1st Down: Serena Williams said “there’s a little left in me.” She proved that prior to saying it, going out and defeating #2 seed Anett Kontaveit at Arthur Ashe Stadium in the second round of the US Open in New York on Wednesday evening. Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner, is looking for one final bit of magic, and she pulled out some of it here as she came won 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 to book her spot in the third round against Ajla Tomljanovic come Friday. But first, some family business as her and Venus play doubles on Thursday…
2nd Down: The WNBA Playoffs are right back where we started them: all square. Both games went the way of the hosts on Wednesday night, with both the Chicago Sky and the Las Vegas Aces defending their home courts to even up their series at one game apiece. The Sky got an 85-77 win over the Connecticut Sun as Candace Parker dropped 22 points while the Aces knocked off the Seattle Storm 78-73. A’ja Wilson bounced back from a lowly eight points in Game 1 to outduel Breanna Stewart (32 points) with 33 points of her own. She also added 13 rebounds to the mix, helping her team get back in the series.
3rd Down: Major League Baseball will be headed to Mexico City come 2023. The city has seen games before, but a two-game set between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres in April of next year will mark the first time it has held official regular-season games. The Fathers have traveled to play in Monterrey three times, but this will be their first trip to the capital of the country as the ‘host’ the Giants.
4th Down: Erling Haaland just cannot quit scoring at the moment. The Manchester City striker made it back-to-back hat tricks on Wednesday night as his side hammered Nottingham Forest 6-0. That makes it six goals in the last two games and nine in five PL appearances already. Despite that, his team remain two points behind Arsenal after the Gunners saw off Aston Villa at home by a 2-1 score line. Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli scored the goals to keep them top of the early table. Liverpool also won, coming from behind to down Newcastle 2-1 thanks to a 98th minute strike from youngster Fabio Carvalho.
