May 20, 2022
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In one of the most loaded weekends of the entire sports calendar year, four champions will be crowned: The Preakness Stakes, the PGA Championship, the Premier League, and the Spanish GP.
French Open Favorite Iga Swiatek Has Been Unbeatable
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The French Open begins play on Sunday, and Iga Swiatek is the overwhelming favorite (-110) to capture the women’s title — for good reason.
The World No. 1 has dominated the WTA Tour in 2022 and arrives at Roland Garros with a stunning 28-match, five-tournament winning streak.
The question now is whether the 20-year-old can cash in her roll for the ages with a second French Open win — and the $2.3 million prize, a massive raise from last year’s $1.7 million.
She has won 42 of her past 43 sets and tops the WTA money list in 2022 ($4.1M; $9M career).She has won 13 sets 6-0 in 2022, nine more than any other player on tour.Swiatek is 9-0 on clay this year.
If she wins all seven matches en route to the title, she will match Venus Williams’ 35-match streak from 2000 (Martina Navratilova holds the all-time mark with 74 in 1984-86).
In 2020, Swiatek was unseeded and ranked No. 54 in the world before cruising to the French title without dropping a set.
She won’t surprise anyone this time around, and bookmakers seem to be on board: the player with the next-best odds is a distant +1200 (Ons Jabeur).
The Loss of Max Scherzer Should Not Break The Mets
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
With 26 wins, the Mets are off to their fourth-best 40-game start in franchise history. Now, the excellent season has hit its first roadblock.
On Thursday, the team announced that SP Max Scherzer will miss six-to-eight weeks with an oblique strain.
It’s a massive blow to a pitching rotation already coping with the losses of Jacob deGrom (shoulder) and Tylor Megill (biceps). It’s also likely a frustrating loss for a front office that shelled out the highest salary in MLB history ($43.3M) for the three-time Cy Young winner.
However, this team is still built to win games without Scherzer’s dominance.
As a whole, Mets pitchers [[link removed]] rank sixth in both ERA (3.35) and WHIP (1.13).SP Chris Bassitt ranks 18th in the majors in both ERA (2.77) and pitcher WAR (1.3).Their +44 run differential is 2nd in the NL.1B Pete Alonso leads MLB in RBI (36).
However, if the Mets struggle with their two aces sidelined for too long, they could always look for help outside the organization.
Texas’ Martin Perez and Pittsburgh’s Jose Quintana, for example, are both having impressive seasons on teams currently with losing records — and are both on affordable one-year deals.
Not that money is an issue for New York: The club boasts [[link removed]] the league’s richest owner in Steve Cohen — and has “only” the eighth-highest 2022 payroll in the league ($187.1M).
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Boston’s Starting PG Has Been Right In Front of Them
Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
Since Kyrie Irving left for Brooklyn in the summer of 2019, the Celtics have been shuffling point guards — not realizing the answer was right in front of them.
“I think everybody in the organization and the world has seen what I can do at the point guard position,” Marcus Smart said after a 25-point Game 2 victory against Miami.
After missing Game 1 (foot), Smart finished with 24 points, 12 assists, and nine rebounds (+32), further proving why he’s Boston’s best option at point — and how GM Brad Stevens and coach Ime Udoka’s trust in the 6’3” guard has paid off.
Irving was the PG from 2017-19 and made roughly $39 million.When he left, they signed declining star Kemba Walker to a four-year, $141 million max contract — he only lasted two seasons there.Early this year, Dennis Schroder ($5.7M) was the team’s starting PG; he was traded to the Rockets in February.Smart’s 6.7 APG in the postseason ranks third among PGs and fifth overall, and the Celtics are 4-0 when he scores 20+ points.
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year is locked in for another four years and $77 million. He accepted Boston’s offer after considering holding out [[link removed]] for something in the $90 million range.
Former GM Danny Ainge and Stevens never moved him despite several reports [[link removed]] coming out over the years about a potential trade.
And thanks to Smart, the Celtics head back to Boston with home-court advantage, and they still haven’t lost consecutive games since late March.
Making Headlines
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
CFB: Former Pitt WR and 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison announced he will transfer to USC; new head coach Lincoln Riley had previously brought in two of his former Oklahoma players, QB Caleb Williams and WR Mario Williams.
PGA Championship: With Round 1 leader Rory McIlroy (-5) still to tee off, Justin Thomas shot a second-round 67 and is the current leader at -6.
NBA: Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, former Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts, and ex-Nets coach Kenny Atkinson are reportedly [[link removed]] finalists for the Lakers head coaching job. Also: Former Raptors and Suns coach Jay Triano is expected to join Mike Brown’s coaching staff in Sacramento, according [[link removed]] to Marc Stein.
NHL: Rick Bowness announced that he is stepping down as coach of the Stars.
EPL: Everton overcame a two-goal deficit, ultimately defeating Crystal Palace 3-2; the win ensures the Toffees will avoid [[link removed]] relegation for the first time since 1951.
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