Monday, January 13th
What did Leonardo DiCaprio do, when a 24 year-old intoxicated Frenchman fell into the water? He saved him from drowning with his rental holiday boat, by answering a distress call after 11 hours of treading water. What did Novak Djokovic do, after defeating a Spaniard in the final of the ATP Cup with Serbia? Bang, he got back in the chase, with only 500 points separating him from Rafael Nadal and the world number one spot. What did Karolina Pliskova do after winning the Brisbane Open? Boom, she went from being 2300 points behind Ashleigh Barty to only 1607 points behind, putting pressure on her rival who is currently sitting on the throne of the WTA ranking.
Tuesday, January 14th
A message to all young women who are passionate about space: the 44-year old Japanese billionaire Usaku Maezawa is looking for a female-partner to go to the moon with him. The only condition? To be older than 20-years old. Too bad, it would have been an ideal place to hide, for these two players tested positive at a doping test, Robert Farah and Nicolas Jarry…
Wednesday, January 15th
This is the story of two altar boys, who got arrested for having put cannabis in the censer of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostella. « It was a joke, we only bought half a kilo, one of the culprits tried to argue. We’re sure that people left the place happier than ever. » Barty, on her side, also knows how to pull off a good joke. The proof in her press conference, where the Australian answered one of the journalists’ mobile phones, as he forgot to set it into plane mode. On the other end? The gentleman’s grand-mother… who didn’t hesitate to hang up on the stranger. No hard feelings!
Thursday, January 16th
Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios and Andrey Rublev all in the same half of the draw; a potential Djokovic-Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals; Naomi Osaka, Barbora Strýcová, Sloane Stephens, Sofia Kenin, the Williams sisters, Caroline Garcia, Johanna Konta, Caroline Wozniacki, Anastasia Potapova all in the same quarter of the women’s draw… These are the surprises which were unveiled during the draw of the Australian Open. Who will make the cut? An enigma as difficult to crack as the one surrounding this pig which died after being launched by a helicopter in the swimming-pool of a millionaire, in Uruguay. Quick, the sequel!
Friday, January 17th
« Daniil Medvedev would be the best chance to win a Grand Slam for me, right now. The way that he dealt with the boos at the US Open is one of the biggest demonstrations of nerves that I’ve seen, you’ve had to have balls to pull this off, » said John McEnroe, who obviously loves the big characters, and who placed the Russian as the favorite in Melbourne. In other news, here is the breaking news story of the week: a healthy person farts an average of fourteen times a day. It’s a lot, yes.
Saturday, January 18th
The nice story of the weekend, for sure: in the North-West of France, a 29-year old man went to a tobacco shop and had to buy a scratch card to pay by card, because of a minimum fee. The result? The lucky man won 500 000 euros! Enough to get close to Rublev and Barty’s prize money, as they both won in Adelaide, or Ugo Humbert’s and Elena Rybakina’s, who respectively triumphed in Auckland and Hobart.
Sunday, January 19th
Has Medvedev changed, after his crazy year 2019? « I’m the same with my friends, with my family. I still play on the PlayStation, I watch series. I go to the movies and I go out for dinner, » he answered. But there is a but, and it’s called « fame »: « The day after my final in New York, I was wearing a hood and sunglasses, and people still recognized me on the street. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was wondering how people could recognize me as I didn’t even recognize myself! » Still with clothes and accessories, a bird wearing a tiny sombrero was spotted on a parking lot by a local councillor in Reno, Nevada. Just like for Medvedev, the hat didn’t stop her from recognizing it: it was a pigeon.
By Florian Cadu
