WTA Auckland International, New Zealand- Final

The final of the Auckland International took place over the weekend and Ana Ivanovic beat Venus Williams in three sets. 

It was a pulsating match which could have gone any way. As I was watching the match I couldn't help but think how fortunate the Auckland crowd where to witness this and two former grand slam champions battling so hard for this title. 

For Ana it was her first WTA title in two years and you could tell she was nervous as the would have renewed the somewhat stalling career. 

For Venus the win would have been huge as she is battling a debilitating illness that saps her of her energy, so the win would have been huge for her. 

However for Venus it was not meant to be but the way she is fighting this debilitating illness is very inspiring. 

The fact is Venus has seven grand slam titles and has made over twenty nine million dollars in prize money.

 The fact that she refuses to give up and is playing top level tennis at thirty three years old is truly amazing. 

Well done to Ana for winning this title hopefully this win enable her to have a much more successful 2014. 

Premiership review - New Years Day

The New Years Day fixtures where tense and highly entertaining.

Arsenal beat manager less Cardiff City by two goals to nil. It was a tense match and Arsenal scored both their goals in the last five minutes. 

This win helped Arsenal to retain their position at the top of the league. There where also wins for the chasing pack of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. 

Tottenham beat Manchester United at Old Trafford by two goals to one. It was most entertaining match of the day and lived up to its early evening billing. 

That lost to Tottenham has severely dented Manchester United chances of retaining their title. However it's only the second day of January, so there is still everything to play for. 

WTA Tennis 2014

Ladies and gentlemen I am soo glad to say that tennis is back!

Already it has already been a great start to the year. In the WTA Brisbane International quarter finals Serena Williams beat Dominika Cibulkova in straights. 

Serena will now play Maria Sharapova and Maria beat Kaia Kanepi in three sets to make  it to the semi finals. 

It has been ten years since Maria beat Serena and for Maria it has been ten painful years. 

Maria has now started discussing Serena's private life in public so I am sure Maria must now be feeling very confident out beating Serena.

Elsewhere Auckland International Venus Williams beat Garbine Muguruza Blanco in a straight sets quarter finals win. 

This was another fantastic win for Venus who now plays a fellow American Jamie  Hampton for place in the final.

This should be a very good match which could either way but I am guessing that Venus will win in three tight sets 

WTA tennis review of 2013

So much happened in the tennis world in 2013, some good some not so good. 

The main highlight  for me was watching Serena Williams clinically win the French Open. 

One of the lows was the decline of Britain's Heather Watson who has gone from a pontential top twenty player to outside of the top one hundred. 

A player I think did very well in 2013 was Canada's Eugenie Bouchard. She had a strong end to 2013 and has lot potential to do well in 2014.

Predictions 2014 

I expect Serena to win at couple more grand slams and surpass both Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. 

I think this year the teengers are going to have a real influence on the grandslams. Therefore I am expecting Sloane Stephens, Eugenie Bouchard or Jamie Hampton to do well this year.

Premiership review 29th December 2013

Some more premiership football was played yesterday and Arsenal beat Newcastle by one goal to nil. 

This was a significant victory as Newcastle have been a top five side this season. So for Arsenal to beat them at St James's Park is pretty good. 

This win also meant that Arsenal are now top of the league before the New Years Day fixtures. 

Elsewhere Chelsea beat Liverpool by two goals to one. This was Liverpool second loss in four days. 

 However all Liverpool need to do is to get two or three wins and they back in contention.

Premiership Boxing Day matches

Some big matches took place on Boxing Day and Arsenal beat West Ham by three goals to one. 

This was a big match for Arsenal because if they had lost this match. It would have affected the team morale. 

Theo Walcott had an outstanding match and I really hope he is able to carry this kind of form into 2014. 

Elsewhere Man City beat the leaders Liverpool by two goals to one. Man City player, Fernandinho looks like he has a real talent. 

But whilst they will be scoring lots of goals they will also be conceding a lot of goals as there defence is a bit shaky.

Liverpool played will and Luis Suarez played very well to the point that it made Liverpool look like a one man team. 

Man United and Chelsea also won their games. Tottenham who are now managed by Tim Sherwood drew their match.

 But I suspect it will take time for Tim Sherwood to develop his own managerial  style. But sadly these days premiership managers don't get that time.

 A few bad results and managers are under pressure. Hopefully Tottenham board and  fans will be a little patient. 

So Arsenal are back to being at the top of the league until these weekend fixtures are complete. 

Arsenal v Chelsea review 23rd December

Arsenal's game with Chelsea ended in a nil nil scoreline. Arsenal where pretty poor in this match, hence why they only had one shot on target. 

For some strange reason Arsene Wenger decided against using subs for this match. It was obvious that some of the players where tired and needed to be subbed. 

Chelsea also employed a rather unusual strategy for them. Chelsea where defensive and only hit Arsenal on the  counter attack. 

Both Chelsea and Arsenal's strikers had poor night neither Oliver Giroud or Fernando Torres looked like scoring.

The result meant that Liverpool are top of the league on goal difference from a Arsenal for Christmas.