Raya!!!!!!

Selamat Hari Raya!!!

Hari ini sudah masuk hari keenam kita menyambut Raya. Hari ini la baru aku ada peluang nak beraya sakan. Sebelum ni hanya tidur & kemas rumah je(ceh cam boleh percaya je aku kemas rumah). Jadi aku dan rakan2 berpakat la untuk raya sama2 hari ni. Semuanya dari SMK Jalan 4.(Akmal, Peeps, Rabiah, Amalina, Aimi, Khairani, Zatil) Ini mungkin kali terakhir kitorang berjumpa sama2. Maklumlah semua dah belajar jauh2. Yang dah fly pun ada. Walaupun aku masih boleh beraya di Malaysia untuk setahun lagi(InsyaAllah kalo ada rezeki) tapi ramai kawan2 aku akan fly sebelum raya tahun depan. Tinggal la aku sorang2 kat sini. :(

Jadi rumah siapakah aku pergi pada hari ni? Rumah Akmal dah tentu. Tapi tahun ni aku dapat meneroka dan berjumpa dengan ramai mak bapak kawan2 aku yang lain. Rumah Rabiah, Zatil, Amalina, Aimi, Kamilahani & Taherah(jumpa cikgu darjah 1 aku). Rumah Peeps je tak pernah pergi lagi. 5 tahun lagi la kot..hehe. Oleh kerana terlampau banyak rumah kitorang pergi, jadi akhir sekali semua muka nampak macam tak larat. Mana tak nye. Dah 11 rumah kitorang raya=11 kali makan. Kembong la perut semua. Balik je rumah terus aku rasa sakit perut. Ini lah akibat kalau makan tak ingat dunia.

Jadi hari ini mungkin hari terakhir kitorang berjumpa sama2. Semua dah makin sibuk dengan study masing2. Aku pun ada AS German dengan English bulan 10 ini.(Cam mana nak cakap German 20 min???) Jadi mungkin takde masa lagi nak jumpe sama2. Jadi aku nak ucapkan good luck kepada semua!!! Belajar rajin2. Mana tahu 5 tahun lagi ada terjumpa kat klinik ke, hospital ke, kilang Siemens ke....:) Aufwiedersehen/ Ciao/ Au Revoir!!!

All hail Juan Martin del Potro:The 2009 US Open Champion

Juan Martin del Potro was two points away from the defeat in the 4th set.

Fast forward to the end of the 5th set; He was laying back on the court and the tears came from his eyes, realizing that he had achieved his dream as Federer's backhand sailed long pass the baseline,

Juan Martin del Potro, 20 year old from Argentine finally prove his talent to the world in this year US Open final by beating Roger Federer, 5 times defending champion and also 15 times Grand Slam winner in five tight sets. With his win, he becomes the 1st South American to win US Open since Guilermo Vilas' victory in 1977. He also become the youngest winner of US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003. The most important fact is he is the only player other than Rafael Nadal to beat Roger Federer in Grand Slam final. He had achieved something that Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and many more could not achieve. This shows how good is del Potro physically and also mentally as he managed to compete head to head with Federer in five long sets after brutally demolished Nadal in the semi finals. In my view, he will win many more Slams if his body can withstand vigorous stress and injuries. He has the packet to dominate tennis' world; booming serve, bullet forehand, solid backhand and also mentally strong. If he improves his volley and his net play, it is pretty sure that he will become one of the strongest force in the next decade.

"I don't have words to explain," Juan Martin del Potro on his victory over Roger Federer to become 2009 US Open Champion.

In the first set, Del Potro showed that he was nervous in his first Grand Slam final. He was missing his massive forehand and Federer managed to find his range to claimed the first set 6-3. Del Potro was calmer in the second set and starting to find his weapon. In the end the second set went into tie break which was won by Del Potro. The third set was also a tight encounter. Both player were matching each other shots. However, once again the Del Potro lost his composure at the end of the set, producing consecutives double faults to give Federer the set. In the fourth set, both players continued to show their superlative skills and shot making. All looks bleak for del Potro however when he served during 4-5 down in this set, as he were two points way from losing to Federer but somehow del Potro finally found his massive forehand in this tight moment and managed to steal the set in tie break. With two sets a piece, both players need to held their composure in the fifth to continue the fight for the trophy. Roger Federer is known to have very good composure during this tense moment. However, his composure was totally missing in the final moment of this match. Instead, del Potro upped his tempo and broke Federer's serve two times, finally broke down in tears when he won the match point. Congratulations to Juan Martin del Potro!!!

US Open Men's Finals preview: Swiss Maestro vs Latin Giant

One is the GOAT. The other is the outstanding rookie. Meet Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro, the finalists of 2009 US Open Championship. Both are extremely talented and both use their powerful groundstrokes as their main weapon. Federer is here thanks to his win over Novak Djokovic in straight sets while del Potro was simply lethal in his victory against world's no 2 Rafael Nadal. Both Federer and del Potro had shown outstanding tennis and great form in the past two weeks. However, who will prevail in the end? You can have only one winner out there.

It is extremely difficult to predict the champion tonight. As mentioned above, both Federer and del Potro are hitting their form in the right time. The way Juan Martin del Potro dispatched Nadal in the semifinals is very terrifying. He constantly hit brutal, flat groundstrokes deep into Nadal's baseline and gave Nadal no chance to play his own game. Federer is also very classy and dominant in the other semifinals. One of his most memorable shot was on the third set, where he hit the winner between his legs, leaving Djokovic and the audience in awe. Therefore, both are evenly matched in terms of performance. However, just like the women's finals yesterday, experience is very important. This is del Potro's first Grand Slam final compared to 21st final for Federer. Del Potro will surely will feel a little bit nervous playing in a very high stake match. So I think Federer have the edge in the final tonight. Once again, experience will prevail in the end.

BTW, congratulations to Kim Clijsters who won yesterday women's final by beating my favorites Caroline Wozniacki 7-5,6-4. It was a remarkable comeback for Kim after two years of retirement. For Caroline, she is still young. I am sure she will have many more opportunities in the future.

Pss: To Caroline, I hope she will never wear the dress that she wear in this championship again. That dress is nice only for Maria Kirilenko. She looks so much better in the sporty outfit...............

Wozniacki whips wobbly Wickmayer, to meet Clijsters in the Finals

One Belgian down, one to go.

Caroline Wozniacki, the ninth seeded 19 year old from Denmark, continued her dream run through women's field Saturday night at the US Open with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Yanina Wickmayer, earning a date in the championship match tonight with Kim Clijsters.

"I mean I am in the US Open final-I cannot describe it with words, I am so excites," Wozniacki said in the post match interview. "I am so happy, I pulled through today. I am really looking foward to it, it's dream come through to play in the finals of the Grand Slam."

Wozniacki, who is making her first foray beyond Round of 16 at a Grand Slam event, has been able to thrive by patiently waiting for her opponents to make mistakes, while not making any of her own. She had only eight winners against Wickmayer, but also made only 14 unforced errors-Wickmayer made 40 unforced errors including 22 in the second set, to go with 23 winners. It was nearly as identical as Wozniaki's victory against Melanie Oudin in the quarterfinals, where she just waits for Oudin to make error after error by consistently hit the ball back into the play.

The match was played in a bizarre environment for a semi finals of the Grand Slam with only about 500 fans or so in the Louis Armstrong stadium, thanks to the persistent rain that forced the match to be play simultaneously with other semifinals.

"Maybe it was easier, because you didn't feel the pressure too much, may be it did not feel like US Open semifinal," Wozniacki said. "Maybe we didn't feel so close to a Grand Slam final."

Wozniacki's opponent in the finals is Kim Clijsters, former world no 1 who continued her fairytale comeback from two years retirement by beating Serena Williams in a match marred by bizarre ending due to Serena's temper.

Serena was serving during 15-30 and 4-5 down in the second set with a set down when the lineswoman called foot fault on her, causing her to face two match points and also causing her to lost her temper. She berated the lineswoman and pointed her racket and the ball a few times to her. After the argument with chair umpire and tournament umpire, she was penalized for the bad behavior and subsequently lost the match as she was facing the match point at the time.

Clijsters was clearly stunned by all the drama that happen around her. For a moment, its looks like she didn't want to accept the reality that happen. She wanted to win properly, not by umpire's decision. However, she soon realize that a win is a win and she will face Caroline Wozniacki to decide who will hoist the US Open trophy.

My prediction: Clijsters is clearly favorite even though she is unseeded. She is former champion and unbeaten in Flushing Meadows for 13 matches. However Wozniacki is also in winning streak. She is unbeaten in her last 11 matches. It is really tight to between this two. Clijsters is really quick and has a powerful groundsrokes while Wozniacki is also quick but more like a counter puncher. My heart say Caroline will win it but my brain goes to Kim. Experience will prevails in the end.

US Open Men's Semi Finals:The Contestants

Novak Djokovic

Juan Martin Del Potro

Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer

Benayoun's treble bombs Burnley ;)

Yossi Benayoun. Is he is really underrated? He is quite decent actually thought not a world class yet. His game play was simple but clever and very effective. Plus the most important is he doesn't complain when he was benched, unlike Ryan Babel. In this match against Burnley, he proves that he really belong to Liverpool's first team. Playing in heart of midfield area because of the absent of Mascherano, Banayoun showed that he can play nicely with Gerrard and Torres. His first goal of the night was a result of his brilliant skill running around Graham Alexander(Burnley's fullback) before passing the ball into the bottom corner of the goal. His second was nicely setup by combination of great play by Torres and Gerrard and he got his hat-trick when he beat the offside trap to tapped in Voronin's pass. He was also involved in Liverpool's other goal when his shot was parried by Burnley's goalkeeper into the path of Dirk Kuyt, who comfortably slotted the ball home. No wonder that he was choosen as MOTM as he was involved in all four Liverpool goals. Final result: Liverpool 4 Burnley 0

With this win, Liverpool manage to climb the table up to fifth place above Arsenal, who were beaten by Manchester City. At the top are still Chelsea, who need last gasp winner from Florent Malouda to beat Stoke 2-1. Next for Liverpool is West Ham United during Hari Raya. I hope Liverpool can continue their recent good form so I can celebrate Hari Raya happily.

US Open Women's Semi Finals:The Contestants

Caroline Wozniacki

Yanina Wickmayer

Serena Williams

Kim Clitjsters

Wozniacki dispatched Oudin:)....Wickmayer awaits in SF

Caroline Wozniacki is probably the hottest player in WTA right now, in terms of on court performance and also in terms of beauty. The adorable Danish, the world no 9, finally managed to stop the big hype that accompanies 17 years old new US star Melanie Oudin by beating her 6-2, 6-2. It was obvious that Oudin, who defied expectations by beating Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova en route to quaterfinals, was very nervous from the start eventhough she was supported by almost 22000 of audiences in the stadium. Instead it was Wozniacki who managed to compose and calm herself eventhought the whole crowd were turning again her. Wozniacki style of hitting consistent and deep backhand shot was highly effective as Oudin unable to maintain her rythm, proved by massive number of unforce error for Oudin. After losing first set rather easily, Oudin stepped up her game a little bit in the second set as she tries to emulate her success in the previous round. However in the end Wozniacki used her brain and experience(she's only 19!!!) to prevail in straight sets and silenced the home crowds.

Next for Caroline Wozniacki is Yanina Wickmayer, another 19 years old from Belgium who has defies the expectation by reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal. However like I said before, experience is really useful in this staggering situation and I believe that Caroline is equipped with enough experience to overcome this high stake moment. My prediction: Caroline in the final. :)

Caroline Wozniacki~~Can she win......

US Open??? After dispatching 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 4th round, I am hoping that this Danish beauty can do it. I am sure he can at least reach the final this Saturday as she is the highest ranking player left in the bottom half of the draw. Next for 'princess' Caroline is Melanie Oudin, 17 years old American prodigy who already shocked the world in this tournament. Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova. That is the girls who have been beaten by Oudin. Quite impressive right? Althought she is only 5f 6 inches, she has booming groundstroke, especially her forehand that give a lot of trouble to Caroline. Therefore Caroline should prepare to face this lethal weapon that had claimed many victims this week. Don't hit too many short ball to Oudin forehand side. Instead Caroline should use her deep backhand shot which is her most powerful weapon. I really hope that Caroline can defy Oudin and 22000 American crowds in Athur Arshe Stadium this Wednesday and make it to her 1st Grand Slam semifinal. Ich liebe dich~~;)

Melanie Oudin

Vuelta Stage 5: Gross Greipel Strucked Again

After winning the crash affected Stage 4 two days ago, Andre Greipel continues the domination of Team Colombia-HTC in this year Vuelta de Espana by comfortably winning today's 5th stage from Tarragona to Vigaros, beating Tom Boonen and Danielle Bennati towards the finish line. It was the 2nd win for Greipel and the 3rd for his team in this year Vuelta. With this win, Greipel finally manages to grab the 'Maillot Oro' from Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara, by the virtue of time bonuses. Greipel now leads the Vuelta by six seconds from Boonen heading into tomorrow's sixth stage around the town of Xativa.

Carnage at Liege

Andre Greipel of Germany won the 4th stage of 2009 Vuelta de Espana yesterday from Venlo to Liege. However, the main point of this stage is the series of crash culminated with the the massive pile-up inside 2km from the finish line that took out almost the whole peloton.

Der Tank von Rostock

Broken wrist for Horner.

Four Matches, 50% Record. WTH!!!!

Transfer season is over.....How about Livepool? No big budget. So only Glen Johnson, injury prone Italian Alberto Aquilani aka Double A battery and unknown Greek guy are in, Alonso is out. And that Brazilian boy? Well he is still here, try to take Alonso's place. Without very much success really....

New season is already on. 4 matches, 2 wins and 2 losses. Our defense were terrible really. 7 goals were already conceded. All of them from set pieces. The Zonal marking system should be abolished now. Only Johnson is up to the task with already 2 goals in his pocket. The others? Don't know what to describe actually. Just sum it all in one word. CATASTROPHE.

Attacking wise, it was quite ok. Not great. Just okay. Kuyt-Sometimes he is useful, sometimes not. Torres-His finishing is up to the mark. Must increase his awareness about his teammates. Voronin-Useless. Riera-Capable to create magic moment but his stamina is low.

And for our beloved Captain. Not up to the high standard but still reliable. Superb strike again shows that he is still Livepool's backbone. Without him, I don't know what will happen to the Red Scouser.