In case you were too busy a) freezing at Igloofest b) pretending you were part of the United Nations or c) sending a monkey to space, here’s what you missed this past week in the world of sports
TENNIS — The year’s first major tournament ended on Sunday, as familiar faces came out on top of the Australian Open. On the women’s side, world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka won her second consecutive Aussie title, after defeating the sixth-seeded Li Na in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-3). Na suffered two ankle injuries in the match, and Azarenka was able to take advantage of her hampered mobility. Serena Williams was ousted in the quarterfinals, after playing too much tennis of the table variety in the new iPhone 5 commercial. On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic became the first male to win three consecutive Australian Open titles, after he outlasted Andy Murray in four sets (6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2) on Sunday. Djokovic’s win solidifies his top world ranking ahead of No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 3 Murray. Players have about four months off before the next major tournament, the French Open, gets underway on May 26.
SOCCER — In a bizarre tale, Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard was given a red card in a match against Swansea on Wednesday after kicking a ball boy in the stomach; the boy smothered the ball in what seemed to be an attempt to waste time. The ball boy—named Charlie Morgan—reacted quite strongly to the kick and looked to be in pain as he walked off of the field. While Hazard shouldn’t have kicked Morgan, the boy clearly overreacted, so we’re not showing much sympathy. Morgan even tweeted before the game: “The king of all ball boys is back making his final appearance #needed #for #timewasting.” So apparently he had this planned all along. They’re both early candidates for Worst Guy 2013.
HOCKEY — The first week of the shortened NHL season ended on Sunday, and teams can barely catch their collective breath. The Chicago Blackhawks are on fire, going a perfect five for five to start the year, as they currently sit at the top of the league. The San Jose Sharks are right behind the Blackhawks in the Western Conference, thanks to a huge first week for Patrick Marleau, who has tallied nine goals in five games. Marleau has scored more goals than the Los Angeles Kings and Florida Panthers through the first week of play—so that’s like pretty impressive. The Ottawa Senators appear to be Canada’s best team at the moment, as goaltender Craig Anderson has backstopped them to a solid start. Meanwhile, the Leafs have dropped two straight games in which they had two goal leads. Some things never change.
BASKETBALL — The All-Star reserves were announced this week, with few surprises overall. The East will feature five first time All-Stars—most notably Cleveland’s star point guard Kyrie Irving. Golden State sends power forward David Lee, who becomes the first Warriors representative since 1977 to be selected to the team. The Raptors send no one because Amir Johnson is currently the team’s most consistent performer. However, none of this really matters, as the All-Star game are usually not much more than a skills showcase that involves practically no competition. So there’s that.
