Weekend Review: The Yankees are rolling as Mensik denies Djokovic

The Yankees grabbed the headlines on the same weekend Novak Djokovic missed the chance to win his 100th career title. 

Well, let’s take a deep breath after another fantastic weekend of sporting action. It was a weekend that welcomed the return of club football- soccer, if you are an American. 

The last two weeks had been dominated by international football but it was nice to see our favourite players and clubs on our screen again. 

We are now at the business end of the season as the title run-in kicks in while other teams battle to make Europe and avoid relegation. 

In Spain, Barcelona maintained their three-point lead over Real Madrid at the top, with all eyes on what could be a title-deciding El-Clasico in April. Barcelona thrashed Girona 4-1, while Madrid had to come back to secure a 3-2 win over Leganes. 

Meanwhile, in Serie A, Inter Milan also remain three points clear of Napoli after both sides won their match. The Nerazzurri beat Udinese 2-1 at San Siro, while Napoli beat Inter’s city rivals, AC Milan, by the same scoreline. 

In England, the FA Cup quarterfinals took centre stage, with the Premier League taking a backseat. In Saturday’s games, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest both booked their places in the semifinal after beating Fulham and Brighton, respectively. 

Meanwhile, Manchester City, whose only hope of winning a trophy lies in the FA Cup, kept their hopes alive as they came from a goal down to beat Bournemouth. City will now face Forest in the semi-final, while Palace will take on Aston Villa after Unai Emery’s side beat Preston. 

But while these were how things went down in Europe’s top leagues, these are some of the biggest stories from last weekend. 

The Yankees are not here to play 

The last few months have not been kind to New York Yankees fans. First, they missed out on the world title after losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then, they lost Juan Soto, who decided to join their town rivals, the New York Mets. 

These two situations are enough to dampen the mood in the camp of the Yankees going into the new Major League Baseball season. However, that has not been the case as the Yankees have started the season on fire, going 3-0. 

They have beaten the Milwaukee Brewers in all of their three games, including Saturday’s 12-3 win, which saw the The Yankees became the first team to hit home runs on the first three pitches they saw in a game.

While there is still a long way to go, it looks like the Yankees are ready to use last season’s disappointment as fuel this year. We wait and see, though. 

Djokovic’s wait continues as Mensik prevails in Miami 

Novak Djokovic’s wait for a 100th career win will continue going into the clay season after the Serbian lost in the final of the Miami Open to Jakub Mensik. 

It has been underwhelming season so far for the former World No.1 as he is yet to win a title going into the clay season. 

However, he appeared to have found his form again in Miami as he booked his spot in the final against Mensik. 

Going into the final, Djokovic was bidding to become just the third man in history, after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer, to win 100 men’s singles titles. 

But his bid will have to wait as the 19-year-old played the best match of his career yet to win his biggest title to date. 

Mensik broke Djokovic in his opening service game, but the Serbian broke back to level. Neither player was able to break as the first set went into a tie break. 

The 19-year-old Czech was surprisingly more composed in the tie-breaker, going on to take it 7-6 (7-4). The second set also followed a similar pattern, with Mensik prevailing 7-6 (7-4) to seal a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) win. 

Harry Kane hits new milestone

Harry Kane helped Bayern Munich move six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table after scoring his 22nd league goal of the season against St. Pauli on Saturday. The goal means he has now scored against all of the Bundesliga teams he has faced. Only Miroslav Klose has faced and scored against more teams (28) than the England international. 

Bayern’s win edged them closer to the league title and that could finally see Kane win his first title at club level.