Blog: Viraj’s Sports Corner

Insane Finishes: The Most Unforgettable Moments of Sports

Oct 2025
By Viraj Mane

 

Tennis: In a high-intensity battle at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Jannik Sinner showcased his killer instinct to outlast Alexander Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. The Italian’s championship-clinching rally not only secured his fourth title of 2025 but also catapulted him even closer to the coveted world #1 ranking. 

Meanwhile, in a thrilling match, 19-year-old phenom João Fonseca exploded into the tennis world’s consciousness with his first-ever ATP 500 title at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The fearless Brazilian toppled Alejandro Davidovich Fokina with a barrage of powerful strokes to claim his second career tour title and ascend to a new career-high ranking of #28. 

The women’s tour delivered its own electrifying finishes. A decade after her last Tokyo final, the resurgent Belinda Bencic completed her phenomenal return to form with a dominant 6-2, 6-3 victory over Linda Nosková at the Pan Pacific Open. She now moves up to the rank of World #11.  American Ann Li ended a four-year title drought at the Guangzhou Open with a gritty 7-6(6), 6-2 victory over qualifier Lulu Sun. After an intense first-set tiebreak, Li powered through to seize her second career title and surge up the world rankings to World number 33. 

Basketball: This past week, the NBA season tipped off with exciting, clutch, unforgettable moments and high-stakes drama. The excitement hit another notch on opening night, when the defending champions, Thunder, outlasted the Rockets in a double-overtime thriller, with MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sealing the 125-124 victory with ice in his veins. 

Later in the week, rookie sensation VJ Edgecombe made history for the 76ers, exploding for 34 points in his debut to rally his team past the rival Celtics in a 117-116 nail-biter. The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama continued his rapid rise, delivering another near triple-double performance in an overtime win against the Pelicans, even after a thunderous dunk from Zion Williamson reminded everyone of the intense competition. 

And if that wasn’t enough, the Detroit Pistons pulled off a stunning underdog 119-113 victory against the Celtics, shocking the basketball world and proving that no team can be underestimated this season. In addition, the #1 draft pick, Cooper Flagg, is already averaging over 16 points this season, and the top candidates for MVPs are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic. With epic finishes, breakout performances, and heated rivalries already on full display, you need to see it to believe it.

Cricket: The intense rivalry between India and Australia took center stage across the globe. 

In a thrilling Men’s ODI series down under, India fought back from 2-0 down to stun Australia with a dominant nine-wicket victory in the final match in Sydney. Veteran powerhouses Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rolled back the years, with Rohit smashing his 33rd ODI century and Kohli becoming the second-highest run-scorer in ODI history, reminding everyone of their immense class. 

Not to be outdone, the women’s teams delivered arguably the match of the year in the World Cup. Australia’s captain Alyssa Healy etched her name in history, leading an improbable record-breaking run chase against India with a magnificent 142! Her heroics eclipsed India’s record-setting total of 330. In a brutal twist, the tournament was marred by the women’s team losing star opener Pratika Rawal to injury just before their pivotal semi-final showdown with Australia. Beyond the Ashes, the action was equally intense. In the domestic Ranji Trophy, young prodigy Prithvi Shaw, an Indian batter, smashed a double century off just 141 balls, a sensational display of explosive batting. 

In a further twist of fate, the West Indies edged out Bangladesh in a T20I thriller, while England’s women’s side secured a convincing victory against New Zealand despite a scare when key bowler Sophie Ecclestone suffered an injury. 

From record-breaking individual brilliance to heart-stopping close finishes, these cricket finishes were nothing short of extraordinary.

⚽ Soccer: Professional soccer delivered some incredible, heart-stopping moments this past week, with rivalries blazing and late-game drama erupting all around the world. 

The biggest clash was undoubtedly the one in which the fierce Real Madrid outlasted Barcelona 2-1 in a heated battle that saw late goals from Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham. Meanwhile, in the MLS playoffs, we saw some wild finishes, including a Chicago Fire comeback that came up short in a penalty shootout against the Philadelphia Union. And the English Premier League was filled with its own chaos, with teams like Burnley pulling off a thrilling 3-2 victory against Wolves with a last-gasp winner. But perhaps one of the most exciting stories came from the MLS side San Diego FC, which celebrated its first-ever playoff game with a massive 2-1 win over the Portland Timbers. 

It’s clear that no matter the league, soccer players’ skill and determination make every match a potential edge-of-your-seat thriller.

NFL: This whole NFL season has been a rollercoaster of insane finishes and unbelievable plays, not just this past week. 

In Week 1, MVP Josh Allen led the Bills to a stunning 15-point comeback victory over the Ravens, a game that broke viewership records. We also saw a phenomenal performance from Jonathan Taylor, who had a career-long 80-yard run and etched his name into the record books by becoming the fifth player since 2000 to have three touchdowns in four games. 

In Week 8, Aaron Rodgers made a triumphant return to face his former team and led the Steelers to a thrilling 34-32 win over the Jets, sealed by a 60-yard field goal, the longest in Steelers history. 

But the most stunning comeback came this week from the previously winless New York Jets, who clawed their way back from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Bengals 39-38, with running back Breece Hall throwing the go-ahead touchdown pass, a feat no running back has done in the final two minutes of regulation since Curtis Martin in 2000.

WNBA: The 2025 WNBA playoffs were thrilling, with the Las Vegas Aces ultimately winning their third championship in four years against the Phoenix Mercury in the league’s first-ever best-of-seven Finals. 

The Aces’ path was anything but easy, as they were pushed to a decisive Game 5 against the scrappy Indiana Fever in the semifinals, and had to rely on a clutch Game 3 performance from Finals MVP A’ja Wilson to close out the Mercury. 

The Mercury defied expectations by upsetting the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in four games in the semifinals, capping off their playoff run with a tense Game 4 victory. Even in the earlier rounds, dramatic, close matches were common, including the Lynx’s nail-biting, come-from-behind victory over the expansion Golden State Valkyries and the Aces’ 74-73 Game 3 nail-biter against the Storm. 

In the end, the Aces’ experience and superstar power proved enough to win the title, but not before the rest of the league delivered an unforgettable postseason full of incredible performances and clutch moments.

I hope you enjoyed this blog and learned a thing or two. This is your blog writer, Viraj Mane signing out.

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US Open Madness: Upsets, Comebacks, and a New No. 1! 

Aug 18–Sep 7, 2025

By Viraj Mane

The final Grand Slam of the year — and maybe the most prestigious — has ended! And wow, after a boatload of twists and turns, here’s everything you need to know.

In the first round, most of the 32 ranked seeds got through, but not without some crazy battles. World No. 24 Flavio Cobolli edged out fellow Italian Francesco Passaro in a five-set, nearly four-hour match. Cobolli barely survived against a guy ranked 120 spots below him! Another close one came when American Brandon Nakashima (No. 30) beat Jesper De Jong in five sets, with the last set being a tiebreak — a real nerve test for Nakashima.

However, there were also some significant upsets. World No. 13 Daniil Medvedev lost to No. 45 Benjamin Bonzi, and let’s just say he was really frustrated after the match. Medvedev hasn’t been in form all year and even lost to Bonzi at Wimbledon. Another upset was No. 28 Alex Michelsen losing to Francisco Comesana in four straight forward sets. And shoutout to Reilly Opelka for making his match close against top seed Carlos Alcaraz.

Then came the second round — and things got weird. It started when the fifth seed, Jack Draper, had to walk off because of an injury. That’s when tennis fans knew it might be a long round for the top seeds. And they were right. Jakub Mensik and Alejandro Davidovich (No. 16 and 18) both lost in five-set matches to French players. Ugo Blanchet — literally a qualifier — took out Mensik, and Arthur Rinderknech, who is always a threat for upsets, got Davidovich. After that, No. 11 Holger Rune crashed out to ANOTHER qualifier, Jan-Lennard Struff. Struff, the serving beast from Germany, looked in form and had too much firepower. Brandon Nakashima again went to five sets, but this time he couldn’t hold his nerve and lost to Jerome Kym. And in a heartbreaker for top-10 seed Karen Khachanov, he blew a two-set lead and lost to Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak. And… let’s just not even talk about Stefanos Tsitsipas. At this point, his losing isn’t even an upset — he barely has more wins than losses this year (21-17). 

In the third round, Taylor Fritz battled through a tough four-setter against Jerome Kym, while Novak Djokovic, Tomas Machac, and Lorenzo Musetti cruised through. Carlos Alcaraz absolutely crushed his opponent. But it was a rough round for American fans: Ben Shelton, who just reached a career-high ranking of No. 6, had to retire with a shoulder injury, and Frances Tiafoe lost to Struff (what a Cinderella run he’s having!). World No. 3 Alexander Zverev also lost, this time to Felix Auger-Aliassime, who finally looks like he’s back in form.

Round of 16! Djokovic easily ended Struff’s Cinderella run, and Alcaraz and Fritz got through in three tough sets. Sinner destroyed Bublik — the same guy who beat him earlier this year — 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. The “AI machine” was fully online. Alex de Minaur (“The Demon”) showed off his insane speed and beat qualifier Leonardo Riedi easily, and Felix kept his dream run alive by beating Andrey Rublev in three sets.

Quarterfinals: Novak Djokovic beat Taylor Fritz in four tight sets and then did a K-Pop “Soda Pop” dance — the crowd went wild! Carlos Alcaraz beat Jiri Lehecka (shoutout to Jiri for making the last eight), and Sinner crushed Musetti 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the all-Italian showdown. Felix kept rolling by beating De Minaur in four close sets to make his first Grand Slam semifinal since 2021.

Semifinals: The big question — would we get Alcaraz vs. Sinner for the third straight time in a Slam final? Novak gave it everything but lost to Alcaraz in straight sets, the third set looking easy as Novak was out of gas. Sinner dropped the second set to Felix but came back strong to win 6-3, 6-4 and book his spot in the final.

Finals: Whoever won would take the No. 1 ranking. The hype was real. Carlos was going for his sixth major, Sinner his fifth. “Play!” said the umpire, and off they went. Carlos took the first set 6-2, Sinner came right back 6-3, but Alcaraz turned up the heat and took the last two sets 6-1, 6-4. Match over in 2 hours 44 minutes. Carlos wins his sixth major title and is back to world No. 1.

Ranking Updates:

• Alcaraz → No. 1
• Sinner → No. 2
• Felix Auger-Aliassime → Up to No. 13
• Jiri Lehecka → Up to No. 16
• Frances Tiafoe → Down to No. 29
• Medvedev → Down to No. 18

I hope you know a lot more about the US Open now — and stay tuned for more sports updates! This is Viraj Mane signing out.