OKC spends like the champions

Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Thursday, July 10.

TENNIS

She did it! Amanda Anisimova pulled off the upset over (1) Aryna Sabalenka and booked a spot in the finals of Wimbledon. It wasn’t an easy victory for the young American, but Anisimova played the big points well enough to secure a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win. Truly an incredible result for a player that’s struggled with injuries since taking some time off from competitive tennis after a difficult time in her personal life. “To be honest, if you told me I would be in the final at Wimbledon, I would not believe you. At least not this soon, because I mean, it's been a year turnaround since coming back and to be in this spot, I mean, it's not easy,” Anisimova said after the win. She’s the first American in the finals of Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2019. Anisimova also continues a streak of an American beating Sabalenka at each Grand Slam this season– the other two, Madison Keys and Coco Gauff, ended up winning the whole thing.

Anisimova’s opponent will be Iga Swiatek, another first-time finalist on the grass at the All-England Club,. Swiatek was unstoppable against surprise semifinalist Belinda Bencic, who looked like she ran out of gas. We have one exciting final lined up for tomorrow morning! I’m picking Anisimova, but wouldn’t be surprised by any result. Just hoping for a final match that lives up to the excitement of the last two weeks.

MLB

One last day of baseball recaps as we head into the final weekend before the all-star break:

  • The Orioles beat the Mets 3-1, thanks to a pinch-hit home run by shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

  • I know the Athletics aren’t good and they’re playing in a weird minor league stadium in Sacramento. But they have some fun hitters in that lineup. Tyler Soderstrom was the hero last night, lacing a walk-off single in the 11th to beat the Braves 5-4.

  • Oh, it was a double header! The Orioles beat the Mets again in the afternoon. This time it was a 7-3 victory.

  • Sorry to all you Mariners fans out there. Despite an incredible performance by starter Bryan Woo, Seattle was unable to close out a win against the Yankees. I’ll let this tweet summarize the historic nature of the victory:

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Oklahoma City isn’t messing around. After signing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren to contract extensions, they reached a deal with all-star Jalen Williams, too. Between their three stars, the Thunder are spending over $800 million the next five years. That’s quite a price tag for three guys, but the cost of a successful dynasty? Priceless.

Olivia Smith has set the world-record for most expensive women’s soccer transfer fee. She’s moving from Liverpool to Arsenal for $1.4 million, breaking the record Chelsea set in January when they signed Naomi Girma.

The field is set for next week’s home run derby– I can’t give away my picks because it would give my friends in our Derby pool an unfair advantage. But I wood not be suprised if one of the younger, more junior sluggers took home the title.

THIS WEEKEND’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

WIMBLEDON SEMIFNALS:

  • (5) Taylor Fritz vs (2) Carlos Alcaraz, 8:30 AM on ESPN

  • (1) Jannik Sinner vs (6) Novak Djokovic, 10:10 AM on ESPN

MLB:

  • Mariners @ Tigers

  • Phillies @ Padres

  • Cubs @ Yankees

  • Dodgers @ Giants

WIMBLEDON FINALS:

  • (13) Amanda Anisimova vs (8) Iga Swiatek, 9 AM Saturday on ESPN

  • Men’s Final, 9 AM Sunday on ESPN

Programming alert: I will be adhering to the MLB all-star break and– after what will hopefully be an exciting Monday Wimbledon recap– taking next week off from writing. It’s the slowest week of the sports year, so don’t worry about missing anything! You’ve now been warned, so have a fantastic weekend and see you on Monday

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