European governing body UEFA has said it is unhappy about the state of pitches, in particular in Marseille, Lille and Saint Denis where the showcase Stade de France is located. It appeared to point the finger at stadium owners and clubs. “I would like to tell our clubs that having nice pitches has to be their absolute priority,” Le Graet told a news conference at France’s training camp outside Paris....
Many have tried, but never before has one player won the same grand slam title on 10 occasions. Only the great Martina Navratilova has come close with nine Wimbledon crowns. Three years ago you would have expected Nadal to have already completed the astonishing feat, however his form dipped dramatically as knee and back injuries plagued the Spaniard. A quarter-final exit to Novak Djokovic in 2015 was understandable but his third-round withdrawal 12 months later began to put doubts into people’s minds....
(3) Rafael Nadal vs (4) David Ferrer – H2H Nadal leads 19-4 (16-1 on clay) You would have to be a brave man to bet against Rafael Nadal winning an eighth French Open title in Paris on Sunday. And that has as much to do with Nadal’s overwhelming track record at Roland Garros as it has to do with his opponent’s underwhelming track record at the major tournaments. For all the consistency that Ferrer has displayed over the years on the tour (he’s been ranked between 4 and 6 for every week in the past two years and in the top 10 since October 2010), he will be playing his first Grand Slam final and has only one Masters Series title to his name....
The Sporting News wraps up the best of the French Open action from Day 10. Nadal shows trademark grit in Djokovic win Rafael Nadal showed why he’s enjoyed so much success at the French Open after overcoming Novak Djokovic 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4) in their quarter-final clash on Tuesday. The Spaniard, only just back from injury, looked destined to be forced to five sets before fighting back impressively in the fourth to win the match in a tie-break....
Police want more than promises from French President Emmanuel Macron, who is expected to run for re-election in 2022. He has put security high on his agenda, but police want a guaranteed 30-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of killing an officer. Police also are calling for a law that guarantees jail time for those who assault them, and they want a justice system that punishes the small-time offenders they arrest and re-arrest after courts set them free....
But that kind of obsessive caution, that fear of change, is thrown out of the window when it comes to the careers of star athletes. A player who is winning titles is expected to keep soaring high above the field forever. And a player who is struggling for form is relegated to the also-rans’ bin faster than a John Isner serve. In 2013, scores of people kept questioning why Roger Federer hadn’t announced his retirement yet....
RELATED: Halloween: All The Movies, Ranked By Michael Myers’ Death Scenes For nearly thirty years, Jason has cut a swath of destruction, always seemingly living to fight another day. His appearance in each entry of the Friday the 13th franchise is always different to some extent. The hockey mask, in particular, has gone through a few renditions. Horror movie enthusiasts with an eye for detail know that some masks are better than others....
This much was divulged in a recent post on Friday the 13th: The Game’s official forums, with Gun Media founder and president Wes Keltner explaining that there will be no more content of any kind to come despite the legal spat’s outcome. As stated by Keltner, “Development on games can’t just pause indefinitely and pick back up again; it doesn’t work that way. Especially when you have no idea when that future date will occur....
RELATED: The 10 Best Friends Christmas Specials As fans now prepare themselves for the highly anticipated reunion special, many may find themselves reflecting on the things that made the series so enjoyable in the first place. Not all of them remain entirely relevant to modern life and some have aged incredibly poorly. The rest, however, are truly timeless and are still just as enjoyable today as they were all those years ago....
Sleep has long been known to be associated with overall health. The U.S. National Institutes of Health states that good sleep improves brain performance and that lack of quality sleep regularly raises the risk of many diseases and disorders, including heart disease, stroke, obesity and dementia. However, the association between sleep duration and multimorbidity—the presence of multiple diseases or conditions—is poorly understood, researchers say. To investigate this, researchers examined decades-old data from the landmark Whitehall II cohort study, which was a large study conducted between 1985 and 1988 to examine the health of over 10,000 people employed in the British civil service....
While Wednesday’s feat is nothing to scoff at, our friends at Opta would like to remind everyone of a handful of other all-time leaderboards undergoing a makeover. Here are five milestones to keep an eye out for in the final weeks of the NBA season: Kevin Durant — Career 30-point games Durant’s next game with 30 or more points will be his 300th. The Golden State Warriors star would be the 14th NBA player to reach the milestone and the fifth-youngest player to hit the mark if he does it within the next three weeks (which seems likely)....
But Benzema remarkably sliced his first-time effort over the crossbar from about seven yards when it appeared impossible to miss – Madrid’s fans held up their infamous reputation and rained a torrent of jeers down on the much-maligned Frenchman. It had become par for the course with Benzema, who was relentlessly whistled by his own supporters through the 2017-18 campaign. But this time Cristiano Ronaldo took a stand, wagging his finger disapprovingly at those responsible before seeming to sarcastically applaud the fans behind ‘Gol Sur’....
We set out to see if such a low-cal meal could possibly be worthy of being called French. Boeuf D’Or has a great view of skyscrapers surrounding the hotel. The dining room is spacious, but guests can enjoy cozy ambience thanks to a chic use of lighting and colors. Our table was dimly lit and next to a wall-to-wall window. “I hope you’ll be surprised [at our achievement], on top of finding it delicious,” says Nakatani....
Though Valentine’s Day can be an exciting day filled with gifts and heart-shaped candy, the Nebraska Humane Society (NHS) has acknowledged that it’s not such a happy occasion for some. “Dump your ex…again!” read their website page explaining an initiative that is offering animal lovers to have their ex’s name printed on the bottom of a litter box in exchange for a donation. “For a $15 donation, we’ll write the name of your ex on one of our litter boxes and our cats will proceed to, y’know, do their business accordingly,” the website said....
We saw Messi return to the Barcelona squad only to meet an unwanted record, a blast from the past for Guardiola and Mourinho in the form of the Manchester derby, Sarri’s Premier League managerial record… the list goes on. Here we take a look at five of the records that were broken last weekend: #1 Barcelona’s defeat to Real Betis is the first time the club lost in a game in which Messi scored two or more goals Last weekend, La Liga giants Barcelona went up against Real Betis in a game that saw Betis boss Quique Setien become the only away manager to win at the Santiago Bernabeu and Camp Nou in La Liga in the last 10 seasons, after the Catalan giants succumbed to a humbling 4-3 defeat at the Camp Nou....
Some companies were founded by black people but sold on to major corporations, such as such as Carol’s Daughter which was sold to L’Oreal. However, other brands, including African Pride, belong to companies that have always been run by non-black people. Below is a list of hair care brands aimed at black people that are owned by non-black people, whether as a standalone brand or as part of a major parent company....
In case you didn’t know… In recent weeks there has been a build-up of speculation about whether Bryan will leave the WWE when his contract with the company is up. This has been caused by Bryan’s desire to return to the ring as an active wrestler, which he can’t do in the WWE because WWE doctors haven’t cleared him for in-ring competition due to his repetitive concussions. Bryan himself has fanned the flames of these rumours by openly expressing his ambition to appear in hair vs mask matches in Mexico whilst doing a livestream Q&A with his wife Brie Bella....
