The Williams sisters, and more recently, shock U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens rewarded the tennis hopes of any red-blooded American patriots. Frankly Serena’s haul alone should keep a country sated for a few generations. But U.S. men lag well behind. Ignoring the small sparks produced by Frances Tiafoe over five sets against Roger Federer, it’s difficult to come up with promising American men, names who could possibly win something of note during the the Euro-dominated era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray. Can you name any American men at all? The servebot John Isner and Sam Querrey (who had a fine season) have probably both peaked, without any serious hardware to show for it. The biggest tournaments in men’s tennis are the four Grand Slams; the World Tour Finals; and the nine Masters events. Europeans have won the last 107 of those tournaments, through the last seven and a half years. By winning the Paris Masters Sunday, Nebraska native Jack Sock became the first man from the other continents of the world, let alone the U.S., to win a big title since Andy Roddick won Miami in 2010. Please take a moment to appreciate the Rivendell trophy Sock got for his efforts. It is by far the coolest the sport has to offer: Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulous/ [object Object] The table had been set for 25-year-old Sock. As the wise guys have noticed, all it took to break the 107-title streak was for Djokovic, Murray, and Stan Wawrinka to shut down their season prematurely with injuries; Federer to sit out the tournament; and Nadal to withdraw with a knee injury. Sock matched up in the final against Filip Krajinovic, a qualifier, and the lowest-ranked player to make a Masters final since 2003. Krajinovic was playing just his second tour-level event after surgery to have an extra bone removed from his wrist. With so much on the line for his career—a top 10 finish for the year, an invitation to the World Tour Finals, and all the attendant sponsorship riches and participation fees probably piling well into the high six-figures and beyond—this Paris title was a deeply enriching layup for Sock. Sock first catches the eye with his forehand, which relies on dizzying arm contortions you should never, ever, attempt yourself, and has been measured to produce more topspin than that revolutionary freak of topspin, Rafael Nadal. This makes it awfully tempting to call Sock’s forehand the spinniest the world has ever seen, and whether or not that’s true, it certainly has a debilitating effect on opponents. Skip to 3:40 of this video and watch as he sends forth forehand after forehand, heavy as kettlebells. While someone with a forehand like Sock’s might just camp out at the baseline, whaling away and hoping for the best, Sock also happens to be one of the best doubles players alive, a Wimbledon champ and Olympic medalist fitted with the crafty net game that might entail. With that level of touch and reflex in his hands, it’d be nice to see him rush the net a little more, cashing the checks he writes with his massive forehands. His serve is strong too, and his backhand, while the lesser of his two wings, is more than serviceable. There isn’t too much absent from his game. Though his fitness is often cited as a weak point, really, it is very hard to make sweeping conclusions by the eye test. Sock’s winning percentage is in best-of-three matches is 60 percent; in best-of-five matches he’s won 56 percent. Yesterday, two sets in, he had more than enough gas for this pair of on-the-run stunners: Sock sunk into a prolonged slump for much of the 2017 season, but when he finds his highest gear—as he did at Indian Wells this year, shutting down four Grigor Dimitrov match points to triumph, and as he did in the last set of this final—he’s difficult to contain. America’s future may well lie in Sock.
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Market: West Brom draw no bet
Odds: 7/10 @
Looking to secure back-to-back Championship victories on Friday night, West Brom will make the trip to the KCOM when they meet Hull.
Starting with the hosts, while Hull might have found a much-needed boost on either side of opening February, Liam Rosenior s side have come crashing back down to earth over the past few weeks. Last seen putting in a toothless display as they slumped to a 1-0 loss away at Bristol City, the Tigers are now in the midst of a four-match winless run. With their recent issues highlighted by a 3-1 drumming at the hands of Norwich on February 14th, Hull have also managed to muster just a pair of wins from their last nine matchups across all formats. Although Friday s hosts might almost find themsel…
Chelsea prospect Andrey Santos has returned to former club Vasco da Gama on loan.
The 18-year-old midfielder will move back to Brazil until the end of June.
Santos helped Vasco earn promotion to the top-flight last year before joining Chelsea in January, reportedly costing the Blues £18million.
Despite being highly rated, Santos was unable to secure a work permit for the United Kingdom, though reports suggest Chelsea are confident he will qualify for one next season.
Palmeiras had apparently been leading the race for Santos, but negotiations were said to have broken down due to a disagreement on the length of the loan.
It was claimed Chelsea wanted Santos back for next season, whereas Palmeiras wanted him until the end of their campaign, meaning …
Luka Jovic is the main man in the transfer rumours section these days. The Serbian striker is having the best season of his career and at just 21, many European clubs are interested in him. Eric Abidal and Barcelona went to watch him play numerous times and whole host of clubs would like to have him in their squads. But this time it seems like Real Madrid might be in the best position.
That is, according to AS. This Spanish media outlet claim that Los Blancos are in advanced talks with Jovic and are on the verge of signing Eintracht Frankfurt striker . Whether that is actually true or not remains to be seen, but Real Madrid are definitely interested in Jovic. He is a forward that will still grow in years to come and right now he could be a good option for making the ol…
Borussia Dortmund appear to be more willing to allow Jadon Sancho to depart this off-season.
The England international has been courted by several Premier League clubs in the past.
He almost joined Manchester United 12 months ago in a drawn out transfer saga.
TOP STORY SANCHO DEAL BACK ON FOR UNITED
The Mirror claims that Borussia Dortmund s Jadon Sancho has agreed personal terms on a move to join Manchester United.
The 21-year-old winger came close to signing with the Red Devils 12 months ago but this time around Dortmund are more willing to part ways with him.
Sancho has reportedly settled on the details of the contract offer but United and Dortmund still need to agree on the transfer fee.
The asking price has come d…
Zenit boss Roberto Mancini said he would love to coach Paris Saint-Germain amid uncertainty over Unai Emery s future in the French capital.
There have been doubts over Emery in Paris, leading to speculation that Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte could replace the Spaniard next season.
Mancini, who has already refused to rule out the prospect of coaching Italy, expressed his interest in working with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in Ligue 1.
I would love to be the coach of PSG. And why not, if that were possible? You can be a good coach who has done fine work, but we all know that in football everything can change in one day, the 53-year-old Italian told L Equipe.
I ve never been contact, though. I don t know the future. PSG have a good coach in place with fant…
A-League club Newcastle Jets have been bought by China-based business Ledman Group, Football Federation Australia (FFA) announced on Tuesday.
The governing body had taken control of the club in May 2015 after revoking the licence of previous owner Nathan Tinkler.
But the Jets will now be in the hands of the Ledman Group, a high-tech LED signage manufacturer, operator and integrated sports business based in Shenzhen.
The business owns Shenzhen Renren, who are in League Two in China.
We see a bright future for football across Asia and the Hyundai A-League is at the forefront as one of the top professional leagues in the region, Ledman Group chairman Martin Lee said.
The investment aligns with Ledman’s activities in several sectors of the sports …
Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has cooled speculation surrounding his future, insisting he is happy in the Premier League.
With Spurs missing out on Champions League qualification last season, reports have been rife of interest in the Dutchman from around Europe, most notably from German outfit Schalke.
However, van der Vaart has revealed he wants to stay with the north London side and has dismissed rumours of a move away.
There is always an interest (from other clubs), but I am happy in England and I want to stay, he told Sky Sports News.
I only said that in soccer everything is possible but not at anytime.
The 29-year old joined Spurs in August 2010 for 8 million pounds from Real Madrid and has made 61 appearances for the White H…
Germany head coach Joachim Loew has hailed the quality of Portugal ahead of the Euro 2012 Group B contest between the two sides.
As one of the pre-tournament favourites for the European Championship title, Germany are tipped to defeat Portugal in their opening match, but Loew has warned his players about the quality of Paulo Bento s team.
Portugal have the capacity to defeat any side, Loew said.
They have very good players, who play at big clubs.
They have gone far in these tournaments. They have excellent players.
Cristiano Ronaldo is fantastic and can decide a match on his own, but they also have other players like Nani and Pepe.
While several members of his squad featured in Germany s run to the semi-finals of the 2010 FIFA World…
Maurizio Sarri hopes Eden Hazard will stay at Chelsea but will respect whatever decision the forward reaches on his future.
Hazard s contract at Stamford Bridge is due to expire at the end of next season and he has been linked with a big-money move to Real Madrid.
The Belgium international said after Chelsea s final Premier League game of 2018-19 that he had made a decision and informed the club.
However, Chelsea head into next Wednesday s Europa League final against Arsenal with the future of star player Hazard still up in the air.
Asked if the match in Baku could be Hazard s last for the club, Sarri said: I don t know. As I said in every press conference, I want to respect his decision.
I hope that he will stay with us, but we need to be ready …
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SPAL welcome AC Milan to their Stadio Paolo Mazza in Ferrara on the last matchday of the 2018/19 Serie A season.
S.P.A.L.
The home side have nothing but pride and a hope of a good performance in front of their fans against one of the biggest clubs in the world to play for. Sitting 11th with 42 points to their name, another three, or one, or none, would mean absolutely nothing. They are quite safe from relegation, while the European places are far out of their reach ahead of the last round of the season.
Team News
There are two players in their squad that need assessing ahead of the game due to injury defender Felipe and midfielder Simone Missiroli, and it s not very likely that boss Leonardo Semplici will want to risk them wi…