Tennis

As Andy Murray thumps his way into the Cincinnati Masters final, I thought I’d blog my thoughts on the current state of men’s tennis.


Murray will face the winner of Novak Djokovic or Tomas Berdych. There’s no Nadal and there’s no Federer. They were knocked out in the quarter finals. Djokovic is undoubtedly the best player in the world at the moment – he’s lost only once (to Federer in the French Open Semi finals), but Federer is the greatest player of all time and Nadal is the greatest clay court player ever.

But there absence shows the strength of the men’s game at the moment. There isn’t one player who’s significantly better and has been for years. Djokovic won only his second and third Grand Slam’s this year. He won his first in 2008 and has been the No. 3 in the world for years. Yet this year he has stepped up.

But it’s not just him. Federer and Nadal are vulnerable. The aura of invincibility around them both has done. Federer was beat in Cincinnati by Mardy Fish, Nadal by Berdych. There is a feeling in the men’s game at the moment that anyone can beat anyone on a given day. The time when Nadal could just turn up and play sub-standard and thrash his opponent are gone. They have to be on his guard.

Where does this leave Murray? He’s the best British player we’ve had for generations, yet that Grand Slam seems to elude him. In the three Grand Slam final’s he’s been in, he’s been blown away. But by player’s at the top of their game. There’s no shame in that. I still believe he’ll him a Grand Slam – either in Australia or America. The Hard Court’s there suit his game better.

In contrast, the women’s game is so different. This is not a great era of women’s tennis. There is no Navratilova or Graf. Grand Slams are so unpredictable that anyone could win. The world No.1 hasn’t won a Grand Slam in years. The William’s sisters prove the weakness of the women’s game by the fact they can play basically just the Grand Slams and win them.

This is a golden age for men’s tennis. And we should enjoy it. Federer can’t have many more year’s left in him, and Nadal’s body often fails him. Add in Djokovic, Murray and a handful of others and we have the most competitive era of men’s tennis potentially ever.

One thing’s for certain – I’ll be watching.

Sesame Street Debacle

I only saw this for the first time the other day.

For those of you who don’t know, the episode of sesame street with Katy Perry was banned because she was showing too much cleavage.

I wasn’t paying attention to that but the song, which is actually quite good. Perry wasn’t wearing anything scandalous. And it was a cartoon, which is what half her image is based on anyway. But this control is bizarre – I’m sure the Muppets have done far worse; Miss Piggy always had terrible innuendo.

I loved, however, the sesame street statement:

"Sesame Street has a long history of working with celebrities across all genres, including athletes, actors, musicians and artists. Sesame Street has always been written on two levels, for the child and adult. We use parodies and celebrity segments to interest adults in the show because we know that a child learns best when co-viewing with a parent or care-giver. We also value our viewer's opinions and particularly those of parents. In light of the feedback we've received on the Katy Perry music video which was released on You Tube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers. Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on You Tube."

The idea of it being written for the child and the parent seems to have been a bit too spot on if you think Perry is not wearing enough.

Oh well, at least we can watch it on Youtube.

I enjoyed it at least – for the song.