Moore’s Morning Sports Briefing for Monday, March 18

If you didn’t know who Bianca Andreescu was before this weekend. Chances are you do now. The 18 year old from Mississauga capped off an amazing two week run at Indian Wells, California with a 3 set victory over former Wimbledon, Aussie, and US Open Winner Angelique Kerber in yesterday’s final of the BNP Paribas Open- the unofficial 5th major on the pro tennis circuit.

Andreescu received a pep talk from coach Sylvain Bruneau during the third set- and then ignored her tired legs and burning feet to win 6-4 and improve her WTA ranking from 60th to 24th, while padding her bank account by more than 1.3 million dollars- U.S.

Not bad for someone – who just 8 months ago, had to retire in the 3rd set of the first round of a tournament – right here in River City.

Tennis Manitoba Executive Director Mark Arndt in conversation with Christian Aumell last Thursday Night on the CJOB Sports Show. And somehow I don’t think we’ll see Bianca Andreescu playing at the Winnipeg Tennis Club again anytime soon.

Alphonso Davies made history in becoming the first ever Canadian player to score for Bayern Munich in a Bundesliga game yesterday. Davies grew up in Edmonton and played for the Vancouver Whitecaps before joining Bayern Munich in January for a record 22 million dollar transfer fee for an MLS player. The 18 year old forward is expected to be in the lineup for the Canadian Men’s National team next Sunday in Vancouver for an international game versus French Guiana.

Toronto FC won their 2019 Major League Soccer home opener, edging New England 3-2 on Jose Altidore’s tap in goal in the 80th minute.

Chelsea Carey plays Japan on Monday morning, looking for her 3rd straight win after an opening day loss at the World Women’s Curling Championship in Denmark. Team Canada is tied for 5th place at 2-1 while China and Korea are undefeated at 4, and 3-0 respectively.

Rory McIlroy overcame an early double bogey and went on to edge Jim Furyk by a single stroke to win The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. McIlroy joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only other player to win 15 PGA Tour events, including 4 majors, before the age of 30 in the Four major era going back to the very first Masters in 1934.

Colorado was the only Western Wild Card hopeful to pick up 2 points on Sunday. The Avalanche shutout New jersey 3-0 to climb to within 4 points of Arizona for the last playoff spot. #1 Wild Card Dallas lost 3-2 in a shootout to Vancouver, Minnesota remained a point behind the Coyotes after dropping a 3-2 overtime decision at home to the Islanders. And Edmonton lost 6-3 at Vegas as Malcolm Subban improved to 12-1 at T-Mobile Arena going back to the start of last season. Even 3rd place St. Louis in the Central had to settle for a bonus point in a 4-3 shootout loss at Buffalo.

Philadelphia is 6 points behind Columbus in the East after a 2-1 overtime win at Pittsburgh. And Anaheim edged Florida 3-2. The Jets open a Pacific Division swing tonight in LA.

The Moose saw their playoff hopes stalled in a 4-1 home loss to San Diego.

Virden held off a furious Selkirk rally to edge the Steelers 3-2 and wrap up that MJHL quarterfinal series in 6 games. Pembina Valley and St. James picked up 4-3 wins over Charleswood and the Twins to go up 2-0 in their Manitoba Major Jr League first round series. St. Vital edged Transcona 2-1 and the Raiders downed Stonewall 5-2 to even those series 1-1.

Too many mistakes by the Raptors led to a 110-107 loss in Detroit as Dwane Casey’s Pistons swept the three game series. And wouldn’t that be an interesting first round series if Detroit slipped to 7th place in the conference.

For only the second time ever, one conference has produced three number one seeds for March Madness. Duke, Virginia, and North Carolina of the ACC are joined by Gonzaga when the Tournament tips off on Thursday.

And the Manitoba High School 4A Titles will be decided tonight at Investors Group Athletic Centre. Oak Park is gunning for a 3rd straight crown when they play Sturgeon Heights in the girls final at 6 p.m. And it’s defending champion St. Paul’s and #1 ranked Vincent Massey in a rematch of last year’s final in the boys game at 8 p.m.

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