WINNERS!!

The US Open is officially over. How very sad. Mats Wallander put it best when he said 'the Monday after a Slam is finished is always the worst day of the year for me' (perhaps not exactly a direct quote but that was the gist of it). How true. And now we have the longest wait until the next one - not until the end of January 2011! Terrible thought. Although I am thinking of going to Melbourne for a little holiday and taking in a day at the Open (always been my dream to go to all of the Slams. Only ever made it to Wimbledon... this needs to change. Melbourne here I come! Just got to save up a couple of thousand pounds...) which would be amazing. Also the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 are coming up at the end of the year which I've already got tickets for. Looking forward to that immensely.

But the results, I hear you cry. Who won??

Clijsters the Ladies and GoNads the Mens.

Shocked? I am and I'm not. Not so much by the results, but by who they played in the finals. Clijsters played Zvo and completely wiped the floor with her. She won 6-2 6-1 in just 59 minutes to claim her third US Open title and second in a row. She was brilliantly clinical with her powerful groundstrokes and mixed it up beautifully whenever it seemed Zvo was getting a handle on the rallies. What I like most about Clijsters is her ability to think clearly on the tennis court and vary her shots so effectively. She has, as they say, a great tennis mind. She also has an incredibly cute kid. I like Kim Clijsters. Well done her.

I'm watching the highlights of the Men's final now. It's a noisy one. Djoko's grunting from the get go and GoNads is now joining in as the rallies get more intense. It's rallies galore. Djoko looks like he can't breathe and it's only the fifth game of the match. Not a good sign. I know he loses but I'm still far too excited. He looks absolutely dead on his feet. I can't believe he even managed to get a set off GoNads (which, by the way, is the only set GoNads lost all Open). Djoko's such an emotional being. I kind of like it. Unlike Ray-ray, he manages to be obviously angry but use it to his advantage to get back into the match. I still think he's too heart-on-his-sleeve but as long as he can keep winning... He'll be number 2 in the world when the new rankings come out. Fed, 3rd. Things are a-shiftin' in the world of Men's tennis.

GoNads beat Djoko 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2. For the first two and a half sets it was a fine competition between the two men. Long, punishing rallies (that eventually took their toll on Djoko), brilliant backhands from the pair of them (I love Djoko's backhand - whoever says a double-handed backhand can't be graceful needs to take a look at his), and lots of tense magical moments. Tis a shame Djoko fades at the end but it's definitely not a let-down of a final. GoNads's win gives him his career Grand Slam. He's only the seventh man in tennis history to do it, and the second youngest (after Don Budge).

1. Fred Perry (GB) 1933 - 1935

2. Don Budge (US) 1937 - 1938

3. Rod Laver (Aus) 1960 - 1962

4. Row Emerson (Aus) 1961 - 1964

5. Andre Agassi (US) 1992 - 1999

6. Roger Federer (Swiss) 2003 - 2009

7. Rafael Nadal (Spain) 2005 - 2010

What a list that is. What a list to belong to. GoNads also becomes the first man since since Laver in 1969 to win the French, Wimbledon and the US Opens in the same year. Can he go one better and win the World Tour finals now? It's also his ninth Slam in all at the tender age of 24. What do you think? Can he beat The Fed? Can he win more Slams? Will Fed add to his tally of 16 with a couple more before his time's up? I think so.

Ok, other sports. The English cricketers has been happily romping away at grounds all over Britain beating Pakistan every time. The last match was a little closer - they needed five runs off of five balls - and the fielding was a little dodgier - TWO dropped catches - but all in all the sun is shining, the standard is high, and the children are laughing. Or something. Oh yes, and Broad is still magnificent.

The Premiership is onto the fifth game of the season and Arsenal are gunning (arf arf) along nicely. Three wins and a draw would look even better if Chelsea would stop winning. Grr Chelsea; someone needs to hurry up and beat them already. Come on Blackpool!!

Snooker and Ali Carter beats Jamie Burnett 10-7 to win the 2010 Shanghai Masters. John Higgins is cleared of all match fixing charges but is banned for six months for not reporting the 'incident'. Tis sad. I love John Higgins but even one as loyal as me finds it hard not to doubt him just a little.

I think that's all I can manage for now.

I'll keep you blogged...