Latest news with #RogerFederer
The Sun
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
Wimbledon hiking price of iconic strawberries and cream for first time in 15 YEARS
WIMBLEDON bosses have hiked the price of their famous strawberries and cream for the first time in 15 YEARS. Since 2010, the price of the sweet treat at the All England Club had been set in stone at £2.50. 3 3 3 However, after a decade and a half, the SW19 chiefs broke the trend by increasing the price ahead of this year's Wimbledon tournament. Patrons will now have to pay £2.70 - a 20p increase. A Wimbledon spokesperson said: "We have taken the decision to slightly increase the price of strawberries this year from £2.50 to £2.70. "We feel that this modest increase still ensures that our world-famous strawberries are available at a very reasonable price." In the same time Wimbledon had frozen their prices, by comparison, average UK grocery costs have increased by around 40 per cent. The historic item has been a staple at Wimbledon since its inception in 1877. Around 140,000 punnets of them are sold each year, meaning the new price will bring in an extra £28,000 for the club. Despite the increase, Wimbledon has reaffirmed its commitment to being accessible to all by continuing the tradition of allowing fans to bring in their own food and drink, including alcohol. The tournament proper is scheduled to start on June 30 this year and run through to July 13. French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz will be looking to become only the fourth men's singles player in the Open Era to win Wimbledon three times in a row. The only others to achieve the feat are Roger Federer, five in a row between 2003 and 2007, Pete Sampras, twice from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1998 to 2000 and Björn Borg, also five between 1976 and 1980. The 22-year-old will also be looking to eclipse two-time winner Rafael Nadal as the most successful Spanish player in the competition's history. Defending women's singles champion, Barbora Krejčíková, hadn't played for five months before April due to injury. However, 29-year-old Czech star has returned to the court and appeared at Queens earlier this month, where she was eliminated in the opening round.
Perth Now
a day ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Roger Federer personifies crucial Wimbledon 'connection'
Roger Federer is still seen as the "face" of the Rolex and Wimbledon "connection". The watch brand became the official timekeeper of the prestigious tennis tournament in 1978 and the eight-time champion Swiss sportsman is viewed as personifying the ethos of the partnership. Spencer Dryer, founder of BQ Watches, said: 'It's not just about keeping time. It's about owning it - marking history in seconds, minutes, hours - while standing for something larger. And at Wimbledon, where tradition is not merely preserved but celebrated, Rolex fits in as naturally as ivy on the outer walls of Centre Court. 'If there's a face of the Rolex-Wimbledon connection, it's Roger Federer. The Swiss legend and Rolex Testimonee has won Wimbledon eight times, gracing the grass courts with the same level of grace and restraint that defines a Datejust or a Day-Date. Even now, in retirement, Federer remains an icon of both tennis and watchmaking -timeless in every sense of the word. " But with Roger, 43, having retired in 2022, Spencer believes there has been a "changing of the guard" with another Rolex ambassador, Carlos Alcarez, stepping into his place. He added: "2025 is also about the next generation. Carlos Alcaraz, another Rolex ambassador, captured headlines - and hearts - with his electrifying wins in both the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon final. At just 20, he brought youthful flair and composure beyond his years. Watching him lift the trophy, a Rolex Oyster Perpetual on his wrist, felt like a changing of the guard - in tennis, and in legacy.' Spencer insisted the "right watch" is crucial to the tournament. He said: 'The right watch at Wimbledon doesn't just tell time—it frames a moment. 'Whether it's the pause before a second serve or the roar of the crowd after match point, the best timepieces carry that same sense of composure, legacy, and quiet power.'
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Henry Payne: How Cadillac integrates motorsports to compete on the world stage
LE MANS, France - For 15 years, Cadillac has been assembling the pieces to reassert itself as the Standard of the World. A cornerstone of that plan has been to take on its international competition in their backyards, at the track, on the world's biggest stages. From the 24 Hours of Le Mans to Paris to Miami, that vision has bloomed in 2025. As tennis legend Roger Federer waved the French tricolors to start Le Mans Saturday, two gold, Hertz-sponsored, V-8-powered, Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars led the field of Porsches, Ferraris and BMWs into Turn One before an estimated 332,000 spectators and another 100 million-plus viewers around the globe. Among them were visitors to Cadillac's flagship European showroom in downtown Paris watching the race on video screens surrounded by the brand's sleek, electric Lyriq-V. More tuned in from their phones like the millions who watched Cadillac's official May launch of its Formula One team at the Miami Grand Prix. "We haven't sold cars here in a long time," said General Motors Co. President Mark Reuss in Cadillac's Le Mans paddock suite Sunday while 62 of the world's premier race cars - including four V-8-powered - thundered by. "What Cadillac stands for is important, so here in a race like this - or wherever we race - it's about technology, it's about our best, it's about bringing it into our portfolio of cars." Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. It's a hallmark of Le Mans where brands from Ferrari to Porsche to Ford have translated track success to global sales. Reuss and his team are determined that Cadillac join that list. He says it requires commitment that GM has lacked in the past. "Cadillac is on a real roll here by plan," said Reuss, the architect of Caddy's journey. "We've invested a lot of money over a fairly long period, which the company hasn't done in a long, long time. So, I think that is starting to pay off. We're not nearly done. You can see the results in the brand, what people think of the brand, and the sales." Reuss has followed in the footsteps of his father, Lloyd Reuss, GM president from 1990-92. Like Henry Ford II, who captained Ford's Le Mans victories over Ferrari in the 1960s, his passion is a primal force inside GM. The Le Mans start was a poster moment, an image that will live on garage walls like Ford's three GT40s crossing the line 1-2-3 in 1966 or twin, yellow Chevy Corvettes crossing the stripe in a near dead heat for the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona. And that's before Cadillac enters Formula One next year with its estimated 750-million fan base. "I never imagined that a video of a brand reveal in Miami would get 10 million (viewers) the next day," marveled Reuss. "It's just extraordinary. "Whatever we thought, it was actually much bigger than that." This year's race had a distinctive Motown sound as GT3-class Mustangs, Corvettes and Cadillac V-8 Hypercars pounded around the 8.5-mile circuit. But no Detroit badge is more aggressive at using motorsports to push its brand into Europe than Caddy. Indeed, Ferrari is the only other manufacturer (not Mercedes, Porsche or BMW) that has committed itself to entries in both F1 and Le Mans Hypercar - the summit of motorsports. "If you don't compete at the top tier, then you're never going to be seen," said Reuss. International racing's emphasis on manufacturer technology is important to Cadillac. Formula One is the cutting edge of automotive technology with pneumatic valves, hybrid power units (F1-speak for powertrain) and synthetic fuels. So too, its world sportscar cousin in France boasts similar technologies and speeds. On the jumbotron screen here at Le Mans, the leaderboard displays - not drivers like the Indianapolis 500 (which hosted 350,000 fans this year) - but car brands. "These Hypercars are not simple," said Reuss of the 800-volt, hybrid-electric, 690-horse V-8 thoroughbreds thundering around the track behind him. "We're doing some pretty sophisticated things here. (Formula One and World Endurance Racing) are some of the last series where you can make original parts. That's cool, that's creative." Cadillac's history of technological innovation is why it has invested heavily in electrification. The luxury brand has been an innovator over the years in tech like the electric self-starter (1912), air suspension (1957) and magnetic ride suspension (2022). Today, the cutting edge is battery, motor and digital tech, and the three Cadillacs sold in Europe - Lyriq, Optiq, Vistiq - are on the bleeding edge. Significantly, Reuss said Cadillac is not going all-electric as advertised in its EV Day five years ago. Customer preference has not dovetailed with government EV mandates - especially in the United States - and automakers are focusing EVs on the niche luxury market. "We will continue to build up Cadillac both from an electric propulsion standpoint but also from an internal combustion engine standpoint," said Reuss. "We are not going away with our ICE engines here (in Europe) either. (The V-Series.R) happens to be a hybrid." Still, despite market pushback, the European Union has doubled down on forcing the end of new ICE vehicle sales by 2035. Cities like Paris have drafted plans (currently on hold due to consumer resistance) that restrict the use of ICEs by establishing zero-emission zones. "Things will change, and so we'll be ready from a regulatory standpoint," said Reuss. "But at end of the day, driving a really good vehicle - however it is propelled - is really important for us. It gets down to product every time." F1 has also received manufacturer pushback on its 50-50 hybrid powertrain plan for 2028, the first year Cadillac will bring its own, in-house-developed power unit to the stage (Ferrari will provide power for the 2026 season). Batteries are expensive and synfuels are in the conversation as an alternative that would not only power F1 cars - but also ICE production vehicles. It's another technical challenge that Reuss sees playing to GM's strength in innovation. "We are a works team," he said emphasizing that Cadillac, like Ferrari and Mercedes, will develop its own F1 car. "Not a chassis team, not an engine team - a works team, and that separates us. First time ever there has been an American works team." "Cadillac is named after a small town in southwest Fance," said Cadillac France Sales Chief Chahine Bouaiache on the Paris show floor, where a V-Series.R Hypercar greeted showroom visitors during Le Mans Week. "We are selling our cars to Parisians who love the design of the car. The (Lyriq) designer was a French woman" (Magalie Debellis, former manager of Cadillac Advanced Design). In the Le Mans paddock 130 miles west, Senior Vice President of GM Global Design Mike Simcoe pointed to the Cadillac race car's lines - their vertical, sharp edges echoing those of the production EVs. "Design of the car is an important part of Cadillac's rebirth," said Reuss. "Design language is very different than it was 10-20 years ago. That is (key) to how many Lyriqs we've sold in France." Since the showroom opened last year, Cadillac has grown to France's fourth best-selling EV maker. Four more are now open in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. In 2024, the highest-placed V-Series.R at Le Mans was seventh. This year, the pole-sitting car finished 5th overall behind three Ferraris and a Porsche. In March, Cadillac will make its F1 debut in Melbourne, Australia. "We've tried to be the Standard of the World a lot of different ways," said Reuss. "We probably didn't do a good job of building up the portfolio. What we are doing now is the right way: you go product-by-product, success-by-success, and keep bringing Cadillac back to what people know." ____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
CNA
6 days ago
- Automotive
- CNA
Ferrari heading for a hat-trick at Le Mans
Defending champions Ferrari were heading for a third straight win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, after leading the 93rd edition of the race through the night and into Sunday morning at the Sarthe circuit. With six hours remaining, the number 51 factory 499P car of 2023 winners Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado led the number 83 AF Corse entry of Robert Kubica, Yifei Yi and Philip Hanson by some six seconds. The number 50 factory car crewed by last year's winners Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina completed the lockout of the podium places. Porsche Penske's number six hypercar, which had led at the halfway stage after a safety car period, was fourth and Toyota's number eight car fifth. With six hours being the regular length of a World Endurance Championship race, and temperatures rising, there was however still plenty of room for late drama. The number 51 Ferrari had already fought back from eighth place after a puncture, a five second penalty and 20 second stop and go punishment to retake the lead by dawn. Swiss tennis great Roger Federer had waved the French flag to get the race underway on Saturday afternoon, with Porsche immediately seizing the lead from pole-sitters Cadillac. Cadillac had swept the front row in Thursday's qualifying but any advantage was short-lived as Porsche Penske's Julien Andlauer slipstreamed into the lead from third on the grid before the first chicane on the opening lap. "We're trying to hang in there, but it's tough out on track to be honest," said Sebastien Bourdais, who shares the number 38 Cadillac with 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button and was in ninth place. "We're struggling with tyre degradation. And we're struggling with the balance." Ferrari worked their way to the front and Fuoco took the lead in the third hour on the run from Mulsanne to Indianapolis with the three Ferraris running 1-2-3 at the quarter distance. The BMW driven by Italy's MotoGP great Valentino Rossi had to retire in the LMGT3 category. The race at the circuit in north-west France features 62 cars shared by 186 drivers from 34 countries, and is the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship, with 21 hypercars in the battle for overall victory. Organisers have put the total weekend attendance at more than 300,000 spectators. Ferrari will be able to keep the trophy at their Maranello factory if the works team completes a hat-trick on Sunday.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
Ferrari heading for a hat-trick at Le Mans
June 15 (Reuters) - Defending champions Ferrari were heading for a third straight win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, after leading the 93rd edition of the race through the night and into Sunday morning at the Sarthe circuit. With six hours remaining, the number 51 factory 499P car of 2023 winners Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado led the number 83 AF Corse entry of Robert Kubica, Yifei Yi and Philip Hanson by some six seconds. The number 50 factory car crewed by last year's winners Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina completed the lockout of the podium places. Porsche Penske's number six hypercar, which had led at the halfway stage after a safety car period, was fourth and Toyota's number eight car fifth. With six hours being the regular length of a World Endurance Championship race, and temperatures rising, there was however still plenty of room for late drama. The number 51 Ferrari had already fought back from eighth place after a puncture, a five second penalty and 20 second stop and go punishment to retake the lead by dawn. Swiss tennis great Roger Federer had waved the French flag to get the race underway on Saturday afternoon, with Porsche immediately seizing the lead from pole-sitters Cadillac. Cadillac had swept the front row in Thursday's qualifying but any advantage was short-lived as Porsche Penske's Julien Andlauer slipstreamed into the lead from third on the grid before the first chicane on the opening lap. "We're trying to hang in there, but it's tough out on track to be honest," said Sebastien Bourdais, who shares the number 38 Cadillac with 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button and was in ninth place. "We're struggling with tyre degradation. And we're struggling with the balance." Ferrari worked their way to the front and Fuoco took the lead in the third hour on the run from Mulsanne to Indianapolis with the three Ferraris running 1-2-3 at the quarter distance. The BMW driven by Italy's MotoGP great Valentino Rossi had to retire in the LMGT3 category. The race at the circuit in north-west France features 62 cars shared by 186 drivers from 34 countries, and is the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship, with 21 hypercars in the battle for overall victory. Organisers have put the total weekend attendance at more than 300,000 spectators. Ferrari will be able to keep the trophy at their Maranello factory if the works team completes a hat-trick on Sunday.
