Blummin' 'ell, it's Chriggy again!

If anyone didn't understand that slang English title, it roughly translates as "Wow, doesn't time fly fast, it's almost Christmas again!"

Yes it's time for the advent calendars to be dusted off and withdrawn from the attic and placed lovingly on window sills or near the tree. However, this year, we received the most brilliant advent calendar I've ever seen from my mum. Although it's officially for Lauren, me and Fie still very much enjoy looking at it, and hopefully, nibbling a chocolate here or there!

It will certainly be an exciting build-up to Christmas this year!

Madagascar

No, I'm not referring to Madagascar the movie. Neither Madagascar 2 the movie. I'm referring to Madagascar the country, an island off the east coast of Africa largely unexplored and generally little known about to the outside world. Recent excursions have revealed stunning pictures and species of animals never seen before on earth. Enjoy these fascinating pictures and expand your knowledge of our incredible world.

The Last Word on Tennis for 2009

The sound of soles rapidly shuffling into position on the spotlight's surface of the O2 arena has now ceased. The dazzling blue glow has been dimmed for the last time, and a worthy winner has emerged from the group of eight.

London's O2 arena hosted a fantastic ATP Masters year-ending tournament which saw the top five players fall at various hurdles. Nikolay Davydenko outlasted them all to lift the trophy and ascend to sixth in the world rankings, jumping past absentee Andy Roddick.

Robin Soderling's run to the semi-finals saw him finish eighth in the rankings, a career high for the much-improved Swede. Another player who has come on leaps and bounds is finalist Juan Martin Del Potro. It was only January this year when he was given one of the biggest thrashings at the Australian Open by Roger Federer, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0. He ran Federer close in a five-set loss at the semis of the French before triumphing over the world number one to win his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows.

Rafael Nadal, plagued by numerous injuries and inconsistent form, finished the year on his biggest ever low, losing his last four matches.

Roger Federer has now been world number one for 258 weeks, 2 weeks shy of Pete Sampras' record of 260 weeks at the very top ranking. By Christmas Federer will be the outright leader. The Swiss ace won his first French Open crown, which equalled Pete Sampras' Grand Slam record and also completed his career Grand Slam. Then a month later at Wimbledon he overcame Andy Roddick in an epic final to stand alone as the all-time greatest player in history with 15 Grand Slam titles. He married long time girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec before welcoming twin daughters into his life. It has been a historic year for Roger Federer.

Finally, tennis will be losing two of its more famous players in Marat Safin and Fabrice Santoro. We will for sure miss Safin's petulance and anger issues as much as his superb tennis, which we must confess was sadly only rarely seen.

The Australian Open is up next in January 2010 and Roger Federer will be as hungry as ever to claim the title he so agonisingly lost this year.

Djokovic and Murray are worthy losers

So far in this tournament, players have got exactly what they deserve. Federer and Soderling tied up their groups in the first two games with some great tennis. Del Potro and Davydenko fought back after opening defeats to claim semi-final spots. Nadal and Verdasco were off the pace and finished bottom of their groups. Verdasco however, was a tad unlucky, losing two of his matches on final-set tiebreaks. But he simply didn't have the shots when it really mattered, and the same can be said for an unrecognisable Nadal.

And then we come to the two clowns of tennis, Novak Joker-vic and Andy 'never-win-a-major' Murray. Murray's disrespectful comments about his match with Federer coupled with his ridiculous insistence that his career is not just about winning competitions, got their just desserts - a beating from Rog followed by elimination from the competition. He couldn't have asked for more.

Novak Joker-vic was no better, but this time the joke was well and truly on him. His kamikaze against Soderling in a supposed effort to save his energy for the Nadal match, dramatically backfired. Little did he know that giving up so easily took matters out of his own hands. Davydenko duly beat Soderling in his final match, dumping Joker-vic out of the tournament. And that's exactly what he deserves for causing such embarrassment to Soderling, to himself, and to the tournament.

Good riddance to Murray and Joker-vic. Tennis doesn't need you.

Andy 'dipstick' Murray out of ATP Masters London

Andy 'never-win-a-major' Murray must be absolutely delighted. What greater reason to rejoice than being rewarded with everything he ever wanted? It was he who mentioned that it's not about always winning competitions, but merely enjoying victory in epic clashes with the world's top players. Well, he had one of those last night with Fernando Verdasco, and this morning he finds himself out of the tournament at the Round Robin stage. Well done, Andy. Just perfect.