US Open Tennis
For years now, men's tennis has been dominated by the so-called "Big Four".
They have won 42 of the last 47 Grand Slam titles, a span of well over a decade, where almost every single Grand Slam title was won by one of those four men. Dating back to the emergence of Roger Federer to the top ranking in the men's field, one of these four men has been ranked number one ever since, and there was a period from Federer's Australian Open victory in 2004 through to the US Open in 2014, when one of these four men won every single Grand Slam title save for three (Marat Safin won the Australian in 2005, Juan Del Portro won the US Open in 2009, and Stan Wawrinka won the Australian Open in 2014). Frankly, the exceptions, and the scarcity of these exceptions, proves the rule in this case. That level of dominance between such a small number of elites is virtually unprecedented in the history of the men's game.
Novak Djokovic suggested that Stan Wawrinka has now joined these ranks with his superb play and the three Grand Slam titles that he has under his belt.
"He plays best in the big matches and definitely deserves to be mentioned in the mix of top players," said the number one ranked man in the World, Djokovic.
Djokovic elaborated on that point, heaping praise on Wawrinka and his game, saying, "He's a very complete player. If he feels right he doesn't miss much and he makes a lot of winners so it's hard to play him."
But of all the people who might disagree with Djokovic on that point, did you expect that the one who expressed the strongest opinions against this might be Wawrinka himself?
Indeed, Wawrinka answered that by suggesting that he is still "very far" from playing at that level of consistency as those other hugely successful players.
"Just look at the tournaments they have won, how many years they've been there."
"If you look, yes, I have three Grand Slams. How many Masters 1000 has Murray? They have been there 10 years.
"They have not only been winning, but being in semi-finals, final every time. That's why I'm not there."
Still, something needs to be said about Wawrinka, who joined the likes of other tennis greats by winning multiple Grand Slam tournaments past the age of 30, joining Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Rod Laver, and Ken Rosewall. He became the oldest man since then 35-year old Rosewall won it in 1970.
Quotes taken from the following article:
Stan Wawrinka deserves to be in 'big five' - Novak Djokovic September 12, 2016:
NFL
So much for the exciting Monday Night Football debut weekend this year, huh?
Both games were lopsided and, frankly, uninteresting affairs.
In the first game, the Steelers proved way too much for Washington, a playoff team and division winner last season. Pittsburgh's explosive offense made short work of Washington, and so badly outplayed their opponents that they made the game a laugher, despite being the road team.
Then, in the second game, the San Francisco 49ers simply dominated the Los Angeles Rams, as they managed to actually shut out their interstate rivals from southern California.
The Rams had some chances, although poor execution and especially turnovers at inopportune times did Los Angeles in.
Two lopsided snoozers to start Monday Night Football this season, after a weekend that was otherwise filled with close, exciting contests. This was the second year in a row where the 49ers opened the season with a prime time blowout win, having done the same last season against the Minnesota Vikings, who actually still managed to make the postseason, and even won their division.
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