2023 championship weekend recap and Athletics... Are winning?
The Monday morning edition of "Four things to know before 4 AM" is live!
Happy Monday morning, everyone. There are various sporting events that are just about to wrap-up their seasons with championship series ending in the coming days (NBA and NHL), while other major tournaments and a grand slam have recently concluded this past weekend.
1) 2023 French Open titles go to a new G.O.A.T and a young, dominant star
The French Open has now come and gone, with both victors in the men’s and women’s side each winning his and her third career Roland Garros titles in their careers.
Iga Świątek, the women’s number one-ranked player, made light work of her quarterfinal (sixth-seeded Coco Gauff) and semifinal (14-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia) opponents, cruising to her sixth straight, straight-sets win. However, the thousands on hand Saturday afternoon at the Court Philippe Chatrier witnessed Świątek actually struggle against unranked Karolina Muchova. However, Świątek overcame her first dropped set (a second set 7-5 tiebreaking loss) to win her fourth-ever grand slam title and third French Open title in four years, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
Świątek, the 22-year old Polish star who played up to this championship match with almost nary any mistakes, started strong and looked to capture yet another title in just over an hour, opening to a 6-2, 3-0 lead. Muchova fought back, weakening an unbeatable Świątek and breaking her serve three straight times en route to a surprising 7-5 second set win.
Would the pressure of facing a third set force Świątek to falter, much like how the men’s number one Carlos Alcarez struggled and crumbled due stress and nervousness against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals the previous afternoon? That was looking to be the case, as Świątek fell behind 4-3 in the third and deciding set. However, she was able to compose herself and win the last three games in succession; she took match point on a double-fault by Muchova to claim her 2023 title.
Djokovic’s championship match yesterday afternoon (Paris time) was less challenging, but more notable. With celebrity athletes like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kylian Mbappé, Mike Tyson and Tom Brady all in attendance, Djokovic struggled at first against fourth-ranked Norwegian Casper Rudd (capturing the first set, 7-6). He was able to dominate the rest of the match, winning sets two and three 6-3, 7-5 to win his third French Open title and tie Serena Williams with 23 career grand slams each - most by any individual in the modern era.
The 23 career grand slams puts Djokovic one title over Rafael Nadal and three over Roger Federer, and leaves Djokovic as the sole member of The Big Three to win each grand slam three times over in his storied career.
The New York Times writer Matthew Futterman said it best:
“Djokovic has spent most of the last two decades chasing his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, two other giants who have defined this era of modern tennis. That race has come to an end, at least for now.”
2) Another Serbian star in reach of first title
Sticking with the theme of the Eastern European nation (as Djokovic is from Serbia)… Tonight may be the night when the two-time NBA MVP (also a Serb) Nikola Jokic claims his first-ever title with the Denver Nuggets. His team is up three games to one against the overachieving Miami Heat, as they return home for Game 4 tonight (8:30 p.m. EST).
The Nuggets have essentially dominated this NBA Finals, even if the final scores may not say so (average margin has been 10.5 points). Jokic has been the de facto playoff (and eventual NBA Finals) MVP, as he’s led all players in points, rebounds, assists and win shares in both instances. His knack of finding open teammates and deflecting passes defensively have made this nonchalant Serb so difficult to control on either side of the ball.
Looking at the bigger picture of these NBA Finals, the Heat have struggled scoring from beyond the arc so far. Miami feasted on Boston’s lack of defense in the Eastern Conference Finals, but their top three-point shooters have turned human against the Nuggets. Caleb Martin (48.9% from three against the Celtics | 45% against the Nuggets), Gabe Vincent (51.6% | 38.5%), Duncan Robinson (48.4% | 44.4%) and Max Strus (34.2% | 19.2%) have all seen their three-point shooting splits plummet in the greatest stakes against their toughest opponent in the postseason.
Three straight wins, and the Heat would do what no other eighth seed has ever done - win an NBA title. Unfortunately, two of the next three games are in Denver’s Ball Arena, should they force an ultimate Game 7. However, they are nine point underdogs (according to the FanDuel Sportsbook) heading into tonight’s game.
3) A Canadian wins the Canadian Open… On a record-setting putt in a playoff
Keeping with the theme of countries, we will be moving to the Western hemisphere to the great northern country of Canada for this sports story. Yesterday afternoon featured something that had surprisingly not happened for 69 years! (nice). This weekend was the RBC Canadian Open tournament in Toronto, Ontario, and featured five players tied for first heading into the fourth and final round Sunday: Taiwanese Pan Cheng-Tsung; Englishmen Tyrrell Hyatt, Aaron Rai and Tommy Fleetwood; and Canadian Nick Taylor.
Two of those players - Fleetwood and Taylor - ended up tied after 18 holes at a 17-under each. As a result, they went into a playoff round to break the tie and determine a winner. However, both hit for par in the first playoff hole… The second playoff hole… And the third playoff hole!
Then, with the legendary Jim Nantz on the call, Taylor had the most daunting task on the 18th hole, in the fourth playoff: Make the 72-yard putt for eagle or two-putt for birdie and the RBC win for the country’s first win in 69 years on a Canadian course (ironically; you would think more Canadians would have won this tournament). Taylor drained the extremely long eagle putt for an instant SportsCenter top play of the day and more importantly, a victory on Canadian soil.
4) The Sooners’ win streak reaches 53 in their third straight softball title
Continuing the overall theme of this Snippets post of these championship games/matches/series, we have another series that ended earlier last week. The Oklahoma Sooners softball squad, led by coach Patty Gasso, won an NCAA-record 53rd game in a row after a two-game sweep of the third-seeded Florida State Seminoles on Wednesday and Thursday night.
The Sooners finished the 2023 season 61-1, with the lone loss to Baylor back in February. To put in perspective how dominant this team has been over the past decade, they won 41 straight in 2019 and had 40-win streaks both in 2021 and last season. All of that winning resulted in five Division-I titles over the past seven years.
This season, the Sooners ranked first in batting average (.368), scoring (8.22 runs per game), home runs per game (1.92) and slugging percentage (.672). They had five different players with at least 10 home runs and 45 RBIs.
5) Wait… The Athletics cannot lose?
You heard that right. The MLB team that has lost an MLB-worst 50 games this season… Have somehow managed to go on a five-game winning streak in taking two of three against the NL Central-leading Pittsburgh Pirates (34-30) late last week and sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers (34-32) this past weekend. That was the A’s first series sweep this season.
This California bay area team has seen its struggles this year - from selling a season-low 2,064 tickets on a Monday, mid-May game against the Arizona Diamondbacks (40-25) to fans seeing their team just sitting in purgatory because the front office has gotten rid of fan favorite stars like Sean Murphy and Matt Olson (Atlanta Braves) and Starling Marte (New York Mets) and had a payroll that is the second-lowest in MLB. In addition, they sit in the fifth-oldest stadium in baseball that is reportedly rampant with possum sightings. On top of that, their owner, John Fisher, has wanted to uproot the team from Oakland to various other locales - from Californian destinations in San Jose and Freemont… to now a more-likely new home in Las Vegas, Nevada.
So, it was a sight for sore eyes to see the A’s rattle off five straight wins. They are (temporarily) no longer facing a historically worst MLB record. They also have speedy outfielder Esteury Ruiz, who leads all of MLB with 31 steals - potentially ending the season with the single-most individual stolen bases since Miami Marlins; shortstop Dee Gordon (60) back in 2017.
“I think the clubhouse is just becoming closer,” A’s outfielder Seth Brown said after yesterday’s win. “Guys are really starting to get to know each other and just starting to kind of jell as a team a bit.”
Well, that is going to do it for another Snippets on this Monday morning.
Until next time, signing off.