Sports

LONDON — Gareth Bale is back making his second Tottenham Hotspur debut, but Jose Mourinho claims that the Welsh star’s place is not guaranteed as he revels in the squad depth at his disposal.

Bale has returned to north London on a season-long loan from Real Madrid after seven years of highs and lows since joining the Spanish giants for a then world-record fee.

He scored in two Champions League finals as Madrid won the competition four times in his first five seasons.

But Bale’s performances also attracted plenty of criticism, while he struggled with injuries and the adaptation to life in Spain.

Injury has also delayed his Tottenham return on the field, but the familiar surroundings have made the 31-year-old more relaxed after his Madrid misery and he has been photographed in the stands supporting his new teammates.

Mourinho said on Friday that Sergio Reguilon, who also moved from Madrid to Spurs last month, commented that Bale looks a “different guy” from the shy figure in the Spanish capital.

But questions remain over whether he can emulate the success of his first spell with Tottenham, when he developed into one of the world’s best.

In the final season before his big move, Bale scored 26 goals but it still was not enough to secure a place in the Champions League as Andre Villas-Boas’s side finished fifth.

During his time in Spain, Spurs became Champions League regulars, reaching the final for the first time in 2019.

This season is the first in five years Tottenham are not in Europe’s top club competition, but a Champions League return is the least they expect after bringing back Bale to form a potentially thrilling front three alongside Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

Kane and Son have combined spectacularly to thrash Manchester United 6-1 and Southampton 5-2 already this season.

Injuries to both hampered Spurs’ chances of making the top four last season, but Mourinho is confident he now has the squad to challenge on multiple fronts.

Winning mentality

Despite the club’s rise in recent years, Tottenham have still not won a trophy since 2008.

“We have a squad where every player has to fight a lot and play very well to deserve a place in the team,” said Mourinho.

“The squad is so good, so strong. We have so many options that I refuse to say this player is a first choice.

“I can feel even in the players this feeling I love. They are happy but they are worried. 

“They are happy that the squad is good, that people are coming to make the squad better. But at the same time they are worried about themselves, ‘am I going to play or not going to play?’ This is the kind of feeling you have in the top teams and we are having that now.”

Bale has plenty of experience of those demands from his time at Madrid, which is regarded as bittersweet at best despite winning 13 trophies.

“By going to Madrid, winning trophies and going far with the national team I feel like I have that winning mentality of how to win trophies,” Bale said on his return.

“You don’t realise it until you’re there and in those situations in finals, knowing how to deal with the situation, the nerves, the pressure.

“That all goes with experience, so hopefully I can bring that to the dressing room, bring a bit more belief to everybody that we can win a trophy.

“The target is to do that this season. Not to just win one but to be fighting on every front possible.”

GDYNIA, Poland — Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir lowered her own world record for an all-women's half marathon at the world championships in Gdynia on Saturday but serial record-breaker Joshua Cheptegei missed out on a medal in the men's race.

The 27-year-old Jepchirchir, who also won world half marathon gold in 2016, produced a final sprint to take the women's title in 1hr 5min 16sec.

That bettered the previous best set by Jepchirchir herself in Prague on September 5 of 1hr 5min 34sec.

"It's unbelievable," said Jepchirchir.

"My goal was to win this race. I did not expect that I would beat the world record, but I realised that it could happen when we passed 20km.

"It was a little bit windy, but the course was good for me."

She came home just two seconds clear of Germany's Melat Yisak Kejeta, who smashed the European women-only record to take silver in 1hr 5min 18secs, with Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw a further second behind.

On a cold and windy morning, a group of favourites broke away early during the four-lap race but three of them suffered falls to disappear from contention.

Defending champion Netsanet Gudeta's race almost came to an abrupt stop as the leaders took a 90-degree turn on to the seafront, the defending champion taking a fall and losing several seconds to the leaders.

It was a gap she would never close, the Ethiopian slipping farther behind during the third lap.

Turkey's Yasemin Can led a group of seven through 10km in 30mins 47sec after which Jepchirchir began to take control.

The Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh, world record holder in a mixed race (1hr 4min 31sec), then tan-gled with Joyciline Jepkosgei and both crashed to the ground, leaving Jepchirchir, Kejeta and Ye-hualaw to battle it out in the final sprint.

Cheptegei disappointment

Jacob Kiplimo took the men's race in a new championship record of 58min 49sec but his Ugandan compatriot Cheptegei, the favourite for the title, could only finish fourth.

Kiplimo, who turns 20 next month, had never raced the 21.1km distance before but he showed nerves of steel as he and the Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie broke away from the leading pack after the 15km mark.

The 2017 world junior cross champion then pushed clear in the last few metres to edge Kandie by five seconds and secure his first major title.

The Ethiopian Amedework Walelegn took bronze, coming in another 14 seconds behind.

Cheptegei finished fourth in 59min 21sec, over half a minute behind Kiplimo, a rare disappoint-ment for an athlete who has lit up a truncated 2020 season.

"I couldn't give more than that," said Cheptegei, who set a world 10,000m record in Valencia just 10 days ago.

"I have been training more for 5000m and 10,000m so I was not well prepared for it, but I'm very happy — running a sub-60 [minute] is really special for me.

"My body was really going very well but I discovered I still had some fatigue in the legs."

The 24-year-old had only made three outings this year but each time had broken a world record.

In February he claimed the world 5km road record in Monaco. Then, after a period of coronavirus lockdown at home in Uganda, he returned to Monaco and, in his first race back, wiped almost two seconds off Kenenisa Bekele's 16-year-old track world record time over the 5,000m as he clocked 12min 35.36sec.

Earlier this month in Valencia, he smashed Bekele's 10,000m track world record, taking off over six seconds as he clocked 26mins 11sec.

Those efforts may have counted against him as he attempted the half-marathon distance for the first time in competition.

MILAN — Cristiano Ronaldo could have violated Italian coronavirus measures by returning to Turin from Portugal after testing positive, Italy's sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thurs-day.

"Yes, I think so, if there were no specific authorisations from the health authority," Spadafora told Radio Uno when asked whether the 35-year-old Portuguese star's return had breached COVID-19 rules.

Ronaldo left the Portuguese team camp near Lisbon on Wednesday to fly back to Northern Italy on his private jet.

"Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Italy with a medical flight authorised by the competent health au-thorities at the request of the player and will continue his isolation at his home," Juventus said.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was "asymptomatic" after testing positive on Monday, the day af-ter Portugal drew 0-0 with France in Paris.

However, the incident renewed controversy over his departure from Turin the previous week, which local health authorities said breached virus protocols after two Juventus staff members test-ed positive.

"I think that, at the moment, the protocols in force for the sports championships, both for Serie A football and for the sports associations and clubs are valid as long as they are respected," said Spa-dafora.

"And if there is someone who does not respect them, then the cases that we read in the news are created.

"If they are respected, and if the general situation of the country allows it, I hope that leagues at all levels can continue in the best possible way in the interest of the players, staff, but also all sports fans in Italy."

The entire Juventus team were back in isolation on Wednesday evening after US midfielder Wes-ton McKennie tested positive.

Both McKennie and Ronaldo are in quarantine, for at least ten days, and must test negative before rejoining their teammates.

Under UEFA rules a player must provide evidence that he is no longer sick a week before a Europe-an match.

Ronaldo who will miss Juventus's Champions League opener against Dynamo Kiev on October 20, must test negative on October 21 to play against Barcelona a week later.

Spadafora rejected a call from the Italian regions to open stadiums to 25 percent capacity from the current maximum of 1,000.

"For now we cannot authorise it," he said.

"At least until next month, we have to see how the contagion curve will go from here until mid-November."

PARIS — Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and men’s golf world number one Dustin Johnson both tested positive for the coronavirus as a surge in cases cast a shadow over the return of professional sport.

Ronaldo, the 35-year-old five-time Ballon d’Or winner, is asymptomatic but has withdrawn from Portugal’s Nations League game against Sweden on Wednesday. He played in Sunday’s 0-0 draw against France.

“We have respected all the health measures... and, yet, it happened,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos told reporters. The rest of the Portugal squad, and France’s players, have all tested negative.

America’s Johnson, 36, was forced out of this week’s CJ Cup in Las Vegas as he became the highest-profile golfer to test positive for COVID-19. Johnson said he was “very disappointed”.

The positive tests by two of the world’s top athletes highlight a rash of cases coinciding with the return of many sports competitions in recent weeks, often in bio-secure “bubbles” and behind closed doors.

The cases, seen everywhere from football to cycling, rugby union, rugby league, American football and Formula One, also mirror a surge in COVID-19 across much of the world, including Europe and the United States.

Professional sport was brought to a halt worldwide as the pandemic advanced in March, threatening an industry estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars. But many competitions have now emerged from their shutdowns.

Ronaldo ‘sunbathing’

Ronaldo, one of the world’s best paid athletes, was “fine and sunbathing” after his positive test, according to Juventus teammate Giorgio Chiellini. 

However, the incident renews controversy over his departure from Turin, where health authorities said it was a breach of virus protocols, and underlines the difficulty of international competition.

Ronaldo and other Juventus stars left to join up with their national teams despite the Italian champions’ squad being in isolation after two staff members tested positive.

Elsewhere, Scotland and Ireland’s plans for crucial Euro 2020 play-off matches were also disrupted by coronavirus cases, while others were forced into self-isolation after teammates tested positive.

China-based Italy forward Stephan El Shaarawy tested positive and then negative before a friendly against The Netherlands in Bergamo, intended as a tribute to the city which was hard-hit by the pandemic.

Coach Pavel Hapal was among nine cases in Slovakia’s camp. And Senegal’s home friendly with Mauritania was called off after the visitors reported eight positive tests. 

England manager Gareth Southgate defended the decision to press ahead with international games.

“The reality of the world at the moment is we don’t know what the rules will be. In this day and age you have to live form week to week,” said Southgate. 

“There is no reason international football should be a higher risk.”

Bubble ‘breach’

American football is also under pressure with the National Football League admitting the season could be extended after games were moved following a cluster of cases affecting the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots, including Patriots quarterback Cam Newton.

“We will have flexibility to be able to complete our season for the Super Bowl. That’s the goal,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. However, officials played down the prospect of finishing the post-season in a bubble. 

In cycling, two teams, Mitchelton and Jumbo-Visma, were forced out of the Giro d’Italia after eight positive cases in one day. The three-week race, now down to 21 teams, still has nearly two weeks to run.

Jumbo’s Dutch rider Jos van Emden questioned the bubble put in place to avoid coronavirus infections, again underlining the complexity of organising competitions during a pandemic.

“In the hotel buffets, there were people who were not part of the bubble,” he told The Cycling Podcast.

In English rugby league, Salford will have to make team changes for the Challenge Cup final against Leeds, after two players tested positive and two were inconclusive.

A number of rugby union players, including Italy’s Gloucester scrum-half Stephen Varney, have also tested positive. But after the coronavirus was contained in New Zealand, the All Blacks and Australia will play the second Bledisloe Cup Test in front of packed crowds in Auckland on Sunday.

HONG KONG — Mark Striegl makes his UFC debut in Abu Dhabi this weekend having taken a path forged by centuries of feared Filipino warriors and followed by boxing great Manny Pacquiao.

Striegl based himself in the cool mountain climate of Baguio City and it paid off as he became the only Philippines-based fighter on the UFC’s books.

“There’s the high-altitude training but there’s also the history there,” said Filipino-American Striegl. “Once I’d fought there, I couldn’t get myself to leave.”

Baguio City — on the northern Philippines island of Luzon — has in the past hosted eight-weight world champion Pacquiao’s training camps.

The 32-year-old MMA bantamweight Striegl first visited Baguio a decade ago for a mixed martial arts bout.

He met a local woman and fell in love both with her and the popular Filipino holiday destination, which offers welcome respite from the sticky heat of much of the sprawling tropical archipelago.

The mountains are home to the indigenous Igorot people, legendary warriors who resisted colonial domination for hundreds of years.

From 1565 to 1898 they successfully fought to keep the gold found on their lands out of the hands of Spanish colonial powers.

They continued their defiance after Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States. They then fought against Japanese occupiers during World War Two.

“Everybody knows about the warriors from the mountains and that history really surrounds you,” said Striegl.

Today Baguio City is home to gyms such as Shape Up Boxing and Team Lakay MMA that have hosted a string of top-class fighters, including Pacquiao and the Asia-based One Championship’s strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio.

‘Living in a movie’

Striegl, who has an MMA record of 18 wins with two defeats will begin his UFC career in the talent-rich bantamweight division against Russia’s Said Nurmagomedov (13-2) on Sunday morning at “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.

It’s a debut delayed from August when Striegl tested positive for COVID-19 just two days before a maiden bout at the UFC’s Las Vegas base, despite having spent weeks in isolation in Manila before travelling.

After 10 days in quarantine fighting off the coronavirus he was cleared to resume training and now comes his date with Nurmagomedov — the first contest of Streigl’s four-fight UFC contract.

“Thankfully it came and it went,” Striegl said of the virus. 

“I had a fever and lost my sense of taste and smell. But now I have had a full fight camp and I am super stoked. It’s almost like I have been living in a movie.”

‘Crazy, crazy game’

Striegl was born in Tokyo to an American father and Filipina mother and started out in karate and wrestling. He spent his college years in California before turning to MMA and making the Philippines his home.

Striegl grafted for a decade in regional fight promotions such as Asia’s One Fighting Championship and the Philippine-based Universal Reality Combat Championship, where he claimed the featherweight belt. He is also the reigning Southeast Asian Games combat sambo gold medallist.

“It’s a crazy, crazy game,” said Striegl. “This is just one of those adventures I will look back on one day and just laugh about. It’s super fun.”

The UFC was one of the first international sports organisations to restart during the COVID-19 pandemic, setting up sports “bubbles” in Florida, Las Vegas and then in Abu Dhabi, where the promotion is currently having its second month-long stay.

The 28-year-old Nurmagomedov is also a mountain man, from Russia’s Dagestan, famed for producing his cousin and feared UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0), conqueror of Conor McGregor.

“I’m expecting a war,” said Striegl. “There’s never an easy fight in the UFC and I am expecting Said to bring out the best in me. 

“I’m never in a boring fight. He’s from the mountains of Russia and I’m from the mountains of the Philippines, so this is going to be a good one.”

PARIS — Portugal and Italy kept hold of first place in their UEFA Nations League groups on Sunday with goalless draws against France and Poland on a night of little drama, while England saw off Belgium to take the initiative in its pool.

There was not much to talk about at the Stade de France as a star-studded line up of players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann failed to muster much of a spectacle in the League A, Group 3 match.

The 1,000 fans gathered in the cavernous stadium just outside Paris to watch France hosts the reigning European champions were treated to just four shots on target as two rugged defences cancelled out each team’s attacks.

“We didn’t score a goal, but we weren’t here to score goals,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.

“France is a great team. They have great players. It’s not always possible to create opportunities.”

Pepe headed home what he thought was a 74th-minute opener when he got on the end of Bruno Fernandes’ free-kick but was flagged offside.

Ronaldo, chasing his 102nd international goal, was denied by a flying save from Hugo Lloris in added time.

Mbappe fluffed France’s best when Rui Patricio anticipated his gentle chip when one-on-one with the Portuguese stopper.

Both sides are on seven points, four ahead of Croatia, whose 2-1 home win over Sweden earlier on Sunday was the group’s more entertaining match, with a calamitous late lapse from Pontus Jansson allowing the 2018 World Cup finalists to snatch the points in a soaking Zagreb.

Defender Jansson dawdled under a high ball into the penalty area with six minutes remaining and allowed Ivan Perisic to nip in behind. The Inter Milan winger then squared the ball for Andrej Kramaric to tap in from close range.

Sweden is stuck on no points after losing all three of their matches.

Italy settle for 

Poland point

Italy stretched its unbeaten streak to 18 matches and held onto top spot in League A, Group 1 with their stalemate in Gdansk.

New Juventus signing Federico Chiesa missed the chance to win the match for the dominant ‘Azzurri’ from close range in the 11th minute.

Roberto Mancini’s side are one point ahead of The Netherlands, who also drew 0-0 with Bosnia and Herzegovina, ahead of their meeting in Bergamo on Wednesday.

“We had several opportunities, especially in the first half when we could have scored at least two goals,” said Mancini.

“Beyond the result, however, we are happy. We didn’t score, but it happens.”

England manager Gareth Southgate said his side showed what they were made of after coming from behind to beat Belgium 2-1 and move top of League A, Group 2 earlier on Sunday.

The Three Lions are on seven points, one ahead of the world’s top-ranked side after Marcus Rashford’s spot-kick and Mason Mount’s deflected winner 25 minutes from time cancelled out Romelu Lukaku’s early penalty.

“We are not going to face a more difficult game defensively,” said Southgate. “That is the beauty of the Nations League, you get games against this level of opponent.

“It’s a great experience for them and to go and win it should give them a sense of what might be possible in the next few years.”

Denmark is three points behind England in third after their simple 3-0 win over bottom side Iceland.

In League B, Erling Braut Haaland showed what the rescheduled Euro 2020 would be missing after he slammed home a hat-trick to help Norway to a 4-0 thrashing of Romania.

Haaland struck in the 13th, 64th and 74th minutes as Norway moved level on six points with group leaders Austria, 1-0 winners at Northern Ireland.

Norway were knocked out of the Euros play-offs by Serbia on Thursday.

AMMAN — With over four clubs confirmed having COVID-19 cases in their line-ups, the 68th Jordan Professional Football League agenda was thrown into havoc as matches were postponed just as teams started picking up and standings began to shift at both ends of the table.

Wihdat remained in the lead after Week 10, which only had three matches played, while 10 matches have so far been postponed due to COVID-19 cases amid line-ups of Wihdat, Ahli, Faisali and Sahab and the weekend lockdown.

In latest results, Salt held Shabab Aqaba 0-0 in the only match played in Week 11 as Aqaba climbed to 9th after an earlier 3-1 win over Hussein. 

Earlier, Jazira beat Ramtha 1-0 and are now second while Sarih are third after their Wihdat match was postponed. Faisali held Ma’an 0-0 and are fourth. 

The season has been hit hard with the schedule as well as overall issues such as prize money for the league, Jordan Cup, Super Cup and JFA Shield noticeably downsized after the Jordan Football Association’s (JFA) main sponsor, the Manaseer Group, ended its 10-year sponsorship this season. That was earlier compounded with the kickoff delayed for nearly six months for 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup national team qualifiers which have now been postponed to next year. Clubs had already been reeling with lack of sponsors, injuries and lack of momentum after a long break with reigning champs Faisali starting on an impressive form after they lost in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup. 

The league has halted twice this year. In March, and after teams played one round, 11 clubs announced they were suspending participation as the JFA downsized prize money compounded by evident officiating mistakes. The competition then resumed only to stop again in August when seven Faisali team members tested positive for COVID-19 while Ramtha players were quarantined in Amman after increasing cases in Ramtha led to heightened alert and more testing countrywide.

So far this season, the Jordan Cup — the second major competition on the annual football calendar — which was to be held next month is still on the agenda with professtional teams playing in a knockout first round to which Wihdat, Ramtha, Ma’an and Salt got a first round bye.

Wihdat defeated Ramtha to win the 33rd Jordan Football Association Shield. It was their 1oth Shield title while Ramtha, who have not won a major competition recently, last won the Jordan Cup in 1990-1991 and the Shield in 2001. 

On the other hand, Faisali beat Jazira to win the 37th Jordan Super Cup, which has now been won by Faisali a record 17 times out of 25 final appearances, Wihdat have won 13 times, Ramtha and Shabab Urdun won twice each while Jazira, Hussein and Ahli won once each.

In the past season, Wihdat beat Jazira to win the 36th Jordan Super Cup while Faisali won their 20th Jordan Cup title, adding it to their record 34th Professional League title, one point ahead of Jazira who had led throughout the competition and settled for runner-up. 

With financial difficulties, Jazira have had an issue consolidating their line-up and were unimpressive in regional events. Titleholders Wihdat settled for third, Shabab Urdun finished fourth, Salt finished 5th, Aqaba finished 6th. That Ras, a former AFC Cup participant and 2012 Jordan Cup champ were the first to drop to the First Division. Baqa’a were relegated after 18 consecutive seasons in the league. 

Since the league kicked off in 1944 with only Faisali, Urdun, Ahli and Homenetmen competing, Faisali are 34 time record league winners, while Wihdat were crowned champs 16 times since they joined in 1980.

PARIS — Rafael Nadal demolished Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to win his 13th French Open, and equal Roger Federer's all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles on Sunday.

For World No.1 Djokovic, the defeat ended his hopes of an 18th Slam and of becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four majors twice.

Nadal, 34, claimed his 100th match win at Roland Garros against just two defeats since his 2005 debut.

The Spaniard, the oldest champion in Paris since Andres Gimeno in 1972, claimed the title without dropping a set.

He finished the one-sided affair with just 14 unforced errors to his opponent's 52.

"Congrats to Novak for another great tournament. Sorry for today. We've played plenty of times together — one day one wins, another the other," said Nadal.

"After all the things I have been through in my career with injuries, I could not have done it without my family."

Nadal said he wasn't even thinking about matching Federer's record.

"It's been a very tough year. Winning here means everything to me so it's not about equalling Roger on 20, for me today it's just a Roland Garros victory," said Nadal who had skipped the US Open due to the global health crisis and was playing just his second tournament since February.

"Roland Garros means everything to me. I spent most of the most important moments of my tennis career here.

"Just playing here is a true inspiration. The love story I have with this court and city is unbelievable."

For Djokovic, it was just his second loss of 2020 following his default at the US Open.

'King of clay' 

"Today, Rafa showed why you are the king of clay. I was outplayed by a better player."

Nadal also used his victory speech to thank organisers for staging the tournament, pushed back from its traditional May-June slot due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I want to send a message to everyone around the world. We are facing one of the worst moments that we remember in this world, fighting against this virus. Keep going, stay positive.

"We will get through this and we will beat the virus soon."

The 56th meeting between the world's top two started under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier, intensifying the echo of a crowd limited to 1,000 due to the pandemic.

Conventional wisdom suggested that would favour Djokovic but nobody told Nadal who broke three times in the 45-minute opening set.

The Spaniard hit 10 winners and just two unforced errors.

Djokovic's error count was 13 with the out-of-sorts Serb even squandering three break points of his own in the fourth game.

More worrying for the World No.1 — Nadal improved to 111-0 when winning the first set of best-of-five matches on clay in his career.

It was the first opening set “bagel” in a Roland Garros final since 2004 when Gaston Gaudio recovered to defeat Argentine compatriot Guillermo Coria in five sets.

Djokovic finally got on the board with a service hold in the first game of the second set but Nadal maintained his relentless push, going to a double break for 4-1 as even the Serb's usual deft touches on the drop shot deserted him.

Nadal wrapped up a two-set lead with his unforced error count at just six to Djokovic's 30.

Nadal broke for the sixth time for a 3-2 lead in the third before Djokovic suddenly restored his reputation as the sport's best returner by carving out his first break of the afternoon for 3-3.

However, there was to be no miracle recovery as a double fault handed Nadal a 6-5 lead and he took the title with an ace.

NÜRBURGRING, Germany — Valtteri Bottas produced a blistering track record on his final qualifying lap on Saturday to edge Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and claim pole position for the Eifel Grand Prix.

Bottas clocked a best lap of one minute and 25.269 seconds to beat the championship leader by two-tenths of a second in very cold conditions following only one practice session after Friday's running was cancelled due to fog.

It was Bottas's third pole this year and the 14th of his career, a feat that he hopes can help him keep alive his championship challenge. After winning in Russia two weeks ago he lies 44 points behind Hamilton.

The two 'black arrows' were pushed all the way by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who lost grip on his final run and wound up third ahead of Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Alex Albon in the second Red Bull car.

"It is such a nice feeling when you do it on the last lap — my last lap was spot on," said Bottas.

"It's been pretty tricky with short practice and these conditions getting the tyres in the sweet spot, that was one of the bigger things today.

The chilly autumn weather has shaped practice and qualifying. Friday's practice sessions were wiped out by fog and rain.

"I believe I can win," said Bottas. "That's the only goal for tomorrow and hopefully we can have a good start."

Hamilton, who needs just one victory to equal Michael Schumacher's record of 91 Grand Prix victories, had to settle for second on the grid.

"Valtteri is two-tenths ahead and he did a good job, so congratulations to him," he said. "There is plenty of time for me to regain...

Daniel Ricciardo was sixth ahead of his Renault teammate Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris of McLaren, Sergio Perez of Racing Point and Carlos Sainz in the second McLaren.

Shortly before qualifying, Racing Point announced that Nico Hulkenberg would step in for Lance Stroll who was "unwell".

Hulkenberg, who covered for Stroll's teammate Sergio Perez at Silverstone, was called at short notice from a Cologne cafe. Without any practice, he qualified at the back of the grid.

Cold but no fog

The session began in bright, cold conditions with the air temperature struggling to exceed 10 degrees, but no repeat of the fog and rain that led to the cancellation of both practice sessions on Friday.

Hulkenberg was one of the drivers out early in the session to familiarise himself with Stroll's settings and the circuit before Verstappen set the pace for Red Bull, topping Bottas and Hamilton with Leclerc fourth.

The 'super-sub' pushed, but it was asking too much of Hulkenberg and he failed to reach Q2 and qualified 20th, although his time was only 0.9 seconds shy of teammate Perez in ninth.

Out with him went Romain Grosjean, 16th for Haas, George Russell and his Williams teammate Nicholas Latifi and, ahead of his record 323rd Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo who joins 'the Hulk' in the back row.

The Finn's teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, under pressure to retain his seat from rising F2 star Mick Schumacher, squeezed through for the first time this year.

Hamilton soon laid down a marker in Q2 in 1min 26.183sec before Verstappen trimmed that by almost half a second. Albon took third while Bottas slipped to eighth.

On their second Q2 runs, Hamilton regained top spot while Verstappen held off an improved Bottas in third.

Behind them, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari departed the session with a wave to the estimated 20,000 fans scattered around the circuit, along with Pierre Gasly and his Alpha Tauri teammate Daniil Kvyat, Giovinazzi and Kevin Magnussen of Haas.

It was the eighth time in a row that Leclerc had topped his Ferrari teammate Vettel in qualifying.

In the top ten shootout, Verstappen was fastest on his first run in 1:25.744 ahead of the two Mercedes men, with Bottas topping Hamilton and Albon fourth in the second Red Bull.

Hamilton responded by going quickest but it was not enough to resist Bottas who stormed through to take pole.

PARIS — Novak Djokovic is just two wins away from becoming the first man in half a century to win all four Grand Slams twice, but once again Roland Garros is threatening to turn against him.

The World No. 1's collection of 17 Slams is made up of eight Australian Opens, five Wimbledon titles, three triumphs at the US Open but only one so far in Paris.

Rafael Nadal is mostly responsible for Djokovic's slim pickings in the French capital, capturing 12 titles, winning 98 matches and losing just twice since both men made their debuts in 2005.

Djokovic, who struggled with injury and mood swings before beating Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, has always endured a love-hate relationship with the French Open.

His former coach Boris Becker believes that the Serb is feeling the pressure as he gets closer to his place in the record books.

"No, it wasn't that at all," snapped back the top seed after his 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win over Carreno Busta, insisting the problem was physical — neck and shoulder injuries — not mental.

"I had to deal with that. I told you guys many times I'm over it. I'm not thinking about it at all. I mean, zero percent."

Djokovic's one French Open triumph came in 2016 which allowed him to complete the career Grand Slam.

However, falling short in Paris in 2011 and 2015 prevented him from emulating Rod Laver in clinching a rare calendar Grand Slam.

Roger Federer defeated him in the semi-finals in 2011, ending Djokovic's 43-match winning run while, four years later, his loss in the final to Stan Wawrinka dented his hopes again.

The chapters of disappointment are many for a player whose first two visits to Paris ended with injury retirements in 2005 an 2006.

In the 2012 final against Nadal, having won eight games in a row, he was up a break and pushing to level the match at two sets apiece when rain brought an overnight suspension.

'Always doing this'

Play resumed the following day but Djokovic's momentum was lost and a double-fault on championship point completed his misery.

Twelve months later, Djokovic was poised for a semi-final win over Nadal with just a routine putaway required to help give him a 5-3 final set lead and a chance to serve for the match.

However, he chose a spectacular smash rather than a soothing touch.

He tumbled into the net, losing the point and Nadal pounced to eventually take the tie after four hours and 37 minutes.

More was to follow. In 2018, he lost a quarter-final to World No. 72 Marco Cecchinato of Italy.

Last year he was beaten in the semifinals by Dominic Thiem in conditions which he likened to playing in a "hurricane".

That match took two days to complete, featured numerous rain stoppages and winds so strong that a courtside umbrella was sent flying across court.

This year, the French Open is again being played in damp, cold weather with the temperature dropping as low as 10 degrees on some days.

On Wednesday, Djokovic wore two shirts for his quarter-final, the evening chill not helping his physical state.

He required treatment from the trainer on his neck and shoulder and at one stage appeared to make a gesture to his box that he was on the verge of quitting.

Had he had done so it would have been his seventh retirement from a Grand Slam tournament.

"As the match went on, I felt better, didn't feel as much pain," said Djokovic.

"I had some neck issues and some shoulder issues. I'll just say that. I don't want to get really too much into it."

Carreno Busta seemed to cast doubt on the gravity of Djokovic's ailments.

"Probably the last years he's always doing this when he has problems on court," said Carreno Busta, the beneficiary when Djokovic was defaulted at the US Open, the Serb's only defeat this year.

"Maybe it's the pressure or something that he needs to do it. But, he continues playing normal. I don't know if he's in pain really. Ask him."

Djokovic will next face Stefanos Tsitsipas in Friday's semifinals while Nadal tackles Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.