Ball Gil #081: You might soon drive the same engine as an F1 racer

Audi is officially getting into the F1 game — looks like Netflix’s Drive to Survive has sparked motorsport love in people and corporations! But here’s the kicker: Audi won’t be joining as a team, they’ll just be a motor supplier. I mean, when I picture an Audi, I’m imaging the ultimate unqualified-babysitter-picks-you-up-from-school car, so TBD if they can ~rebrand~ into something speedy.

Can I have your number?

~197%: Difference between highest (quarterback) and lowest (long snapper) paid positions in the NFL, based on some of the best contracts negotiated for each position in 2022. Deshaun Watson (quarterback) will earn $230 million guaranteed, vs. Josh Harris (long snapper) will earn $1.9 million guaranteed.

TLDRs

🎾Serena Williams advances past the first round at the US Open, followed by a career celebration at Arthur Ashe in front of a slew of celebrities cheering her on. Rafael Nadal advances as well, despite dropping the first set to newcomer Rinky Hijikata. Read on for more.

⛳️The PGA Tour season wrapped last weekend, but fear not! There is still more LIV Golf to be played. The 4th LIV event will kick off this Friday (9/2) at The International Golf Course and Country Club in Bolton, MA. Cameron Smith, who won the British Open last month, is the latest notable addition to the league. Smith is the highest-ranked player to join LIV at #2 in the world.

🏀 It’s looking like R.J Barrett may as well get comfy in the big apple; he and the Knicks are in the final phases of locking in a 4-year contract extension for $120 million. Oh, the closet space you could buy with that kinda $$$… Reminder: NY was debating trading Barrett for Utah Jazz superstar Donovan Mitchell. They’ve given Utah until FRIDAY to speak up 👀

🎓🏈 Jim Harbaugh, University of Michican head coach, is out here playing MIND GAMES with his two QBs, J.J McCarthy (Sophomore) and Cade McNamara (Junior, last year’s starter). He has yet to announce who will be QB1, only that McCarthy will play the first two games. Why the mental torture, you ask? Because Harbaugh wants to have a stellar back up quarterback should his starter get hurt. Pull trig on his starter too fast and #2 may transfer. Evil? Yes. Genius? Also yes.

⚾ Aaron Judge hit his 51st homer of the season last night to help the Yankees defeat the Angels, 7-4. No one else across the league is even close to his record this season — the next closest guy on the list is Kyle Schwarber (Phillies) with 35. Judge will become a free agent at the end of this year, too, and based on the way the Yankees are looking lately, he might just dip outta NYC.

🏈 You remember Jimmy G, handsome SF 49ers quarterback who all grandmas love and who dates pornstars? (Yes, both of these things can be true). He and the 49ers are in an odd situationship. Jimmy asked to get traded earlier this year but couldn’t secure a new contract. The 49ers, on the other hand, made moves last year to secure another young QB in the draft, Trey Lance, but he has yet to prove his snuff. So they worked out a one year, $16 mil contract for Jimmy to stay in SF. The question now is, will the 49ers keep trying to build up Lance, or let Jimmy take another run at a Super Bowl?

Tennis

A big (and quite frankly unexpected) win for Serena

• The US Open kicked off on Monday, and Serena Williams’s win against Danka Koviníc is undoubtably the biggest highlight. What seemed to be a relatively even set from the start took a sharp turn when Koviníc went up 4-2. A Serena that the world hasn’t seen in quite some time came out…

• Williams managed to break Koviníc’s serve (read: she won the game even though Kovinic was serving) and absolutely dominated the match from then on with her flawless, powerful serve. She went on to earn an outright 6-3, 6-3 win.

• Williams will face #2 seed Anett Kontaveit this evening at 7pm EST, and if the Serena we saw Monday night shows up again, this could result in another win for the long-time champion.

• Not only were all of the celebs there to see her play (see TOFTT below for the whole list), but Serena’s win was followed by a blue carpet celebration of her tennis career, since if you haven’t heard, she has decided to retire after the Open… or, as she likes to say, “evolve”. Seems that not many people were banking on her making it past the first round… but all kidding aside, Williams was recognized for all she has given to the game with a speech from Billie Jean King and a video montage (both below).

Okay, enough about Serena, what else is poppin at the Open?

• Daniil Medvedev (#1 seed) (WIN) vs. Stefan Kozlov

• Alison Van Uytvanck (WIN) vs. Venus Williams ****— P.S. did anyone else think Venus Williams had retired?

• Rafael Nadal (#2 seed) (WIN) vs. Rinky Hijikata — Rafa rallied after dropping first set to the newbie.

• Iga Swiatek (#1 seed) (WIN) vs. Jasmine Paolini

• Danielle Collins (#19 seed) (WIN) vs. Naomi Osaka

• Anett Kontaveit (#2 seed) (WIN) vs. Jaqueline Cristian

Must Watch This Week

Wednesday, August 31

• ⚾ 6:00pm ET, Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians

• 🎾 7:00pm ET, US Open R2, Women’s Singles - Serena Williams vs. Anett Kontaveit

• ⚾ 7:00pm ET, LA Dodgers vs. NY Mets

• 🎾 8:15pm ET, US Open R2, Men’s Singles - Daniil Medvedev vs. Arthur Rinderknech

Thursday, September 1

• ⚾ 4:00pm ET, LA Dodgers vs. NY Mets

• ⚾ 6:00pm ET, Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians

• 🎾 Time TBD, US Open R2, Women’s Singles - Iga Swiatek vs. Sloane Stephens

• 🎾 Time TBD, US Open R2, Men’s Singles - Fabio Fognini vs. Rafael Nadal

• 🎾 Time TBD, US Open R1, Women’s Doubles - Linda Nosková & Lucie Hradecká vs. Serena Williams & Venus Williams

Time Out for the Tea

And the list goes on…

• Spotted at the US Open Monday night to watch Serena Williams play her first match of the US Open (just in case it would be the last match of her career): Hugh Jackman, Lindsey Vonn, Vera Wang, Rebel Wilson, Bill Clinton, Anna Wintour, Queen Latifah, Mike Tyson, Katie Couric, Matt Damon, Anthony Anderson, Spike Lee, and more.

Tough Crowd on TB

• Tom Brady is back. But he missed 11 days of training camp for “personal reasons” and fans are speculating that he spent that time getting plastic surgery. Absolutely ruthless crowd. Here are just a couple of examples…