Two big games

Quite an eventful Sunday yesterday, wasn't it? I just spent 250 minutes of my time watching not one but two sport events: the finals of the Australian open tennis competition at Melbourne Park in Melbourne and the Premier League game between Newton Heath - oops, I mean, Manchester United - and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in London. Yes, two big events at almost the opposite ends of the globe.


The football was excellent and I couldn't believe my eyes when the Arsenal goalkeeper tipped his ball into the net for an own goal. A Nani shot across the goal and Almunia's hand reached up to try and tip it over the bar but it went short. That caused me to walk right up to the television screen to watch the replay of the goal. But there were more thrills to come with goals from Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-Sung.


However, the really big game yesterday was the Grand Slam. First time in my life that I had the time to sit down to watch the tennis. The matches always take a long time to complete and I always get bored when sitting down for too long but Roger Federer versus Andy Murray was always too big a game to miss. Well, I wasn't disappointed (although inbetween points I did sneek a look or two at the Asian Food Channel to watch two crazy blokes in Tasmania catch crayfish in some absurdly stormy weather).

It was a big game but once Federer got his two-set cushion, it was clear that the Swiss maestro wouldn't be losing his grasp on his 16th Grand Slam title. Murray tried hard but he was federised all the same. It just wasn't his day.


In Melbourne last year, Federer had cried uncontrollably after losing to Rafael Nadal and the images went around the world. Yesterday too, as did those of Murray as a packed Rod Laver Arena responded warmly to the Scot's speech of touching self-deprecation. "I can cry like Roger," he said. "It's just a shame I can't play like him. I'm done...sorry"