Kyle Snyder called out Abdulrashid Sadulayev in the spring, saying he could beat the Russian more soundly than in the 2017 Match of the Century. That Sadulayev was getting bad advice from those who told him he could beat Snyder if he entered the world championships in the 97kg freestyle division again this year.
Turns out, Sadulayev’s advisers were right.
The Russian Tank pinned Snyder for gold in the Rematch of the Century at wrestling worlds in Budapest on Tuesday. It was over in 70 seconds.
Sadulayev took control with a single-leg shot at 40 seconds, quickly took Snyder down and, after 20 seconds of jostling, used his 215 pounds on top of Snyder to get the American’s shoulders on the mat.
“Ended quickly,” Snyder said. “That stunk. Everybody knows Sadulayev’s a very talented wrestler. He hit me in a good move, and it worked out well for him. … This one doesn’t even really hurt too much right now.”
Snyder, 22, lost on the global championship stage for the first time. In 2015, he became the youngest American to win a world title. In 2016, he became the youngest U.S. Olympic wrestling champion. In 2017, he beat Sadulayev in the worlds final 6-5, overcoming a two-point deficit in the final minute in a battle of Olympic gold medalists.
Former Russian freestyle coach Magomed Guseynov was proven prophetic Tuesday.
“Sadulayev wasn’t prepared well last time,” he told United World Wrestling before worlds. “[Sadulayev] is 10 times better than Snyder. … Being a coach with 47 years of experience, I guarantee that Sadulayev won’t give him a chance to score a single point. Sadulayev will wrestle as if Snyder is an amateur.”
Sadulayev, a 22-year-old from Dagestan, was undefeated at the senior international level from November 2013 up to that 2017 World final. He beat four Rio Olympic 86kg opponents by a combined 28-1.
Sadulayev was more impressive than Snyder in Monday’s early rounds, winning all four matches by the 10-point mercy rule. Snyder’s closest match was his semifinal, a 3-0 win over two-time world medalist Pavlo Oliynyk of Hungary.
In other divisions Tuesday, three-time world champion Adeline Gray beat Olympic gold medalist Erica Wiebe of Canada to reach Wednesday’s 76kg final. Gray took 2017 off to recover from injuries after surprisingly missing the medals at her first Olympics in Rio.
Helen Maroulis, a 2015 and 2017 World champion and Rio gold medalist, opens her bid Wednesday to tie Tricia Saunders for the U.S. female record of four combined Olympic and world titles.
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MORE: Wrestling worlds TV schedule
Novak Djokovic, a record nine-time champion, and defending champion Rafael Nadal headline the 2023 Australian Open, where the men’s Grand Slam singles titles record is at stake.
Djokovic is PointsBet Sportsbook’s favorite despite being seeded fourth after missing last year’s Australian Open and U.S. Open because of his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Serb won his last 21 Australian Open matches since a fourth-round defeat in 2018. He is bidding to tie the record of 11 Australian Open singles titles held by Margaret Court and become the second man to win any major 10 times.
The other man to do it is of course Nadal, who owns 14 French Open crowns. Nadal also owns the men’s record 22 Grand Slam singles titles overall, just one ahead of Djokovic.
Last year, Nadal won the Australian Open on the heels of a chronic foot injury that had him questioning coming back to tennis at all. He also overcame foot problems to win the French Open, then reach the Wimbledon semifinals before withdrawing with an abdominal muscle tear.
Starting with his U.S. Open fourth-round defeat, Nadal went 1-6 in his seven matches leading into the Australian Open.
This is the first Australian Open since Roger Federer‘s retirement. Also missing: the injured world No. 1 and U.S. Open champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who at 19 became the youngest men’s Grand Slam champion since Nadal’s first title at the 2005 French Open.
Norwegian Casper Ruud, the runner-up at last year’s French Open and U.S. Open, and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, a three-time Australian Open semifinalist, are the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds between Nadal and Djokovic. Ruud is in Djokovic’s half. Tsitsipas is in Nadal’s half.
MORE: Australian Open Women’s Draw
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Iga Swiatek of Poland is the top seed in the 2023 Australian Open women’s singles draw, looking to move closer to the career Grand Slam.
Swiatek, a two-time French Open champion who won the most recent major, the U.S. Open in September, headlines the first major field without any woman with four or more Slam titles since the 2003 U.S. Open.
That’s due to Serena Williams‘ retirement after the U.S. Open, Naomi Osaka‘s pregnancy break and Venus Williams‘ withdrawal due to injury. Other multiple major winners are also absent: Simona Halep due to a provisional doping ban and Angelique Kerber due to pregnancy. Not to mention reigning champion Ash Barty‘s retirement last March.
So Swiatek is not only the PointsBet Sportsbook favorite, but also the most decorated major champion in the field. Last year, she followed an upset defeat in the Australian Open semifinals to American Danielle Collins by soon rattling off 37 consecutive match wins while succeeding Barty as the world No. 1.
No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula, who swept Swiatek in the United Cup earlier in January, is the top hope to end the longest U.S. women’s singles major title drought this century and longest U.S. men’s and women’s singles major drought in the Open Era (since 1968). Pegula and Swiatek could meet in the semifinals.
Coco Gauff, the runner-up to Swiatek at last year’s French Open, is seeded seventh and looking to reach her first Australian Open quarterfinal. Gauff could face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in the second round and Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
While Swiatek, Pegula and Gauff are in the top half of the draw, the bottom half is led by No. 2 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, No. 4 Caroline Garcia of France and No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
MORE: Australian Open Men’s Draw
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