Swimming as an activity is ingrained in society. Most children are exposed to it at a very young age, and hence can relate to the sport with tremendous ease. It was no different in the times of the Ancient Olympics in Greece, but for some reason was never included as an Olympic sport. It was considered as a compulsory physical activity in Greek society, so much so that Plato stated, "One who is unable to swim lacks education."

Swimming is one of the 9 sports that has been consistently held at every Olympics since its revival in 1896. Few would believe that the swimming events in the 1st four modern Olympics were held in the Mediterranean Sea, the river Seine and an artificial lake and not, in a swimming pool.

The Indo - Pak Peace Express operating in tennis circles as Rohan Bopanna & Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi may have fallen one station short of its desired destination, but was anything but derailed in the Men's Doubles Final of the US Open. The unheralded 30-year old's from the Indian sub-continent had spent the better part of their careers competing on the ITF Challenger circuit, and all the years of toil saw their desire to stay true to their dream almost rewarded as they walked on to one of the biggest tennis arena's in the world - Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Sadly for the 'rookie' duo they ran into the best doubles team of their generation - the Bryan brothers - and the now 3-times US Open champions remarked at the end of their amazing 7-6, 7-6 victory that they had just played the best match of their lives. Perhaps Bob was being a tad generous to his opponents at the post match conference, but there is no doubt that Qureshi and Bopanna stood toe-to-toe with the champions right through the contest. In the end it was the knowledge of how to play the big points better, which comes with experience of having played at this level, that made the difference.

The 2010 US Open lost its first genuine title hope on Sunday as Swiss no.2 Stanislas Wawrinka stunned Andy Murray of Scotland in four lopsided sets 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3. Murray, who had picked up the Toronto Masters title earlier this summer, was seen as one of the major contenders for a place in next Sunday's final, but ended up falling to his former practice partner Wawrinka. The Spanish Armada meanwhile continued to power forward into the second week at New York with Rafael Nadal leading four other Spaniards into the last 16 on Sunday. The Americans in the men's draw whittled down to 2 as John Isner fell to Mikhail Youzhny in four very competitive sets. His good friend and doubles partner Sam Querrey had a relatively easier time against Nicolas Almagro.

Wawrinka, the no.25 seed, has spent a decade under the massive shadow of compatriot Roger Federer, yet continues to remind the fans of his prodigious talent by producing some breathtaking tennis on occasions. Down a set and a break, the Swiss picked up his game considerably in the latter half of the second set to force it into a second consecutive tiebreak. Despite serving at an abysmal 41% and getting creamed on his second serve as a result of it, Wawrinka managed to put together enough points when it really mattered and levelled the match at a set a piece.

It was a day for semi-finals at the Australian Open on Thursday, with three individuals and four teams booking places for themselves in the final stage of their respective events. The highlights of the day were undoubtedly the singles events where Serena Williams and Justine Henin quelled the Chinese invasion of Melbourne in contrasting fashion, to set up a delightful final in prospect when the two fan favourites collide on Saturday. Later in the day it was the turn of the Scotland's Andy Murray to earn himself a second ever shot at Grand Slam glory by beating exhausted Croatian giant Marin Cilic in four sets.

After being put through an emotional roller-coaster yesterday where all four singles winners mounted excellent comeback victories, it was always going to be difficult for Day 11 to match up. Serena Williams and Li Na had displayed tremendous hunger by coming back from near impossible situations to win their respective quarter-final matches, and set up an intriguing battle to kick-off the action on Rod Laver Arena.