Bob in Spain wrote:

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Now that has cheered me up no end.

Well played Jack - and thanks !!

Guaranteed a finalist now, and if I am not mistaken, a first time finalist as I don't think either Jack or Tom has ever reached a final.

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Put a big smile on my face too.

PS And excellent use of the singular verb - you're not an English teacher, are you, by any chance ???

Bob in Spain wrote:

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See bold text.  Did I pass ?  (note - I didn't call it emboldened text )

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I don't know - it looked pretty fearless to me

Scoreboard has now "court" up and Jack has taken the match 7-5 in the 3rd set.

Disappointed for Tom because with his recent run of form, he deserves a final, but absolutely chuffed for Jack.  He came close in Vietnam last year, if memory serves, when he lost 7-6 in the 3rd set in his first semi.

This race to be part of the Top 25 gets more interesting by the hour !!!

Coup Droit wrote:

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You're spot on, Bob in Spain - you're not double-bluffing me by any chance are you????

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No, I'm not - honest !!  In fact, as a youngster, I don't remember studying any grammar at all as English just wasn't taught that way in school.  I could barely tell a noun from a verb.

However, having spent the last 12 years over here in Spain trying very hard (with moderate success) to learn the local lingo, I have learnt far more about grammar than I ever did previously although I wouldn't claim in any way to be an expert.

As for why I put "has" instead of "have", the truth is that I didn't even think about it.  I just wrote the sentence.  So you can put it down to good instincts or just plain luck, because I probably couldn't tell you anyway.  Now I think about it, I would probably say that you would use "have" with "and" and you would use "has" with "or" as "and" suggests both of them (plural) and "or" suggests one of them (singular).  Not sure what the rule is but that would seem logical.

Think I had better stop there before my luck runs out and I make a fool of myself and lose the "brownie points" I picked up earlier.

More importantly, good luck to both of them today.