5 best sporting performances from the week 3 April - 10 April

As part of our weekly series chronicling the top 5 sporting performances of the week, here are our best picks, past and present:

Sloane Stephens

The now 23-year-old saw success early in her tennis career, and in 2013 had arguably her best ever tennis result to date – defeating a powerful Serena Williams in the semi-finals of that year’s Australian Open.

That same year, she beat Maria Sharapova, with each of those victories coming in hard-fought three set matches. Losing form in 2014 after topping out at No. 11 in the rankings, the American came back to some form in 2015, winning the first ever WTA title of her career at that year’s Citi Open, defeating experienced Australian ace Samantha Stosur in the finals.

After she ended 2015 in 30^th, 2016 has seen a rejuvenated Stephens return to the court and begin the year with a title win at the ASB Classic, and then a February title win at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

Last week, Stephens only four months into the new year, took her third title of the season with a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Elena Vesnina in Charleston. Quickly climbing up the rankings, and currently at 21^st, the young American could be a top 10 contender in the very near future.

Karl-Anthony Towns

For only the second time this season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won three straight games and this week’s winning streak has a lot to do with the performance of rookie Karl-Anthony Towns.

Against Golden State, his size played a huge role in the Timberwolves comeback win. He had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. In a win over the Sacramento Kings, he put up 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. To wrap up the week he had 27 points and 9 rebounds against the Portland Trailblazers, which also included a game winning shot.

Towns, who has more or less locked up the Rookie of the Year award for himself, had a huge hand in every team win this week.

To start off the last week, the Timberwolves went down to the Dallas Mavericks 78-88 but Towns showcased his all-round talent, falling just one assist short of his first career triple double while putting up 11 points and a career high 21 rebounds.

Andy Carroll

West Ham striker Andy Carroll played the central role in an entirely come-from-behind win for his side, West Ham, in their Premier League match against Arsenal. Playing on West Ham’s stomping grounds at Upton Park, it was the visitors who had the upper hand. 18 minutes into the game, Mesut Ozil, with an assist from Alex Iwobi, took Arsenal up 1-0; that lead was extended – again with another Iwobi assist, as Alexis Sanchez scored the team's second goal.

Down 0-2, the game looked all but over for the hosts, when aerial specialist Andy Carroll chipped in with their first goal just before half-time with a header into the corner of the goal.

That prompted extra time – and Carroll to strike again as he equalised the score.

The 27-year-old wasn’t done there, however. His momentum unaffected by the break in play, Carroll came back to take a hat-trick inside of 9 minutes of play to give his team an unexpected – and quick – lead with another header, this one five yards away from goal.

After somewhat arrested momentum, Arsenal came back with Laurent Koscielny scoring their third goal to equalise at 3-3, which meant West Ham wouldn’t have a win – but bringing his team down from 2-0 counts as a personal victory for Andy Carroll.

Brad Hogg

He may be the oldest player in the Indian Premier League, but nothing has appeared to dim Brad Hogg’s star. The left-arm spinner stands out in a league of young, new talent and has continued to impress at the 2016 edition of the IPL.

The Australian took a three-wicket haul and a skier at third man to get Delhi Daredevils’ opener Mayank Agarwal early on in the match.

At an age where most players have retired from all formats of the game, Hogg told the IPL “I’m coming close to the other end of my life, so I got to enjoy as much.” The 45-year-old retired from international cricket in 2008, but has found his second wind with the T20 format, participating in the Big Bash League and the IPL and finding immense success.

He returned to international cricket in 2012, albeit temporarily, due to his success at the Twenty20 format.

Bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2015 after a stint with the Rajasthan Royals, Hogg has remained with the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise in 2016 and continues to impress against players who were not yet born at the peak of his career.

Ayrton Senna

A deviation from the usual choices, the late Ayrton Senna took perhaps the greatest victory of his career on this day in 1993. That year’s European Grand Prix, held at Donnington Park, had been rain-soaked, with visibility poor and drivers taxed.

The Williams pair of already three-time champion Alain Prost and Damon Hill had been on pole, with rain specialist Michael Schumacher also pushing for a win after having qualified in third for Benetton.

After dropping from his qualifying position of fourth to fifth, Senna staged a comeback on the very first lap, catching out Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Hill and finally gunning towards onetime teammate and rival Alain Prost.

He took the lead on the first lap – and led for the remainder of the race. Prost would eventually close out the 1993 season as champion, but the European Grand Prix of 1993 is considered one of the best wet-weather races in the sport, and among the greatest victories in the sport.

The race was sponsored by Sega, who presented Senna with a mock trophy of Sonic the Hedgehog before he was handed the actual trophy.