Serena Williams is out in her tutu for the US Open after her cat suit was banned. I mean, it’s not like the fashionable G.O.A.T would wear it again anyway.
Twirllll
Serena meets her sister, Venus today for the 3rd round at the Arthur Ashe Stadium at about 6pm ET on ESPN.
How has Serena been hitting? Check this video out from ESPN on her 2nd round win by clicking on the link here:
https://es.pn/2olVYVe
Upsets on the Ladies side so far
The no. 1 seed, Simona Halep crashed out of the US Open quite early in the 1st round! So did the no. 2, Caroline Wozniacki last night in her 2nd round match.
French and Wimbledon Champ, Garbiñe Muguruza also tapped out.
Who’s left for the Ladies besides the Williams Sisters who have dominated the sport for years?
The field is still wide open. But Defending Champ, Sloane Stephens is still in it to win it.
Maria Sharapova is still struggling with her comeback.
Then there is young Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, Madison Keys, KarolÃna PlÃÅ¡ková, Jelena Ostapenko, Petra Kvitová and more!
What’s happening with Men?!
No upsets on the Men’s side just yet! Big name favourites Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are looking good and still in it to win it!
Stay tuned!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Warriors went into Game 2 being up 1-0 in the series after a dramatic Game 1 victory last Thursday night. They won in OT after the game was tied during regulation. If you haven’t already heard, at 107-107 with 4.7s left, George Hill missed his second free throw. JR Smith then got the offensive rebound and ran away with the ball to waste time because he seemed to have had a brain lapse and thought they were up.
The internet went into mayhem with memes last Friday especially after seeing a visually upset LeBron, who scored 51 points for nothing.
GAME 2
Cavs must have entered Game 2 last night feeling disheartened.
The benches were emptied in the final 3 minutes of the Cavs – Warriors game last night, because it was a wrap for Game 2. Warriors got the blowout win, 122-103.
A tired LeBron, poor Cavs defense and spectacular offense by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant gave Warriors the Game 2 win. It’s Dubs, 2-0 for the series before they head to Cleveland for Game 3 this Wednesday.
Curry scored 33 points and passed Ray Allen’s NBA record for most 3-pointers in an NBA Finals game with 9!
Stephen Curry has won MVP twice, but never won the Finals MVP. He surely seems like he is on his way to winning it this year though!
Here is you schedule after they head back to Cleveland.
***Suga thinks it is likely that the Cavs will win 1 at home and the Warriors will win in 5 at their house***
FRENCH OPEN – Tennis
Men
Rafael Nadal has been making it look on his way to possibly winning his 11th French Open title.
Former World no. 1, Novak Djokovic looks like he has the winning spirit again though and has been playing well.
Marin Cilic, Juan del Potro, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev are also still in it to win it.
Women
World no. 2, Caroline Wozniacki was upset by no. 14, Daria Kasatkina this morning, losing in 2 straight sets 6-7, 3-6 in the 4th round.
Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Sloane Stephens and Garbiñe Muguruza are still in it to win it. Not to mention come back mom, Serena Williams who will face Maria Sharapova today at about 8:30am E.T.
Photo: cbssports.com
Stay tuned!
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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How could we forget about KarolÃna PlÃÅ¡ková?! The rankings of players differ on the various websites, but according to the WTA Rankings, PlÃÅ¡ková is ranked closely behind Serena Williams at No. 3.
Photo: ESPN
The experts have favored Simona Halep (4) to win her first ever Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. Elina Svitolina (6) is also a popular pick. It turns out that Halep and Svitolina will meet in the Quarterfinals and the winner could play PlÃÅ¡ková in the Semis.
Caroline Wozniacki (12) is still in it. She has come close to winning a Grand Slam a few times. Her Quarterfinal was suspended due to rain at a set a piece between her and Ostapenko.Â
Timea Bacsinszky (30) who eliminated Venus Williams is also playing in the Quarterfinals today but her match was suspended as well versus Miladenovic. Bacsinszky was up a set.
Wozniacki and Bacsinszky could meet in the Semifinals.
Men’s Singles
Photo: SB Nation
Although Rafael Nadal (4) is not in his prime, the ‘King of Clay’ is still in it and has been playing well. Of course we know that he could meet Novak Djokovic (2) in the Semis. But Djokovic has the challenge of defeating Dominic Thiem (6) in the Quarterfinals first.
Marin Cilic (7) defeated Gaël Monfils and will play Stan Wawrinka (3) in the Quarterfinals.
World no. 1 Andy Murray will play Kei Nishikori (8) in the Quarterfinals.
Suga thinks we may have a Murray-Wawrinka Semifinal.
Stay tuned!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Congratulations to Serena Williams on not only her 3rd straight US Open title, winning 6-3, 6-3 over Caroline Wozniacki, but her 18th Grand Slam Singles title joining the greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratalova with the 4th most major titles in history.
Serena won 4 million dollars in total cash money and was presented with a bracelet from Tiffany’s by Evert and Navratalova for joining them on her 18th. She will now look to continue to charge up that ladder.
With Serena Williams looking to win her 18th Grand Slam singles title and Caroline Wozniacki looking to win her 1st, the crowd should be in for a huge treat today with spectacular tennis.
