Up for the Cup

FA CUP


Dig out all the old cliches about the romance of the FA Cup. The Third Round saw its share of shocks. The biggest was third division (League One as its now ridiculously called) Oldham beating Everton away. Championship sides Huddersfield & Coventry also dispatched top-flight opposition. Havant & Waterlooville earned a replay against Swansea, to keep non-league representation in the competition. Incidentally, Sutton United were the last non-league side to beat top-flight opposition- Coventry in 1989 (3rd round). Coventry had been finalists the year before. The most replayed cup shock on TV is probably Motty's favourite, Hereford (Ronnie Radford et al. v Newcastle,1972).


Aus Open Tennis

Justine Henin is the hot favourite amongst the women, & is on a 28 match win streak. I think she will make the final, although Serena Williams should give her a tough match. Venus Williams is in the easier lower half of the draw, from which I would pick only Ivanovic & Kuznetsova as having realistic chances of beating Venus. So my tip is a Venus-Henin final.

In the men's, Andy Murray is in hot form after winning the title in Doha. He faces the big-hitting Frenchman, Tsonga, in the first round. Richard Gasquet is also in Murray's section though, against whom AM has a 0-2 record. I'll pick Federer to win, although some of the chasing pack (Djokovic, Nalbandian) showed last year it's not just Nadal who can beat the Swiss- Federer has lost some of his dominance. Other potential winners then, are Djokovic, Nalbandian & Gonzalez from the top half; Nadal, Gasquet, Murray, & Roddick from the lower half.