It’s Friday.

Or at least I think it is.

Temperatures are rising. The Vaccine Cavalry have arrived. The mist surrounding The Great Institution of Chatham Street is beginning to clear.

I can hardly contain my excitement.

In so much as a worldwide pandemic allows excitement of any kind.

And so the weekend is upon us. The sporting highlight will be the Australian Open Tennis Championship Finals.

The big news is that Serena Williams has again fallen short in her quest to equal the record 24 Grandslam victories of Margaret Court.

Time is running out for Serena and it may well be that she will remain on 23 titles.. One way or the other she is undoubtedly one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. And given the various personal challenges that she has thus far dealt with, she is also a very impressive human being.

The women’s final will be contested by Naomi Ozaka and Jennifer Brady, with the lady from Japan favoured to triumph.

Novak Djokovic and Daniel Medvedev will battle it out for the men’s honours, with most neutrals rooting for the latter.

Djokovic is one the all time greats of the game, however he is not one of the most popular.

In the world of chess My Good Self has slowly risen to a lofty ranking of 1474, although it seems likely The Prince of Pinner will soon knock me off my perch.

The Six Nations are having the weekend off, whilst The Boys From Anfield host neighbours Everton as they look to build on a midweek European win.

And that’s how it’s all shaping up.

The M&S supplies are in. The wine rack is stocked up.

It’s all good.

Almost.

A bientot mes amis.