French Open - day five

Day five of the French Open and Simona Halep beat Heather Watson in straight sets. The second set was very competitive but Heather made way too many unforced errors to win this match. 

Ana Ivanovic beat Elina Svitolina in straight sets and it was routine win for Ana and if she keeps it up she may win this grandslam.

Sloane Stephens beat Polona Hercog in straight sets and it was a very convincing win by Sloane. 

In the men's draw Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Theim in straight sets and this was a good comfortable win for Rafa.  

Andy Murray beat Marinko Matosevic in straight sets and it was a comfortable match for Andy. 

This hopefully the type of match that should prepare Andy for the tougher matches that will come his way.

French Open - day four

Day four of the French Open had some big surprises, in the women's draw Anna Schmiedlova beat Venus Williams in three sets. 

Venus did well in the first set but then went off the rails and the unforced errors increased and this got worse in the third set. 

Ana played a careful and patient game and and her confidence grew with each game and she started really going for her shots. 

It was sad to see Venus's game fall apart and it does make me wonder how long Venus can carry on playing knowing she doesn't really have the energy for three sets. 

To add to the drama Garbine Muguruza beat Serena Williams in straight sets. Garbine played well and did not really allow Serena to get into the match. 

Serena by her own standards had a poor match, her serve was off and she was barely moving her feet. She may have been carrying an injury that is only explanation for her shocking performance. 

Maria Sharapova beat Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets and she played reasonably well after a poor start and had complete control of the second set and the match. 

Taylor Townsend beat Alize Cornet in three sets and Taylor was given a wild card to enter this tournament and has made incredible progress and it will be interesting to see how far she will go in this tournament. 

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic beat Jeremy Chardy in straight sets and Novak looked calm and confident and had complete control over the game and match. 

Roger Federer beat Diego Schwartzman in straight sets and Roger played well and did enough to win this match comfortable. 

French Open - day three

Day three of the French Open was eventful and in the women's draw Sloane Stephens beat Shuai Peng in straight sets. 

Sloane has had some real tough losses recently but I am convinced that she is only really motivated for Grand Slam tournaments and hence why she is able to pick up her level and get routine wins. 

Ana Ivanovic beat Caroline Garcia in straight sets and this was a very good win for Ana as Caroline has been playing well on the clay.

The shock result of the day was Ni La losing to Kristina Mladenovic in three sets.   

I thought that Ni La was going to do quite well and I thought she would at least make it to the semi-finals.    

 

So this was a huge surprise and has certainly opened up the bottom half the draw.

In the men's draw Andy Murray beat Andrey Golubev in four sets. Andy was doing well then lost his concentration but regained it quickly enough to win the fourth set and the match.  

Another surprise result was Ivo Karlovic beating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. It was a close match but Ivo seemed to have the edge when it came to big the points. 

French Open - Day two

Day two at the French Open and in the women's draw Maria Sharapova beat Ksenia Pervak in straight sets and this was a routine win for Maria, who is hoping to win her fifth grand slam. 

Petra Kivitova beat Zarina Diyas in straight sets and it was also a fairly routine win for Petra who is aiming for her second grand slam. 

Eugenie Bouchard beat Shahar Peer in straight sets and Eugenie has been playing great tennis and she should at least make it to the semi-finals. 

In the men's draw Rafael Nadal beat Robby Ginepri in straight sets and it was a very good win for Rafa who also bagled Robby twice in the three sets.

Novak Djokovic beat Joao Sousa in straight sets and it was a fairly routine win for Novak who is hoping to at least make it to the final. 

The shock result of the day was Guillermo Garcia- Lopez beat Stanislas Wawrinka in four sets and bagled Stanislas in the fourth set. 

Stanislas is the current Australian Open champion and many pundits thought he was going to do well here so losing to Guillermo in the first round was definitely the shock of the day. 

French Open - Day One

Day one at the French Open and in the men's draw Roger Federer beat Lukas Lacko in straights sets and it was a routine win for Roger and who is hoping that he will win his 18th Grand slam. 

Elsewhere Jo Wilfred Tsonga beat Eduardo Vasselin in straight sets win and Jo Wilfred needs to make to at least the semi -finals or he will drop out of the top twenty. 

In the women's draw Serena Williams beat Alize Lim in straight sets and Serena is aiming for 18th grand slam and has a lot of points to defend. 

Venus Williams beat Belinda Bencic in straight sets and this was a good win for Venus. Venus had a poor French Open last year and is hoping for a better run this year.

Elsewhere Agnieszka Radwanksa beat Shuai Zhang straight sets win and she is hoping to make it to least the semi-finals and try and win her first grand slam. 

Preview of the French Open 2014

The French Open starts this week and it promises to bring us lots of entertainment. 

In the men's draw the defending Champion Rafal Nadal has his work cut out to retain the his title. 

Rafa is not playing at the level you would expect him to be playing. However I think he will retain his title. 

He will have stiff competition from Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray who have been playing well and I am sure they will both push Rafa to limit if he is to retain his title. 

In the women's draw the defending champion Serena Williams will also have stiff competition to retain her title.

Both Li Na and Maria Sharapova will provide Serena with some stiff competition.

 However I think barring injury Serena will retain her title as others don't have the speed or Serena's serve. 

From a British point of view Heather Watson is our sole  female representative and her realistic goal is to try and pick up as many ranking points as possible. 

Hopefully Heather will at least make it to third round then she will pick up some very much needed ranking points to help her get back into the top fifty. 

Overall I am expect both Rafa Nadal and Serena Williams to retain their titles but it will not be easy for either of them. 

Arsenal v Hull City - FA Cup Final

In the FA Cup final Arsenal beat Hull City three goals to two and this after extra time had been played. 

Arsenal started of this match very badly and they where two nil down within the first ten minutes. 

It was at this point that I started having visions of Arsenal's others bad losses against Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City and Everton. 

But some how Arsenal where able to get back into the match thanks to a free kick taken by Carzola. 

It was a very tense but highly entertaining match and it was the mid point of the second half that I noticed that the Hull players where looking tired. 

At this point Arsenal scored the equaliser but Hull held on and Arsenal had to wait and score the winning goal in second half of extra time and win the trophy.

Overall it was a fantastic match and one that certainly saved Arsene Wenger's job because had Arsenal lost it would have been difficult for him to justify why he should stay in post. So after a nine year drought Arsenal finally won a trophy. 

Rome Open - Final

In the final of the Rome Open, Serena Williams beat Sara Errani in straight sets to win her third title of the year. 

Serena was completely dominant in this match and it was towards the end of the first set that Sara had an injury time out. 

This did not help Sara but credit her for finishing match when so many others would have given up. 

For Sara this has been a great tournament and she was the first Italian women to reach the final since 1985 and that in a sense is a massive achievement. 

For Serena she has been able to defend the title that she won last year and it excellent preparation for the French Open. As every time she has won this tournament she has gone on to win the French Open. 

Rome Open - Semi Finals

In today's semi-finals Sara Errani beat Jelena Jankovic in straight sets and this a fantastic win for Sara. 

She is the first Italian women to make it to the final since 1985, so she has banked some valuable points and has chance to win this title.

Serena Williams beat Ana Ivanovic in three sets and this was a good win for Serena. 

Serena is now one match way from retaining the title. Serena is on course to win this title for the third time and it would also be her 60th title overall. 

Rome Open - Quarter finals

Quarter finals day at the Rome Open and this is what I call the business end of the tournaments. In today's matches Ana Ivanovic beat Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets. 

It was a close a match and to be fair it could have gone either way. But Ana in now winning matches that she used to lose and has to be a genuine contender for the French Open. 

Jelena Jankovic beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets and it was good win for Jelena and it will give her valuable ranking points. 

Serena Williams beat Shaui Zhang in straight sets and for Serena this was a routine win. 

The surprise of the day was Sara Errani beating Ni La in three sets. This was  an excellent win for Sara and will also bank valuable ranking points. 

Premiership review 11th May 2014

This was the last day of premiership season, Liverpool beat Newcastle by two goals to one. 

Liverpool had to win this match and hope that  Manchester City slip up. Sadly for Liverpool, Manchester City where able to beat West Ham by two goals to nil. This win meant that Manchester City have won the title twice in five years. 

If you had asked me at the beginning of the season, I would not have picked Manchester City to win the title but they where consistent and I am sure this helped them to win the title. 

Arsenal beat Norwich by two goals to nil and this was a good win for Arsenal and great preparation for there FA Cup final against Hull.  

So Manchester City won the title, not many people outside of Manchester would have predicted them to win but the title but they deserve it. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Women's final

The final of Madrid Open and Maria Sharapova beat Simona Halep three sets. 

The first set went to Simona but after that Maria was able win the second and the third set comfortably. 

For Simona this has been a very good tournament as she is now very much a top ten player. I am sure with more experience of these big finals she will start to win some. 

For Maria this was a much needed win and before this tournament she was in danger of falling out of the top ten! 

So this win has given her some much needed ranking points and this win has put her back in the top seven. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Day eight

Day eight and semi- finals day and Simona Halep beat Petra Kivitova in three sets. 

Petra won the first set on a tie break but after that Simona won the next two sets comfortably. 

This was a big win for Simona and now she is in the final she has to believe that she can take this title. 

In the second semi-final Maria Sharapova beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets. To be honest I would have been more surprised if Aga had won the match. 

Maria has defended her points from lasts year so if she wins the final she will back into the top eight. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Day seven

Day seven and quarter finals day at the Madrid Open and Serena Williams pulled out and this means that Petra Kivitova went straight through to the semi-finals. 

Serena's has been struggling with a thigh injury and was quite heavily strapped in her previous matches. So it did not come has too much of a suprise that she was unable to continue.

Agnieszka Radwanka beat Caroline Garcia in three sets and it was a real tough match for Aga who won this match  by the smallest of margins. 

Maria Sharapova beat Ni La in three sets and it was a match of high quality tennis that could have gone either way. However Maria was able to dig deep and win the third set and the match. 

Mutua Madrid Open - Day six

Day six at the Madrid Open and Caroline Garcia beat Sara Errani in three sets and this was a good win for Caroline who has had a stelar year so far. 

If Caroline carries on recording wins like these she will be in the top twenty before the end of the year. 

Simona Halep beat Sabine Lisicki in three sets and although Simona is the higher ranked player I thought it was a match that Sabine was going to win. 

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Roberta Vinci in straight sets and this was good win for Aga who is hoping to win her first WTA title of the year. 

Serena Willliams beat Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets and it was a good win for Serena against Carla who has a good record on the clay. 

Ni La beat Sloane Stephens in three sets and it was always going to be a tough match for Sloane.

Sloane played a lot better than I imagined  especially as she has been really struggling recently.  

Elsewhere both Maria Sharapova and Petra Kivitova recorded wins to move to the quarter finals.  

Mutua Madrid Open - Day Five

Day five at the Madrid Open and Agnieszka Radwanska beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets. 

This was a a very good win for Aga as it's the first time beaten Svetlana in about six years so she needed this win. 

Serena Williams beat Shuai Peng in straight sets and Serena was in imperious form and served eleven aces.

This was a good second round for Serena as the later rounds she will play tougher and more experienced clay court players. 

Sabine Lisciki beat Irina Camelia Begu in straight sets and this was the kind of solid win that Sabine needed. 

 So far Sabine has spent most part of the early season injured so this is the tournament that she could pick up some valuable points.  

Mutua Madrid Open - Day four

Day four at the Madrid Open and Maria Sharapova beat Christina Mchale in three tough sets. 

At one point Maria was four games to one down in the third set and managed to come back and win it. 

If Maria is to win this title she is going have to play a lot better or else I don't see her getting past the semi-finals. 

Ni La beat Jie Zheng in straight sets and she had little trouble getting past her Chinese compatriot and is getting better and more tactical with each round. 

Sloane Stephens beat Petra Cetkovska in three tough set and Sloane has had some very tough losses and seem to suffering from a loss of form and confidence so badly needed this win. 

WTA Mutual Madrid Open - Day three

Day three of the Madrid Open and Agnieszka Radwanka beat Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets. 

This was a good win for Aga against Eugenie a player I see winning a Grand Slam in the not too distant future. 

Ni La beat Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets and this was a good solid win for Ni La who hoping to at least make it to the final. 

The surprise is of the day was Sam Stosur beating Dominika Cibulkova in straight  sets. Dominika had a fairly good hard court season so was expecting her to do reasonably well, maybe she has not adjusted to the clay yet. 

Premiership review - 3rd/4th/5th May 2014

In the weekend premiership games Manchester City beat Everton by three goals to two. 

It was a very competitive match but Manchester City seems to have that extra gear to score more goals and get the important win.

Sunderland  beat Manchester United by one goal to nil. This was shock result as I did not expect Sunderland to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Arsenal beat West Bromwich Albion beat one goal to nil and it was a good win. Arsenal players are showing that they are trying to end the season on the high and preparing themselves for the FA Cup final. 

Chelsea drew nil nil with Norwich at home and this was a shock result as well.  If Chelsea had won they would have gone top. This draw may have cost them possibility of winning the league. 

Liverpool drew three all with Crystal Palace and this after Liverpool went three nil up and somehow managed to throw away three goal lead.

A Liverpool win would have have meant that they would have won the title. Now they have to hope that Man City trip up and give the advantage back to them. 

So this means the last couple of games for this season should be exciting as the destination of this year trophy is still undecided.