Buckle up for the ride of your life!

US Open

The final Grand Slam event is now upon us in the form of the 2022 US Open. This year marks the 142nd consecutive tournament and it will take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. The action here will take place on hard courts and comprise of men’s and women’s singles and doubles matches, as well as youth, senior and disabled games.

The current defending women’s champion is Emma Radacanu and she will no doubt be eager to hold onto her crown this year. Despite her varying form throughout the past year, we have seen that she looks her best on the fast-paced hard courts and will no doubt be one to watch this tournament. It goes without saying that we will also be witnessing great things from world number one Iga Swiatek, who has won four out of her eight past matches and remains the standout player of the season.

On the other hand, Serena Williams will be served her last ball this competition, as she “evolves away” from tennis. Hesitant to speak of retirement, Williams anticipates that she will play her final matches (including doubles with her older sister Venus) at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, followed by an emotional farewell at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

With Djokovic unable to make the competition due to travel restrictions, and Nadal’s reduced training schedule because of an abdominal injury at Wimbledon earlier this year, the men’s singles tournament is shaping up to be a pretty open field.

The current UK men’s number one, Cameron Norrie, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, has been seeded seventh. He is projected to face the challenge of playing Raphael Nadal in the last eight which will be a thrilling game to spectate. His first match, however, should be much less taxing, as he will be against Benoit Paire who has only managed four tour-level wins all year. 

As the final grand slam before tennis wraps up for the winter, you won’t want to miss out on all that the US Open has to offer!

Dutch Grand Prix

Petrol heads - strap yourselves in for another adrenaline fuelled weekend in the world of F1! This time, we are speeding across the country to the CM.com Circuit Zandvoort for the Heineken Dutch Grand Prix!

The course itself is an enjoyable one; the atmosphere, length (Zandvoort ranks among the shortest in the calendar) and location are unrivalled. The challenging 4.3km track comprised of 14 corners leaves little room for error and maximum room for entertainment – the course length means that drivers zoom past spectators many times during the race. And after the race is over, you may even find the odd fan dotted on the beautiful beach and dunes which lay just a stone’s throw away from the course!

At the most recent race in Belgium, it was Verstappen who (unsurprisingly) took the chequered flag, closely followed by his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. 

In fact, Verstappen did one better and won despite starting the race in 14th place on the grid, becoming the first driver to win the Belgium Grand Prix from P14 or lower since Michael Schumacher in 1995. And he’d already won by the 18th lap. He really made light work of the whole race and showed his opponents up! 

It has even been said that Verstappen’s current form is echoing single driver dominance (think Schumacher, Vettel, Hamilton), which can only be seen as a compliment to the skill of Verstappen and Red Bull, but on the other hand it dulls any unpredictability and uncertainty, which could drive fans the other way.

With Verstappen now on home soil for his next race, he is definitely the favourite to win the race at Zandvoort, but we’d be stupid not to consider a last-minute upheaval. That is why we all love F1 of course! 

After his third-place finish in Belgium on Sunday, and with the most consistent record of top 5 finishes in every race he’s finished this year, we should definitely have our eye on Ferrari’s Sainz. According to Sainz himself, the Zandvoort track is much more suited to Ferrari’s style of driving, and he is ready to bounce back and beat Red Bull later this week.

Despite the predicted outcome, there are always some unexpected twists and turns in the world of F1 so be sure to tune in to find out who comes out on top!