Djokovic Surfs to His Fourth Straight
It feels like every time you hear about Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, he’s either breaking an MLB record or doing something so impressive that you have to re-read the stat to make sure you understand it correctly.
On the latest edition of that— over his last 5 starts as a pitcher, he has 6 more home runs than earned runs allowed (7 to 1) and 9 more hits than he’s allowed (25 to 16)… He’s currently 2nd in MVP odds for the American League at +160, only behind Aaron Judge (+100).
On Today’s Rundown:
Wimbledon Finals Results & Other Results Over the Weekend
The Off-Season: Recruiting Classes & Rankings
By the Numbers, Best Bets & More
Est. Read Time: 6 minutes
Over the Weekend
Wimbledon
Men’s
Novak Djokovic is your 2022 Wimbledon Men’s singles Champion. The tournament’s No. 1 ranked player captured his seventh Wimbledon title on Sunday, defeating unseeded Nick Kyrgios 3 sets to 1 (4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3)).
While seven total Wimbledon titles is an impressive enough feat, as only Roger Federer has more (8), this also marks Djokovic’s fourth straight title, which means he currently has a 28-match unbeaten streak at the tournament.
Federer currently holds the longest win streak in Wimbledon history at 40 consecutive match wins from 2003-2008, so Djokovic won’t even be able to challenge that record until 2024.
Our runner-up for this year’s tournament, Nick Kyrgios, had an unusual path to the final. He came into the tournament with a world ranking of 40th and was trying to become the first unseeded player to win the tournament since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.
Ivanisevic, as coincidence would have it, is now Djokovic’s coach.
In addition to his low odds to win, Kyrgios created controversial headlines since day 1 of the tournament. He spit at a heckling fan in the first round, cursed at fans in multiple matches (especially during a drama-filled match against Stefanos Tsitsipas), and was most recently accused of assaulting his former girlfriend. He racked up a total of $14,000 in fines from this year’s tournament; bringing his career total to $687,000.
For anyone unfamiliar with Kyrgios, he is one of tennis’s most interesting players. He has no coach, does not play a typical full schedule, and has said multiple times that he does not love the sport. Yet, he managed to reach the largest stage at one of tennis’s biggest tournaments.
For a bonus read on the controversial athlete, check out this article by The New Yorker from 2017.
Women’s
Elena Rybakina, the No. 17 ranked player in the singles competition for the women, defeated No. 3 Ons Jabeur in 3 sets on Saturday (3-6, 6-2, 6-2).
Powerful serves and a mix of spins & slices were the keys to the 23-year-old’s victory against Jabeur, who entered Saturday with a 12-match winning streak (on grass).
Talk about overcoming odds— Entering the tournament, Rybakina was a 100-1 long shot to win and had a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) ranking of 23rd. Since the WTA rankings began in 1975, only one other woman ranked lower than 16th has won Wimbledon— Venus Williams (twice). Not bad company to join for Rybakina.
Doubles
Men’s: Australians Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell defeated the defending champion Croatian pair of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in a five-set thriller.
Women’s: The Czech duo of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova brought home their second Wimbledon doubles title as they defeated Elise Mertens (BEL) and Shuai Zhang (CHN) in two sets.
Next up: The final Grand Slam title event of the calendar year— the 2022 U.S. Open kicks off on August 29th, with qualifiers beginning on August 23rd.
What Else Happened:
🏎 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc of Ferrari captures his 5th-career win and 3rd of the season at the Austrian Grand Prix, beating out World No. 1 Max Verstappen.
⛳️ Genesis Scottish Open: After a drought that lasted for more than two years, Xander Schauffele continues to roll as he wins his fourth event in the last 12 months with a final score of -7 at the Renaissance Club.
⚾️ MLB: The Red Sox and Yankees split the latest series of their rivalry 2-2. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles currently have the longest win streak in the MLB at 8 wins.
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The Off-Season
NCAA Football: Recruiting Classes & Rankings
On today’s edition of The Off-Season, we’re taking a look at the best recruiting classes by school, as well as the players you should keep an eye on for the upcoming seasons.
Let’s start with this year:
2022 Top Recruiting Classes by School
Texas A&M: 5⭐️ (8); 4⭐️ (20); 3⭐️ (2)
Alabama: 5⭐️ (3); 4⭐️ (21); 3⭐️ (1)
Georgia: 5⭐️ (5); 4⭐️ (17); 3⭐️ (8)
Ohio State: 5⭐️ (2); 4⭐️ (18); 3⭐️ (1)
Texas: 5⭐️ (2); 4⭐️ (20); 3⭐️ (5)
Travis Hunter (CB): Jacksonville State University
Walter Nolen (DL): Texas A&M University
Drew Allar (QB): Penn State University
Malaki Starks (ATH): University of Georgia
“ATH” stands for “athlete”. That is quite the flex to be the No. 3 overall ranked prospect at an undefined position.
Harold Perkins (LB): Louisianna State University
While we’re here, let’s take a look at the following recruiting class as well. Below are the teams currently leading the charge for the class of 2023.
2023 Top Recruiting by Class & Biggest Commits:
Ohio State:
5-stars (2) | 4-stars (14) | 3-stars (2)
Top Recruit: Carnell Tate (WR)
Notre Dame:
5-stars (1) | 4-stars (16) | 3-stars (2)
Top Recruit: Keon Keeley (EDGE)
Clemson:
5-stars (2) | 4-stars (14) | 3-stars (1)
Top Recruit: Peter Woods (DL)
Texas:
5-stars (3) | 4-stars (9) | 3-stars (6)
Top Recruit: Arch Manning (QB)
Tennessee:
5-stars (2) | 4-stars (6) | 3-stars (10)
Top Recruit: Nicholaus Iamaleava (QB)
247Sports has your entire guide to recruits, classes, prospects, and more for every team. See how your team is stacking up for upcoming seasons.
📊 By The Numbers
Mid-year rankings were released for sports event viewing in minutes by network for 2022. NBC leads at 117.2 billion, followed by CBS (98.1), and ESPN (95.0).
The NFL is seeking $2.5 to $3 billion annually for their Sunday Ticket package to be streamed separately.
Shohei Ohtani is the first player since 1920 to do all of the following in a single game:
10 strikeouts
2 RBI
a stolen base
Sabrina Ionescu is the first player in WNBA history with a 30-point triple-double.
She also became the first player in league history with 0 turnovers in a triple-double.
After his win Sunday, Novak Djokovic now has 43 major match wins after dropping the opening set
Only Andre Agassi has more with 44
Painful Bonus Stat: Adam Wainwright is the first MLB pitcher to pitch a full 9 innings and take the loss since… Adam Wainwright.
That was ALSO against the Phillies and ALSO against starting pitcher Zack Wheeler.
💰 Best Bets
Current record (since 4/15/2022): 37-39-2
We are ice cold right now— tread lightly.
July 11th & 12th
MLB (7/11): NYM @ ATL Under 7 (-110)
MLB (7/11): BOS @ TB ML (+100)
*No Huddle is not an online sports gambling book or gambling platform of any kind. We do not advise the placing of bets or wagers on a sportsbook that is not in compliance with your current local & state laws. Please bet responsibly. Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.
🗓 Today in Sports History
1914 Babe Ruth makes his MLB debut as a pitcher for Boston Red Sox; earns 4-3 win against the Cleveland Naps
