Preview to the US Open 2014- my take

So the US Open starts today and it is the last Grand Slam of the year. In the men my favourite Rafael Nadal has pulled out due to injury. 

I was disappointed because his style of tennis makes the men's game exciting to watch. But now Rafa is out I think that Novak Djokovic is my firm favourite to win the title. 

I would like to see Andy Murray do well but I am not quite sure if he is hungry enough to win his second US Open title.  

I think that Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka are both dark horses to win this title and I suspect Roger will make it to at least the semi-finals. 

The women's draw is much more open but I would not bet against Serena Williams. 

She has not had a great grand slam year but this would be great way to end the year. 

Outside of Serena, Maria Sharapova could win her second grand slam of the year. I think Petra Kivitova has got a good draw and could do quite well. 

The dark horse to win women's title is Simona Halep and there is always a lot of hype around Simona interesting to see if she can live up to the hype. 

Another of my personal favourite is Britain's Heather Watson, Heather has never won round at senior level so hopefully this she will win a round and make it to at least the third round. 

Premier League - Opening Weekend!

So the Premiership returned this weekend and the shock of the weekend was Swansea City beating Manchester United by two goals to one. 

I do think that Manchester United will suffer at the back from the departure of both Vidic and Rio and it will take time for them to jell which could mean letting in a few more goals. 

Arsenal beat Crystal Palace by two goals to one but Arsenal where fortunate enough to get the winning goal in extra time. 

It wasn't Arsenal best performance but to be fair it was better than last year where Arsenal where beaten on the opening day. 

Manchester City beat Newcastle United by two goals to nil and this was good win for them.  

But to be fair it always going to depend on which Newcastle team will turned up. Some fans are desperate to get rid of Alan Pardew maybe the players now feel the same. 

Chelsea beat Burnley by three goals to one and it was a win that I expected Chelsea to get. Burnley are newly promoted team into the Premiership and it make take a few games to find their feet. 

Southern & Western Open - Cincinnati - Day seven

Day seven of the Southern and Western Open and in the final Serena Williams beat Ana Ivanovic in straight sets.

 The first set was pretty competitive but once Serena had won the first set, the second set was much more one sided affair. 

Serena was just in her zone and there are'nt many tennis players that can challenge her when she is in that zone. 

Serena's serve was very consistent and she served at least ten aces and there where also the unreturnable serves. 

Ana played reasonably well but simply did not have the power or the serve to realistically compete with Serena. 

So Serena won this title her fifth title of the season and she also won US Open series trophy and she could get four million dollars if we wins the US Open. 

Southern & Western Open - Cincinnati - Day six

Day six at of Southern & Western Open and in the first semi-final Serena Williams beat Caroline Wozniacki in three sets. Apart from the fact that Caroline is Serena new best friend. 

Caroline was dictating a large part of this match and Serena seemed a step slower and a little tired. 

However she increased her energy levels and cut down the rallies to finish off the points quicker and this lead to winning the set and the match. 

In the second semi final Ana Ivanovic beat Maria Sharapova in three sets. This match had controversial end when Ana took an injury time out in the last couple of games.

However Ana went on to win the game and this was a very good win for Ana and I knew it was going to be tough for Maria but I thought she would get through. 

So I was surprised that Ana won but she was a little more consistent than Maria who had a lot of unforced errors.

Southern & Western - Cincinnati - Day five

Day five at the Southern and Western Open and Serena Williams beat Jelena Jankovic in straight sets.

 It was a fairly routine win for Serena and this surprised me because I thought that the match was going to be a little but more competitive. 

It also at the stage of the competition that Serena gets into her zone and she is very difficult to beat.

Maria Sharapova beat Simona Halep in three sets and it was quite a controversial game with Maria's gamesmanship being questioned. 

If I am honest glad that Maria beat Simona as I have yet to be convinced that Simona is worthy of her world number two ranking. 

Simona is what I call a percentage player good at everything but outstanding at nothing. 

Ana Ivanovic beat Elina Svitolina in straight sets and this was a good win for Ana as Elina is slowly rising up the rankings and is an in-form player. 

Preview of English Premier League

The Premier League returns today....yes! So I thought I would share with you guys my expectations and predictions for this season. 

For the first time in about thirteen years I am actually excited about the Arsenal team. Arsene Wenger has spent some money and now Arsenal can realistically challenge for the title.

I say this but with a caveat I am still not sure about the defence and only time will tell if this defence is good enough. 

To be frank I have no idea whether Manchester United will even finish in the top four. The experience defenders like Rio and Vidic have gone and I am not entirely sure who they have been replaced with. 

It not enough to have a world class manager like Van Gaal you also need the players that can perform on the pitch. 

Liverpool will have an interesting season and now Luis Suarez has been sold to Barcelona this has reduced their fire power. 

Last season Liverpool where very close to winning the league but they did not have the distraction of European games so it will be interesting to see how they cope. 

Chelsea will always be favourites to win the title but to be fair they have not spent to much money this season. 

Last champions Manchester City should get a top four finish if they are consistent as they where last year. 

They where a bit fortunate to win last season but it was primarily down to their consistency which no other team had. 

Ok so with my analysis complete the following teams will finish in the top five:

1. Arsenal !!!

2. Chelsea 

3. Manchester City

4. Manchester United

5. Liverpool

Okay who is your top five? 

Southern & Western Open - Cincinnati - Day four

Day four of the Southern & Western Open and Agnieszka Radwanska beat Sabine Lisicki in straight sets.

 This was a good win for Agnieszka but I still don't believe she has the talent to get past Maria Sharapova or Serena Williams. 

Jelena Jankovic beat Sloane Stephens in straight sets and Sloane's summer just gets worse. She has been hardly able to string more than two wins together and if she is not careful she will be dropping out of the top thirty. 

Caroline Wozniacki beat Angelique Kerber in straight sets and this was a good win for Caroline and will be heading back to the top ten very soon. 

Serena Williams beat Flavia Pennetta in straight sets and for Serena she is hoping to win this Southern & Western title for the first time ever.