U.S. Open Tennis Finals, college football, the first Sunday in the NFL, and UFC action. Check out what happened this week in sports!
Weekly Sports Update – September 9th Edition
U.S. Open Showcases Tennis’s Newest WTA Star
Heading into the U.S. Open Women’s Singles Final on Saturday, Serena Williams looked like a lock. Serena had lost only a single set during the entire tournament. She had beaten Petra Martic, Qiang Wang, and Elina Svitolina all in a row.
The victory over Svitolina was particularly encouraging because Elina herself had mowed through her competition. Williams was so confident, and tennis backers were so confident, that she entered her finals match with Bianca Andreescu a -294 favorite even though at the last head-to-head match with Bianca, at the Rogers Cup in early August, Serena retired.
Although Williams has looked formidable, anybody who has watched her play this year knows that she has tended to lose some gas during the semifinals and finals. She was exhausted when facing Simona Halep in the finals at Wimbledon.
This past Saturday, Serena had more of a spring in her step, but she couldn’t keep up with Andreescu. The 19-year-old, who turned professional in 2017, beat Serena in straight sets 6-3, 7-5.
Andreescu played the best match of her career in the most important match of her career. She was sensational in every way imaginable, making shot after shot that kept Serena on her heels.
Serena showed great sportsmanship at the end. She appeared to acknowledge that the torch had been passed.
Rafa Outlasts Daniil at U.S. Open Men’s Finals
The final member of men’s tennis’s Big 3, Rafael Nadal, outlasted a game Daniil Medvedev to win his 19th major championship. Nadal looked great throughout the entire tournament. He didn’t break a sweat in the semifinals versus Matteo Berrettini and looked good when beating Medvev.
But even though he lost, Medvedev came out a winner. Daniil pushed Nadal to 5-sets. Not only did he push Nadal to 5-sets, but he did so after battling Grigor Dimitrov for 4-sets in the semis.
Heading into the U.S. Open most felt Daniil Medvedev was the fourth best men’s tennis player in the world after Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. Many believed he was a distant fourth.
Not so after the U.S. Open Finals. Medvedev entered the U.S. Open having won the Western & Southern Open. He beat Novak Djokovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Western & Southern Open semifinals.
He has the talent. Fighting Nadal the whole way at the U.S. Open Finals means Daniil Medvedev is now on par with Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal. He’s got a long way to go to win as many majors as those guys have, but he’ll start soon, just watch.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Proves he’s the Best MMA Fighter in the World
If you had any doubts about how great Khabib is, you shouldn’t after watching him dominate Dustin Poirier on Saturday. The fight, which took place at The Arena on Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates, ended in Round 3 via a Nurmagomedov submission.
Khabib beat Poirier the same way he beat his other 28 opponents, by overwhelming them in every way imaginable. Nurmagomedov is 27 and 0. He’s got 8 wins via knockout or technical knockout. He’s got 8 wins via submission.
The only way to really beat Khabib, because his standup is so excellent, is to get the fight to the ground. However, you’ve got to be a better grappler than he is. Yeah, that’s not possible. Khabib is one of those rare athletes where the only opponent that’s likely to take him out is father time.
He’s so good that many, already, consider him the most dominant MMA fighter in history.
Liverpool has Half Match Edge Over Man City, Atletico Running Away with La Liga
Yes, both the Premier League and La Liga just started, but let’s be honest, once a team gets on a run, they usually stay on a run.
First, let’s check out La Liga where heavyweight Barcelona is at 1-1-1 while Atletico Madrid is at an awesome 3-0. Madrid hasn’t played the best of the best in the division. However, they should maintain their La Liga dominance with only Barcelona making an attempt.
The reason? Atletico won the International Cup over Juventus, which proves they’re better this season than they were last season. Not only that, but Real Madrid is a mess while the rest of the teams in La Liga, outside of Barcelona, are just okay.
Over in the Premier League, Liverpool is 4-0. The defending Champions League victors are a half a match ahead of Manchester City. City drew with Tottenham a week and a half ago. Those two appear to be the class of the EPL this season because Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham have so far struggled.
LSU Downs Texas, USC Unleashes Kedon Slovis
Clemson beat Texas A&M, but most every football fan on the planet expected that to happen. Most didn’t think LSU might so easily handle the Texas Longhorns on the road. That’s what happened this past Saturday when the Tigers used offense to down Texas 45-38. It was a stunning performance that puts LSU into the College Football Playoff discussion.
Another team that might get into the CFP discussion soon is USC. The Trojans found their next great quarterback in freshman Kedon Slovis. The frosh completed 28-of-33 for 377 yards and threw 3 TD passes in USC’s 45-20 victory over Stanford.
The Trojans make up one of the three best teams so far this season in the Pac 12. The other two are Utah and Oregon. USC battles BYU, Utah, and then Washington. If Slovis has the same success versus those three teams that he did against Stanford, USC might be back.
First Sunday in NFL Leads to Dominant Performances
Some teams truly disappointed in the first Sunday in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns were so hyped this past offseason that their +4000 odds to win the Super Bowl dropped to a crazy low +1200. At one point, the Browns were the fourth choice in the entire league to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
On Sunday, mainly because they had to patch together the offensive line, the Browns lost 13-43 to the Tennessee Titans. It was an absolute devastation for Cleveland Browns fans who had thought, finally, that they would challenge the Ravens and Steelers for AFC North supremacy. Not so.
Speaking of AFC North supremacy, will anyone beat the Baltimore Ravens? Sure, they battled the worst team in the NFL this past Sunday, the Miami Dolphins, but they scored 59 points. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was supposed to improve his passing. He wasn’t supposed to turn into the best drop back quarterback in the NFL.
Jackson is known for rushing the football, but against Miami he lit them up with 324 passing yards and 5 TD passes. Lamar didn’t even play the fourth quarter.
Another supposedly running quarterback also had a great game. Dak Prescott, Dallas’s sometimes maligned QB, dominated the Giants with 405 passing yards and 4 TD passes. Prescott is playing in a contract season. He’s motivated. It showed it in the first game.
New England, Kansas City, and Minnesota also impressed. New Orleans battles Houston and Oakland takes on Denver on Monday night.
Have a great week!
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