Padel: The Next Step For Tennis Players?

 

Enrique Corcuera, an entrepreneur from Acapulco, Mexico, would sleep at his Casa (house) every afternoon because of the extreme heat there. However, Viviana, his daughter, would annoy him by bouncing tennis balls off the house's walls. As a result, Corcuera constructed a separate wall for her to knock against. From that point, his improvised racket sport started to take shape. Corcuera built additional walls with metal fencing to stop the ball from fleeing down the side of the wall. He then attached a net across the middle of the area to finish off the enclosure. Originally intended as a game for one household in Mexico, Padel has developed into a well-liked racket sport that combines aspects of both squash and tennis. 

Padel now has twenty five million players worldwide in more than 90 countries today, more than 50 years after it first appeared. It has especially become a popular sport within the Tennis players, or should we say, ‘ex-tennis player’. After finishing up their careers as tennis players many of them have taken up Padel. Whether they were armature level or semi-pro or even at professional level such as Andy Murray, the next step of tennis players seems to be Padel.

“I know a lot of former tennis athletes that have taken up the sport when they've done playing and find that it's wonderful for their health, but it's also not nearly as hard as tennis as it is less demanding.” said Andy Murray.

How it's played:

Padel is typically played in a doubles format, unlike tennis, despite the fact that both sports employ the same points system. Every serve is underhanded, and following a return, shots may be struck on the volley, following a single bounce, or after a wall-rebound. On their side of the net, participants can also shoot the ball into the side and back walls that line the 20-meter-long, 10-meter-wide court. In contrast to the wooden or stringed rackets used in tennis, squash, badminton, and other sports, padel rackets are smaller and thicker than most rackets and the striking area is entirely constructed of fiberglass.

Originating from Mexico, Padel has now become a well-known and well enjoyed sport in countries all over the world. Last Year, research showed that 15,000 new padel courts were opened and actively used in Europe. Padel is now one of the most popular participation sport in Spain, after football, with more than 6 million current players and an estimated 20,000 courts. Padel is limited impact and slow game compared to other racket sports; this, along with the pleasant "pock" sound made when hitting the ball, has helped to increase its appeal. Padel is played on a court that is one-third the size of a tennis court.

Although there is a developing professional circuit for padel in the World Padel Tour, the sport's popularity is now best seen among amateur players. With the growing popularity, could it perhaps ever match tennis in terms of global acclaim? Andy Murray believes that this is just the start for padel and the exciting sport will just get bigger and bigger. 

Leo Messi: Breaking Records On And Off The Pitch.

The culmination of a lifetime dream after years of World Cup heartbreak and years of blood, sweat, and tears is captured in a brief instance as his eyes glisten and a wide smile maps across his face. Lionel Messi is lifting the fabled World Cup trophy above his head, and on the shoulder of his best friend and fellow legend, Sergio "Kun" Aguero.

The now iconic picture was captured by Getty photographer Shaun Botterill, who was in the stands for one of the most important moments in sporting history, and was one that Leo Messi decided to post on his social media to celebrate his World Cup victory over France. This picture is currently the most liked post in the history of Instagram, surpassing a simple egg.

According to Botterill, the photographers at Sunday's World Cup final planned for one of them to go stand on the field in front of the billboards by the main stand, which hosted the great majority of the Argentina fans in the Lusail Stadium, where there were advertising hoardings.

After the Argentinean captain was presented with the big gold trophy , Messi spent some quality time with his family who have supported him to this momentous occasion before he made his way over towards the supporters. This prompted all the photographers to rush to the goal at that end of the field.

According to Botterill, "I almost got trapped, but just got trapped in the correct position." "If most of us [photographers] are being completely honest, you always need a little bit of luck, and I had a little bit of luck on Sunday night. Aguero, a close friend and teammate of Messi's who retired from football in December 2021 due to cardiac arrhythmia, carried his friend to the other side of the stadium. At that moment, Botterill seized a cable from a remote camera behind the goal, plugged it into his camera, and sent the picture to his editors.

By coincidence, Botterill's son was that evening working the editing station.

In a message, my oldest son told me, "I've modified your image dad, it's a really great picture," recalls Botterill.

The disapproval from his son has turned out to be rather underemphasized.

Botterill "knew it was a really decent image" right away; modesty runs in the family. However, there is always a chance that another photographer at a slightly different angle would have taken a better picture because "little margins" may often make a significant difference.

The broader picture, which provided more context and more accurately captured the adoration the Argentina captain was receiving, was the photographer's preferred version of the image, the British photographer reveals. Messi shared the cropped version of the image on Instagram.

Brooklyn Nets defeat Golden State in a thrashing win by scoring a franchise-record 91 points in the first half

 

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Golden State Warriors 143-113 on Wednesday, setting a franchise record and scoring 91 points in the first half, which ranks third all-time in NBA history. The record for most points in the first half is currently held by The Phoenix Suns, scoring 107 points against Denver in 1990, and in second place the Warriors managed to score a 92 point first half when they battled the Chicago Bulls in 2018.

Edmond Sumner was the second best scorer with 16 points off the bench, while star player Kevin Durant managed to score 21 of his 23 points during the team's first-half sweep. Durant also added seven rebounds and five assists. Brooklyn reached the record amount despite Kyrie Irving's calf injury, who was absent during the game on Wednesday. Another club record was set by the nine double-digit scorers among the 12 Nets players that played, and it was set in some style. The Warriors put up a good fight but the first half was too overwhelming for them and they never really got an opportunity to hit back and make something of the game. According to NBA.com, Jacque Vaughn, the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, said to reporters, “That's what transpires when you arrive at the job and you're prepared for the job from the start.”

The Warriors, who lost to the New York Knicks by 38 points last Tuesday, suffered their second lopsided defeat in a row, some tough times at the office for them right now. Although to be fair, Steve Kerr's team was without Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson, and Stephen Curry. Stephen Curry's shoulder injury is anticipated to keep him out for several weeks and losing one of your star players is never easy for any team. Stephen Curry’s absence surly took its toll on the Warriors against the Nets this Wednesday. According to NBA.com, Durant stated, “We are up against the Warriors. Regardless of who is on the court, you must always be ready for them. They have a winning mentality with a strong system and determined championship players.” The Nets, who now own the NBA record for the longest running unbeaten run, won their seventh straight game to move up to fourth position in the Eastern Conference. The Warriors, on the other hand, are now in last place in the West Conference standings and have the NBA's worst winning percentage this year with a record of 3-16. It is surely a struggling time for the Warriors. The Brooklyn Nets seem to be enjoying life at the moment. How long can their winning streak last? We will find out on their next game which is on Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs.

Manchester City’s first signing of the January 2023 transfer window

Another Argentine?

The Premier League side from Manchester are all set to complete their first signing of the January 2023 transfer window and bring the Argentinian midfielder Maximo Perrone to England. Despite Pep Guardiola, Manchester City’s manager telling the media that the club is not going to make any high-profile signings for the first team in this transfer window, reports and rumours keep showing the ongoing background work regarding the talent and the players in which the club might be interested in future. 

How did signing an Argentine work out last season for City?

In last year’s winter transfer window, Manchester City signed Julian Alvarez the Argentina and River Plate forward. Alvarez proved to be a great talent and played in the world cup from his national team as well, resulting in Argentina winning the world cup featuring Lionel Messi winning his first-ever world cup. Even though Alvarez is a second choice forward for Man City because of the goal scoring machine Erling Haaland, the Alvarez deal also proved to be a huge success for the club as the forward managed to score 7 goals in his 21 games. Haaland was signed by Man City from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window before the 2022/23 season kicked off.

About the deal.

This year, Manchester City are about to close a deal on another Argentina player, keeping fingers crossed for their central midfield depth. Maximo Perrone will join his new club next season after the deal is closed. The deal is worth 8 million dollars plus taxes, and it is clear that the 19 year old Argentinian top talent will directly join Man City instead of other clubs owned by the City Football Group. This was confirmed and tweeted on Sunday by the Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, who is known to be one of the most authentic and reliable sources of football transfer news.  

Why was Manchester City eyeing this move?

Considering the German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan’s contract expires at the end of the season and his possible departure because his future at the club remains uncertain, Man City require more backup players and made a move on Maximo Perrone and currently have a verbal agreement with his current club, Velez Sarsfield. Perrone will also fill the vacant space of an excellent backup defensive midfielder allowing some breathing room for Rodri. Reports and rumours also reveal that Kalvin Philipps, City’s new signing for the defensive midfield, is having issues with his new club and is most likely to leave this summer.

Maximo Perrone’s style of play.

Perrone has a rate of 3.29 tackles per game in his 33 games played so far. Due to his ability to play deep in the midfield and direct the state of gameplay and pace of the game, fans have compared Maximo Perrone to Barcelona’s Frenkie De Jong and Madrid’s Federico Valverde. Maximo Perrone currently plays for Velez Sarsfield in Argentina’s Primera Division. At international level, he plays for Argentina’s under 20 national team and will depart for Man City after the South American U20 Championship.

Will Conor McGregor ever return to UFC?

 

It's far difficult to mention for sure whether or not Conor "the Notorious" McGregor will fight once again in the UFC octagon. McGregor, who is an Irish professional mixed martial artist and previous fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the featherweight and light-divisions. He has had a successful career in the MMA game, however he has also suffered setbacks and controversies.

In recent times, McGregor was forced into short-term retirement due to previous numerous instances, but would return to the cage after a while. In 2019, he officially announced his retirement from mixed martial arts, but in the year 2020, he made his big return to the UFC and fought one of the most in form fighters of that year, the "Cowboy" Donald Cerrone, which he won with the a technical knockout (TKO) within the first round.

Since that fight, McGregor has not announced any plans to step into the octagon once more. However, he has remained energetic on his social media and has hinted at the possibility of returning to the cage at some point in time. In 2021, McGregor announced that he was in contact regarding his return to the UFC for a rematch with Dustin "the Diamond" Poirier, but those talks fell through and the bout did not materialize. McGregor got injured in the first match with Dustin Poirier and this was the main reason for holding another match with him.

Regardless of his inconsistent UFC career, McGregor is a famous and polarizing figure within the globe of mixed martial arts, and there is constant possibility that he may want to decide to return to the sport at some point in time. But, it's ultimately up to McGregor to determine if he desires to continue fighting, and presently, it is not clear if he has any plans to accomplish that. Along with his career as a professional mixed martial artist, McGregor has also pursued different commercial enterprise ventures and has been recognized for his involvement inside the whiskey industry (Proper No. Twelve) . He has additionally dabbled in boxing and made headlines in 2017 when he fought one of the all time legends of the sport in Floyd Mayweather Jr., in a pretty publicized bout. He lost the match but from there onwards he was recognized as a somewhat of a legend as he had no experience in boxing but still gave tough time to G.O.A.T. of boxing.

On the 7^{th of} October 2018 Conor McGregor fought with long-term rival Khabib 'the Eagle" Nurmagomedov, who is a Russian MMA fighter. It was a very advertised match, as it ended up being biggest draw of UFC in history with 2.4 million Pay-Per-View buys as Conor McGregor was on the top of his game and Khabib Nurmagomedov was undefeated till that match with 29-0 winning streak, but unfortunately McGregor lost that match in the fourth round via submission to a neck crank.

Social media McGregor suggests that he will return but in the welterweight division. Ultimately, whether or not McGregor will return to combat sports again is unsure; however, fans all around the world would love for him to return for one final run. 

The Top 3 Fights of UFC in 2022

1: Jiri Prochazka vs Glover Teixeira

Was there ever any any speck of doubt? The undisputed greatest light heavyweight title battle ever, a stunning conflict of heart, method, and will with additional exciting bends in the road than three Stephen Lord books set up.

A classic fight was brought as promised by Prochazka's all-action, semi-improvised striking and Teixeira's combination of expert wrestling and savage power-punching.

The first three rounds were a burst of offence. Any extensive standup exchange saw Prochazka's barrage of offence put Teixeira on the ropes, but the Brazilian would struggle Prochazka to the mat and continue to beat on him until Prochazka managed to slip out from under it, and it started all over again just like before.

But once they got to the championship rounds, Teixeira's familiarity with rough water started to come through.

In the first few seconds of the fifth round, Teixeira nearly finished Prochazka, whose never-ending engine appeared to be finally giving out. 

However, the famous black belt to suffer the first defeat by submission of his MMA career.

This main event had everything you could possibly desire from a main event, from brutality to drama to technique, and it more than merits its position at the top of this year's ranking.

 

2: Khamzat Chimaev vs Gilbert Burns

 

The two men entered this matchup with a ton to demonstrate. For Khamzat Chimaev, this was an opportunity to show that his until now relentless assault would neutralize a first class Welterweight but for Gilbert, it was a shot at recovery in the wake of going to pieces against Kamaru Usman.

Initially, it looked like Chimaev was more capable. His wrestling and top control demonstrated powerful regardless of Consumes' jiu-jitsu family, and a weighty knockdown late in the main seemed like the start of the end for "Durinho."On the off chance that there were any worries about Consumes' heart, however, he tended to them marvelously, handling a stunning 56 power-punches with 62% exactness in the subsequent round. He addressed the knockdown with one of his own and seemed to be strategically set up to take the third round.

Chimaev, thusly, demonstrated his own assurance. With his takedowns done delivering results, he followed Consumes from one chime to another and released almost 100 huge strikes simultaneously. Consumes answered with many bombs after bomb, yet Chimaev's hostility and sturdiness conveyed him to the hardest triumph of his vocation. Chimaev may have recently made some incredibly bad decisions, but that war will always be with him.

 

3: Stephen Thompson vs Kevin Holland

God bless Kevin Holland for making the decision to strike even though it didn't work out for him. It was good to see "Wonderboy" back in full swing against a willing dance partner after repeatedly watching Stephen Thompson being grappled.

What a dance it was as well. In the course of four rounds, the two of them attempted roughly 500 strikes collectively, of which all but 22 were meaningful. In the beginning, the bigger, younger Holland was in charge, buckling Thompson with a vicious right hand and never letting him get into a good striking rhythm. It wouldn't last long, however, as Thompson quickly kicked into gear and began throwing his trademark lightning-quick kicks and nasty punches flurry.

When Holland injured his hand, things got even worse for him, but to his credit, he never gave up attempting to fight back. Even though Thompson outclassed him by four to one in the fourth, he fought the urge to submit and only submitted at his corner's urging.

Everything about Cristiano Ronaldo’s new club, Al-Nassr.

November of 2022 saw Cristiano Ronaldo officially confirm that he was leaving Manchester United in an abrupt adieu. The Portuguese superstar and the Red Devils mutually agreed to terminate his contract, and since then, Ronaldo has been linked with various high profiles in Europe. It was heavily reported that CR7 pressed for a move to a Champions League team, but has now ultimately left European football, and perhaps will never return to the biggest stage in club football. December 30 2022 is a monumental date in history as it saw Ronaldo sign for the Saudi club Al-Nassr, who put out an offer that the Portuguese legend could not refuse for any longer. Cristiano Ronaldo now is one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, but who are the Saudi Arabian team?

Al-Nassr’s profile

Al-Nassr is a Saudi Arabian club that plays its football in the Saudi Pro League. They are considered as one of the crown jewels of Saudi football and are one of the most widely known Saudi Arabian clubs. Al-Nassr, who are also known as Al-Aalami or Faris Najd, have their HQ located in Riyadh. The former coach of Roma, Marseille, and Lyon, Rudi Garcia has been given charge of the Saudi club. Al-Nassr play their home games in yellow and blue strips at the Mrsool Park, a 25,000-capacity stadium that also has had the privilege to host the very first F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

All about Al-Nassr’s history

Al-Nassr are one of the most illustrious clubs in the Saudi Pro League and were was founded in the year 1955. The have had the honor and quality to win nine league championships, six King's Cups, three Crown Prince's Cups, three Federation Cups, and two Saudi Super Cups with other team honors as well. 1998 was a stellar year for the club as they won the double by winning the Asian Cup Winners' Cup and the Asian Super Cup and also winning the GCC Champions League twice. The previous season saw the finish third in the league and were also eliminated for the AFC Champions League and the local cup by Al-Hilal. Currently, the are first in the league and are being martialed by second place Al-Shabab.  

Fan response to Cristiano Ronaldo signing

Currently leading the Saudi Arabian league, Cristiano Ronaldo's new team is apparently interested in signing Sergio Ramos, a former Real Madrid colleague. Although he hasn't yet played a game for his new team, Ronaldo is already a crowd favourite. In the seventh minute of the team's 1-0 victory over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, Al Nassr fans performed the famous Cristiano Ronaldo celebration chant, "SIUUUUU," in chorus to mark the confirmation of the 37-year-two-year old's deal. There were also Portuguese flags in the Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium crowd. Vincent Aboubakar's goal in the fifth minute gave Al Nassr the victory and kept them one point ahead of the leaders in the standings. After weeks of rumours were put to rest on Friday with the official announcement of Ronaldo's signing, Al Nassr supporters lined out to purchase the shirts. Whether Ronaldo makes his debut against Al Ta'ae on Thursday at Al Nassr's 25,000-seat Mrsool Park is yet to be determined.

What can Cristiano Ronaldo expect in Saudi Arabia

David Ospina, a former goalkeeper for Arsenal, Vincent Aboubakar, a forward from Cameroon, and Talisca, a Brazilian striker who has nine goals this season, are among Cristiano Ronaldo’s new teammates. The former Manchester United forward Odion Ighalo is one of three players with six goals behind. But for Ronaldo, whose career to now has been based in the legendary football towns of Lisbon, Manchester, Madrid, and Turin, life in Saudi Arabia will be a completely new experience.