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A16 sports
Friday 11 September 2020

Bubba Wallace participates in the national anthem before
a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, in
Darlington, S.C.
Associated Press

Wallace leaving Richard

Petty Motorsports at Dominic Thiem, of Austria, pumps his fist after defeating Alex de Minaur, of Australia, during the

season's end quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in New York.
Associated Press

By JENNA FRYER Instead of Big 3, Thiem and
AP Auto Racing Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bubba Wallace, loaded with 'other 3' in U.S. Open semifinals
several new sponsors he personally signed, will leave
Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of the season By HOWARD FENDRICH Busta is 29.Federer, Nadal reached major finals be-
and take his new wealth elsewhere. AP Tennis Writer and Djokovic simply have fore — and always run into
Wallace, who has driven Petty's iconic No. 43 the last NEW YORK (AP) — Dominic not left room for other folks. Nadal or Djokovic.
three seasons, told the team Thursday he would not Thiem was talking about They won the past 13 Grand Medvedev was the runner-
sign a contract extension. himself and the rest of the Slam titles and 56 of the last up to Nadal at last year's
"This was not an easy decision as I have nothing but men in the U.S. Open semi- 67; this is the first Slam since U.S. Open in a five-set, four-
the utmost respect for Richard Petty and his family," finals, but he might as well 2004 without at least one plus-hours thriller. Thiem is
Wallace said in a statement, "but I believe it's time for have been offering advice of them in the semifinals. It 0-3 in major title matches,
someone else to take over the No. 43. to tennis fans the world took quite a confluence of losing to Nadal at each of
"Thank you to the King and everyone at Richard Petty over."Once we step on events for that to happen. the past two French Opens
Motorsports for giving me the opportunity to start my the court," Thiem said, "the Federer is sidelined for the and to Djokovic at the Aus-
Cup Series career. I've grown so much as a driver and other three are forgotten rest of 2020 after two op- tralian Open in February.
as a person since joining them. We've got nine more anyway." erations on his right knee; It will be intriguing to
races together, and I hope we can finish the 2020 sea- Those "other three" are far Nadal cited concerns watch Medvedev's serving
son on a high note." better known as the so- about international travel against Thiem's returning.
Wallace, who is 26, has a career-best five top-10 fin- called Big Three of men's amid a pandemic for de- Medvedev has won 96% of
ishes this season and is ranked a career-best 23rd in tennis — Roger Federer, ciding not to try to defend his service games -- 65 of 68
the Cup Series standings. Wallace did not make the Rafael Nadal and Novak his 2019 championship in -- and saved 6 of 9 break
playoffs in any of his three Cup seasons and is winless Djokovic — none of whom New York; Djokovic was points while not dropping a
at NASCAR's top level. will be anywhere near Ar- disqualified from his fourth- set in the tournament.
Wallace in 2013 became the second Black driver to thur Ashe Stadium on Fri- round match against Car- Thiem, meanwhile, has won
win a national series NASCAR race when he won the day when it hosts No. 2 reño Busta for acciden- a tournament-best 43% of
Truck Series event at Martinsville Speedway. He is the seed Thiem of Austria vs. tally hitting a line judge in his return games -- 28 of 65
only full-time Black driver at NASCAR's national level. No. 3 Daniil Medvedev of the throat with a ball while -- and dropped just one set
Wallace this season has taken an active role in pushing Russia, and No. 5 Alexan- walking to the sideline after (against Cilic). Worth not-
for racial inclusion and equality, pushing NASCAR to der Zverev of Germany vs. dropping a game. ing is who ranks second in
ban the Confederate flag at its races earlier this year. No. 20 Pablo Carreño Busta "The Novak news shocked that category, winning 38%
He parlayed that into several sponsorship deals that of Spain for the right to par- us all. And obviously for us of his return games: Med-
have been negotiated in a way that Wallace could ticipate in the final. younger guys, we see that vedev.
take them with him if he left RPM. None of the men left has as a massive opportunity," And Thiem's take on Med-
Among his new partners are Door Dash, Columbia won a Grand Slam cham- said Zverev, who made his vedev: "I would say that he
Sportswear Co., Cash App, and a personal deal with pionship; the last first-time Grand Slam semifinal de- comes very close to the Big
Beats by Dre. He's also got an affiliation with McDon- Slam winner was Marin Cilic but at this year's Australian Three players, in terms (of)
ald's, one of the sponsors at Chip Ganassi Racing. at the 2014 U.S. Open. Open and now is in his sec- that he can play his level,
It's not clear where Wallace is headed because sever- "Every single one of us de- ond in a row. "But we have his top level, for doesn't
al major teams with seats available told The Associat- serves this first major title. to put our head down and matter how long -- I mean,
ed Press they were not in play for the driver. Wallace's Everybody will give it all," just do our job and focus on four, five, six hours. That's
agent did not return a request for comment from AP. Thiem said. "That's what's ourselves." going to be really, really
RPM, meanwhile, said it would finish the season with on the mind." Either he or Carreño Busta, difficult."
Wallace and announce its plans at a later date. The The eventual champion will also a semifinalist at Flush- Makes sense, really, that
team has had difficulty landing sponsorship — one of be the first man born in the ing Meadows in 2017, will the highest form of praise
the reasons the No. 43 has struggled to be competitive 1990s to grab a Grand Slam reach his initial Slam final. Thiem could think of was
— and there has been speculation the team would be trophy: Zverev is 23, Medve- The semifinal that will draw comparing Medvedev
absorbed by a new owner. q dev is 24, Thiem turned 27 more attention is Medve- to Federer, Nadal and

a week ago, and Carreño dev vs. Thiem. Both have Djokovic.q