Monzanator

No kidding but Si Jiahui leads Luca Brecel 11-5 after two sessions

First round of 2023 draft happened last night. The big shock was Texans moving up to #3 so have two players drafted in the top three. They are not messing about. Lions must have missed what calendar year is it... Two Top 20 picks and they select running back & linebacker Dolphins had their first round draft pick voided after the "tanking/tampering" scandal from 2019 season.

#8 seed Miami Heat take out #1 Milwaukee Bucks 4-1 in East Round 1 It feels like Giannis needs a new team around him and maybe a new coach...

100% spot on with the glamorous lifestyle for Western hemisphere players. They are being flocked with money the minute they win something and quickly lose motivation. That's rarely the case for players from Eastern Europe who have to grind through without getting even 10% of the endorsements even if they win more tournaments. But then comes someone like Świątek whose run of success is simply unavoidable and the big brands can't ignore her for any longer. Even Rybakina finally got a Center Court appearance in Miami from Round 1. Previously she was always shafted to outside courts in early rounds while usually the main courts were for Anglo-Saxon players. But Miami director James Blake finally gave in and decided to put Rybakina in night session on CC in Round 1. That's the first time it happened IIRC. Yes, even a shy Russian with Kazakh passport can be marketed based on her success. Bottom line, three of the best players this season come from Eastern Europe. Back to Madrid and 15 yo Mirra Andreeva upset Beatriz Haddad Maia in Round 2. She will turn 16 on Saturday when she plays her R3 match vs Linette or Vondrousova.

Mark Selby beat John Higgins 13-7 but the real drama just finished with Si Jiahui beating Anthony McGill 13-12 in high-tension decider. McGill tried to pot a tricky but close to pocket ball left-handed and misjudged the path as he clipped another ball on the way and Si Jiahui - who had a small lead anyway - took over to build a winning margin. Quite a shock result given nobody gave Si much of a chance to make it into QF and he's into SF. So the SF line-up is: Luca Brecel vs Si Jiahui Mark Selby vs Mark Allen

Mark Allen beat Jak Jones 13-10 and Luca Brecel came from 6-10 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 13-10!

Well, apparently there is some talk about Poland and Slovakia looking to bid for the Nordic Skiing World Championships together @hckošice Not like anything will come out of this but... https://www.skijumping.pl/wiadomosci/33603/polska-i-slowacja-wspolnie-zorganizuja-mistrzostwa-swiata/

Btw, since nobody ever writes about Burrage she is dating some rugby player called Ben White but maybe @Grassmarkettells us if he's like any good there

I was a Sharapova fan so I'll pass on talking about that match Anyway, Emma Raducanu has WD with a wrist injury after MD started so it's clear she only came here to collect sponsor appearances or whatever. She will be out of Top 100 after Madrid and Jodie Burrage (who basically mostly plays ITF events) is the new number 1 Raducanu was trying to flip off journalists yesterday but she ought to have said she ain't playing which she tried to conceal for no valid reason. I expect Daily Mail & co. to bring out more heat soon. Good luck in trying to put on a diva hat vs the media...

Defending champion Ons Jabeur has WD from Madrid with that calf injury suffered in Stuttgart. Some good news for fans as Eugenie Bouchard has qualified to Main Draw. Watch her get drawn vs Raducanu or Anisimova to raise the glamour value of R1 match

The Rodgers saga is finally over. The Jets season will be more interesting than usual

QF are set: Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Luca Brecel Anthony McGill vs Si Jiahui Mark Allen vs Jak Jones John Higgins vs Mark Selby

Stefano Lavarini announced a 30-name squad for Nations League and OG qualifying and Malwina Smarzek has been called up again. Let's see if our fans forgot about her not wanting to leave the Russian league last year

Madrid 1000 MD is out. No luck for Raducanu if Świątek doesn't WD from here like she did last year

As seen during the week the Porsche prize car is blue this year...

John Higgins with a 8-0 whitewash of Kyren Wilson in the first session

Iga Świątek defends Stuttgart 500 title beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 6-4 in the final. Either way these two are the best players on tour right now.

You don't want to make Ronnie O'Sullivan angry and he beat Hossein Vafaei 13-2! But apparently the controversy is over given the post-match hugs Elsewhere Jak Jones beat Neil Robertson 13-7 in a clear upset.

Not much to say about the Stuttgart SF. Sabalenka beat Potapova 6-1 6-2 and Ons Jabeur retired after three games with a calf injury. So we get the 2022 final rematch between Świątek & Sabalenka

That benchwarmer would be Jasmine Paolini? She's fallen off the pace in the last few months, used to be Italian #2 behind Giorgi but she's basically dropped behind Trevisan and Cocciaretto on the pecking order to say the very least.

Pete Alonso from Mets is the first player to hit 10 HR so far. Somewhat surprisingly Patrick Wisdom from Cubs is second with 9 HR. Cubs & Pirates are exceeding the expectations in the first month of the season but let's see how long they last.

Moving on into Stuttgart SF - three of the top four seeds made it through. Still on course for last year's final rematch (Świątek vs Sabalenka). Iga Świątek (1) vs Ons Jabeur (3) Aryna Sabalenka (2) vs Anastasia Potapova

women won all three pool matches.

Hossein Vafaei is really trying to poke the bear aka Ronnie O'Sullivan. This could end ugly... Nobody breaks off full-throttle in snooker...

R1 matches are over. Si Jiahui caused an upset by beating Shaun Murphy 10-9 and now he faces Robert Milkins in R2.