Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. Hope you're well.
Let's get right to it.
Good morning to everyone but especially to...
SERENA WILLIAMS
Serena Williams sure knows how to host parties in Queens. She's done it for more than 20 years, and this year's party -- however many there are -- will be extra special. Ahead of her impending retirement from tennis and with a raucous, star-studded crowd behind her all the way, Williams opened her final US Open with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Danka Kovinic.
After going down 3-2 in the first set, Williams took control, rattling off four straight games.In the second set, Williams' dominant serve proved the difference. She won 16 of 19 service points in the set.Williams is now 21-0 in first-round US Open matches.It was a magical night for the six-time US Open champ, and we should appreciate her greatness -- whatever form that takes -- as long as we can, writes... hey, I wrote that! Here's some more of my thoughts on the GOAT:
Pereles: "Often, the beauty of sport is that there can only be one winner. But this time, when it comes to this player at this tournament, the beauty is in the fight. The perseverance and the courage to try to overcome all the factors working against her. Williams certainly needed it during her rocky start, and we should consider ourselves lucky that we get to watch it, likely for the last time."Williams will face No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit tomorrow.
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for...
USATSIJIMMY GAROPPOLO, TREY LANCE AND THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
It's been roughly a year-and-a-half since the 49ers traded three first-round picks to move up to No. 3 in the 2021 NFL Draft and select Trey Lance. It was the beginning of the end for Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco. It's now turned into one of the oddest quarterback situations in recent memory, and the team has no one to blame but itself.
Garoppolo on Monday agreed to a reworked one-year contract to stay with the 49ers and back up Lance after it appeared for months that Jimmy G would be on his way out of San Fran.
The reworked deal includes $6.5 million guaranteed and incentives that can take the deal all the way up to $16 million -- still way down from his original 2022 base salary of $24.2 million but more than any backup quarterback.The deal also includes no-trade and no-tag clauses, essentially guaranteeing Garoppolo is a free agent next year, unless he consents to a trade before then.The 49ers gave Garoppolo's agents permission to pursue a trade in July, but his high salary and shoulder surgery earlier this offseason meant a market never really developed.Even going all the way back to May, head coach Kyle Shanahan expected Garoppolo to be traded.If last year was a bridge year (which nearly ended in a second Super Bowl appearance in three years) before Garoppolo would leave the team, what is this year supposed to be? Shanahan has been emphatic that it's Lance's team, but Lance struggled in the preseason finale and now has an established starter looming over his shoulder.
Now, the 49ers have to balance necessary learning experiences for Lance with the fact that they are ready to win right now. Oh, and making this all the more interesting is that they have proved they can do that with Garoppolo at the helm. What the 49ers have done is move on from Garoppolo, but they haven't really moved on from Garoppolo. Now they will have to hope Lance is ready or risk things somehow getting even more awkward than they are.
