*By Kavitha Shastry*
We're down to the final matches of this year's U.S. Open, with the four women still in the running for the ladies' singles title facing off in the semifinals Thursday night.
And for Todd Martin, a finalist in New York in 1999 and currently the president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, it's basically a story of Serena Williams...and everybody else.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say it's Serena's tournament to win or lose, but she has gotten to that stage in the tournament where she's the only one who's ever won a Major before, and she's playing really well," Martin said in an interview on Cheddar Thursday.
"She's reasserted herself as, really, the best player in the game."
Williams, who's going for her seventh U.S. Open title, came into this year's event as the 17th seed but was considered by many to be a favorite to win. So far she's defeated her sister Venus, herself a two-time champion, and eighth seed Karolina Pliskova, the runner-up in 2016.
Williams kicks off Thursday's singles action against Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova, who's playing in her first ever Grand Slam semi. The 19th seed may be the heavy underdog, but she's had a good run in New York, dismissing defending champion Sloane Stephens in straight sets in their quarterfinal.
In the second match-up of the night, 14th-seeded American Madison Keys, who lost to Stephens in last year's final, faces rising star Naomi Osaka of Japan. Keys has won all three of the pair's previous meetings, but Osaka, with her first career title at a tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., earlier this year and a win over Serena in Miami, cannot be counted out.
As for the men, who contest their semifinal matches on Friday, there's a little more star power in the mix.
Three-time champion Rafael Nadal, winner in 2017, is coming off a marathon quarterfinal against Austria's Dominic Thiem and will face Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro, who earned his first and so far only Major title in New York in 2009.
Martin said this match will be one to watch.
"On paper, you would say Nadal has the edge. He's won so many Majors, he's in good form right now, and he's really and truly the best fighter in our sport," Martin said.
"However, match-up-wise, Del Potro is 6'6", he's playing at a high level. Nadal's lefty game matching up with Del Potro's height, it's neutralized a little bit...I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there was a minor upset with Del Potro winning that match."
The second men's semi though may be less of a challenge. Former world #1 Novak Djokovic, coming off a title at Wimbledon this year, will take on Japan's Kei Nishikori, a finalist in 2014.
Martin said the favorite is clear.
"Djokovic, when he's right in the head and in the body, he's the best player in the world, and I think he's in a pretty good place right now. I expect him to win the tournament, but there's a few more matches left to be played."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/tennis-legend-todd-martin-previews-us-open-semi-finals).
Super Bowl Sunday is the ー well ー Super Bowl of building brand awareness, particularly for food and beverage companies. This year, Pepsi and Frito-Lay, both units of PepsiCO ($PEP), are once again among the snack giants planning to use the 100 million-plus members of the expected television audience to launch new products and elevate brands in their respective portfolios. Frito-Lay CMO Jen Saenz spoke to Cheddar Tuesday alongside Greg Lyons, the CMO for Pepsi, which is known for its Super Bowl ads and social media engagement tied to the Big Game.
Apple is planning a subscription service that would function like Netflix for games, according to people familiar with the matter. The iPhone maker has also discussed partnering with developers as a publisher, which could signal ambitions to assume distribution and marketing costs for games.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019.
Following a 2018 Supreme Court ruling year that cleared the way for sports gambling, fans in seven states can bet on the upcoming Super Bowl for the first time ー and leaders in the budding industry are anticipating the Big Game will deliver their biggest day yet. “We expect the Super Bowl to be our single biggest day in the company’s history,” Mike Raffensperger, the chief marketing officer for betting platform FanDuel, told Cheddar.
FightCamp is a new fitness company that streams boxing classes from top instructors direct to consumers. The classes can be tailored to the needs of boxers at all levels of expertise ー from newbies to punching pros said co-founder Tommy Duquette.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 25, 2019.
The New York Knicks and its jersey sponsor, the website-building platform Squarespace, are doling out assists to four local businesses as part of the second annual "Make It Awards." "Partnering with Squarespace to help those entrepreneurs get their businesses to the next level was something we were very interested in doing and it's been a major hit," said MSG Sports' senior vice president of business operations, Kristin Bernert, in an interview on Cheddar.
The Delaware Blue Coats will make their debut Wednesday night at the brand new Philadelphia 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del., and the team will share the spotlight with an arena that boasts five stories, can seat 2,500 fans, and includes three NBA-regulation basketball courts. The flashy new arena was designed to promote youth sports in the state of Delaware and the greater Philadelphia region. "It's all geared towards youth," Chris Heck, the president of the Philadelphia 76ers, told Cheddar.
The NBA is transparent about its approval of legalized, regulated sports betting ー but the league is also clearly communicating that it wants a fair share of the money wagered on its games. "It's our view that if state governments are going to be authorizing private entities, in most cases casinos, to generate significant revenue ー billions of dollars of revenue ー off of the NBA competitions, that the NBA participate in some way," said the NBA's head of fantasy and gaming Scott Kaufman-Ross.
Former Green Bay Packer Ahman Green is a four time Pro Bowler, but he's also an avid gamer. When it comes to Halo he's just another fan that looks up to professionals like Proximitty and LethuL for help with his improving his skills.
