| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker ·Feb 22, 2021 | | 👋 Happy Monday! Let's sports. Today's word count: 1,340 words (5 minutes). | | | | | | 1 big thing: 🎾 The Big 3's reign continues |  Table: Axios Visuals Novak Djokovic beat Daniil Medvedev, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2, to keep his Australian Open dominance intact — nine finals, nine championships. - Why it matters: Djokovic now has 18 Grand Slam singles titles, two away from the men's record held by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Only Nadal has won a single Slam more often (13x at Roland-Garros).
- The big picture: The Big 3 have won 58 of the last 70 Grand Slams — and 15 of the last 16. Since Federer's first Slam in 2003, they've lost back-to-back titles just once (2016 Wimbledon and U.S. Open).
Looking ahead: Djokovic, 33, has spent his career in the shadow of Federer, 39, and Nadal, 34, as the de facto bronze medalist on the all-time podium. - And yet, considering he's the youngest and currently the most dominant (5-0 in his last five Australian Opens and Wimbledons), he seems destined to win the most Grand Slams of the three.
- The bottom line: The Big 3 are a gift from the sports gods. How often do we get to watch a G.O.A.T. debate play out in real-time like this?
Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images Naomi Osaka cruised past Jennifer Brady to win her fourth Grand Slam, adding to the 2018 and 2020 U.S. Opens, plus her 2019 Australia title. The 23-year-old sensation has yet to lose a major final. "We talk about the depth of women's tennis ... But something is shifting now, and it's all about Naomi. ... She's breaking away from the pack." — Chris Evert Go deeper: |     | | | | | | 2. 💉 The lab powering pandemic sports |  | | | Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios | | | | BioReference Laboratories, Inc. has been a key cog in the sports-amid-a-pandemic machine, providing tailor-made, COVID-19 testing solutions for most major American sports leagues, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. - Year founded: 1981
- Parent company: OPKO Health
- Overview: One of the largest full-service, specialty laboratories in the U.S., averaging 50-60,000 PCR tests per day.
The state of play: BioReference works mostly with non-sports clients (they've tested New York City public schools, for example). But the company's athletic footprint is unmatched over the past year. - Bubbles: NBA, NHL and MLS bubbles; Winter X Games; NBA G League bubble.
- Non-bubbles: 2020-21 NFL season; current NBA and NHL seasons; USMNT and USWNT.
- Fan testing: Bills home playoff games; NBA teams hosting fans this season.
Between the lines: Each client requires a custom solution. So while BioReference has become the de facto "sports testing partner," they've provided vastly different services from league to league. - NFL: BioReference performed 1.23 million tests last season, comprising 5,000 people tested daily for seven months, per OPKO's Q4 earnings call. They tested teams at their facilities, then delivered the tests to nearby labs, which returned results within 24 hours.
- NBA: Roughly 100 BioReference employees lived in the Disney bubble and administered tests to players, which were then driven 75 minutes away to a lab in Melbourne, Florida.
- Fans: Testing fans ahead of the Bills' playoff games presented a new challenge. "We had to build the IT infrastructure so fans could go to the website, pick a time, schedule their test, show up, get tested in five minutes and have the result on their phone within 24 hours," executive chairman Jon Cohen tells Axios.
What's next: BioReference has an agreement with MLB to be their testing partner for the 2021 season, which begins in less than five weeks. | | | | | | | | 3. ⚽️ The new kings of London |  | | | West Ham players celebrating the win over Tottenham. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Getty Images | | | | West Ham United beat Tottenham, 2-1, on Sunday to move into fourth place in the Premier League, Jeff writes. Why it matters: The 126-year-old club has the best record among the five London-based clubs in England's top flight: - West Ham: 45 points (fourth)
- Chelsea: 43 (fifth)
- Tottenham: 36 (ninth)
- Arsenal: 34 (10th)
- Crystal Palace: 29 (14th)
 Map: Michelle McGhee/Axios The backdrop: West Ham have never finished better than fifth in the Premier League, and at this point last season, they had just 24 points and were the worst of the London clubs. - Founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks by and for the shipbuilders in the neighborhood, they became West Ham United in 1900.
- Their fans were once among the most notorious hooligan outfits in all England, engaging in a bitter, decades-long rivalry with Millwall (as fictionally portrayed in 2005's "Green Street Hooligans").
Elsewhere: - 🇬🇧 Premier League: In other EPL news, Everton beat Liverpool, 2-0, for their first Merseyside Derby victory at Anfield since 1999.
- 🇮🇹 Serie A: Inter beat rival AC Milan for the sixth time in the last seven matches, as the two Milanese clubs remain atop the league.
- 🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Eintracht Frankfurt, who haven't lost in league play since Dec. 11, beat first-place Bayern Munich to move into a tie for third.
- 🇺🇸 USWNT beat Brazil, 2-0, to improve to 2-0 in the SheBelieves Cup. Next up: Argentina on Wednesday.
| | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Axios Denver launches today! | | |  | | | | Keep up with the most important stories affecting the Denver area from tech, sports, business, and more. Curated by local reporters John Frank and Alayna Alvarez. Sign up for free. | | | | | | 4. 🏀 The best of men's and women's hoops |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | No. 3 Michigan beat No. 4 Ohio State, 92-87, on Sunday in the best game of the men's college basketball season, Jeff writes. - And in women's hoop's, No. 11 Michigan also took care of No. 15 Ohio State, 75-66, to improve to 13-2.
Zoom out: The Wolverines' weekend dominance had us wondering: Which schools have the best combined men's and women's winning percentage this season? The top 20*: - Baylor: .944 (34-2)
- Gonzaga: .932 (41-3)
- Michigan: .906 (29-3)
- Belmont: .864 (38-6)
- Stephen F. Austin: .857 (30-5)
6–10: Colorado State (.824, 28-6); Louisville (.816, 31-7); Missouri State (.811, 30-7); BYU (.805, 33-8); UConn/South Dakota State (.800, 28-7 and 32-8). 11–15: Houston (.795, 31-8); California Baptist (.795, 31-8); Villanova (.794, 27-7); Abilene Christian (.789; 30-8); West Virginia (.780, 32-9) 16–20: FGCU (.778, 28-8); Ohio State (.775, 31-9); UCLA (.763, 29-9); Liberty (.762, 32-10); Stanford (.756, 34-11) *Among schools with at least 15 games played per team | | | | | | | | 5. 🇺🇸 Photos across America | | Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images STATELINE, Nevada — The NHL's Lake Tahoe experiment got off to a rough start, with Saturday's game delayed eight hours due to poor ice conditions (the sun is undefeated). But overall, an awesome weekend. Photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images LAS VEGAS — Oscar Valdez put on the performance of his young life on Saturday, pummeling Miguel Berchelt and knocking him out cold to secure the WBC super featherweight title. Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images NEW YORK — Sunday was the last Knicks game in the emptied and cavernous version of Madison Square Garden. A couple thousand fans will be in attendance on Tuesday for their game against the Warriors. | | | | | | | | 6. 🌊 Rowing solo across the Atlantic |  | | | Harrison cruising into Antigua's English Harbour. Courtesy: Atlantic Campaigns | | | | Jasmine Harrison, 21, is the youngest woman to row solo across an ocean, completing her epic quest on Saturday. - Time: 70 days, 3 hours, 48 minutes
- Distance: Over 3,000 miles
- Route: Spain to Antigua
Just imagine ... "Harrison's 550-pound boat was twice toppled by rogue waves, sending her into the water," per NYT. - "She had frightening close calls, including nearly colliding with a drilling ship at four in the morning.
- "She missed her family and her dogs and cold drinking water. She also missed music."
🎥 Watch: Interview with Harrison (Good Morning Britain) | | | | | | | | 7. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Photo: Harry How/Getty Images | | | | ⛳️ Max Homa won the Genesis Invitational, his hometown event, and was awarded the trophy by Tiger Woods, his childhood idol. What a weekend for a very likable guy. 🏀 50-point bursts: The NBA is seeing a 40-point game explosion, so naturally 50-point games are also on the rise. There have been seven this season, including two on Friday (Jamal Murray and Joel Embiid). ❤️ Sterling Skye Mahomes, the daughter of Patrick Mahomes and Brittany Matthews, was born on Saturday, the couple announced. ⚾️ Heckuva start: FAU freshman Caleb Pendleton hit grand slams in his first two collegiate at-bats on Saturday night, both in the same inning. Unreal. 💉 13 of 4,336 (0.3%) of COVID-19 tests were positive during intake screening for MLB spring training. Nine players, four staff. | | | | | | | | 8. 📆 Feb. 22, 1980: "Miracle on Ice" | | Photo: Focus on Sport/Getty Images 41 years ago today, the U.S. ice hockey team beat the heavily favored Soviet Union, 4-3, in Lake Placid in one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history. Photo: Tom Sweeney/Star Tribune via Getty Images Fun fact: The game was shown on a three-hour tape delay, so the 8,500 fans in attendance were the only Americans who saw it live. Well, mostly. "If you had access to Canadian television (as I did, living in Buffalo) you could watch the game live. I watched it at 5pm, went a bit crazy, and then watched the (edited) airing on ABC at 8." — Axios Sports reader John Reiss Photo: Steve Powell/Getty Images Two days later, the U.S. beat Finland, 4-2, to clinch gold. 🎥 Watch: "Miracle" speech (YouTube) | | | | | | | | 9. 🏀 NBA trivia |  | | | Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images | | | | The Timberwolves have fired coach Ryan Saunders after an NBA-worst 7-24 start. - Question: Minnesota was 43-94 under Saunders (since Jan. 8, 2019). Who are the only two teams with worse records over that span?
- Hint: They've won a combined three NBA titles.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. 🎥 Dunk of the year | | Giphy Look, there were a lot of great plays this weekend. But I promise you, watching this GIF of Anthony Edwards' ferocious dunk on an endless loop is the best use of your time. | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Axios Denver launches today! | | | | | | | | Keep up with the most important stories affecting the Denver area from tech, sports, business, and more. Curated by local reporters John Frank and Alayna Alvarez. Sign up for free. | | | | Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Great moments are born from great opportunity" Baker Trivia answer: Knicks and Cavaliers 🙏 Thanks for reading Axios Sports. Follow me on Twitter for updates throughout the day, and refer friends using your link below. | | Invite friends to follow Axios Sports Use your personal link to track how many readers you bring into the community  You currently have 00 referrals. Share with a friend For questions email referralsupport@axios.com. Participation in the Axios Sports Referral Program constitutes your acceptance of the Axios Terms and Conditions of Use, which can be viewed here. | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters.
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