“Any rain will help him, I’m very happy with him.
“He got blocked at Kempton (Magnolia Stakes) and he got beaten a length at Chester, but he stays in really good form and we’re looking forward to running him. Hpefully there’ll be a few more showers before Friday.”
Chris Honour said he would “never tell someone not to win” as he revealed his family have been caught up in the fall-out of the controversial performance of Hillsin at Worcester on Wednesday evening.
Hillsin was making his first start for Honour in the two-and-a-half mile conditional riders’ handicap hurdle and looked to have a fine chance of notching his first career victory in the hands of conditional Dylan Kitts when moving into contention up the home straight.
However, the five-year-old finished third beaten a length and a half, with the run coming under close scrutiny from the raceday stewards who held an inquiry and subsequently referred Kitts to the British Horseracing Authority, with the horse suspended from running for 40 days.
Speaking to the Nick Luck Daily Podcast on Thursday, Honour said: “I’m beside myself about the whole thing. I’ve had phone calls to my wife last night and she’s been in tears. I’m upset with it and it is not something I want to be involved in.
“In my mind I did my job right, the horse has run one of the best races of his career, to the point where I don’t want to be dropping the jockey in trouble – he’s messed up, he’s a 7lb claimer – but I told him not to let go of his head and he’s gone to an extreme. In my mind, if he was to look back this morning I’m sure he would be disappointed with the ride he has given it. It’s a disappointing scenario to be dealing with quite frankly.
“Reading Twitter and Facebook is horrible for us and my family and it is not something I want to be associated with. I did my best with the horse in my mind and I’ve ridden him every day myself. He’s gone there in great shape, run a lovely race, it’s just a very disappointing outcome.
“I love horses and I love them like they are my family to a certain extent, but with him this morning, I’ve gone and fed him and I looked at him and thought you’ve caused one of the worst days in my racing career.
“It upsets me. We don’t stop horses, it’s not our thing, people say it happens in racing and it does but it’s not what we do. We try to think outside the box about how we ride our horses and how to campaign them. I train horses slightly different to other people, but I do believe I have created a good environment where our horses can run above their weight.
“I would never tell someone not to win, it’s not even fair to ask someone not to win, at the end of the day lads go out there with their neck on the line. I don’t want people to think bad or ill of us because it’s not us and it’s not what we do. But I cannot dispute it looks awful.”
Kitts had ridden Hillsin on his last two starts for his previous trainer, but it was the first time that he had linked up with Honour, who said he would have liked Bryan Carver to ride the gelding in ideal circumstances.
“I wanted Bryan on and I want Bryan on all my horses,” he added.
“I spoke to the agents and said I want Bryan on this horse and the owners have said they want Dylan.
“I don’t know Dylan, I had never met him or spoken to him until yesterday when giving him the instructions to go out and drop him in, take your time and keep hold of his head.
“From there I can’t ride the race for him. I feel sorry for the lad, he’s done as I have asked, but he’s done it to an extreme that isn’t enough.
“People are saying we have stopped it, but that’s not me, I haven’t stopped it and it is against my ethos of how we run and train our horses. We have punched above our weight and hopefully we will get to the bottom of it with the investigation with the BHA.
“I’m embarrassed, I’m embarrassed for my team at home, they don’t deserve this, they work really hard.”
Lewis Hamilton has said he would welcome a protest from Just Stop Oil campaigners at this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
The climate activists targeted Wimbledon on Wednesday and have caused disruption at the Lord’s Ashes Test, the Premiership rugby final and the World Snooker Championship so far this year.
Asked ahead of Sunday’s race, if he would support a protest which did not involve people invading the track, Hamilton said: “Yes. I support peaceful protests.”
Five people invaded last year’s British Grand Prix after they stormed the Wellington Straight – the fastest point of the Northamptonshire track – before sitting down during the opening lap.
The contest had already been suspended following Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu’s high-speed crash, but a number of cars sped by the group before they were dragged away by marshals. The protesters were handed suspended jail sentences in March.
Silverstone has worked alongside Northamptonshire Police to beef up security ahead of this year’s event, with a record 480,000 people expected to attend over the weekend, and 150,000 fans in place for the race.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton added: “We are hoping we have learnt from the experience (of last year).
“We have 100 more marshals this weekend which will be supportive to make sure it doesn’t happen.
“From my perspective, and my teams’ perspective, we are focused on sustainability and we believe in what people (the protesters) are fighting for and we are making those changes as a sport.
“But safety is key. We don’t want to put them in harm’s way and we don’t want to put anyone else in harm’s way. If there was to be one (a protest) we hope it is not on track.”
Earlier this week, McLaren driver Lando Norris told Just Stop Oil campaigners that they would be “stupid and selfish” to put lives in danger by protesting
But Williams’ London-born Alex Albon believes an attack is likely. “There is a high chance of something happening this week,” he said.
“It is a concern because a pitch invasion is one thing but with cars and moving parts it gets a bit more dangerous to some extent.”
Jan Choinski has targeted a Wimbledon return next year but wants to get there in his own right.
German-born Choinski, the son of an English ballet dancer, was handed a debut wild card and rewarded tournament organisers with an impressive first-round win against world number 56 Dusan Lajovic.
But his fun ended on Thursday when his former doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz won a tight match 6-4 6-4 7-6 (3) on Court 18.
The 26-year-old, who changed his nationality to British in 2019 and is ranked 164th in the world, got the taste for SW19 and wants a 2024 repeat.
“I would be very happy coming back next year,” he said. “Maybe even without needing a wild card for the main draw, try my best to get my ranking to a position where I can enter the tournament by myself.”
Asked whether he has proven he can produce at the top level, he replied: “Yes, I think so. I mean, I played a very good first match.
“I kept it as close as possible. Also having chances to win a set off a guy (Hurkacz) that’s top 20, previously been top 10 in the world, played semi-finals here as well, ended Roger’s (Federer) career at Wimbledon.
“It doesn’t get much better than his level in terms of tennis and grass-court tennis.
“Keeping the match quite close and having my chances to take a set off him, as well, is just positive.
“I couldn’t thank the people more that gave me the opportunity to play in this tournament. I feel it has to do with a lot of trust, as well, trusting me that I’ve got the level to compete at this level. Yeah, just want to say huge thanks.
“I have learnt a lot during the past couple of days. I think just going to take out all the positive bits, and also super happy about winning my first grand slam match.”
Choinski was always up against it, saving break points early on, but Hurkacz, who made the 2021 semi-finals at SW19, kept knocking on the door and crucially made the breakthrough at 4-4 and then served the first set out.
The second set followed an identical pattern with a key break at 4-4 putting Hurkacz in firm control.
After saving several break points throughout the third set, Choinski’s moment came at 6-5 when he had three set points at 0-40 on Hurkacz’s serve, but he could not convert them.
With that his chance disappeared as the Pole dominated the tie-break to seal a straight-sets win and book his spot in the third round.
He added: “I felt like I was playing good tennis. The match was very competitive. We played over two hours. I think the first two sets were decided each by one break.
“I tried my best. You know, unlucky that I got broken twice at 4-4. Then in the third set when I had the three set points, I’m sad about not making those, but that’s tennis. That’s life.”
Aidan O’Brien has mapped out a three-race plan for his unbeaten juvenile River Tiber.
The Wootton Bassett colt looked something out the ordinary when scoring by 10 lengths on his racecourse debut at Navan in April and doubled up at Naas the following month.
Having completed his hat-trick in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, River Tiber heads ante-post lists for next year’s Qipco 2000 Guineas and looks set to step up in trip before the season is out.
For now, though, O’Brien is happy to stick to six furlongs, with the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on August 12 next on his star two-year-old’s agenda.
“Everything is good and the plan at the moment is to go to the Heinz (Phoenix) at the Curragh,” said the Ballydoyle handler.
“He’s just having a little bit of an easy time, but that’s what we’re thinking at the moment, staying at six furlongs, and if everything went well then he could step up to seven in the National Stakes.
“If that went well, he could go on to the Dewhurst, so they are the three races that are on his programme at the moment. Obviously it can all change very quickly.”
O’Brien also provided an update on Luxembourg after connections decided against allowing him to join stablemate Paddington in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday.
He added: “He was only going to be a possible for the Eclipse if Paddington didn’t run, he is in the King George and he’ll be trained for that, I think.
“We’re looking at that for Auguste Rodin as well obviously and I would imagine if Auguste is going there Luxembourg might have to stand back again.
“We’ll wait and see, but at the moment he (Luxembourg) is on the King George programme.”
Stan Wawrinka will lock horns again with old rival Novak Djokovic in the third round at Wimbledon.
Wawrinka, 38, defeated 29th seed Tomas Etcheverry 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2 to reach the last 32 at the All England Club for the first time since 2015.
The Swiss veteran has won only six of their 26 previous meetings but two of those came in grand slam finals, at the French Open in 2015 and the US Open the following year, while he has also beaten him at the Australian Open.
They have played only twice since, with Wawrinka facing a long road back after knee and foot surgeries, but he has finally returned to the top 100 and will take on Djokovic for the first time on grass.
“I will enjoy it if I don’t get killed,” he said with a smile. “I’m quite happy to have the chance to play against him on grass at least one time before I finish playing. It’s going to be a big challenge. Hopefully I can play a high level and be competitive.”
The match will be the oldest combined age for a men’s singles match at Wimbledon since Ken Rosewall faced Barry Phillips-Moore in 1974.
Djokovic, 36, is now on a 30-match winning streak at Wimbledon and will be a big favourite but he will be wary of the power of Wawrinka.
“He took away two grand slams from me,” said the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
“After several surgeries of his knees, he keeps going strong and trying to create some more history for himself and tennis. We cannot forget that he’s a three-time grand slam champion and Davis Cup winner and also Olympic gold. He had a fantastic career.
“One of the nicest one-handed backhands that I have ever played against, ever seen. Very powerful player. Very strong. Very complete. He can play equally well on all surfaces.”
Visually-impaired tennis fans are trialling headsets at Wimbledon that enable them to watch live action from in the stands.
The headsets, developed by UK company GiveVision and powered by Vodafone 5G, stream live footage from local TV cameras and enhance it to suit a user’s specific sight profile.
Sinead Grealy, a life-long tennis fan who once skipped school to queue for Wimbledon, has been taking part in the trial on Centre Court and Court One.
She told the PA news agency: “I can’t tell you how fantastic it is. I would need a thesaurus and know how to work it for all the superlatives.
“The technology is incredible. It takes my eyesight to better than it was. The first time I put it on I just went, ‘woah’. And then I went ‘woah’ again with the first adjustment because it’s so simple. I’m a technophobe and it’s so easy to use.
“I need it in my life, I will be buying it whenever it comes on the market. You don’t know how many people it’s going to help.
“I’ve got a very good chance of going 100 per cent blind. I don’t have to fear that, and that genuinely, in the quiet hours when I couldn’t sleep, kept me up at night, that I would never be able to go and enjoy live sport ever again. The scope this has is just beyond where I was even hoping it could go.”
GiveVision has also been working in sport with Premier League club Crystal Palace and hopes the technology can be rolled out across many more venues.
Head of operations Joanna Liddington explained: “It brings the image much closer to the user’s face, stimulates the photoreceptor cells in the retina and allows them to regain some of the sight they’ve lost, essentially.
“They can zoom in and out, change the brightness, have a look around and take in the atmosphere. They can manipulate it to fit their needs.”
The ability for visually impaired people to experience sport without being restricted to specific areas is one of the key benefits of the technology.
“With the headset, people can sit anywhere they want, be with their friends and family,” said Liddington.
“At the moment people with sight loss are severely under-represented. One in 30 people in the country have visual impairment and our experience with football is you have about five or six people at any given match.
“In Centre Court, you should have about 500 people, and of course we don’t see that because people don’t go because they can’t see what’s going on.
“There have been so many times I’ve seen people go, ‘Wow, this is amazing’. To see the difference it makes to people who are passionate fans of their sport, finally get to see their first goal, first bit of tennis.
“One of the guys we work with, who was born visually impaired, he said the best thing is, when there’s a foul, he can choose if it was a foul. ‘I can argue with my friends about it, I can be angry with the ref, my opinion and my voice finally matters’, and that’s the impact.”
Hubert Hurkacz showed no mercy to his former doubles partner Jan Choinski as he sent the Briton packing in the second round at Wimbledon.
German-born Choinski, the son of an English ballet dancer, partnered with the 17th seed up until 2016, but could not match him on Court 18 as Hurkacz won 6-4 6-4 7-6 (3).
Defeat brings to an end Choinski’s first appearance in SW19 having been given a wild card, leaving just four Britons remaining in the draw.
Still, it has been a few days to remember for the 27-year-old, ranked 164 in the world, as he enjoyed a maiden grand slam win on Monday when he beat world number 56 Dusan Lajovic.
Choinski was always up against it, saving break points early on, but Hurkacz, who made the 2021 semi-finals at SW19, kept knocking on the door and crucially made the breakthrough at 4-4 and then served the first set out.
The second set followed an identical pattern with a key break at 4-4 putting Hurkacz in firm control.
After saving several break points throughout the third set, Choinski’s moment came at 6-5 when he had three set points at 0-40 on Hurkacz’s serve, but he could not convert them.
With that his chance disappeared as the Pole dominated the tie-break to seal a straight-sets win and book his spot in the third round.
Al Kazeem may not have been owner-breeder John Deer’s first Group One winner, but there is little doubt he is the finest to graduate from his Oakgrove Stud.
He won 10 times during an intermittent 23-race career, but it is 10 years since the strapping son of Dubawi was arguably at his peak and went on an imperious winning run, collecting a trio of Group One prizes.
This Saturday marks a decade since the final act of that successful streak as having downed Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and then bravely landed the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, Al Kazeem was sent off the 15-8 favourite to bring up a big-race hat-trick in the Coral-Eclipse – a mission he completed in fine style.
It was a victory that was not without the odd moment of worry as Al Kazeem hung right-handed just as a dominant charge to the line seemed inevitable. But despite the protestation he badly hampered eventual third Mukhadram, there was no denying the clear-cut nature of the two-length triumph.
“It was a brilliant year, fantastic really,” said Deer. “It was one of those times where you just can’t believe it. You breed a lot of horses and they are good, but nothing like what it takes to win a Group One. So when it happens it is very special.
“I had already won Group Ones with Patavellian and Avonbridge, so I had a flavour of it, but Al Kazeem was different, he was very special.
“He was a gorgeous looking horse who was very strong. I was pleased with the way he got on with Roger Charlton and we had some very exciting days with him.”
It is not just Deer who holds fond memories of Al Kazeem, but also Roger Charlton who trained the bay both before and after his brief interlude at stud.
The Beckhampton handler, who now trains in conjunction with his son Harry, has great memories of that 2013 season and was delighted that Al Kazeem could provide him with the Eclipse victory he always craved adding to his CV.
“He was on a roll that year wasn’t he,” said Charlton.
“It was a very rewarding effort to beat Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, then his performance at Royal Ascot in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes was good. There was a little bit of controversy in the Eclipse as to whether he interfered with Mukhadram but he battled on up the hill there.
“It was very pleasing and like most people the Eclipse was a race I always wanted to win. It’s a special race and it is normally at the time of the year where the best horses can go there if they want.”
He went on: “If I remember rightly it was always the plan to go there as long as he was OK after Ascot. He was a very tough and very sound horse and he was very suited to going right-handed rather than left-handed.
“As I remember it, he was well on top at the end and he was a pretty classy horse in those days.
“He came back from a broken pelvis to do what he did and as we all know he then went off to stud and then came back to win another Group One so he was a pretty special horse and he would rate pretty highly on my list anyway.”
A third key component of the Al Kazeem story is his big-race pilot James Doyle who partnered the son of Dubawi for all of his major moments on course.
Now one of the leading riders in the weighing room, Doyle was stable jockey to Charlton at the time and had only the one really recognisable success to his name when winning the Dubai Duty Free aboard Cityscape.
However, Al Kazeem would soon change that and helped put Doyle firmly in the spotlight.
“Cityscape was the catalyst when he won the Dubai Duty Free in a course-record time and then it moved on to Al Kazeem,” said Charlton.
“I do slightly remember going to the Curragh with James for the Tattersalls Gold Cup where we were taking on Camelot who was nearly a Triple Crown winner.
“James ran round the course and then won on Al Kazeem and then on the way home I asked him ‘how many times have you ridden at the Curragh?’ and he said only once, as an apprentice over five furlongs. So he had never actually ridden over the trip there at that stage and it just shows how young and inexperienced he was in those days.”
Deer added: “I felt very lucky because he was such a young jockey, but lucky because he was such a good jockey. He was brilliant on the horse really and it kind of shows how lucky I was now doesn’t it, with the way he has developed and his career has progressed.”
After an unsuccessful first attempt at stud duties following the 2013 season, Al Kazeem would return to the track to add a second Tattersalls Gold Cup during his swansong season of 2015.
He now stands at Deer’s Oakgrove Stud in Wales where he is very much part of the family and his legacy lives on having provided the owner-breeder with another Royal Ascot champion in the form of Wokingham hero Saint Lawrence.
Deer said: “He was special in as much as in he coped with being a stallion and when he came back into training you got the impression he had forgotten all about it. He knew his job of racing and settled in and did beautifully.
“It’s lovely to have him back, that is really special. I sold him to the Queen and he wasn’t exactly out of my life because I did have some nominations to him, but to have him back at the stud is really special and everybody loves the horse, it’s amazing. He is a bit of a star and I watch him sometimes being taken out to his paddock and he is full of himself.”
Britain’s Daniel Dubois will fight world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in Poland next month, it has been announced.
Ukrainian Usyk, 36, will put all his WBA (Super), IBF and WBO titles on the line against mandatory WBA challenger Dubois, 26, at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw on August 26.
Former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk snatched the titles off Anthony Joshua in London in September 2021 and won the rematch in August last year in Saudi Arabia.
Dubois will be Usyk’s second defence of his world heavyweight belts with the match-up announced on Twitter by Frank Warren’s Queensbury Promotions.
Usyk, whose scheduled showdown with WBC champion Tyson Fury at Wembley in April fell through due to contractual disputes, said simply on Instagram: “See you 26 august”.
Londoner Dubois, nicknamed ‘Dynamite’, has won 19 of his 20 fights since turning professional in 2017, 18 by knockout, with one defeat, against fellow British heavyweight Joe Joyce in 2020.
Dubois suffered a fractured orbital bone and nerve damage to his left eye when stopped in the 10th round by Joyce, but has beaten four opponents since.
In his latest triumph, on the undercard of Fury’s third fight against Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September, Dubois recovered from three first-round knockdowns to defeat South Africa’s Kevin Lerena.
An Animal Rising activist has been spared jail after running on to the track at the Betfred Derby a minute before the horses galloped past.
Ben Newman, 32, was filmed running on to the course at Epsom as the premier Classic began on June 3.
After pleading guilty at Guildford Crown Court on Thursday to causing public nuisance, he was criticised by the judge for “endangering” the lives of police
and security guards who managed to drag him off the track just before the horses ran past.
Newman was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years and fined a total of £1,356.
The protest happened after the Jockey Club, which owns Epsom Downs, was granted an injunction banning the Animal Rising group, which Newman was a part of, from intervening in the event.
He was produced from custody and appeared in court dressed in a grey sweatshirt.
He was one of 31 people arrested on the day of the race, including 12 on the racecourse grounds.
Footage played at court showed Newman running on to the track as police and security guards darted after him before wrestling him to the ground and dragging
him to one side.
About a minute later, the horses sprinted past, prosecutor Wendy Cottee told the court.
She said: “The Derby was due to start at 3.30pm. Horses were let out just after that.
“This defendant then ran across the track. The horses were around a minute away.
“He was apprehended and taken off the track.
“The defendant admits that the public were angry with him – several were jeering at him.”
On Wednesday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman held a summit at Downing Street with police and sports bodies including the Lawn Tennis Association, the Premier
League and the England and Wales Cricket Board to discuss plans to step up security at summer sporting events.
That afternoon, Just Stop Oil protesters threw orange confetti and jigsaw pieces on to court 18 at Wimbledon, stopping play twice.
It came after members of the group invaded the pitch at Lord’s last week during the second Ashes test.
Emily Upjohn and Paddington remain on course for a mouthwatering clash at Sandown on Saturday with the pair among just four runners declared for the Coral-Eclipse.
Following a dominant success in last month’s Coronation Cup, John and Thady Gosden’s Emily Upjohn will drop back in trip under William Buick, who takes over in the saddle from the suspended Frankie Dettori.
She has already won over Sandown’s 10 furlongs, but faces a far from straightforward task on her return as she must concede 7lb to a top-class three-year-old colt in Paddington.
Aidan O’Brien’s charge is four from four this season, including a Classic triumph in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and confirmed himself the best of his generation over a mile with a brilliant victory over Newmarket Guineas winner Chaldean in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The son of Siyouni now tests the water over a mile and a quarter for the first time in a race his trainer has already won on six occasions.
With Anmaat a significant absentee, the small but select field is completed by the William Haggas-trained Dubai Honour and West Wind Blows from Simon and Ed Crisford’s yard.
Dubai Honour has enjoyed a profitable year on foreign soil, winning back-to-back Group Ones in Australia before finishing third in the QEII Cup in Hong Kong.
West Wind Blows is a dual Group Three winner and was runner-up to Hukum in the Hardwicke Stakes at the Royal meeting last month, but will be the outsider of the quartet.
Anmaat has been ruled out of Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown due to a foot abscess.
Winner of the John Smith’s Cup last summer, the Owen Burrows-trained five-year-old went on to land the Group Three Rose of Lancaster Stakes and the Group Two Prix Dollar before being given a winter break.
He chased home Adayar on his reappearance in the Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket before returning to France to break his Group One duck in last month’s Prix d’Ispahan.
Connections had been looking forward to seeing him test his powers at the highest level on home soil this weekend, but he will not line up at the Esher venue.
Angus Gold, racing manager for owners Shadwell, said: “It looks like a foot abscess and we sort of hoped it was going to burst overnight, but it hasn’t and he’s just not 100 per cent sound this morning.
“It’s just a matter of timing, he’ll be fine next week hopefully. Like all of these things you can’t fight them, that’s nature’s way and he just isn’t right to run on Saturday.
“It’s a big blow to Owen and the team there and obviously Sheikha Hissa and all at Shadwell. It was going to be interesting to see him against the best mile and a quarter horses in this country and Ireland, but there’s no point making a fuss about it – those are the cards we’ve been dealt.”
Anmaat holds an entry in next month’s Juddmonte International, but Shadwell are targeting that race with Prince of Wales’s Stakes hero Mostahdaf and it seems unlikely both will head for York.
Gold added: “That (Juddmonte International) is the obvious one, except for the fact that if we’re lucky and get there in one piece we have Mostahdaf lined up for that.
“Off the top of my head we could look at something like the Irish Champion Stakes (for Anmaat), but that is obviously a while away yet (September 9).
“The Eclipse was his prime summer target, but there we go. We’re just digesting it, so we haven’t sat down with the programme book yet, but the Irish Champion would certainly be an option.”
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