Rearview Mirror

If you slept through the weekend, here's what you missed:

US Open Tennis - Novak Djokovic kept his amazing year going with a convincing four set victory over Rafael Nadal. Although Nadal managed to avoid going down in straight sets after rallying in the third to take it a tiebreaker, Djokovic always seemed to have the edge, breaking Nadal almost at will. The number one seed had an astonishing 26 break points, of which he converted eleven (Nadal broke on six of fourteen). The match featured some stunning tennis, with some brilliant court coverage from both men extending rallies almost beyond the crowd's endurance. In the end, Djokovic took his first US Open title and his third Slam of the year 6-2 6-4 6-7 6-1.
Australian Sam Stosur played the match of her life to overcome Serena Williams for her first Grand Slam singles title. It was only Stosur's third career singles title, but she has won 23 doubles titles, including two Grand Slam titles (US '05 and French '06). Perhaps fortunately for Stosur, she went out in the first round of the doubles in New York (whereas at Wimbledon she lost her first round singles and finished runner-up in the doubles), as she had a tough passage. On her way to the final she played two record setting longests (women's US Open match and women's Grand Slam tiebreaker), but it was Stosur who looked the freshest, and she swept aside Williams for a surprisingly comfortable 6-2 6-3 win. Apart from a brief period early in the second set following a disputed call that energized Williams and momentarily unsettled Stosur, the Australian matched Williams for power, and made the American look slow by comparison.


EPL - the two teams from Manchester continued to sweep all before them as Sergio Aguero's hat-trick gave City a 3-0 win despite a penalty miss from back-again Carlos Tevez, while another Wayne Rooney hat-trick (yawn) led united to a 5-0 win at Bolton. Amongst their competition, Chelsea stayed two points behind with a 2-1 win at Sunderland, Liverpool lost 1-0 at Stoke, and Arsenal had their first league win with a 1-0 defeat of Swansea.


AFL Finals - top sides Collingwood and Geelong progressed straight through to week 3 after wins over West Coast and Hawthorn respectively. Collingwood were made to work all day to shake off the inform West Coast after the visitors got within seven points in the last quarter, while Geelong's win was comfortable enough in the end after they got away from the Hawks late in the third. In the elimination finals, Sydney surprised Saint Kilda to book a meeting with hawthorn, while Carlton were again too good for Essendon and will travel west to face the Eagles in week 2.


Rugby World Cup - the long awaited World Cup got underway in New Zealand, with games going as expected, with the one tense game going the way of South Africa 17-16 over Wales. New Zealand and England fans can be happy with wins, if not the manner of their teams play, while the Australians will be happier with their result against Italy.


Cricket - the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia faded into a weather affected draw as Australia's bowlers failed to show the penetration that had put them well on top in the series. Unable to turn three days of superiority into a win over the last two, Australia will have to be on their guard to avoid letting Sri Lanka escape with a series draw with a win in the third test, although another drawn Test is the favoured outcome.

India again failed to beat England, tieing the last ODI in a surreal ending, and will leave England after a disappointing tour. The Indians will need to regroup and regain some confidence ahead of their tour to Australia later in the year.