Tennis: Nadal, the first to 21 titles in Grand Slams? (Sunday from 9:30 a.m. on Eurosport)
Deprived of Novak Djokovic, expelled for breaking local health rules, and Roger Federer, who is recovering from knee surgery, the Australian Open will offer a dream final between Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal. Excluding “Big 3”, the Russian is the player in form at the moment and moreover won the last US Open, depriving “Djoko” of the calendar Grand Slam. Opposite, the Spaniard can become the first to win a twenty-first title in a “Major” (which would be “only” his second in Melbourne, after 2009) and thus break the tie with Federer and Djokovic.
Saturday, from 9.30 a.m. (also on Eurosport), Ashleigh Barty will be keen to win her first “home” final. The world number 1 will challenge the American Danielle Collins, world 30th, to become the first Australian to win the Australian Open since… 1978 (Chris O’Neil, who won only one Grand Slam title) . In six matches so far, “Ash” hasn’t dropped a single set and hasn’t dropped more than seven games in a match.
Nadal and Barty on their way to history? Medvedev and Collins do not intend to roll out the red carpet for them.
Cyclo-cross: an open World without Van Aert and Van der Poel (Sunday from 9:25 p.m. on TIPIK)
The organizers of the World Cyclo-Cross in Fayetteville (USA), like the fans, rubbed their hands at the idea of the duel between Wout van Aert and Matthieu van der Poel. But the two “monsters” of the plowed, who have taken on another dimension on the road in recent seasons, ignore it: the Belgian, champion in 2016, 2017 and 2018, prefers to prepare for the spring classics and the Dutchman, champion in 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2021, is treating a back injury.
The way is clear but who will emerge from the pack? Briton Tom Pidcock and Dutchman Lars van der Haar leave with the favor of the forecasts but Belgium (which has 30 men’s world titles in 71 editions!) can rely on the trio Eli Iserbyt – Toon Aerts – Michael Vanthourenhout. The first has just won the final classification of the World Cup and twice the rainbow jersey with the Espoirs (2016 and 2018). The second took third place at the last three World Championships. The third, nephew of Sven Vanthourenhout, the coach, was also crowned world champion Espoirs (2015).
American football: we will know the Super Bowl poster (Sunday, from 9 p.m. on Eleven Sports 2)
Each year in the United States, the Super Bowl is by far the most watched sporting event (more than 100 million viewers on average in recent editions). In Belgium, the popularity of the final of the American football championship continues to grow, between the attraction for the discipline and a great half-time show (this time, we will be entitled to Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige).
But the Super Bowl is not for now: it will be on Belgian night (12:30 a.m.) from Sunday February 13 to Monday February 14. In the meantime, place for the finals of Conferences to designate the two participants in the high mass.
This Sunday, from 9:00 p.m., the American Conference (AFC) will crown its champion between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bengals, led by the electric duo Joe Burrow (quarterback) and Ja’Marr Chase (receiver), have already participated in two Super Bowls (1982 and 1989) but have each time lost against the San Francisco 49ers. Opposite, the Chiefs, who will be at home, are aiming for a third SB in a row (victory against San Francisco in 2020, defeat against Tampa Bay in 2021) and can still count on Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback who proves that he is worth the 500 million dollars (!) of his contract.
In the process (kick-off at 0:30 a.m., still on Eleven Sports 2), night owls will be able to follow the final of the National Conference (NFC). With the San Francisco 49ers on one side and the Los Angeles Rams on the other. The 49ers, mythical franchise with five titles (but the last dates back to 1995), want to reconnect with their glorious past. With Matthew Stafford (snatched from Detroit) maneuvering, the Rams (consecrated in 2000 when the franchise was still based in Saint Louis) found an explosive attack, at the level of his defense.
In short, two matches which promise to be explosive and which have something to seduce even the uninitiated.
