This Weekend in Sports — Wimbledon, UFC 148 and the Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry Renewed
Wimbledon ends the fortnight by crowning its champions, ultimate fighting has a stellar card and baseball’s best rivalry gets the national spotlight. Here’s what’s happening in sports this weekend.
Friday, July 6
Wimbledon Men’s Semifinals
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, England; 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EDT); ESPN-TV
The finals of Wimbledon are slated for this weekend. On the men’s side, reigning champ and No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic faces six-time champ and No. 3 seed Roger Federer on Friday in a semifinal match that will provide the overwhelming favorite of Sunday’s final. The other semifinal match-up finds No. 4 Andy Murray against No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
US Women’s Open Golf Championship — Second Round
Blackwolf Run Championship Course, Kohler, WI; 4 p.m. (EDT); ESPN-2 Through Sunday, July 8
Defending U.S. Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu will look to keep the title from a competitive field that includes Paula Creamer, Shanshan Feng and Cristie Kerr.
Saturday, July 7
Wimbledon Women’s Final — Serena Williams vs. Agnieszka Radwanska
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, England; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (EDT); ESPN-TV
Serena Williams seeks her fifth Wimbledon title, while Agnieszka Radwanska, the No. 3 player in the world, is looking for her first Grand Slam victory. Williams was methodical in hitting 24 aces against Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals on Thursday. If Radwanska can win, she’ll gain the world’s No. 1 ranking.
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
Fenway Park, Boston, MA; 7:15 p.m. (EDT); FOX-TV
Baseball’s best rivalry is renewed in Fenway Park this weekend and on Fox’s ‘Baseball Night in America’ on Saturday night. The first-place New York Yankees (49-32, as of Thursday) will send Freddy Garcia (2-2, 5.94) to the mound to face the surging Boston Red Sox (42-40). The Red Sox, who have drawn within 7.5 games of the Yankees after a terrible start, will start Felix Doubront (8-4, 4.42), who must face the power-hitting New York lineup. The game is the second of a day-night doubleheader between the teams in Boston on Saturday.
NASCAR Coke Zero 400
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL; 7:49 p.m. (EDT); TNT-TV
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway this Saturday. Matt Kenseth, who won the Daytona 500 in February, is the current points leader. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is closing ground on Kenseth, with Jimmie Johnson moving up to third after last Sunday.
UFC 148
MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, NV; 10 p.m. (EDT); PPV-TV
An excellent card highlights the 148th edition of the Ultimate Fighting Championships. The main bout is a middleweight title fight — and rematch — between champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen. Their 2010 fight, won by Silva, was judged the Fight of the Year. The Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz fight on the undercard is another rematch everyone wants to see. Griffin and Ortiz have split their two previous fights. Among the other fights on the main card are Cung Le vs. Patrick Côté and Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie.
Sunday, July 8
Wimbledon Men’s Final
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, England; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (EDT); ESPN-TV
The winner of Friday’s Novak Djokovic – Roger Federer match will face the winner of the Andy Murray – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga duel, If Murray can advance on Friday and win the title on Sunday, he’d be the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.
US Women’s Open Golf Championship — Final Round
Blackwolf Run Championship Course, Kohler, WI; 3 p.m. (EDT); NBC
The prestigious US Women’s Open championship comes down to the final round. The world’s best female golfers will vie for the winning share of the $3.25 million purse.
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
Fenway Park, Boston, MA; 8:05 p.m. (EDT); ESPN-TV
ESPN’s ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ gets the finale of the four-game series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. New York hopes that Ivan Nova (9-3, 4.05) will give them a boost as they head into the All-Star break after this contest. The Red Sox know they will begin to get some big bats back in the second half of the season, so they need Jon Lester (5-5, 4.33) to give them some momentum.