Kansas City Chiefs QB, Patrick Mahomes celebrates. (Photo: Los Angeles Times)
SUPER BOWL LIV CHAMPIONS – KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
They say defense wins Championships, but last night the 49ers did all that they could do, then towards the end lacked the offense they needed and a star QB to get them the points for that Super Bowl win.
Both teams had interceptions and we didn’t see a lot of Mahomes Magic, but the Chiefs came together as a team to win this Super bowl led by their Head Coach, Andy Reid. Reid now ranks 6th in all-time NFL head coaching wins at 222. He was previously the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles (1999 – 2012).
Chiefs’ Head Coach, Andy Reid gets the traditional Gatorade pour after he led the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl after 50 years.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN WOMEN’S CHAMPION – SOFIA KENIN
21-year old Sofia Kenin came from a set down to 2-time Champion, Garbine Muguruza to win her 1st Grand Slam and the Australian Open on Saturday. She never gave up and played the best tennis of her life. With more areas to improve in her game, I look forward to seeing rivalries with her and other young, fiery, competitive players such as Bianca Andreescu (injured left knee who did not compete) and Coco Gauff in the future.
Congrats Sofia! Dreams do come true.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN MEN’S CHAMPION – NOVAK DJOKOVIC
Photo: Washington Post
For the men, the top 3 continue to reign. Novak Djokovic (2) remains the Australian Open King, being 8-0 at Australian Open finals, now within 2 Grand Slams to equal Raphael Nadal and 3 to match the GOAT, Roger Federer. I am sure they will continue to battle it out this year with the French Open next!
Novak showed the true meaning of Champion when he came back to win from 2 sets down to Dominic Thiem, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4! Young, Dominic Thiem (5) was in top form and took out World no. 1 Nadal in an epic 5-setter in the Quarters and Zverev (7) in the Semis, who we may see more of in the near future. His legs started to go with more errors in the 5th versus Djokovic, while Djokovic was revamped to play spectacular tennis. Great match.
Congrats Novak Djokovic! Kobe Bryant, his late friend and our basketball legend whose initials and #24 he wore on his warm up suit would have been proud. #RIPKobe #BlackMambaForever
Over 6 million dollars was raised to fight the Australian fires from the Open as players made various pledges and there were other contributions. Let us pray that they are able to restore their lands, animals and normal way of living soon.Â
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Naomi Osaka is now Japan’s first World no. 1 after her Australian Open win in Melbourne on Saturday night. She defeated Petra Kvitova in an epic 3-setter. She fought hard for it and won, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4. Congrats Naomi!
Photo: Sky Sports
World no. 1 Novak Djokovic steam rolled World no. 2 Rafael Nadal in straight sets yesterday and stunned everyone with how easy he made it look to defeat his rival and 2nd all time great, Nadal, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Nadal had an extra day of rest compared to Djokovic, which could have worked against him in the final. He had a lot of unforced errors, but Djokovic was just spectacular. His game was at a new level. We all expected a memorable marathon 5-setter, but this defeat will be just as memorable.
This win, makes a record 7th Australian Open win for Djokovic and he now passes Pete Sampras with 15 Grand Slam title wins. He now eyes Rafael Nadal at 17 and Roger Federer at 20. Congrats Djoko!
Upcoming
Photo: www.pjobriens.com.au
Super Bowl LIII (53), featuring the NFC champion, Los Angeles Rams vs. the AFC champion, New England Patriots, will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia this Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 6:30pm on CBS.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
If you liked this Blog, follow Suga Lifestyle Online, on Instagram (@sugalifestyle), Twitter (@sugalifestyleja) or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrates after scoring the 1st goal (14′) last Saturday. (Photo: Bleacher Report)
Manchester United continue their winning streak, beating Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 with goals from Pogba and Rashford.
Tottenham Hotspurs were able to secure their spot on the table with a 2-1 win over Fulham.
Manchester City close in on table leader, Liverpool with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town.
Liverpool will continue to stay at the top of the table with a 4-3 win over Crystal Palace.
Source: ESPN Scorecenter
NFL Championship Sunday
NFC Championship -Â Los Angeles Rams vs. New Orleans Saints
It was the Rams who came out with a controversial win over the Saints in OT, 26-23, booking their spot in the Super Bowl!
‘Missed call further destroys NFL’s credibility’ – Bleacher Report
The NFL Refs failed to make a crucial call late in the game with the score tied at 20. On third down, it was clear that Rams Nickell Robey-Coleman of the Rams committed pass interference with a hit AND helmet-to-helmet contact. There was only 1:45 left in regulation.
The play that will never be forgotten by NOLA (Photo: Bleacher Report)
The Saints would have had first-and-goal at the Rams’ 6-yard line. So if the officials made the right call, the Saints would have more than likely be the ones going to the Super Bowl.
After that drama, there was more drama.
AFC Championship – Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots
It’s the Patriots that head to the Super Bowl for the 3rd straight time with a 37-31 win over the Chiefs in OT!
New England Patriots celebrate their win to head to the Super Bowl last night
GOAT, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were the underdogs of this Championship versus young QB, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
I think the experienced Patriots Coach, Bill Belichick outcoached the Chiefs in the 1st half, locking down Mahomes with his defense.
It was a low scoring game up to the beginning of the 4th quarter that ended up being the AFC Championship with the most points scored in a 4th quarter. There were 5 lead changes in the 4th!
When it came down to it in OT, Tom Brady made the right call on the coin toss and executed a TD play on the 1st drive to head to his 9th Super Bowl.
Tennis – Australian Open
This weekend at the Australian Open was the definition of how the mighty have fallen.
Sharapova kicked things off, by upsetting defending champ, Wozniacki in 3 sets.
Maria Sharapova eliminates the defending Champ. (Photo: UK National)
Just when the thought entered our minds that Sharapova could be making a comeback, Barty defeated her. Ash Barty defeated Maria Sharapova, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to become the first female Aussie to reach the Australian Open Quarterfinals since 2009.
Ash Barty celebrates her win over Maria Sharapva to reach her first Career Grand Slam Quarterfinal (Photo: Australian Open)
Then there was a huge upset on the Men’s side. Young Greek, Stefanos Tsitsipas eliminated GOAT, Roger Federer. Tsitsipas fought off 12 break points from Federer during the epic 4-setter that he won 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6. Well done Stefanos.
Stefanos Tsitsipas after the win of his career over idol turned rival, Roger Federer.
Is Federer going to retire this year? Nobody knows, but it looks like he is going all in as he will play the French Open for the first time since 2015.
Roger Federer (Photo: Bleacher Report)
There were more upsets on the ladies’ side, with favourites, Angelique Kerber, and Sloane Stephens being defeated.
Angelique Kerber (Photo: BBC Sport)Sloane Stephens (Photo: SI Tennis)
Garbine Muguruza is also out with her loss to the higher seed, Karolina Pliskova.Â
Who won the duel with Serena Williams versus World no. 1 Simona Halep early this morning?!Â
Photo: BBC Sport
It was GOAT, Serena Williams who came out on top to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Both women played their best. It was quite a thriller.
Serena Williams celebrates her win over Simona Halep (Photo: The Guardian)
Serena will play Pliskova next!
Back to the Men’s side, Alexander Zverev was expected to go the distance this Australian Open and he was upset by Milos Raonic. He had probably the biggest meltdowns in Australian Open history.
Alexander Zverev smashes his racket in his Australian Open lossAlexander Zverev’s racket – Australian Open 2019.
Who’s still surviving?
Young Kei Nishikori, Vets Rafael Nadal and World no. 1 Novak Djokovic!
Kei Nishikori (Photo: Times of India)Rafael Nadal (Photo: Bleacher Report)Novak Djokovic (Photo: Bleacher Report)Naomi Osaka (Photo: The Indian Express)
World no. 4, Naomi Osaka, 2018 US Open Champ stays ‘lurkin’ on Serena’s side of the draw. She plays Elina Svitolina. Winner plays the winner of the Williams-Pliskova Quarterfinal.
Stay tuned!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Roger Federer’s Australian Open 2018 winning moment after he had to wait on Cilic’s challenge, and Federer’s ball was in!
Roger Federer has defended and won his 6th Australian Open Title and 20th Grand Slam Title! The G.O.A.T beat Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
1st set
The 1st set was all about Roger Federer, who took the 1st set 6-2.
2nd set
Cilic fought back to win the 2nd set by tiebreak, 7-6.
3rd set
In the 3rd set Cilic was distracted and angered by the fact that it took over an hour and a half for him to get back racquets that he sent to be restrung. He got them back in the middle of the 3rd set, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. Federer’s serve was on point and Federer cruised to win the 3rd set 6-3.
4th set
Federer went up quickly to 2-0 in the 4th set and looked like he was on cruise control to win the title, then Sparta came out. Sparta meaning the ‘warface’ of Marin Cilic. He has one of the meanest ‘warfaces’ in Men’s Tennis.
Federer’s serve fell apart to as low as 36% for his 1st serve percentage. Federer also started to lose rallies to Cilic’s strong forehand and showed his age with slow movement.
5th set
Federer had a shaky start to the 1st set to fight off break point, but held serve. The crowd really started to get into it and showed clear support for veteran, Roger Federer.
Cilic was moving better and Roger then knew he had to fight if he was going to win this title.
Federer then broke Cilic shortly after a bad call by the Umpire on Cilic’s serve to make it a double-fault, giving Federer the advantage that he converted. He went on to hold serve to go up 3-0 and Cilic served to get on the board to make it 1-3. Federer got back his 1st serve rhythm in the nick of time to go up 4-1 with an easy game and fought hard to break Cilic to get to 5-1. Federer then broke Cilic and it was all over.
Great Final! Well played Cilic and Congrats to Roger Federer! He has now joined the Ladies in the 20+ Major Grand Slam Titles Club. They finally got a Gentleman in there.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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The moment when Caroline Wozniacki won her 1st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last night.
The moment of Wozniacki’s tennis life occurred last night! She surely proved Suga wrong. After being on the circuit for 12 years with tough losses, she finally came through in an epic 3-setter versus Simona Halep and won 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
What made the difference last night? Wozniacki played a smart game, had a strong serve and went for every ball, consistently getting it back over the net. It set the tone early in the match giving her the initial break for her to go up 2-0 in the 1st set.
Halep came back strong to make the 1st set a tiebreak but still lost it. She had to work hard to earn the 2nd set. She does well when she has to fight from behind.
What was the game changer?
Even though Halep took a medical time out during the match, in the 3rd set, Halep was up 4-3 and Wozniacki took a medical time out to strap up her left knee. Halep probably had too much time to think. Wozniacki came back from the medical time out and broke her to make it 4-all in the 3rd and held her serve to go up 5-4. Then at 5-4 (15-15) with Halep on serve, the umpire made a horrible call to overrule the linesman who called Wozniacki’s ball out. The umpire said that they had to replay the point. Halep challenged the call and was right, so was the linesman, because the ball was indeed out. Halep went up 30-0 with a chance to get closer to 5-all. But emotions of anger probably set in and she followed up that play with a double-fault, making it 30-30. Then Wozniacki won an amazing rally for match point and followed through with it to win her first Grand Slam title!
Congratulations to both ladies for putting it all out there. It was obviously a devastating loss for Simona Halep who was clearly physically drained from her hard road to the finals and after what was like a final with Angelique Kerber in the semis. Halep still has some growing to do emotionally. She is not a different Simona just yet. Hopefully we will see her follow through in more finals in the future.
The women’s field without Serena Williams is definitely stepping up and it’s great to see.
Congrats again to Caroline Wozniacki for never giving up and winning her 1st Grand slam title and reclaiming World #1!
Caroline Wozniacki with her Australian Open Championship Trophy
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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The Australian Open Grand Slam Tennis Tournament 2018
WOMEN
The ladies have been battling it out in some neck to neck matches. The focus has been on World #1, Simona Halep, former World #1, Angelique Kerber (21) and current World #2, Caroline Wozniacki.
Simona Halep from Romania a.k.a Jalapeño Pepper (Photo: GotCeleb)
Simona Halep has been struggling with a chronic ankle injury, but showed she was not backing out easily in the Quarterfinals after being down 3-0 in the 1st set to KarolÃna PlÃsková (6) and fighting back to win 6-3, 6-2.
Angelique Kerber (Photo: The Sun)
She then faced Angelique Kerber (21) in the Semifinals last night. Kerber has had a good run this Australian Open so far despite her inconsistencies in winning majors. She defeated huge contenders such as Maria Sharapova and Madison Keys (17).
On the other side of the draw, young Belgian, Elise Mertens had an impressive straight set win (6-4, 6-0) over Elina Svitolina (4). She has been a part of former Belgian Tennis Player and World #1, Kim Clijsters’ Tennis Camp. Kim has been texting her with encouragement for every match.
Elise Mertens (Photo: indianexpress.com)
Elise played one of the favourites, Caroline Wozniacki (2) last night in the Semifinals.
Caroline Wozniacki (Photo: www.usatoday.com)
So who’s meeting in the Women’s Final?!
It will be Caroline Wozniacki (2) versus Simona Halep (1)! Whoever wins will win their 1st Grand Slam title and will be World #1.
Wozniacki’s Semifinal vs Mertens
Wozniacki tightened up towards the end of the match versus Mertens, up 6-3, 5-4 (30-0), then was brought to a tiebreak. She managed to dominate and win the tiebreak, thus the match, 6-3, 7-6 and is heading to her 3rd Grand Slam Final. Will the 3rd time be a charm?
Halep’s Semifinal vs Kerber
The Halep-Kerber Semifinal was epic!
Halep was quite solid versus Kerber until she was up 5-0 to serve out the first set and probably couldn’t believe she got there so fast. It looked like she started to think about it and handed Kerber 2 free points from double faults. Kerber picked up her game after that until Halep broke her to win the first set 6-3.
The 2nd set was a ding-dong battle even though Kerber was still plagued with unforced errors. With Halep looking slightly fresher and up 8-7, both had lost 2 match points until Halep lost a 3rd match point on Kerber’s serve and she kept pressing until she took full advantage of the 4th match point in the same game and won.
Date and Time of the Women’s Final
Saturday (Friday night) at 3:30am
Suga’s Prediction
Simona Halep has the reputation of choking in major matches, always coming close and losing it mentally and physically. However, she has stated there is a new Simona now and I believe her after the courage she showed versus the stubborn, Angelique Kerber.
I do not think Halep is giving up on this opportunity. I also doubt it will be a close or epic final. Suga calls Halep for the win.
MEN
Marin Čilić (6) reached to the Semifinals after World #1, Rafael Nadal retired in the 5th set agonized by a hip injury.
Marin Čilić (Photo: The Sun)
I like to refer to Čilić as Sparta. Whether he reached to the Semifinals by default or not, he is quite a fighter.
He played Kyle Edmund in the Semis.
Kyle Edmund (Photo: www.express.co.uk)
On the other side of the draw lies the young, South Korean, Hyeon Chung. He is the first Korean to reach the Quarterfinals and the Semifinals.
Hyeon Chung (Photo: hindustantimes.com)
Chung sent former World #1, Novak Djokovic packing in the 4th round in straight sets. Djokovic expressed frustration with his chronic elbow injury.
Chung then went on to defeat Tennys Sandgren in the Quarterfinals who previously took out Dominic Thiem (5) in 5 sets.
Who does he meet next?
Roger Federer (Photo: The Indian Express)
He will meet the G.O.A.T and current World #2, Roger Federer tonight at 3:30am. Roger previously defeated Tomáš Berdych (19) in straight sets.
Were there any Upsets and Who’s Already in the Men’s Final?!
Marin Čilić has booked his spot in the Final and will wait on the winner of the Chung-Federer Semifinal! No surprises there. Čilić beat beat Edmund 6-2, 7-6, 6-2.
Stay tuned!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Liverpool took 10 minutes to score 3 goals, making it 4-1 at 68′. Liverpool then scored twice in the last 10 minutes to set up a nervy ending for Liverpool to anticipate the sound of the whistle and win in true Liverpool fashion.
If you missed the Goals and excitement or would like to relive the moments, watch it here.
Watch “Liverpool vs Manchester City 4-3 – All Goals & Extended Highlights – EPL 14/01/2018 HD” on YouTube via secure link here:
The Battle for 2nd spot is on. Here is the table now:
Photo: ESPN Scorecenter
Australian Open – Tennis
The Australian Open has begun and it isn’t looking good for the American women.
Defending Champ, Serena Williams withdrew from the Open and her big comeback because she did not feel ready to go all the way.
2017 US Open Champ and American, Sloane Stephens has already been knocked out, along with fellow Americans, Coco Vandeweghe and Venus Williams.
Venus Williams was knocked out by a former top 10 player, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 3-6, 5-7.
NBA – Basketball
The Cavs are on a 3-game losing streak!
After a blowout 99-133 loss to the Toronto Raptors and the release of a video with an angry LeBron James in a team huddle last Thursday night, the Cavs were trying to break their 2-game losing streak versus the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
After the Cavs blew a 22-point lead, with just a few seconds left, LeBron James stepped out-of-bounds on a baseline drive to the hoop, then to add insult to injury, missed the last shot as well. Pacers rallied to beat the Cavs 97-95. Not a good week for LeBron and the Cavs.
Watch “LEBRON STEPS OUT OF BOUNDS, CAVS BLOW HUGE LEAD VS PACERS” on YouTube via secure link here:
Cavs play the Warriors tonight at 8pm, which won’t be an easy task either.
The Warriors had a different fate with the Raptors, holding them off 127-125 last Saturday night and the Minnesota Timberwolves continue to win.
NFL – American Football
Super Bowl Sunday is set for February 4th and the AFC and NFC Championships are 1 week away to see who will be in it!
3 of the last 4 teams remaining have never won a Super Bowl. Schedule for Next weekend’s AFC and NFC Title games:
Photo: ESPN Scorecenter
How did we get there?!
On Saturday, Top seed in the AFC, the New England Patriots led by Tom Brady beat the Tennessee Titans 35-14.
The Titans started off with a lead by a Touchdown (TD) at the end of the 1st quarter.
The Patriots scored 2 TD in the 2nd and never looked back. They scored a 3rd TD just before the half and entered the 3rd quarter, 21-7. Patriots’ Defense tore up the Titans and they led 28 -7 in the beginning of the 4th and sealed victory with another TD to finish 35-14.
The Philadelphia Eagles held off the Atlanta Falcons 15-10 to book their spot in the NFC Championship.
The Falcons led for most of the half, until Eagles’ Jake Elliott scored a 53 yard FG with 1s remaining before halftime to bring the score to Falcons 10- Eagles 9.
The Eagles later on scored to take over the lead 12-10. In the beginning of the 4th, they scored another FG to go up 15-10.
With a few mins remaining, the Falcons were unable to come up with the catch in the end zone.
The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off the upset of the Playoffs and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 45-42.
The Jaguars led for the majority of the game and did well to hold off the Steelers who kept trying to make a comeback.
The NFL Game of the weekend goes to the Minnesota Vikings versus the New Orleans Saints! Vikings beat the Saints 29-24.
The game was quite a snooze until the Saints finally got on the board with a Touchdown in the 3rd to make it 7-17. Then another in the beginning of the 4th to make it 14-17.
It all started with the interception by Saints’ rookie, Marcus Williams.
With 3:01 left in the 4th, the Saints were up 21-20.
With 1:29 left, Vikings got themselves in FG range and scored to make it 21-23.
The Saints then scored a FG with 25s left to make it 24-23.
Then all of a sudden, Vikings win 29-24Â TD!
Vikings’ Stefon Diggs scores game-winning 61-yard TD in wild finish versus Saints in NFC Divisional Playoff
Ironically, the Saints’ rookie, Marcus Williams who initially turned the game around for the Saints also ended it for them, failing to stop Vikings’ Diggs.
Stefon Diggs scored the game-winning 61-yd TD and in his post-game interview said, ‘I don’t stop playing till the clock hits zero.’
With that wild finish, The Vikings head to NFC Championship to face the Eagles next Sunday.
If you missed the only 4th quarter ‘Walk-off’ TD in NFL Postseason history, Check it out here.
Watch “Stefon Diggs Makes Miracle Walkoff TD Catch on Last Play, Vikings Win! | Can’t-Miss Play | NFL HLs” on YouTube via secure link here:
Sports Season is now in high gear. Stay tuned!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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The match had an extremely tense start. 1st serve percentages were low for both sisters and Serena had to change her racquet after what she did to it in frustration.
Photo: www.theguardian.com
After numerous double faults on both sides, break for break and repeat at 2-2 with Serena being very tight, Serena found a way to eventually break Venus once more and serve out the set, taking the 1st set 6-4.
Venus missed a lot of chances that she couldn’t afford, because to beat Serena she had to be perfect. Serena does not get beaten at her best and her best is better than Venus’ best. So you can see where it got mental and emotional for Venus as she knew she had to elevate her game and it was not happening.
2nd Set Highlights
Venus held serve to start off the 2nd set. Serena followed. Venus was then in trouble down love-40 and saved 3 break points to hold serve and go up 2-1 in the 2nd.
Venus then had a game of many missed opportunities, mainly failure to return weak 2nd serves by Serena resulting in Serena holding to even the set at 2-2.
Photo: www.theguardian.com
At 3-3 there was negative body language from Venus. Serena capitalised on sharp angled 2nd serve returns and finally broke Venus to go up 4-3. Serena then served a perfect game to go up 5-3.
Venus held her serve to move to 4-5, followed by Serena serving for the Championship. Venus won the longest rally of the match in that game but Serena kept fighting and converted her Championship point!
Photo: www.theguardian.com
Serena won 6-4, 6-4 falling to the floor in joy. Venus walked over to her side of the court and they shared a warm embrace.
Serena now has the Open era record of 23 Grand Slam titles and will return to the #1 ranking in the world next week.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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1st Set Highlights
