Murray Mania... (and more!)

Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

So Great Britain has a player in the final of the Men's Singles at Wimbledon for the first time in seventy-four years, but the hard work starts now. Roger Federer looked awesome whilst beating World number one Novak Djokovic earlier in the day. He looked every ounce the champion and legend that he is, and to say that Andy Murray will have his hands full on Sunday would be understatement of the year! With Federer at 1/2f and Murray an outsider at around 6/4, the bookmakers aren't too confident that he'll win; but can he? Of course. Overall Murray has beaten Federer more times than he's been beaten by him (his record is 8-7) so it is possible although they have never played each other on grass. Roger has been the King of Wimbledon for some time winning six titles from seven appearances in the final over the years; and although he might not have been in the final for a while he has looked as good as ever this year and he has an added incentive. If he wins he will regain the world number one spot for a second time. One thing that will go in favour of Murray, is that it is highly unlikely that Roger Federer will have played in an arena that will be so in favour of the other player. I can't see the crowd being excessively vociferous as they have very much taken Roger to their hearts over the years, but they will be pro-Murray for sure. There will be lots to play for come Sunday afternoon. Aside of the glittering trophy and the adoration from the fans, there is the small matter of £1,150,000 to play for.

I ought to mention Brit Jonny Marray who's made the Men's doubles final with his partner Freddie Nielsen by beating the defending champions Mike and Bob Bryan. The last time there were British winners of the Men's doubles was in 1936, coincidentally the same year that Fred Perry won the Men's singles. The last thing I would want to do would be to tempt fate, but could it be fate? 

SPORT SHORTS

Tiger woods won the AT&T National title in Maryland last weekend to overtake Jack Nicklaus in the all-time PGA tour titles rankings. With his 74th title, Tiger is now only second to Sam Snead who won 82 titles. At the moment, Tiger is 6/1 favourite to win another Major at Royal Lytham St Annes in a fortnights time; Can you bet against him? Luke Donald at 16/1 or Phil Mickelson at 28/1 might take your fancy?

Kell Brook steps up to world level this weekend when he faces Carson Jones in an IBF World welterweight title eliminator in Sheffield. It looks like being a tasty affair as there has been a bit of needle in the build up. Both fighters are predicting a knockout so this one is a must see for any boxing fans. Hopefully Kell's class will shine through.

FIFA have decided this week that goal-line technology will now be used in football. (At last I hear you say!) The Premier League are saying that it could be brought in at some point this coming season, although the beginning of the following season looks more likely. At least there will be no repeat of Frank Lampard holding his head in his hands against Germany as it will definitely be used in the Brazil 2014 World Cup.     

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Carl 'The Cobra' Froch: Legend?

As the three time super-middleweight champion of the world, one would think so. But going in to last nights fight with Lucian Bute as the underdog suggests that some still still don't rate Froch as highly as others.

Carl Froch floors Lucian Bute

Carl Froch has spent the last three or four years fighting the best boxers in the division all around the world; going in to the lion's den to fight other people in their back yard. Conversely this was Bute's trickiest fight by some way, and his first away from North America so it is no wonder that Froch outclassed Bute. I'd be highly surprised if Bute's team took up the option of a re-match as they would surely not want such a ritual humiliation for their charge for a second time. It is difficult to know where Bute will go now, but surely Froch is well on the path to greatness and a spot in the history books as a British legend. He did spend the early part of his career in the shadows of Joe Calzaghe, but he always called out Calzaghe even though the fight was never made. Why? We shall probably never know, but since then Froch has never ducked anybody and has beaten most. There is a chance that he will get the opportunity to avenge the Kessler defeat, and I would think he could then retire with his head held high and nothing else to prove.

As Froch said in his post-fight interview, he could not have done it without his long-time coach Rob McCracken. He also openly admitted that if he does as he's told he could win like that all the time; all he has to do is 'listen to the guru!' Hopefully McCracken (British amateur boxing's performance director) can work his magic on Team GB's boxers at the London 2012 Olympics which are not too far away.  

SPORT SHORTS

Well done to Mark Webber for winning today's Monaco Grand Prix for the second time. It wasn't the most exciting race that we'll see this season, but hopefully it can be a spring board for Webber to go on to bigger and better things. 

Congratulations to Harlequins for winning their first ever English Premiership Rugby Union this weekend. The club has been through some hard times following the 'bloodgate' scandal of three years ago, but they have shown true character to come back to where they are now. 

England's footballers won their first match under Roy Hodgson. Better that than not winning, but if England carry on playing like that, not only will they not go very far in Euro 2012 but it won't be long before fans (and the media) start calling for Hodgson to be sacked. I am not one of them though,. The poor bloke has only has three days training with the team, and the circumstances have hardly been ideal. There should be no pressure for this tournament, and it should be looked upon as a building block for the future; after all there will be several current players that may not be in the squad for the world cup qualifiers in September.  

Luke Donald has retained his BMW PGA championship title at Wentworth today by beating the field by four shots. He carded a solid 68 to enter the clubhouse having defended a title for the first time in his career. Onwards and upwards to major success?

Jessica Ennis set a new British heptathlon record as she won in Austria with 6,906 points. Not bad for a fat lass! Whoever said that was a fool. She is one of the best medal hopes that we have going in to the Olympics; is that the way to try and settle our athletes down? Sad news that heptathlete Kelly Sotherton has announced her retirement following a back operation. 

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