Good Morning! Today is Thursday, September 4th. Here’s what happened this week in the world of sports.

TENNIS

The semifinals are set at the US Open! Let’s catch you up on each of the remaining eight competitors:

WOMEN’S SEMIFINAL ONE: (1) Sabalenka vs (4) Pegula

Aryna Sabalenka is the top-ranked player in the world. She’s been the most consistently dominant player all year. And yet she has not won a Grand Slam in 2025. Sabalenka should be well rested after her opponent withdrew from injury in the quarterfinals.

This is a rematch of last year’s final, where Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5. The American has yet to play a ranked opponent this tournament– she’ll need to bring her absolute best in order to take out the defending champ.

WOMEN’S SEMIFINAL TWO: (23) Osaka vs (8) Anisimova

Ladies and gentlemen, she’s officially back. Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has rediscovered her championship-caliber form. After taking out Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova the last two rounds, Osaka may have established herself as the favorite to win it all. A crazy stat– Osaka has never lost in the quarters or later of a Grand Slam. She’s four-for-four when reaching this stage.

Amanda Anisimova was battered 6-0, 6-0 by Iga Swiatek in the finals of Wimbledon this summer. It was the biggest match of her career, and it could not have gone worse. But the young American held her head high and rebounded for a 6-4, 6-3 win over Swiatek in yesterday’s quarterfinals in New York. Swiatek was flying high as the Cincinnati champion and US Open favorite– if Anisimova can hold her nerve, this might be the tournament where she breaks through.

MEN’S SEMIFINAL ONE: (1) Sinner vs (25) Auger-Aliassime

“I’m not bad, but you’re the GOAT,” said Jannik Sinner’s round of 16 opponent Alexander Bublik after the Italian flattened him 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 earlier this week. What else is there to say? Once again, Sinner looks unbeatable. He’s here to defend his title, and there may only be one man (his name rhymes with Balcaraz) who can stop him.

Once a highly-touted rising star, Felix Auger-Aliassime struggled the last few years with injuries and consistency. But he won a marathon four-hour match yesterday against Alex de Minaur to reach his first career Grand Slam final since 2021. We’ll see if he produces a bit of magic in the semis, but even if he loses every single point against Jannik Sinner, this tournament has been a wild success for FAA.

MEN’S SEMIFINAL TWO: (7) Djokovic vs (2) Alcaraz

This is the blockbuster matchup everyone circled when the draws came out. The 38-year old Novak Djokovic, into yet another Grand Slam semifinal, is up against Carlos Alcaraz, the most electrifying player in the world. They’ve already had a few memorable battles on the big stage– Djokovic actually holds a 5-3 head-to-head record against his young rival, including wins in their last two meetings at the Australian Open and the Paris Olympics. But Alcaraz is on track to make history as the first man in US Open history to win the tournament without dropping a single set. I’d give a slight edge to the Spaniard, which would likely set up another Alcaraz-Sinner Grand Slam final on Sunday. If anyone is going to deny the New York crowds their dream final, however, it’s the 24-time Grand Slam champ.

MLB

Let’s go division-by-division as we recap this week so far in the Big Leagues:

• NL EAST: Ryan Helsley, one of the big trade deadline acquisitions by the Mets, is really struggling. New York trails Philadelphia by 5.5 games, with a crucial four-game set starting next Monday. They need Helsley and their bullpen to keep them in games each and every night.

• NL CENTRAL: Cincinnati is 3-7 in their last 10, falling way back in the wild card race. Meanwhile, Milwaukee continues to run away with the best record in baseball

• NL WEST: Shohei Ohtani pummeled his 100th career homer as a Dodger. Padres ace reliever Mason Miller threw nine sliders in a row for an immaculate inning. So yeah, absolutely no one wants to face LA or San Diego in the postseason.

• AL EAST: How about a moment for Rays third baseman Junior Caminero? The 22-year-old is the second Tampa ballplayer to hit 40 homers in a season.

• AL CENTRAL: After starting the season 59-38, Detroit is 21-22 over their recent stretch. They maintain a 10 game lead in the division, but it’s almost October. They need to get things going soon.

• AL WEST: Seattle was swept by the Rays and now trail Houston by four games in the division. A massive series is set between the Astros and Mariners for the end of the month.

NCAA FOOTBALL

It may have been way back on Monday, but did you see what happened to North Carolina in coach Bill Belichick’s college debut? It did not go well for the Tar Heels– and the TCU social made sure all the people online knew about the outcome:

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Once again, the incredible journalism over at Pablo Torre Finds Out has broken an amazing story: evidence suggests that the Los Angeles Clippers have subverted the NBA salary cap and illegally paid Kawhi Leonard through an endorsement deal by a fraudulent tree-planting company. There are a lot of levels to this story that I don’t have room to go into here, but I highly recommend listening to the podcast to learn more. Naturally, the Clippers released the following statement denying all allegations. But the evidence uncovered by Torre and his crew looks pretty damming. How many other star athletes have reached similar under-the-table agreements? What would a potential punishment look like for owner Steve Ballmer and the Clippers? This story is just beginning to develop…

Elsewhere in the NBA, it appears the next edition of the All-Star game will be a round-robin between two USA teams and a Team World. Might as well try it!

The NFL kicks off tonight, but a shadow hangs over the league. NFL RedZone will no longer be commercial free. Football fans have subscribed for this premium service for years, but now it will look a little different. And in the opinion of many, it will be a little worse.

Nick Kyrgios has claimed that he will beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 in their upcoming exhibition match. You can hear how confident Kyrigos is about taking on the women’s number one player in the world. We’ll see if the Australian will pay off his prediction when the match takes place this January.

NFL PLAYOFF PICKS

We might not have a full-length preview, but what would this publication be without a few sure-to-go-wrong playoff predictions? Here are The Remix picks for the 2025 NFL season:

AFC:

DIVISION WINNERS: Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs

WILD CARDS: Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals (Steelers, Texans just missed)

NFC:

DIVISION WINNERS: Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers

WILD CARDS: Washington Commanders, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions (Buccaneers, Rams, Vikings just missed)

THIS WEEKEND’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

THURSDAY:

• (1) Aryna Sabalenka vs (4) Jessica Pegula, 7 PM

• (23) Naomi Osaka vs (8) Amanda Anisimova, immediately following

• Cowboys @ Eagles, 8:20 PM on NBC

FRIDAY:

• (1) Jannik Sinner vs (25) Felix Auger-Aliassime

• (7) Novak Djokovic vs (2) Carlos Alcaraz

• Blue Jays @ Yankees

• Astros @ Rangers

• Chiefs vs Chargers in Brazil, 8 PM streaming on Youtube

SATURDAY:

• Iowa @ (16) Iowa State, Noon on Fox

• US Open Women’s Final, 4 PM on ESPN

• (15) Michigan @ (18) Oklahoma, 7:30 PM on ABC

SUNDAY:

• Steelers @ Jets, 1 PM on CBS

• Buccaneers @ Falcons, 1 PM on Fox

• US Open Men’s Final, 2 PM on ESPN

• 49ers @ Seahawks, 4:05 PM on Fox

• Lions @ Tigers, 4:25 PM on CBS

• Ravens @ Bills, 8:20 PM on NBC

“It's not over. There's still some tennis to play, and the biggest challenges are yet to come. That's what I live for. That's what I train for,” –Felix Auger-Aliassime

Highly recommend you get in front of multiple TVs this weekend… see you on Monday!