Murray's time expires as Roger rolls on

As I rightly predicted last week, it was indeed a matter of time before this detestable Scot bowed out of Roland Garros. He did so in a straight sets defeat to Thomas Berdych. He will probably blame it on his 'bad knee' which he only just told the world about after scraping past 'Reesh-ard' Gasquet in the opening round.

I'm also glad to see that big-headed, full-of-himself Tsonga weakly depart the scene, retiring injured after losing the first set to Mikhail Youzhny in their fourth-round match.

Meanwhile, the Great Man rolled past good friend Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets, looking increasingly smooth and sharp with each round. He did have to come back from a break down in the second set to force a tie-break, but he never panicked and keeps on winning.

Roger will face a familiar foe in the quarter finals with rising Swede Robin Soderling, the man who he beat in last years final, standing in his way once again. Soderling has neatly made his way through the draw and Federer should be prepared for a tough one.

On the ladies side, Justine Henin held her nerve to beat Maria Sharapova in 3 sets, coming from a break down in the final set to score a big win over the Russian. ALLEZ HENIN!!!

And as a footnote, Venus Williams was thankfully beaten by Nadia Petrova - so we don't have to watch her stomping around in that hideous dress, watching her pull it back up over her bosoms more times than she served a ball, and getting an eyeful of her bumcheeks or flesh coloured underwear. Deary me, stick to the tennis Venus!!

Day 1 Australian Open

Day 1 has produced a huge upset which came in the very first match of the two-week banquet of tennis. Russian superstar Maria Sharapova was booted out of the tournament at the first hurdle by compatriot and good friend, Maria Kirilenko. Kirilenko is little heard of in the tennis world with most male supporters closely observing her body as opposed to her game. Yet she put on a performance worthy of a Grand Slam final to push Sharapova all the way.

She duly took the opening set on a tiebreaker after more than an hour's frantic play which saw numerous breaks of serve early on as both players tried to settle down. But every point was a slog, and Sharapova, who won here in 2008, was starting to commit too many double faults and unforced errors. She did rally in the 2nd however, taking it 6-3 to send the match into a decider.

But the errors continued and despite breaking Kirilenko's serve at 2-5 to hang on, she succumbed in her opponent's next service game, Kirilenko prevailing 6-4 to take the 3-hour plus match and dump out one of the pre-tournament favourites. Unfortunately for Sharapova, the new dress and special earrings have only graced the stage once and must now go back in the cupboard prematurely.

Belgian Kim Clijsters, the come-back mum, made quick work of her opening match, triumphing 6-0, 6-4 in just under an hour against qualifier Tretault.

In the men's draw, Andy Murray enjoyed an easy opener against giant Kevin Anderson, winning 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 at a canter. A nice start for the British hope, but there will be many more tougher assignments ahead.

I'm looking forward to the night session, with Rafael Nadal and home favourite Jelena Dokic in action. And of course tomorrow, Roger Federer begins his quest for a 16th Slam with a tricky first round tie with Igor Andreev, who took the Swiss to five sets in the 2008 US Open. Check back for all the latest news from the hottest Grand Slam of the year!

U.S. Open latest

There have been many surprises and shocks so far in this years U.S. Open Grand Slam. Notable players such as Dinara Safina, Venus Williams, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic (I detest her), Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick (hahaha!), Stanislas Wawrinka and James Blake are all now watching the remaining rounds on TV like me.

I was particularly delighted to see the back of Andy Roddick's latest challenge to win a Grand Slam. He had his chance earlier at Wimbledon and I'm sorry to say he'll never get a better one. He is destined to finish his career as a 'one-slam-wonder'. Maybe 'wonder' isn't the right word. With success being measured by the number of Grand Slam wins, I'm afraid he, Murray and Djokovic have miles to go in order to even be remembered in 10 or 20 years' time.

Novak Djokovic struggled through his 3rd round match with the unknown Witten, whilst Murray, somewhat disappointingly for me, eased his way past Taylor Dent this morning. It wasn't even worth Dent turning up.

I had a great time watching the walking circus known as Vera Zvonareva. Her emotional breakdown after failing to convert zero of six match points was extremely entertaining. She was shouting at herself, hitting herself on the head, smashing her racquet around, messing with these bandages on her knees, ripping it half off, then at the interval having a new one strapped on. Then in the following game off it came again, well part of it at least. Then she was covering her head with her towel, hitting balls against the back wall, and it goes on and on.

Teenager Melanie Oudin has caused quite a stir, eliminating both Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova in consecutive rounds with some blinding tennis that has caught many by surprise. She is one to watch for the immediate future, with another possible shock on the cards as she next takes on Nadia Petrova.

Nadal, Del Potro, Tsonga and Gonzalez all made it through and are placed in the same half of the draw along with Murray, making it terribly tough for all of them to fit into the one final berth.

And then we are left with the great man, Roger Federer. He laboured through his match with Hewitt and must have been glad to see Robredo defeat Blake, whom he will be facing tomorrow morning. Federer's half of the draw is much more straight forward though, with a possible QF against Davydenko or Soderling, with Djokovic or Verdasco as his most likely SF opponent, neither of which will give him too much trouble.

So it's looking good for Federer although he really must improve his performance and cut out the errors from now on if he is to triumph for the 6th consecutive time here. On the women's side, Kim Clijsters is in great shape, underlined by her victory over Venus Williams, although she is on course for a SF showdown with sister Serena. Svetlana Kuznetsova is the only big name left on the other side of the draw and must see this as a great chance to add to her Grand Slam collection.

All in all, it's been a great competition so far and I'm looking forward to the thrills yet to come. I'm confident Federer is able to up his game whenever he needs to, and I'm sure he will comfortably make the final. As long as he's not up against Nadal, I feel he will have no problems emerging triumphant again. If Nadal manages to control his knees and reach the final, we could be in for another epic.

Sit back and enjoy the U.S. Open!