Nole Seals Wimbledon Success

I was disappointed yesterday by Maria Sharapova but today was a different story as Novak Djokovic lifts the Wimbledon trophy after defeating Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. He totally tamed the Spaniard too. Well, except the third set. Lol. Anyway, with this win, it is more good news for the Serb as he also became the world number one after booking a place in the finals. What a week for him.

Now in an unrelated news (football), Cesc looks set to leave, Nasri handed in a transfer request apparently and Clichy is to undergo a medical at Man City today. So maybe Arsenal are set to lose all 3 of these players. This is causing a chain of reaction as tabloids are now reporting that van Persie and Walcott want out too now that the team looks bleak.

As for me, I think that the trio might go but RVP and Walcott should be staying. At the same time, I seriously hope that Arsene Wenger gets the replacements he BADLY NEEDS.

Wimbledon Update =(

So Maria did not capture her second Wimbledon title but she'll be back in US Open and there is so many more years ahead of her. So here's to hoping for the best. And to Petra Kvitova, boy you played such a good match and you truly deserve it.

My hope is still alive for tomorrow men's finals. =)

Wimbledon Update

As you can see above, Nole is being one happy person after defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 4 sets to book himself a spot in Sunday's final showdown in Wimbledon.

Now that both of my favourites are in the finals, I hope both of them would lift the champions trophy. =)

Wimbledon Update

Shock news - The might Roger Federer was knocked out by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Fed didn't play too well. So lucky Tsonga althoug credits to him for taking chances and playing well by his standards.

Next... the ladies' event is coming to an end. Finals this Saturday and the finalists are my favourite, Maria Sharapova, seeded firth against eighth seed, Petra Kvitova. Can't wait for it. Woohoo!!!

125th Wimbledon - Ladies' Draw

The 4h round matches are on-going today and earlier I watched my favourite, Maria Sharapova going through in with a straight sets win over China's Shuai Peng (6-4, 6-2). Although she posted a very strong victory, I still doubt her ability to win it all as her serve still seems to be a problem and she herself has admitted that she is still no favourite to win her second Wimbledon title.

However, I think the draw is opening up for her. On her side of the draw, Dominika Cibulkova helped by eliminating world number 1, Caroline Wozniacki. So Maria will next face Cibulkova, whom I think is more than capable of beating her. Another shocker in her draw is Serena Williams crashing out in the hands of Marion Bartoli. So although these players can beat her, they are easier opponents.

Now on the other side of the draw Venus Williams followed in her sister's footsteps. She too crashed out in straight sets in the hands of Tsvetana Pironkova. However, Victoria Azarenka is still in.

Anyway, to recap today is filled with major casualties with champions, Serena and Venus Williams both crashing out in straight sets and world number 1, Wozniacki is made to wait longer for her first major.

Below is the quarterfinals draw.

Cibulkova vs. Sharapova

Lisicki vs. Bartoli

Paszek vs. Azarenka

Kvitova vs. Pironkova

Hopefully Maria can win although it is still anybody's! =)

Athletes Are Human Afterall

That's Martina Navratilova if you don't know already. Czech-American tennis player. In her older days of course. Lol. In her younger days, she was brilliant. That former world number 1, Billie Jean King once said this, "Martina is the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who's ever lived." That's from one pro to another.

Back in her top performing days, Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (an all-time record) and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She also reached the Wimbledon singles final 12 times, including 9 consecutive years from 1982 through 1990 and won the women's singles title at Wimbledon a record 9 times. She and King each won 20 Wimbledon titles, which is an all-time record. Additionally, Navratilova is one of just 3 women to have accomplished a career Grand Slam in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles (called the Grand Slam "boxed set"). She also holds the open era record for most singles titles (167) and doubles titles (177). She recorded the longest winning streak in the open era (74 consecutive matches) and 3 of the six longest winning streaks in the women's open era. Navratilova, Margaret Court and Maureen Connolly share the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam singles titles (six). Navratilova reached 11 consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, second all-time to Steffi Graf's 13. In women's doubles, Navratilova and Pam Shriver won 109 consecutive matches and won all four Grand Slam titles in 1984. They also tied Louise Brough Clapp's and Margaret Osborne duPont's record of 20 Grand Slam women's doubles titles as a team.

Sadly, today, I found this article on Eurosport UK.

Martina Navratilova, one of the finest female tennis players of all time, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

"I cried," Navratilova, 53, told People magazine about the results of a February biopsy after a routine mammogram revealed a cluster in her left breast.

"It knocked me on my ass, really. I feel so in control of my life and my body, and then this comes, and it's completely out of my hands."

She was diagnosed with a non-invasive form of breast cancer called 'ductal carcinoma in situ', confined to her milk ducts without spreading to the breast tissue.

"It was the best-case scenario you could imagine for detecting breast cancer," Dr. Mindy Nagle, Navratilova’s friend and doctor, added.

The report said Navratilova has already had a lumpectomy and will begin six weeks of radiation therapy in May.

The nine-times Wimbledon champion admitted she had not been getting regular check-ups.

"I went four years between mammograms. I let it slide. Everyone gets busy, but don't make excuses," she said.

"I stay in shape and eat right, and it happened to me. Another year and I could have been in big trouble."

Athletes or not athletes, we are just mere humans afterall and are subjects to all illnesses and diseases. -Sigh-

And oh yeah. Arsene Wenger had finally admitted that he needs to buy players to challenge for the top honours next season. Finally!!

End Of The Road

I guess I shall called this year's French Open a wrap. For me at least. Yesterday, Maria Sharapova lost 6-0, 6-2 and it could have been worse have she not save 4 match points before going down. Her opponent, Dominika Chibulkova was on the brink of winning 6-0 6-0 when she was leading 5-0 in the second set. She was also serving but Maria saved a match point before breaking her, making it 5-1. Then Maria held served. 5-2. Dominika then served again and lost another 3 match points. However, her fifth proved to be too much for Maria as the Russian finally bowed out. This is a sad end but to be honest if Maria were to go to the next round and face Dinara Safina, she would have lost anyway. There is no way she could defeat her, just coming back from a long spell of injury and I guess her thigh was strained as she did not move as fast as she did. However, to many fans of Maria Sharapova, I think her incredible run to the quarters is already a good sign after not playing for 10 months. I will be looking forward to see her play in the Wimbledon next month, the Grand Slam she won when she was only 17.

Into The Quarter-finals

Russian beauty, Maria Sharapova played to yet another 3 sets match and eventually came out tops as she defeated China's Li Na.

Steady in the first set, Maria took the set 6-4 and I really thought she would go on the win the match in the next set but it all came undone as she committed many unforced errors and only having shot 4 winners. She lost that set 0-6. However, if she is known for one thing, it is her never give up attitude. She continued to fight in the decisive set but was unfortunately broken and was trailing at 2-4 at one point. Nevertheless, she broke back immediately before her trainer was called to relieved a thigh muscle strain. Thinking that she might be injured, I fancied Li Na's chance to make a quarter-final berth but Maria once again proved me wrong as she stepped up and continued to fight. She took the next 3 sets to eventually claim the match.

She will next face Slovak 20th seed Dominika Cibulkova.

Suprises in Paris

It was 31-0.

Make that 31-1 now.

4 years ago, when young Rafael Nadal debut in Paris, he went on to lift the cup and did the same for the next 3 years, giving him an unbeaten record in Roland Garros, giving him the title of 'King of Clay'.

Last month in the Rome Masters, he thrashed Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-1 6-0 and the two met again today in Paris. Many would have put their bets on Rafa but Soderling came out tops as he defeated the Spaniard 6-2 6-7 6-4 7-6 in a three-and-a-half hour tussle, thus throwing the men's draw wide open.

The fallen King of Clay.


In the women's draw, the defending champion also exited the tournament as she was beaten 6-2 6-3 by Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka.


2 defending champions on their way home and they deserved it as well.

French Open Third Round

Maria Sharapova, fresh off her upset of Nadia Petrova in Round 2, continued her push through the French Open on Friday as she overcame a slow start to knock off Yaroslava Shvedova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and advance to Round 4 at Roland Garros, keeping her in line for a career Grand Slam.

By all accounts it appeared as if Sharapova was outplayed as the Russian committed 51 unforced errors compared to 33 for Shvedova, had 11 double-faults compared to 4 for Shvedova and had her serve broken four times out of seven opportunities. Despite all of that Sharapova scored the big points when she needed them to get one step closer to her first French Open singles title. She will next face Li Na of China tonight and her path to the semi-finals looks bright after Venus Williams exited the tournament.

Sharapova has won three Grand Slam singles titles in her career with her first coming at Wimbledon in 2004. Her next title came at the U.S. Open in 2006 and in 2008 she won the Australian Open, leaving only the French Open as the only Grand Slam event she hasn’t won. Her best finish at Roland Garros was a semifinals appearance in 2007.

In the men's all top seeds are stil in except Novak Djokovic. -Sigh- Sad.

Maria Marches Into The Third Round

Maria Sharapova came back from a break down in the decider to book her place in the third round of the French Open with a 6-2 1-6 8-6 victory over fellow Russian and 11th seed Nadia Petrova.

Twelve months after competing in Paris as the world number one, Sharapova turned up ranked 102nd as she is on a comeback trail following a nine-month layoff with a career-threatening shoulder injury.

Sharapova, who will next take on Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova, left Court Suzanne Lenglen blowing kisses to the crowd after winning on her first match point at the end of a two-hour 12-minute catfight.

The three-times grand slam champion was 4-2 down in the third set but managed to break back, finding outrageous angles to see off Petrova, twice a semi-finalist at Roland Garros.

Yippee! Now I will be hoping for Barca to trash Man United. Lol

Maria Sharapova In French Open

Russian Maria Sharapova shrilled her way into the second round of the French Open with a 3-6 6-1 6-2 victory over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus.

The former world number one, who dropped to 102nd in the world rankings being out of action for nine months because of a shoulder injury, needed a set to find her range on Court One before cracking winners past the world number 64.

Yakimova called on the tournament's trainer at change of sides at 4-1 in the second set to have her lower back massaged and she never seemed to recover.

Sharapova, who returned to singles play last week at the Warsaw Open where she reached the last eight, will next face 11th-seeded compatriot Nadia Petrova.

Yay!!!

Russian Beauty, Maria Sharapova, Is Back!

Yup. She is. Below is a news from Eurosport UK.

Maria Sharapova continued her successful return to the WTA circuit with a confident 6-2 6-0 victory over Darya Kustova which took her into the quarter-finals of the Warsaw Open.

The former world number one (now slipped to rank 126th) is playing her first singles tournament in nine and a half months after taking time off to recover from a persistent shoulder injury and was pleased with her showing.

"I thought I did the right things at the right time. I played a solid game and I did everything I had to do to win today," she said

Despite the doubts over her fitness, the 22-year-old showed glimpses of her glory days when she won three Grand Slams, including Wimbledon as a 17-year-old.

The Russian cruised through the first set in a much improved showing from her inconsistent three-set first round win over Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-1 6-7 (6/8) 6-3.

With her right shoulder still strapped up, Sharapova used crisp baseline shots and strong serving to keep Belarusian Kustova pinned to the baseline.

She raced through the second set and won 13 straight points to take her to 5-0 and 40-0 up before Kustova delayed the inevitable with a forehand winner.

Sharapova then closed out the match when Kustova hit long to confirm her unbeaten return for at least another match.

She now plays Ukrainian eighth seed Alona Bondarenko for a place in the semi-finals. Bonderenko, who defeated Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-3 6-1, promises to provide a stiffer test for Sharapova.

"I've played her a few times before, Sharapova added.

I played her on clay last year in the States, and in it was a pretty tough match.

"I think she's in good form. She plays a really good defensive game but she can step in and hit the ball. So I'm looking forward to it.

Sharapova's return to the spotlight will please organisers at Roland Garros as she is still one of the biggest draws in the women's game.

And now I have another reason to watch the upcoming French Open. Yay!

Hmm..

In about half an hour, we ('darling' Cera, Duckie, Petrie, Spike, me the Little Foot, Ma Lee, Sheue Yih and Foon Yee and her family) will be off to Kukup for a trip. 2 days and a night. Will be back tomorrow. And then on Tuesday, we'll probably roam the town again. Lol.

Have anyone heard the tracks from the Hannah Montana The Movie soundtrack by the way? Theyhave awesome sons on there. Will review it pretty soon.

Next, sports. Novak Djokovic thrashed Roger Federer last night. In soccer, all 3 Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal won last night. Liverpool will be playing tonight, I think. Arsenal won 3-0 by the way. At Fratton Park. Against Pompey. Goals from Nicklas Bendtner (2) and Carlos Vela. Mancester United defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 while Chelsea defeated Fulham 3-1 in a Lodon derby.

Well, I guess that is it from me now. Will blog about the trip when I get back.

Champions League Round of 16 (First Leg)

After last night's round of matches, I could say that both English teams in action did fine. Sir Alex Ferguson's side travelled to The San Siro to face old rival, Jose Mourinho (Internazionale) and the result was a goalless draw. Arsenal managed to edge another Italian club, Roma, 1-0 courtesy of Robin van Persie's goal. He was brought down in the penalty box and converted the penalty himself. In another match, Lyon was held by Barcelona (1-1) in Stade Gerland, France. Lyon opened the scoring through Juninho in the 7th minute and Barcelona equalised through ex-Gunner, Thierry Henry in the 67th minute. Also in action was Spanish side, Atletico Madrid. They took on Portuguese's Porto in the Vicente Calderon stadium, Spain. This match saw 4 goals being scored and the final result is a 2 all draw. Atletico first opened the scoring through Rodriguez in the 3rd minute before Porto's Lopez equalised. Just before the break, Atletico regained the lead as ex-Manchester United player, Diego Forlan scored. However, it was to be Lopez's night when he scored another equalizer, earning his side 2 valuable away goals, in the 72nd minute.

Tonight, another 4 matches will be taking place and it will feature another 2 English clubs. Liverpool will be travelling to Spain to face Real Madrid and without talisman Steven Gerrard, they will be looking to do what Arsenal did 2 seasons ago (beating Real Madrid at their homeground -no English team has ever done it except Arsenal). Another english side, Chelsea will be battling another Italian club, Juventus. It will be Chelsea's new manager, Guus Hiddink, first Champions League match for The Blues since taking charge and it will produce a mouth watering tie as Juventus manager, Claudio Raneiri, is no stranger when it comes to Chelsea (Ranieri is an ex-Chelsea manager). Another tie will see only German side left, Bayern Munich travelling to Portugal to face Sporting Lisbon. And last but not least is the match between Villarreal and Greek side, Panathinaikos.

In other news, Novak Djokovic displayed a lacklustre performance in the first round of the Dubai ATP Championship although he went on to defeat Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla 6-3 6-2.

Back In Melaka

I am now back in Melaka and so far, it has been good. Had a good afternoon sleep as well. 4 hours of sleep. Lol. Gonna have to go over to grandma's place soon though. I wonder if there are chores to do there since CNY is around the corner.

Anyhow, speaking of CNY, my mum's clients/car dealers are already pouring in the hampers and boxes of oranges. Some of them look pretty good too. I just hope there ain't any chocolates in them! Lol! But that's highly unlikely as hampers usually contains chocolates. -Sigh- Here they are anyway.

Some oranges. And they ain't they cheap type. Very generous car dealers.

One the hampers from a car dealer. This one doesn't look that good.

And another hamper. This one looks REAL GOOD. It has a bottle of wine, some seriously good looking cookies and my favourite, bird's nest!

More of them will be flooding in soon. Especially the oranges. -Sigh- Wonder how my mum and brother finish them up. I take practically an hour to finish an orange. (You'll understand why if you actually see me eating them.)

Hmm.. Saturday tomorrow and I expect a pretty busy day for me. There are lots of things I wanna do tomorrow. One of which is to bake cookies for my grandma and my greedy cookie monsters back in UTM! Wonder if I could even squeeze in some time to go shopping. Hmm.. Anyway, til then! Wanna go have my bath now and head to my grandma's place. Haven't seen her since Christmas and I bet she is eager to see me. Lol.

Oh yeah. In the world of sports, Arsenal's Eduardo Da Silva is ready to return to first team action soon. He played a full match against Stoke City for the reserve team last Wednesday. That is awesome news to hear since the injury he suffered a year ago was really horrible. And in tennis, Novak Djokovic advanced into the fourth round today.

Now that is it for real.

Politics.. They Are Everywhere

As the title suggests, my university is undergoing some serious campaigning now. The Students' Representative Council or more recognised as Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP) is having the elections tomorrow and the people running for it are getting rather annoying.

Firstly, when it comes to getting anywhere these days (including passing by bus stops), I have to look out for hanging posters or get slammed into one or more. They don't hurt but they aren't exactly clean and it is pretty irritating. Almost every part of the university where students normally walk pass or hang out is tattered with their posters.

Secondly, they interrupt classes. Every now and then, a runner would come in and talk us into voting them. Giving us their fake promises. Seriously. Even the real politicians can't exactly fulfill their manisfesto. Them? -Sigh-

Thirdly, as if interrupting your class is not enough, they even interrupt your sleep, movie, resting time, etc by coming to your room for further campaigning.

And one of the fellow men running for it couldn't even speak properly. He was pretty much stammering all the way. Wonder what we could expect from him. Couldn't even deliver his campaign speech convincingly. But I have to give him credits for his guts though. Nevertheless, I also think everyone thinks they can run for this MPP thingy. -Sigh-

Anyway, it will all be done and dust by 5p.m. tomorrow. And to me, there is only one true winner and loser from all these campaignings. The winner is the shops offering photostating services. They probably earned like mad. And the loser..well..the janitors as they have to clean a lot these days. All the flyers and posters. -Sigh- Poor janitors and innocent trees. As if we need to waste more papers.

Right. Enough of MPP. In the world of sports, Manchester United demolished Chelsea 3-0 at Old Trafford this morning. Goals from Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov saw the Red Devils climbed up to third place, only a point behind Chelsea with 2 games in hand if I am not mistaken. Moving on to tennis, 2 of my favourites made the headlines. Firstly, Novak Djokovic blames his racquet for his poor form. What a loser. And secondly, Maria Sharapova, the defending champion of Australian Open, has pulled out from the tournament due to her shoulder injury. How sad to hear that. -Sigh-

And with that, I shall end this post. I got to study for my quiz tomorrow. Man don't life sucks huh?

While I Was Away..

It has been days since I last came on. The last few days at UTM sucked from one point of view. Internet connection gone! But on a positive note, every other things went well.

Firstly, exams ended. I think I did well. As I have mentioned in an older post, I already have an A from TITAS. And I think I probably have another 2 in hand. Innovation and Creativity seems bright after knowing I got 54/60 for my course marks and Introduction to Psychology also looks good after I scored 38/40 for my finals. As for the other subjects, I think I did fairly well except for Principles of Management (also mentioned in previous post).

Next, after the exams, my friends and I first celebrated with pizza. The last 2 days in UTM, I also went out with Crabp, Siew Fen and May Peng. City Centre twice, Holiday Plaza, which I do not recommend going and The Zon. And Crabp got herself a giraffe soft toy from The Zon. And we also got to see Asimo in action on our second trip to City Centre. He is pretty cool. It took Honda 22 years to develop him and he is able to run at a maximum speed of 6km/h. He also danced to a Malay song. Also, my mum kinda told me that in order to keep my "chao-chao", I needed to find to someone who could actually smell it and I did in Crabp. So now I get to keep it til eternity. Lol!

Crabp's new giraffe. Yet to give a name though

Crabp with my pillow

In the world of sports, Arsenal slumped to yet another defeat. This time in the hands of Aston Villa at home. -Sigh- How are they gonna win the title if they keep losing??! -Sigh- My mum said I should change teams already but I am gonna be a Gunner til I die. Lol. In tennis, the season ended already. Venus Williams won the season ending championship. In the men's tournament, my favourite won! Novak Djokovic. He defeated Nicolay Davedenko in straight sets. Below are some photos of him after the match. If only I was able to watch the match. -Sigh-

And yesterday, I came back home to Melaka and it has been fairly boring so far. I know it is only one day but all I did was spring cleaning. How excited do you think I will be? Lol. Anyway, this is where I will end this. My nose and eyes are killing me already. All the dust. -SIGH!!!!!-