Wimbledon 2025: Top 5 matches to watch out on opening day
British No. 1 Emma Raducanu (top) will be up against compatriot and 17-year-old Mimi Xu (bottom), who has been awarded a main draw wildcard
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India Today
4 hours ago
- India Today
From Bublik to Medvedev: 5 men who can spring a surprise in Wimbledon 2025
2025 has been the year for the bottlers. From RCB winning the IPL to Tottenham winning the Europa League and PSG winning their first Champions League title and more, many first-timers got their hands on a major title, and the upcoming edition of Wimbledon could see an unexpected individual laying their hands on the prestigious men's singles competition is very likely going to produce some iconic battles, play out storylines that could be remembered for ages and so forth. As always, the spotlight will always be on the top draws like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who are at present the best players in the world, alongside an ageing Novak Djokovic, who is eyeing that record-levelling eighth the question remains if one of these stars can break the deadlock and beat the top stars to be crowned champions in one of tennis's iconic tournaments. Let us look at the top five contenders that could spring a surprise in the men's singles competition:JACK DRAPER The fourth-seed and British talent seems to be finding his best form in recent times. He made it to the semi-finals of the recently concluded Queen's Club tournament in London, showing that he can be a nuisance to play against on Read: Wimbledon 2025 Preview: Can Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff finally conquer the grass?Despite being the fourth seed, it would be very interesting to see if the British number one can go far in the tournament. If he can make it to the knockout stages, he is surely going to fancy his chances of putting up a good fight and hopefully see himself draw has been fairly kind to start things off, but he could be up against Alexander Bublik in the third round, which could be his first big test before the round of 16 LEHECKAThe 23-year-old from the Czech Republic had a very positive showing at the Queen's Club, where he took down some fairly big names like Jack Draper, Alex de Minaur and Gabriel Diallo. While he may have fallen short in the final, he did give a good fight to Carlos Alcaraz. He won five games in the first set and took the game to the third by winning the second set as well. Considering his recent form, it would come as no surprise if he can put up a strong showing at luck of the draw on his side, it would be expected that he makes the to the fourth round at the very least. The rest that comes up will certainly be on if he can turn MEDVEDEVWhen it comes to people who fumble on the big stage, Medvedev is certainly up there in that category, and this time it could just be written in the stars for the Russian. Since June 2025, he had not played on grass since his semi-final loss to Alcaraz at had a rough start to his time in grass in 2025. Reilly Opelka managed to get the better of him, resulting in a quarterfinal exit. But he seems to have picked up the pace in the Halle Open, where he went all the way to the final to once again choke under pressure and be beaten by the final man in this list, the ultimate wildcard, Alexander draw has been fairly kind to him as well, with the biggest named threat coming in the fourth round, assuming Taylor Fritz can make it till that stage. Nonetheless, he has shown in the tournament's previous edition that he can go deep and 2025 could give him just the bit of luck he needed to go all the BUBLIKAs previously mentioned, the ultimate wildcard and the Russian-born Kazakh pro has been hitting the right form ahead of the tournament. His performance in the Halle Open is one to note. Especially since he took down a tournament favourite, Jannik Sinner, in the Round of also took things further by annihilating Medvedev in the final, which took a straight-set win to give him a lot of momentum coming in. With all the confidence, he decided to withdraw from the Eastbourne Open to give himself enough rest to come into Wimbledon as fresh as he can draw has not been as kind as people may think. Considering the worst-case scenario, he would have to take down the likes of Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper if they perform as expected and make their way has clearly shown the ability to compete with the best, but at times, he can be his own worst enemy. For the time being, he will hope that his instincts guide him right to hopefully go all the way.- Ends
Hindustan Times
7 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Norris and Piastri take an unusually friendly F1 title rivalry to Norris' home turf
The history of Formula 1 shows how vying for the title can turn the friendliest of teammates into bitter rivals. But so far, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are making it work at McLaren. HT Image As Norris heads to his home race at Silverstone, he's hoping fans at the British Grand Prix show his Australian teammate some love, too. 'The British fans are normally very accepting for all of us and especially for us as McLaren. So I think the first point should be for the fans to embrace everyone and support everyone,' Norris said after his win at Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix when asked if there might be a hostile reception for Piastri. Nine years ago, one of F1's most famous teammate rivalries came into focus at the Austrian Grand Prix, when childhood friends-turned-Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided on the last lap, one more incident in a relationship which had long been rocky. There have been recent incidents in Norris' and Piastri's time together which potentially may have soured the relationship between other drivers. In Canada, Norris clipped the back of Piastri's car on June 15 and hit the wall. Norris apologized. On Sunday in Austria, Piastri attempted an over-optimistic lunge and narrowly missed hitting Norris. Piastri apologized. 'We both want to race hard and race fair, and it goes both ways,' Norris said Sunday. ' something I wish never happened but it was nice that we could go out and have a good battle and push things to the limits," he said. "There were still some close moments, but nothing that was hopefully something that would make Andrea or the pit wall sweat too much.' In his third year with Britain-based McLaren, Piastri has some warm memories of the Silverstone crowd, but he's never been there before as a championship leader whose closest rival is the home hero. 'A couple of years ago they were chanting my name in the crowd, so that was unexpected. I'm not sure I'll quite get that again, which is fair enough,' Piastri said. 'Obviously I'm expecting there to be a lot more Lando fans than 'me' fans, but that's fair. It's it's his home race as well, so I think it'll be fine.' auto racing: /hub/auto-racing This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Hindustan Times
8 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Farrell expects Reds to be 'big step up' for Lions
Maro Itoje will captain a vastly changed British and Irish Lions for their second Australian match against Queensland Reds, with head coach Andy Farrell expecting the clash to be "a big step up". HT Image Tour skipper Itoje takes the armband from hooker Dan Sheehan, who is rested for the match in Brisbane on Wednesday. Only fly-half Finn Russell has been retained from the starting XV that crushed Western Force 54-7 last weekend, a game that proved costly for veteran scrum-half Tomos Williams. The Welshman hobbled off with a hamstring injury which has ruled him out of the rest of the nine-game tour. Scotland's Ben White has been called up in his place with Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park making his Lions debut at scrum-half against the Reds. Farrell said injuries and team changes were inevitable on such a tight schedule. "This is proper touring, isn't it? Games are coming thick and fast, three games in eight days, and it keeps on rolling after that," he said. "Being adaptable is the key." While the Lions were dominant winners against Western Force, Farrell is expecting a tougher assignment from a Reds team coached by Les Kiss, who will take over as Wallabies boss from Joe Schmidt next year. "They're a great side. I mean, that's obvious if you've watched the games, not just this year, but last year as well," he said. "Les has done a fantastic job with them to play a great brand of rugby and are able to play in many different ways. "So this will be 100 percent a big step up for us on Wednesday night. Any side that Les coaches, he's always going to be very well prepared." Itoje will start in the second-row alongside fellow Englishman Ollie Chessum. They will pack down behind a front row of Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and tight-head Will Stuart. Jack Conan gets his first start of the tour at No.8 and is joined in the back row by Tom Curry and Jac Morgan. Hugo Keenan gets the nod at full-back, supported by wings Tommy Freeman and Duhan van der Merwe, while Bundee Aki and Huw Jones form a new centre partnership. When the two sides met in 2013, the Lions won 22-12. British and Irish Lions : Hugo Keenan; Tommy Freeman, Huw Jones, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jack Conan, Jac Morgan, Tom Curry; Ollie Chessum, Maro Itoje ; Will Stuart, Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Ben Earl, Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Garry Ringrose mp/dh This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
