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Hold The Back Page: 18/06/2011

James Orr
Saturday 18 June 2011 00:00 BST
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It's a big weekend for...

Lee Westwood

The World No 2 may have made a faltering start at the US Open at Congessional, but he could be forgiven for having his mind on other matters this weekend.

His horse, Hoof It, which he co-owns, is the 7-1 favourite in the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot at 4.25pm today. "Hoof It is an out-and-out sprinter, who has already won six times for us," Westwood gushed. "He has a great chance but, like me [at the US Open], he faces some incredibly tough opposition." And what exactly would a Westwood-Hoof It double return for just one pound of your hard-earned money? £328. Now that could be worth a punt...

We applaud you wholeheartedly...

The Wimbledon Draw

It has bizarrely thrown up a rematch of the longest match of tennis ever recorded, between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut – a showdown that totalled a gruelling 11 hours and five minutes in the first round last year. Isner's coach Craig Boynton poetically, but rather confusingly, described it as "like time standing still and racing at the speed of light, all at the same time". It was on court 18 then, but the petition to get the rematch to a bigger stage has started, with Andy Murray tweeting that last year's extravaganza was the "most amazing thing I've seen in tennis! Centre court anyone?!"

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Mayweather to face Pacquiao (perhaps)

After years of anticipation, the 'will-they-won't-they' saga is about to end, with the two best fighters in the world finally going head to head – not in a ring, but in court. Floyd Mayweather was yesterday finally ordered to testify against Manny Pacquiao, who is suing the flamboyant American after he allegedly accused the pound-for-pound champion Pacquiao of taking performance-enhancing drugs in the build-up to their non-fight in 2009. Mayweather may be undefeated in the ring, but Pacquiao is coming in off the back of a recent victory in the court-room – over Oscar de la Hoya and his Golden Boy promotions, who also made defamatory claims about the Filipino.

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