Performance of the Week

Well this weeks performance of the week would have been the winner of what is now today's US Open men's final. With so many potential stories behind this years winner it seemed like an obvious choice. Now hurricane Hannah has got in the way and I now have to look elsewhere, however I don't have to go very far.

After a superb second week at the tournament beating Stanlis Wawrinka, Juan Martin Del Potro and finally Rafael Nadal my performance of the week goes to Andy Murray for his stunning four set victory over Nadal last night.

All the ingredients were there for what was set to be a classic encounter Nadal was aiming for his third successive Slam victory, while Murray in his first Grand Slam semi-final was hoping to beat the Spainard for the first time in his career.

Murray got off to the perfect start breaking Nadal in the third game to take a 3-1 lead. He broke the world number one again in the seventh game and eventually took the set 6-2.

The second set, with Nadal again not able to live with Murray's constant baseline domination went the Scot's way. In truth he should have won the set before he eventually did in a tie-break. An incredible 7 break points fell his way without taking any of them before he took his 2 set lead.

Nadal seeked to turn the match around as he took the opening game of the set to open up his own 3-1 lead. Murray created only one chance to get back into the set in the final game before Nadal took it 6-4.

The fourth set started the same way as the third with Nadal taking another break. Murray's resilience that he showed against Del Potro shone through as he saved a double-break point to keep himself in contention. Murray then missed out on 8 break points in the next game as Nadal seemed to be closing out the set.

Murray then sensationally broke back to level the game at 4-4 and send the home crowd into raptures. He severed his own faultless service game out before unleashing upon Nadal, and he finally secured the victory with a backhand after chasing a Ndal drop shot.

This victory is amazing for so many reason, maybe most notable for the man that he beat. Nadal is a man mountain in this sport right now and a victory from anyone against him is notable in itself, in a Grand Slam semi-final is just brilliant.

It is now left to be seen whether he can push on and defeat Roger Federer in tonight's final and secure his first Grand Slam victory.

When your luck's in

Lewis Hamilton road his luck as he picked up an unlikely victory in the Belgium Grand Prix. However just hours after the race he was deducted 25 seconds and dropped two places to third behind Fillipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld.

The incident came with just two laps remaining as Hamilton attempted to overtake leader Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton went off the track and overtook the fin over the corner. Hamilton allowed Raikkonen to re-take him before having another go at overtaking him. He went on to win the race after Raikkonen crashed out on the final lap, but he has now lost his win after officials.

This decision for me is amazing. If Hamilton lets Raikkonen overtake him then surely the advantage is lost, the same distance was retained between the two drivers and the passing could be done.

Hamilton will feel hugely aggrieved if this decision is not overturned. His world championship hopes would yet again be falling apart just like it did last season. Massa would have just a two point deficit over Hamilton with Kimi Raikkonen still in the race.

This isn't the first time Hamilton has been on the wrong end of a decision and if this one were to stand then he could see his championship hopes yet again fall away.

Sky is as far as it goes

Amir Khan looked like a rabbit in headlights last night as Breidis Prescott knocked the Brit out in the first round of his WBO intercontinental lightweight defence last night. The Colombian known for his knock-out blows knocked Khan down twice before having the fight stopped inside 54 seconds.

Khan looked severely light weight against the Colombian and questions will have to be answered about why he was chosen to fight Khan, and whether Khan is really ready for world class opponents.

On this display he isn't even close. I would go as far as to say his career as a boxer is over. He showed last night that against an opponent of any sort of quality he flounders. There were questions asked about Khan durability when hit hard and we all found out last night that he has none whatsoever.

Every fighter gets knocked down at some point in there career, its just the way it goes. But the way Khan was humiliated in Manchester shows to me that this his fourth career knock down will be his last.

The humiliation goes beyond Khan himself. What about Sky themselves. Billing Khan as the next great British boxer on sky behind the likes of Lennox Lewis and Ricky Hatton. How they could give him such a high billing when Khan isn't even a proven boxer is absurd.

I wouldn't be surprised if many customers were asking for a refund after last night debacle, and rightly so.

Frank Warren isn't coming out of last night with any plaudits either. He, and Khan's new trainer will take the blame for the choosing of Prescott.

In my opinion it is a good thing that Prescott was chosen so we can all find out what sort of fighter Khan is, and we really did see his true colours, better we find out now than in a world title fight, an event which would be truly laughable.

Even worse for Warren is he now without any main headline boxers. Alex Arthur's defeat earlier in the evening, and Audley Harrison's awful points victory gives Warren a real dilemma.

So overall a real loose-loose situation for all parties last night apart from Prescott, he showed the boxing world that he is a force to be recond with. With 18 knock-outs from 20 fights he really is an executioner lets wait and see what his next scalp shall be.

England Crickets Summer Review

England have been throught the highs and lows this summer and in no uncertain terms I'm going to some it up as best I can and whether we have progressed, or taken a step back.

England started with a 3 match series against New Zealand which they won comfortably 2-0. New Zealand to be fair we're no real threat and an innings and 9 run victory in the third test unlined England's superiority in the test match arena aginst the Kiwi's.

In between and test match and one day series was a one off 20/20 international which England won by nine wickets, this was the last time England would be celebrating as New Zealand dominated the one day series winning 3-1. A series in partiular Paul Collingwood won't want to remember as he controvercly ran out Scott Styris when the allrounder was knocked to the floor by Ryan Sidebottom. Collingwood was then banned for four ODI's for his teams slow over rate and then after just a year as the one-day captain he resigned in the wake of Michael Vaughan's resignation as test captain.

Then came South Africa as the intensity heightened for England Cricketers ahead of the ashes series next year.

South Africa held out at Lords as England's bowlers were left frustrated, and South Africa tok advantage of wayward England bowling, and there crazy selection process. Firstly the option to bring in Darren Patinson for the second test backfired like a cannon as England slumped to a heavy defeat. For the next test Stuart Broad was 'rested' even though he played for Nottingham shire in the same week and infact recorded his best ever figures for them, really showing the selectors that he needed a rest. Graham Smith guided his team to there first series victory since there re-instament into test cricket in 1995.

Michael Vaughan then stepped down as England captain siteing that he had come to the end of the road. A teary Vaughan was then dropped from the team for the fourth test as Kevin Pietersen was made captain in all forms of the game. A risky appointment became a good one when South Africa came unstuck as England finished the series with a consolation win at the Oval.

England finished there summer with 5 ODI's against the South African which seemed like an unhill struggle with South Africa third in the world at the time of the series. However England pulled together and with the call ups of Sami Patel and Owais Shah inpartiulary helped England to a 4-0 win in the series. Pietersen again showing that his batting wasn't to be affected as he led England to a huge win. Flintoff's return in the test matches was a little overshadowed by the poor performances that the team were putting in but he shone in the one-day series.

He put himself as the best all-rounder in the world as he hit 186 runs in the series. His comeback to form coninsided with England as he confirmed himself as yet again England most vital player.

So in conclusion was it a good summer. Well apart from the test series against South Africa deffinetly a yes. The one day series win against the same country was the high point of the summer and very pleasing considering where England were this time last year.

Under Pietersen England look a more exciting team, just like Pietersen's playing style. With India being the next challenge we will wait to see whether Pietersen's honeymoon period as captain will extend into the winter months.

Winning ugly

I seem to being US Open crazy this week and rightly so this has been one of the most exciting 10 days of sport that I have seen this summer, and long let it continue. Predictably however, unlike this tournament I am going to talk about the prodical son Andy Murray.

The British number 1 fought through his quarter-final match in four sets against Juan Martin Del Potro to reach his first grand slam semi-final. When comparing Murray's pefformance and how he has grown as the tourament has gone on leads to believe that he has a lot more in the tank.

His performance against Stanlis Wawrinka was stunning even by his standards a 'perfect' victory is the only way to describe it. He didn't put a foot wrong all match and dominated the number 10 seed.

Against Del Potro however I saw slightly different qualities that he didn't show against Wawrinka. He wasn't as flowing as the Argentine nor was he on the attack as much. He played very defensive and picked off the 19-year old when a chance came his way. His style of play was very patient and this is a good trate if he is to suceed against Rafael Nadal.

Del Potro had clearly done his home work on Murray. It was clear to me that he targetted the Brit's backhand on every occasion he got, and yet Murray can still come home with a win? it strikes me as a very impressive performance.

Murray had done a bit of work to. He learnt to hang back during and rallies a wait for Del Potro to become frustrated and go for an impossible winner. His defensive style reminds me of Nadal who as we know is the defensive king.

The Scot also showed a huge amount character to not let that occasion get ontop of him. Del Potro clearly had the mometnum going into the fourth set and even after being broken he kept his nerve and broke back and then went ahead as he headed towards a 7-5 win in the fourth.

The traits he showed in this match show to me that he can dominate the match even when he isn't the main aggressor. His role in last nights match was very passive and he allowed himself to focus on the job in hand.

Yes he has his work cut out against Nadal in the semi-final but for me if he is ever going to beat the Spainard it is hear and now. Is he ready? I think so

US Open Quarter Final Preview

Before I start this blog I have to say this is one of the strongest last eight I have seen at a Grand Clam for some time. I honestly believe that these are the eight best players in the world right now, no doubt. Therefore I expect a climax that will rival Wimbledon of 2007, it could be special.

Rafael Nadal vs. Mardy Fish: Both men have cruised through the first week to get to this stage and couldn't be in better form right now. Nadal as we all know is in the middle of a purple patch and a period of his career that might never compare to this. This is surely his moment to shine. His serve in this tournament has particulary impressed me and has varstly improved, like he could improve anymore. Fish, as good as he is should be knocked aside here really, not only has he played more sets and games than Nadal but Nadal holds five years in age over the American. Nadal in four sets for me

Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Andy Murray: Probably the most even of the quarter-finals pits the British Number one against the fastest improving player on the tour. Murray is in his second Grand Slam quarter-final of the year and his second in his career to highlight his own resurgence. Del Potro is in a streak of form that even Rafael Nadal would be jealous of. Four sucessive tourmanment wins has taken Del Potro from a world ranking of 67 to number 17 in the world. This last eight achievement will improve his ranking even more as he ste shis sights on a top ten finish. Murray played what was comprehensivly his best match on tour, it was perfect in everyway. This should be a facinating match and with the winner set to meet Nadal in the semi-final it will be all to play for. I'm going for the sixth seed Andy Murray in five sets over his Argentine rival.

Andy Roddick vs. Novak Djokovic: For me this is the pick of the quarter-final line-up former US Open champion Roddick against Australian Open Champion Djokovic. The serb's form has slid a little since his Aussie Open win, a 3rd round exit at Wimbledon combined with a Masters series loss against Andy Murray has let Djokovic down since his galent victory in Melbourne. Roddick has been in a transition period in his career. After a disapointing Wimbledon his resurgence has been slow but encouraging for the home faithful. Both men will be eagert to have a go at Roger Federer after the year he has had and would fancy themselves to make the final if pitted against the swede. I think this could be a classic and I can barely pick a winner. I'll stick my neck out and go for Roddick with the home crowd behind him to come home in five.

Giles Muller vs. Rodger Federer: Federer has had a comfortable journey to this years quarter final and with all the attention on Nadal he has finally been able to get on with his tennis. Muller has impressed hugely on his way to this stage and has knocke dout some high profile opponents. Nicoly Davydenko the number fifth seed underestimated Muller has he heraded for a defeat in four sets. This man should not be underestimated, Federer whoose five set match in the fourth round showed that5 hs is vulnerable will not want the vulture circuling his career just yet. Federer for me in straight sets to meet his old rival Andy Roddick in the semi-final.

Performance of the Week

I thought I would start a new feature this week as sports are getting going all overt the country i thought it would be right to pick out my best player, referee, team whatever I thought was the best of the sporting week just past.

This week we start off with a real cracker, Billy Clarke's four goal performance for Darlington as they beat Macclesfield 6-0 on Saturday. Clarke became the first ever Darlington player to score four goals in a match as the Quakers destroyed lowly Macclesfield. Clarke, a former Ipswich Town youth player is currently on a 6 month loan with the club after short spells at both Falkirk and Colchester United. Jim Magilton has hesitated when using Clarke in his first team at Portman Road, but this stunning array of finishing might just make Magilton think again after his team poor start to the season

Clarke simply ripped apart Macclesfield on Saturday, but his second goal will be the one to remember. Picking the ball up 30 yard out he unleashed a cracking striker with his left foot which arrowed into the top corner, past the despairing John Brian. Clarke now has a goal a game ratio for the Quakers who after being forlorn of strikers at the one point in the season are now feeling the benefits of the extended transfer window.