US Open - day thirteen

Day thirteen at the US Open was the men's semi finals day. 

Novak Djokovic beat Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets. It was an great match which could have gone either way. 

In the fifth and deciding set, the third game on Stanislas's serve had twelve deuces an lasted twenty one minutes! and that particular game was won by Stanislas. 

It was a physically tough match and lasted about four hours. So hopefully Novak will get enough rest to properly compete in the final. 

Rafael Nadal beat Ricard Gasquet in three sets. The first set when to a tie-break but after that Rafael was able to control the match and win the game.

So the final will between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal and it also has the potential to be a great match.  

US Open - day twelve

Day twelve at the US Open was the women's semi - finals day.

In the first semi - final Victoria Azarenka beat Flavia Pennetta in straight sets. This result was not unexpected and Victoria was able to win and set up a final match against Serena Williams.

In the second semi - final Serena beat Na Li in straight sets and I was little surprised with the ease in which Serena won this match.  

In the first set Na Li did not win a game and the second set only really became, competitive at the end by this time it was a little too late for Na Li.

The final between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka will take place about 9.30pm UK time. 

Shortly after winning her singles semi-finals match, Serena then played doubles with her sister Venus. They lost in straight sets to Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.

Serena appeared to be a little tired from her earlier singles match, however Lucie and Andrea played well to win this match.

US Open - Men's semi-finals

The men's semi-finals is taking place today and the first semi-final will between Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka. 

On paper it would seem that Stanislas as little chance of beating Novak. Novak has great serve and he also moves very well around the court.

Stanislas is going to need to serve very and return very well to have any chance of beating Novak. However I do think that Novak will probably win in four sets.

The second semi-final will be between Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet. Richard has not beaten Rafael since they played each other at junior level.

Therefore I think Rafael will probably in straight sets.

My prediction is that final will be between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. But I would not rule out Stanislas Wawrinka or Richard Gasquet as they could spring  a surprise.

US Open - day eleven

Day eleven at the US Open certainly had the element of the unexpected and expected results. 

Stanislas Wawrinka beat Andy Murray in straight sets to make it to the semi-finals. Even when Andy went down to two sets to love. I still thought that he was going to come back and win it in five sets.

However it was not meant to be as Andy had a slow start and his serve was not as potent as it normally is and Andy made a lot of unforced errors. 

It was always going to be a tough ask to expect Andy to win both Wimbledon and the US Open. 

Andy did well to reach the quarter finals and would have been nice to see him in the semi- finals but it was not meant to be. 

Now Andy needs to get some rest and come back stronger and more purposeful.

Novak Djokovic beat Mikhail Youzhny in four sets to reach the semi-finals. This result was not unexpected but it was nice that Mikhail managed to get a least a set from Novak. 

However it made Novak step up his game and he bagled Mikhail in the fourth set. Novak now faces Stanislas 

 in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile in the women's doubles Venus and Serena Williams beat Sara Errani  and Roberta Vinci in straight sets.

I was little surprised with the ease in which Venus and Serena managed to beat Sara and Roberta.

 I thought that it was going to be a very tough match for Venus. However Venus played very well which has helped them to reach the semi-finals. 

US Open- Women's semi-finals preview

The women's semi-finals is due to take place tomorrow.

Serena Williams will take on Na Li and they have played each other nine times and Serena is currently leading eight to one.

 This does not mean that Serena will win as Na Li has been playing some really good tennis. If Serena serves well then she will probably make it to the final. 

However if Na Li is able to consistently return Serena's serve then that will also increase her chances of winning.

In the second semi-final Victoria Azarenka takes on the unseeded Flavia Pennetta. On paper it would look like a clear win for Victoria.

 However Flavia has had a great tournament so the momentum she currently has could help her to win the game.

I think the women's final will be between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka but would not be surprised if either Na Li or Flavia Pennetta caused an upset.

US Open - day ten

Day ten at the US Open and the men's draw still has it's top three seeds and the women's draw still has it's top two seeds.

Rafael Nadal beat Tommy Robredo in straight sets. This was a clinical match from Rafael who did not allow Tommy to get into the match at all. Rafa will now face Richard Gasquet in the semi-finals.

Richard Gasquet beat the fourth seed David Ferrer in five sets. Richard won the first two sets then had to come back to win in the fifth set for his place in the semi finals.

In the women's draw the unseeded Flavia Pennetta  beat the tenth seed and her compatriot Roberta Vinci in straight sets. To reach the semi-finals where she will face Victoria Azarenka. 

Victoria Azarenka beat Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets to make it to the semi-finals against the unseeded Flavia Pennetta.

Meanwhile in the women's doubles Venus and Serena Williams beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova in straight sets to reach the doubles quarter finals.

 However in the second set Venus Williams ran out of energy and both Venus and Serena did well to close it out in straight sets. As I suspect that if the match had gone to a third set it would have been a real challenge for Venus to finish. 

They now face the number one seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci this match is going to be a real challenge for Venus especially and hopefully they will win it and make it to the semi-finals.

English Premier League - transfer window

The transfer window has officially closed until next year. As an Arsenal fan it was a notable relief to hear that Arsene Wenger had bought a fantastic player like  Mesut Ozil.

However as cautiously optimistic as I feel, I also realise that it will be a tough year and however as good Mesut is as a player.

We are still lacking in the strength and depth that other premier league teams have like Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Tottenham who have spent over 100 million pounds in the transfer window.

Arsene Wenger purchase of Mesut Ozil will at least help to make us more competitive this season and ultimately help to bring silverware back to the club.

Other than the big spending Tottenham Hotspurs most premier league teams added one or two players.

Other notable buys include Man United who bought Mourane Fellaini for £27.5 m and outside the premiership Real Madrid bought Gareth Bale for £83.2m! huge a mount of money lets hope Gareth can live up to the expectations of his price tag.