2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar, however, were well positioned to claim third place, above Basel, and secure passage to the UEFA Cup knockout rounds if they took points from their last two games in the group stage.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar dismantled Basel 5–0 in Donetsk and famously defeated a youthful Barcelona side 3–2 at the Camp Nou, (Barcelona had already secured first place in the group before the final match was played and were resting players ahead of an El Clásico league game against Real Madrid), thus Shakhtar finished the group stage with nine points in third place, eight points clear of Basel and just three points behind second placed Sporting CP.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
In the Round of 32 in the UEFA Cup, Shakhtar were paired with English side Tottenham Hotspur. With the first leg at the RSK Olimpiyskyi Stadium, Shakhtar were frustrated by their inability to turn their dominance over Tottenham into goals, until substitute Yevhen Seleznyov scored on his first touch, with a header in the 79th minute. Jádson doubled Shakhtar's lead just two minutes later, after playing a one-two with Willian.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
Taking with them a 2–0 aggregate lead to London, Shakhtar were favoured to progress to the Round of 16, but a goal from Tottenham's Giovani dos Santos in the 55th minute gave the English side a glimmer of hope. Fernandinho answered with a goal, however, in the 86th minute for Shakhtar, which put Shakhtar into the next round with a 3–1 aggregate victory.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
The Round of 16 saw old Soviet League rivals CSKA Moscow and Shakhtar matched against each other, with the first leg in Moscow. Vágner Love scored a penalty and CSKA won the first leg 1–0. In the return leg in Donetsk, Fernandinho converted a penalty in the 54th minute and evened the aggregate scoreline to 1–1.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
In the 70th minute, 2004–05 UEFA Cup winners CSKA were left stunned when goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, under pressure from Oleksandr Kucher, could only clear a looping cross from Fernandinho just a few meters ahead of him, where Luiz Adriano was perfectly positioned to hit it first time and score. Shakhtar won the match 2–0, and on aggregate 2–1, progressing to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar were drawn against French club Marseille in the quarter-finals. Goals from Tomáš Hübschman and Jádson gave Shakhtar a 2–0 win in the RSK Olimpiyskyi Stadium. In the return leg in Marseille, Shakhtar got an important away goal in the 30th minute through a close-range Fernandinho strike, where he blasted it past the Marseille goalkeeper from a very tight angle, after Ilsinho had played him through.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
Although Hatem Ben Arfa levelled the score at 1–1 in the 43rd minute, Marseille never looked liked getting the three goals that was required of them in order to progress, and in the 90th minute, adding to Marseille's wounds, Luiz Adriano scored to make it 2–1 and thus 4–1 on aggregate. Shakhtar had progressed to a European cup competition semi-final for the first time in their history with this victory.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
In the semi-finals, Shakhtar could have been drawn against German clubs Hamburg or Werder Bremen, but instead a German–Ukrainian final was guaranteed when Hamburg and Werder Bremen were paired with each other, while Shakhtar were drawn with fellow Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv. Dynamo and Shakhtar have been fierce rivals since the Ukrainian Premier League's formation in 1991 as they have often battled each other for 1st place in the league. The draw of Dynamo-Shakhtar was met with great excitement by the Ukrainian public, who eagerly anticipated the showdown. Both stadiums were easily sold out for this fixture.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
Dynamo hosted the first leg in Kiev, and it got off to a bad start for Shakhtar when Dmytro Chygrynskiy scored an own goal to give Dynamo the lead 1–0. The match was tense and thus not many clear cut chances to score were made, but Dynamo were clearly on top and a Shakhtar equaliser was looking unlikely until the 68th minute when substitute Willian crossed and Fernandinho bundled it into the goal to level the score at 1–1.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
Dynamo's Olexandr Aliyev had a chance to give the Kiev side the lead again in the 78th minute, but Shakhtar goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov saved well and the game ended 1–1. Shakhtar took their crucial away goal to Donetsk and things were looking very rosy when Jadson scored in the 17th minute in the return leg to put the aggregate scoreline at 2–1. In the 37th minute, Dynamo correctly had a goal ruled offsides.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Shakhtar Donetsk
Shortly after the start of the second half, Ismaël Bangoura equalised after a defensive mix-up allowed for Bangoura to have a clear shot on goal, which he finished well. With the aggregate at 2–2 and heading for extra time and potentially a penalty shootout, a moment of brilliance in the 89th minute from Ilsinho sent Shakhtar to Istanbul. After collecting a long pass on the right-wing, Ilsinho cut in towards goal, shifted his way past three Dynamo defenders and coolly placed the ball where the Dynamo keeper had no chance. The match finished 2–1 and Shakhtar won 3–2 on aggregate and thus became the first ever Ukrainian side to reach a UEFA Cup Final.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
Werder finished the 2007–08 Bundesliga in second place and received a spot in the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League group stage as a result. They were matched up against Inter Milan, Panathinaikos, and Anorthosis Famagusta in Group B. The Champions League campaign got off to a poor start for Werder when the first tie of the round against heavy underdog Cypriot side Anorthosis ended in a 0–0 draw in Bremen. Werder rebounded in the second match with a 1–1 draw in Milan against Internazionale, thanks to a Claudio Pizarro equaliser in the 62nd minute.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
An entertaining 2–2 draw in Athens against Panathinaikos followed, before disaster struck in the return leg in Bremen, where Panathinaikos defeated their German hosts by a score of 3–0. Werder looked as though they were heading for a fourth-place finish in the group when in the next game in Nicosia, Anorthosis were leading 2–0 after 72 minutes, but a trip on Aaron Hunt in the penalty area allowed for Diego to score a penalty kick to make the score 2–1.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
Hugo Almeida rescued a point for Werder in the 87th minute, when he scored after a cross from Mesut Özil was helped on by Duško Tošić. Needing a win at home against the group favourites Internazionale and an Anorthosis loss to Panathinaikos in order to secure third place and thus progression to the UEFA Cup knockout rounds, Werder were staring elimination from European cup competition in the face. Werder dominated the match against the Italians and were rewarded for their determination to score in the 63rd minute when Pizarro scored on the rebound from a spilled shot by Özil.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
After Werder established their lead, further good news made its way to the Weserstadion, where news of a Panathinaikos goal against Anorthosis lifted spirits. Markus Rosenberg extended Werder's lead in the 81st minute, and although Internazionale pulled a goal back through an 88th minute Zlatan Ibrahimović strike, Werder came out deserved winners 2–1. Panathinaikos held on to their 1–0 lead against Anorthosis and after both games had finished, Werder secured third place and a spot in the UEFA Cup knockout rounds.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
Just when Werder thought things would ease for them once they parachuted into the UEFA Cup, Werder were told that they faced another trip to the San Siro, except this time it would be against Milan, the favourites to win the UEFA Cup. In the home leg in Bremen, Milan went ahead in the 36th minute thanks to a Filippo Inzaghi goal. The Germans did not give up however, and after creating a host of chances, Diego finally finished one off in the 84th minute to level the score at 1–1.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
Heading to the San Siro with the aggregate scoreline all even, Milan jumped ahead in the first half with two goals from Andrea Pirlo and Alexandre Pato respectively. The task was daunting, but Werder were up to it, and in the 68th minute Pizarro scored a header from a Diego free-kick. Werder got the decisive goal ten minutes later after yet another Pizarro headed goal, this time from a cross from Sebastian Boenisch. The match finished 2–2 and Werder won the round with an aggregate score of 3–3, through the away goals rule.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
In the Round of 16, Werder were paired with French side Saint-Étienne. Naldo put Werder ahead in the 20th minute, but Werder were left frustrated in the Weserstadion as they could not convert their dominance into more goals. In the return leg at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Werder got off to the best of starts, with Sebastian Prödl scoring in the fourth minute and Pizarro adding a second goal in the 27th minute. Saint-Étienne then needed three goals to win the tie. A goal in the 64th minute by Yohan Benalouane rejuvenated the match, but by the time the French got their second goal in the 90th minute, the fixture was all but over.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
Werder were once again facing an Italian side; this time in the quarter-finals, and with their new Italian opponents being Udinese. It looked as though the job was done for the Bremen club when they had a 3–0 lead over Udinese after just 69 minutes at the Weserstadion, through two goals from Diego and a solitary strike from Almeida. But in the 87th minute, Fabio Quagliarella breathed new life into Udinese's hopes, when he got a goal back from close range. One of the most entertaining matches of the entire tournament followed in the return leg at the Stadio Friuli.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
Gökhan Inler opened the scoring for the hosts with a fantastic 30-metre goal that left Werder keeper Tim Wiese with no chance of saving. Diego equalised in the 28th minute, before Quagliarella restored the Udinese lead just two minutes later by lobbing the ball over Wiese. Quagliarella scored his second and Udinese's third only eight minutes later and the aggregate was even at 4–4 and the match heading to extra time if the score stayed at 3–1.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
The match restarted in the second half with the same frantic pace it had in the first half, and after Quagliarella barely missed an opportunity to score a hat-trick, Diego headed in from an Almeida shot which bounced off the bar to bring the score to 3–2. Udinese now needed two more goals to go through.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
Felipe and Kwadwo Asamoah had the best scoring opportunities for Udinese, but it wasn't meant to be, and after Udinese keeper Samir Handanović saved a Diego penalty kick, on the resulting corner, Pizarro turned in Per Mertesacker's header in the 73rd minute to wrap up the tie at 3–3 and 6–4 on aggregate.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
In the semi-finals, Werder were drawn against their local rivals Hamburg. Werder defeated Hamburg in a penalty shootout in a German Cup semi-final just a week before the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final. With animosity running high between the two clubs and their respective supporters, this promised to be a fascinating clash for German football fans.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
The first leg was once again hosted by Werder, but this time Werder got off to a poor start, with Hamburg having the better chances to score in the opening, before they finally converted one of their chances in the 28th minute with Piotr Trochowski heading in. The Hamburg goal woke up Werder, but Pizarro, Almeida, and substitute Rosenborg all squandered their chances to equalise.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
Taking a 1–0 lead with them to the HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg were confident of progressing to the Istanbul final, while it looked as though Werder would fail in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup for the fourth time. It looked all over in the second leg when Ivica Olić finished well in the 13th minute. But sixteen minutes later Diego and Pizarro played a one-two, and Diego put it past Hamburg 'keeper Frank Rost to level the score at 1–1 and pull the aggregate to 1–2. Shortly afterwards, Diego's shot from 25 metres rattled the crossbar.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
In the 41st minute, Diego received a yellow card for shoving fellow Brazilian Alex Silva, which ruled him out of the final. After a host of chances for both sides, in the 66th minute, Pizarro got the ball in the middle of the pitch, made a short run, and his curling shot from about 30 metres made its way past Rost to give Werder the lead 2–1.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Route to the final, Werder Bremen
Things got even better for Werder in the 83rd minute when Frank Baumann headed in to make it 3–2 on aggregate; Hamburg then needed two goals in the last seven minutes plus stoppage time to progress. Olić responded in the 87th minute with another goal to even the aggregate score at 3–3, however Werder would still go through on the away goals rule. As Hamburg searched for that last goal, the game fizzled out and Werder had punched their ticket to Istanbul.


2009 UEFA Cup Final, Match, Details
Assistant referees:Jesús Calvo Guadamuro (Spain)Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar (Spain)Fourth official:Alfonso Pérez Burrull (Spain)


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship
The 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the eighth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship since it was renamed from the original under-16 event, in 2001. Germany hosted the championship, during 6 to 18 May 2009, in thirteen venues, and the final took place at the Stadion Magdeburg, in Magdeburg. Spain was the current title holder, having successfully defended its 2007 title. The top 6 teams qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, Qualification
The final tournament of the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was preceded by two qualification stages: a qualifying round and an Elite round. During these rounds, 52 national teams competed to determine the seven teams to join the already qualified host nation Germany.


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, Team of the Tournament
Dennis Appiah Bienvenue Basala-Mazana Stefan de Vrij Janick Kamber Marc Muniesa Furkan Şeker


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, Team of the Tournament
Stephan El Shaarawy Álex Fernández Marco Fossati Shabir Isoufi Jack Wilshere Reinhold Yabo Matthias Zimmermann


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, Team of the Tournament
Nassim Ben Khalifa Giacomo Beretta Luc Castaignos Simone Dell'Agnello Mario Götze Lennart Thy


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round
UEFA U-17 Championship 2009 (Elite Round) is the second round of qualifications for the final tournament of UEFA U-17 Championship 2009. The winners of each group join hosts  Germany at the final tournament.


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round
The Elite round has been played during March 1–31, 2009. The 28 teams advancing from the qualifying round have been distributed into seven groups of four teams, with each group being contested in the same format as in the previous round. The seven group-winning teams will qualify for the final tournament in Germany.


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round
The draw was conducted on December 4, 2008, at UEFA's headquarters, in Nyon, Switzerland. Each team was previously allocated to one of four drawing pots, according to their qualifying round results. The seven sides with the best record were present in Pot A, and so forth until Pot D, which contained the seven teams with the weakest record. During the draw, each group was filled with one team from every pot, meaning that no team from the same pot could be drawn together. In the same way, teams having faced in the previous round could not be drawn together.


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round
The hosts of the seven one-venue mini-tournament groups are indicated below in italics.


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round
2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship (qualifying round) is the first round of qualifications for the Final Tournament of UEFA U-17 Championship 2009. The qualifying round was played between September 15 and October 28, 2008. The 52 teams were divided into 13 groups of four teams, with each group being contested as a mini-tournament, hosted by one of the group's teams. After all matches have been played, the 13 group winners and 13 group runners-up will advance to the Elite round. If two or more teams are tied in points, a tie-break will apply according to the following criteria:


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round
Alongside the 26 winner and runner-up teams, the two best third-placed teams also qualify. These are determined after considering only their results against their group's top two teams, and applying the following criteria in this order:


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round
The host team of each group's mini-tournament are indicated in italics in the tables below.


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round, Group stage, Third-placed teams
Kazakhstan and Georgia advanced for the elite round as the two best third-placed teams.


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship squads
Below are the squads for the 2009 UEFA U-17 Championship tournament in Germany. Players whose names are marked in bold went on to earn full international caps.


2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship squads
Players' ages as of the tournament's opening day (6 May 2009).


2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship
The UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2009 Final Tournament was held in Ukraine in the cities of Donetsk and Mariupol. Players born after 1 January 1990 were eligible to participate in this competition.


2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Qualification
Qualification for the final tournament was played over two stages:


2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite qualification
The Elite Round of the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship is the second round of qualification. The winners of each group join hosts Ukraine at the Final Tournament.


2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification
2009 UEFA U-19 Championship (Qualifying Round) was the first round of qualifications for the Final Tournament of 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. The final tournament of the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship is preceded by two qualification stages: a qualifying round and an Elite round. During these rounds, 52 national teams are competing to determine the seven teams that will join the already qualified host nation Ukraine.


2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification
The first qualifying round was played between 2 October and 27 November 2008. The 52 teams were divided into 13 groups of four teams, with each group being contested as a mini-tournament, hosted by one of the group's teams. After all matches have been played, the 13 group winners and 13 group runners-up advanced to the Elite round. Alongside the 26 winner and runner-up teams, the two best third-placed teams also qualified.


2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification
The host team of each group's mini-tournament are indicated in italics in the tables below.


2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, Ranking of 3rd placed teams
Ranking includes all matches in the group. Top two, Slovakia and Belarus, advanced to the Elite Round.


2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship squads
Players born on or after 1 January 1990 were eligible to participate in the tournament. Players' age as of 21 July 2009 – the tournament's opening day. Players in bold have later been capped at full international level.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006–07 competition, which allowed the change to odd-numbered years. Sweden hosted the final tournament in June 2009; therefore, their under-21 team qualified automatically. Players born on or after 1 January 1986 were eligible to play in this competition.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Qualification
The qualifying draw split the nations onto 10 groups of 5 or 6 teams. The seeding pots are formed on the basis of former performance in the tournament. Ten group winners along with four best-ranked runners-up advanced to the play-offs. Seven winners of the play-off pairs qualified for the final tournament.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Qualification, Qualified teams
The finals' tournament draw took place on 3 December 2008 at the Svenska Mässan exhibition centre, Gothenburg. Prior to the final draw, Sweden had been seeded first in Group A as hosts of the tournament, while Spain were seeded first in Group B.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Final draw
The first pot contained the top seeds, these would have been host nation Sweden and the reigning champions, The Netherlands. However, The Netherlands did not qualify meaning that the team with the best qualifying record, Spain, took their place. Sweden and Spain were then automatically assigned to A1 and B1 respectively. The second pot contained the teams with the next two best records in qualifying: these were England and Italy. England were drawn into position B3 and Italy into A3. The final pot contained the other four qualified teams: Serbia, Finland, Germany and Belarus. Belarus were drawn first into position A2, Germany went into B2, Serbia into A4 and Finland into B4.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Venues
The following venues were chosen to hold the final tournament matches:


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Venues, Sponsorship issues
Following the refusal of the Swedish hamburger chain Max to close their restaurant at Borås Arena during the tournament (as they are not an official UEFA sponsor), UEFA disqualified Borås Arena from hosting games during the tournament. There is a contract between UEFA and the city and between UEFA and its sponsors saying that the UEFA sponsors shall have monopoly around the arena. A city cannot force Max to close down even if it happened to sign a contract with someone saying so, as Max have a tenancy agreement with the city.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Venues, Sponsorship issues
On 2 September 2008, the Swedish Football Association nominated Örjans Vall in Halmstad as a replacement venue for Borås Arena, and they officially became the fourth host city a few days later. They were awarded the three group stage games that were to be hosted by Borås Arena, while the second semi-final was moved from Borås to Helsingborg and Olympia.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Venues, Sponsorship issues
Swedbank Stadion was referred to as Malmö New Stadium during the tournament, as Swedbank – which owned the naming rights to the stadium at the time – were not official UEFA sponsors.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Matches, Knockout stage, Final
Assistant referees:Joël De Bruyn (Belgium)György Ring (Hungary)Fourth official:Pedro Proença (Portugal)


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Match ball
The match ball for the competition is called the Adidas Terrapass, which was unveiled at the tournament draw in Gothenburg on 3 December. The ball is bright blue and yellow, the colours of the Swedish flag. It features 12 watermarks including one containing a map of Europe and one of the tournament logo. It is composed of 14 thermally bonded panels, which are claimed to improve the ball's accuracy and swerve.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship started on 31 May 2007 with a qualifying competition and finishes on 15 October 2008, before the final tournament on 15–23 June 2009. 51 of the 52 other nations in UEFA's jurisdiction, including Montenegro and Serbia who competed separately for the first time, went through a series of qualifiers to decide the seven other teams to join Sweden at the finals. Andorra did not take part.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
The first stage of the qualifying competition is a group stage followed by play-offs. Each group winner, as well as the four highest ranked second place teams, will advance to the play-off. The play-off will determine which seven nations join Sweden in the final tournament. Sweden, as hosts, qualify automatically.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification, Groups, Summary
Teams that have secured a place in the play-offs are highlighted in green, in their respective qualifying groups. The teams are ordered by final group position.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification, Play-offs
The play-off first legs were played on 10–11 October, while the second legs were played on 14–15 October.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 1
The teams competing in Group 1 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championships qualifying competition are Albania, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Faroe Islands, Greece and Italy.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 1, Standings
Key:Pts Points, Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal Difference


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 10
The teams competing in Group 10 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition are Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Malta, Romania and Wales.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 10, Standings
Key: Pts Points, Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal difference


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 2
The teams competing in Group 2 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championships qualifying competition are Armenia, Czech Republic, Liechtenstein, Turkey and Ukraine.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 2, Standings
Key:Pts Points, Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal Difference


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 3
The teams competing in Group 3 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championships qualifying competition are Bulgaria, England, Montenegro, Portugal, and Republic of Ireland.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 3, Standings
Key:Pts Points, Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal Difference


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 4
The teams competing in Group 4 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championships qualifying competition are Georgia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia and Spain.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 4, Standings
Key:Pts Points, Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal Difference


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 5
The teams competing in Group 5 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championships qualifying competition are Estonia, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 5, Standings
Key:Pts Points, Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal Difference


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 6
The teams competing in Group 6 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition are Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Scotland and Slovenia.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 6, Standings
Key:Pts Points, Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal Difference


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 6, Goalscorers
Denmark: Jonas Damborg, Lasse Schøne, Bo Storm Finland: Kasper Hämäläinen, Ville Jalasto, Jarno Parikka, Berat Sadik Lithuania: Dominykas Galkevicius, Evaldas Grigaitis Scotland: Jamie Hamill, Kevin McDonald Slovenia: Anej Lovrečič, Rene Mihelič


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 7
The teams competing in Group 7 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Iceland, and Slovakia.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 7, Standings
Key:Pts Points, Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal Difference


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 8
The teams competing in Group 8 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition are Belarus, Hungary, Latvia, San Marino and Serbia.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 9
The teams competing in Group 9 of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition are Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Moldova and Northern Ireland.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 9, Standings
Key: Pts Points, Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal Difference


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification play-offs
The qualification play-offs for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship took place from 10 October to 15 October 2008. The ten group winners and four best runners-up from the qualifying group stage were drawn together in pairs in order to determine the seven teams that joined hosts Sweden at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads
Only players born on or after 1 January 1986 were eligible to play. Players in bold have made their senior international debuts prior to the competition or afterwards.


2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads, Group B, England
Note: All information accurate at start of tournament, on 15 June 2009.


2009 UEFA Regions' Cup
The 2009 UEFA Regions' Cup was the sixth UEFA Regions' Cup. It was held in Croatia and won by the Castile and León team from Spain, which beat Romania's Oltenia 2–1 in the final.


2009 UEFA Regions' Cup, Preliminary round
The eleven teams in the preliminary round were drawn into two groups of four and one group of three, with the following countries hosting each group's matches:


2009 UEFA Regions' Cup, Preliminary round
The winners of each group advanced to the intermediary round.


2009 UEFA Regions' Cup, Intermediary round
The 29 teams which went straight through to the intermediary round were joined by San Marino, Malta and Turkey's Marmara. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, with the following countries hosting each group's matches:


2009 UEFA Regions' Cup, Intermediary round
The winners of each group qualified for the final tournament.


2009 UEFA Regions' Cup, Final tournament
Croatia was chosen to host the final tournament, with matches being played 15 June to 22 June 2009.


2009 UEFA Regions' Cup, Final tournament, Group stage
The eight intermediary group winners were drawn into two groups of four, with the two group winners advancing to the final.


2009 UEFA Super Cup
The 2009 UEFA Super Cup was the 34th UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match between the winners of the previous season's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions. The match was contested by 2008–09 UEFA Champions League winners, Barcelona, and 2008–09 UEFA Cup winners, Shakhtar Donetsk at the Stade Louis II in Monaco on 28 August 2009, following the UEFA Champions League and Europa League draws at the Grimaldi Forum.


2009 UEFA Super Cup
This was the first meeting between the two sides since they met in Group C of the previous season's Champions League competition.


2009 UEFA Super Cup, Venue
The Stade Louis II in Monaco has been the venue for the UEFA Super Cup every year since 1998. Built in 1985, the stadium is also the home of AS Monaco, who play in the French league system.


2009 UEFA Women's Cup Final
The 2009 UEFA Women's Cup Final was played on 16 May and 22 May 2009 between Duisburg of Germany and Zvezda Perm of Russia. Duisburg won 7–1 on aggregate.


2009 UEFA Women's Cup Final
The 2nd-leg attendance of 28,112 was claimed by UEFA as a European record for women's club football, ignoring the existence of earlier  reported women's club match attendances of 53,000.


2009 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship
The 2009 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship was the second edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship. Germany won the trophy for the second time in a row.


2009 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, Qualification
There were two qualifying rounds, and four teams qualified for the final round, played in Switzerland.


2009 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, Qualification, First qualifying round
The ten group winners and best six runners-up advanced to the second qualifying round. The host nations of the ten one-venue mini-tournament groups are indicated in the tables.


2009 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, Qualification, First qualifying round, Ranking of second-placed teams
To determine the best six runner-up teams from the first qualifying round, only the results against the first and the third teams in each group were taken into account.


2009 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, Qualification, Second qualifying round
The sixteen qualified teams from the first qualifying round were allocated in four groups of four teams each. The group winners advanced to the final tournament. The host nations of the four one-venue mini-tournament groups are indicated in italics.


2009 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship
The UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship 2009 Final Tournament was held in Belarus from 13 to 25 July 2009. Players born on or after 1 January 1990 were eligible to participate in this competition. The tournament served as a qualifier for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Germany.


2009 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, Qualification
11 groups of 4 teams, hosted by one nation, seeded into four pots by UEFA coefficient


2009 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, Qualification
6 groups of 4 teams, hosted by one nation, seeded into four pots by UEFA coefficient


2009 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, Ranking of third-placed teams
Matches against the fourth-placed team in each of the groups are not included in this ranking.


2009 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, Ranking of third-placed teams, Second qualifying round, Ranking of second-placed teams
Matches against the fourth-placed team in each of the groups are not included in this ranking.


2009 UEFS Futsal Women's Championship
The 2009 UEFS Futsal Women's Championship was the 4th women's UEFS futsal championship, held in Paczków (Poland).


2009 UEFS Futsal Women's Championship
Belgium withdrew meaning that only seven teams were in the competition.


2009 UEM 500cc Sidecar Final
The 2009 UEM 500cc Sidecar Final was a grasstrack sidecar racing event held in Wimborne Minster, Dorset. The meeting took place in Pilford Farm, Uddens on Sunday 13 September 2009. It also incorporated The 2009 Wimborne Whoppa, which was the 40th anniversary of the event.


2009 UEMOA Tournament
This will be the third UEMOA Tournament contest. It is a competition for domestic-league football players from the eight UEMOA member countries: Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Benin, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.


2009 UEMOA Tournament
The Togolese Football Federation announced their intention to host the tournament at Lomé but the tournament was hosted in Benin.


2009 UFL Championship Game
The 2009 UFL Championship Game was the concluding game of the United Football League's inaugural season. The game was staged at Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada on Friday, November 27, 2009 (one day after Thanksgiving), and was won by the Las Vegas Locomotives, who defeated the previously unbeaten Florida Tuskers 20–17 on a 33-yard field goal in overtime.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Background
The United Football League originally intended to begin play in 2008, and in March of that year selected Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada to host its championship game on the day after that year's Thanksgiving holiday. (The league intended to bill the game as "The United Bowl," but was unable to gain rights from the United Indoor Football or its successor, the Indoor Football League, to use the name; the IFL continues to use the United Bowl name.) When the UFL delayed its start until 2009, the game was moved to the corresponding date in 2009 and kept in Las Vegas.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Background
The Tuskers were the top team in the UFL's premiere season, finishing the regular season with a perfect 6–0 record. Coached by Jim Haslett, the Tuskers led the league in scoring, putting up 217 points behind an offense featuring quarterback Brooks Bollinger (the league leader in completion percentage, passing yards, and TD throws), running back Tatum Bell, and receiver Taye Biddle (the league leader in receiving yards). The Tuskers' defense included such players as Dexter Jackson, a former Super Bowl MVP with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Tuskers secured a spot in the championship game with an October 30 win over the Locos at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Background
The Locomotives, victors of the first game in UFL history (30–17 over the California Redwoods on October 8, 2009), sported a roster including quarterback J. P. Losman, running back DeDe Dorsey (the league's 2nd leading rusher), linebacker Teddy Lehman (the league leader in tackles), and lineman Eric Henderson (who shared the regular season lead in sacks with Tuskers lineman Patrick Chukwurah).


2009 UFL Championship Game, Background
Coached by Jim Fassel, the Locos finished with a 4–2 record after starting the season 1–2 (both losses were to the Tuskers—a 29–15 home loss on October 14 and the above-mentioned loss in St. Petersburg); they secured their berth in the title game with a 16–10 win at California on November 14. The game was held in Florida


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, First half
Florida (the designated home team by virtue of their 1st place regular season finish) took the ball first after winning the opening coin toss, but they and Las Vegas traded punts on their opening possessions. The Tuskers' second possession saw Brooks Bollinger connect with long throws to Taye Biddle for 32 yards, and Jayson Foster for 15 yards, and ended with Bollinger connecting up the middle with Marcus Maxwell on an 8-yard touchdown throw with 5:13 left in the first quarter. After scoring, Maxwell celebrated by slam dunking the ball over the crossbar, noticeably budging the goal post out of alignment and causing a minor delay for repairs before the extra point.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, First half
Las Vegas moved the ball into Tuskers territory on the ensuing drive; after changing ends during the quarter break, they moved the ball to the Florida 2-yard line where, on 2nd and Goal, Tuskers linebacker Odell Thurman forced a fumble by Locos running back Marcel Shipp that was recovered by defensive end Patrick Chukwurah. After a 3-and-out by the Tuskers' offense, the ensuing Locos drive nearly ended with a Darius Vinnett interception, but the pick was called back due to an offsides penalty.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, First half
On the next play, Losman connected with Samie Parker on a 16-yard completion for a 1st down before having to depart with an injury. Tim Rattay finished the drive at QB, moving the Locos to the Florida 35, where Graham Gano missed wide on a 53-yard field goal attempt. The ensuing Tuskers drive also ended on a missed field goal, as Matt Bryant hooked a 51-yard try to the left.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, First half
Losman returned at QB for the Locos on the next drive, connecting with John Madsen on its second play. Madsen appeared to fumble the ball away to the Tuskers, but a replay challenge determined that Madsen fumbled while his foot was on the boundary line, making him out of bounds and ending the play. The Locos drive ended two plays later in a punt.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, First half
In fact, the next two drives ended in punts, the second of which featured what appeared to be a serious injury to the Locos' Josh Scobey, who leaned in with his head when tackling Tuskers return man Willie Andrews. Though Scobey left under his own power, he would not return due to back spasms. The Tuskers' next drive ended in an interception, which the Locos turned into a 45-yard field goal by Gano to end the half and make the score 7–3 in favor of the Tuskers.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, Second half
Ending a Locomotives' drive that carried over from a scoreless 3rd quarter (when both teams had 3 possessions that ended in punts), DeDe Dorsey sprinted down the right sideline for a 38-yard TD run, giving the Locos their first lead at 10–7 with 12:53 left. Unbowed, the Tuskers responded in quick fashion; starting from his own 20, Bollinger connected with Taye Biddle on a 15-yard pass play, immediately followed by a 10-yard Tatum Bell run.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, Second half
On 2nd and 5 from the 50-yard line, Bollinger went deep and connected with Marcus Maxwell on a 40-yard throw, the longest offensive play of the game. The Tuskers regained the lead on the next play, as Bollinger threw up the middle to Frank Murphy on a 10-yard TD catch. The five-play, 80-yard drive gave Florida a 14-10 lead with 10:27 left.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, Second half
After a 3-and-out drive by Las Vegas that featured the Tuskers' fourth sack of the day on Losman, the Tuskers got the ball back on their 35-yard line with 8:19 remaining. One play after Bollinger connected on a 14-yard pass to Bobby Sippio, Locos defensive end Josh Mallard forced a Tatum Bell fumble that was quickly recovered by Bollinger. On the next play, Bollinger was hit just before the throw by Adrian Awasom and fumbled the ball, which was recovered and returned by Locos lineman Ross Kolodziej.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, Second half
The play was ruled a touchdown (Kolodziej fumbled and another Locos player recovered in the end zone), but Florida immediately challenged the call. After a replay review, Bollinger's fumble remained as called, but the ball was ruled down at the Tuskers' 2-yard line, which was moved ahead to the 1-yard line after the Tuskers' Michael Pittman was penalized for a Horse-collar tackle that led to Kolodziej's fumble. Three plays later, Dorsey snuck into the end zone up the middle for his second touchdown of the quarter, giving Las Vegas a 17-14 lead with 5:58 left.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, Second half
Much in the same way as they responded after the first Locos' touchdown, Florida quickly moved the ball down the field on the next drive. Bollinger started with 2 quick completions to Biddle (18 yards) and Maxwell (15 yards). Two plays later, on 2nd and 6 from the Locos 41, Bollinger found Jayson Foster, who broke a tackle and sprinted 41-yards down the left sideline to the end zone. Fassel and the Locos immediately challenged the call, and after review it was determined that Foster was down by contact at the Las Vegas 35-yard line. After the reversal, the Locos' defense clamped down, despite allowing a 22-yard throw to Pittman to the Las Vegas 11-yard line. The Tuskers would settle for a 27-yard field goal by Bryant, which tied the game at 17.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, Second half
Florida regained possession after a Locos 3-and-out. On the 3rd play of the drive (after a Locos pass interference penalty gave the Tuskers a first down), Bollinger connected with Pittman for a 22-yard play to the Vegas 49 (Pittman was injured on the play). After three incomplete passes (the first being a Marcus Maxwell attempt at a spectacular one-handed 30-yard catch), Florida punted away to Las Vegas. Though he initially called a pass play in an attempt to drive up the field for a game-winning field goal, Las Vegas coach Jim Fassel decided on a kneel down play to run out the clock and send the Championship Game into overtime, the first OT game in UFL history.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Game recap, Overtime
Winning the coin toss, Florida elected to receive the ball. Micheal Spurlock's kickoff return was pushed back to the Tuskers' own 9-yard line after a holding penalty. Two plays later, on 3rd and 7, Bollinger escaped a sack but his pass was intercepted by Locos' defensive back Isaiah Trufant. Trufant fumbled but the ball was immediately recovered by Locos' cornerback Trey Young. After one running play to center the ball for a field goal attempt, Graham Gano hit a 33-yard field goal, sneaking the ball just inside the right upright to give the Locomotives the first UFL title, and denying the Tuskers a perfect season, with a final score of 20-17.


2009 UFL Championship Game, Most Valuable Player
Las Vegas running back DeDe Dorsey was awarded the game's Most Valuable Player award thanks to his 98 all-purpose yards (32 receiving, 66 rushing) and two 4th-quarter touchdowns that gave the Locomotives the lead on both occasions. The MVP award was chosen through a text message vote, the options of which were presented to fans in attendance and to viewers on Versus during the 4th quarter; voting was then open until the conclusion of the game.


2009 UFL season
The 2009 United Football League season -- referred to by the professional American football league as the UFL Premiere Season—was the inaugural season of the United Football League. The regular season featured 4 teams playing 6 games each (twice against each of the other teams), and both began and ended at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. Sam Boyd Stadium was the site of the 2009 UFL Championship Game on November 27, a game that saw the Locomotives defeat the previously unbeaten Florida Tuskers 20–17 in overtime.


2009 UFL season, Pre-season and off-field preparations
Preparations for the UFL Premiere Season kicked off in the summer with player signings and a draft. Training camps for the players began on September 9 in Casa Grande, Arizona for the Western teams and September 10 in Orlando, Florida for the Eastern teams.


2009 UFL season, Pre-season and off-field preparations
The league announced its game schedule in the first week of August, a schedule that features games in teams' primary cities as well as secondary sites (a few of which are potential future UFL homes). Certain game sites were not finalized, however, and changes were made both before the schedule's release and after play had begun:


2009 UFL season, Pre-season and off-field preparations
During the week of August 10, the four team names and their uniform jerseys were revealed. Each of the uniforms (and the team logos and helmets that were unveiled on October 2) incorporated the UFL's signature color scheme into their designs, including silver (primary color for the Las Vegas Locomotives), blue (Florida Tuskers), black (New York Sentinels), and lime green and white (California Redwoods). Each of the team jerseys had the same design template, complete with a horizontal arc across the top front that resembles the arc on the UFL's logo.


2009 UFL season, Regular season
The UFL launched play on October 8, 2009, with the Las Vegas Locomotives defeating the California Redwoods 30–17 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. Locos' kicker Graham Gano's 33-yard field goal with 3:20 remaining in the 1st quarter were the first points in league history, while a 5-yard run by Redwoods' quarterback Shane Boyd was the league's first touchdown. The Locos, who trailed 14–3 at one point in the 2nd quarter, rallied for the win via 2 touchdown passes by quarterback J. P. Losman.


2009 UFL season, Regular season
The top team during the regular season was the Florida Tuskers; with a roster of players including quarterback Brooks Bollinger and receiver Taye Biddle, the Tuskers finished the season with a perfect 6–0 record, officially securing a berth in the UFL Championship Game with an October 30 win over Las Vegas. The Locomotives clinched 2nd place and the other title game spot with a November 14 win over California.


2009 UFL season, Regular season, Attendance
Sparsely attended games were a noticeable part of the UFL's regular season, with announced crowds ranging from as low as 4,312 for California's November 14 home game in San Jose to as high as 18,187 for the October 8 inaugural game in Las Vegas, (though media observers at the game suggested the actual in-house attendance for that first game was considerably less). The twelve regular-season contests drew a total of 116,132 fans, or an average of 9,678 a game.


2009 UFL season, Regular season, Attendance
Florida led the league in average attendance (13,225), while California (5,836) and New York (6,637), hampered in part by shifts in game sites and competing in major markets with an NFL presence, brought up the rear in attendance average. Further, two New York home games were held the same nights as Games 2 and 6 of the 2009 World Series, featuring the New York Yankees. Other factors—including the lack of a season ticket package, large-scale college football in Florida, the death of UConn football player Jasper Howard and Tim Lincecum's Cy Young Award press conference just prior to a Redwoods home game—hampered attendance severely.


2009 UFL season, Regular season, Attendance
Though Florida Tuskers' coach Jim Haslett was among those expressing some disappointment in the league's marketing approach for the season (a possible cause of low attendance), league commissioner Michael Huyghue was among league and team executives who countered that rather than heavily marketing the UFL, the league's premiere season was meant to be a "dress rehearsal" -- start small, promote modestly, emphasize quality of product, and take the results and lessons learned from the season in determining the league's plans for 2010 and beyond.


2009 UFL season, Championship game
The UFL's Premiere Season concluded on November 27, 2009 (one day after Thanksgiving) with the championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. The matchup between the Florida Tuskers and Las Vegas Locomotives was dominated by defense until the 4th quarter, when a total of 24 points were scored, highlighted by 2 touchdown runs by Locos running back DeDe Dorsey. A 33-yard field goal by Graham Gano in overtime (the first overtime game in UFL history) gave Las Vegas the championship (and denied Florida an undefeated season) by a 20–17 score. The final score of the game was set up by a Locos takeaway deep in Tusker territory on Florida's first overtime possession.


2009 UFL season, Statistics and awards, Statistical leaders
Note: Statistical numbers cover both the regular season and Championship Game


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 84th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary
The British Greyhound Racing Board and the National Greyhound Racing Club merged to form a new organisation called the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (G.B.G.B). The remit was the same in regard to rules and regulations and the promotion of the sport but there were significant changes in regard to the welfare of the greyhounds. One of the new rules brought in was the requirement for every greyhound to be microchipped and drug tested before it was even allowed to set foot on any track for a qualifying trial.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary
The merger allowed the governing body to track every greyhound registered to race on licensed tracks and would help combat the small minority that abused welfare rules. The new Chief Executive of the G.B.G.B would be former Olympic field hockey gold medallist Ian Taylor, well known as the goalkeeper in the famous 1988 Seoul Games. He would only stay in the position for a relatively short time however and saw the bookmakers levy decreasing; it dropped £2 million to £10 million in total, a very worrying statistic.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary
The industry in Ireland hit a brick wall with the Sports Minister Martin Cullen announcing a 13% funding reduction on Irish racing. Paddy Power subsequently announced they are withdrawing their Derby sponsorship. Attendances were down 12% and tote betting down 8%.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary
The two leading prizes of the English Greyhound Derby and Irish Greyhound Derby went to Kinda Ready and College Causeway respectively.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary
Fear Zafonic went on to win the greyhound of the year after securing the East Anglian Derby and Mark Wallis topped off a superb year with the most open races points and the trainers title for the third time.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary, Tracks
Two tracks closed; on 17 June it was announced that the Boulevard in Hull would close to greyhound racing once again after less than two years trading. After going to once a week racing, promoter Dave Marshall pulled the plug on funding for the stadium and the last meeting was on 27 June.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary, Tracks
Coventry closed after Boxing Day with the company going into liquidation. It closed on a sour note with the Racing Manager Russ Watkin fined £5,000 for allowing 67 races to go off before their official race time.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary, Tracks
Ballyskeagh in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland reopened under a new name and would be known as Drumbo Park. It is known as the New Grosvenor Stadium during the daytime football matches and then changes to Drumbo Park for the Greyhounds in the evening.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary, Competitions
The GRA made more cuts including trimming their major race fixtures. The last Gold Collar and Gorton Cup were held at Belle Vue Stadium. The Scurry Gold Cup had been switched from Perry Barr Stadium earlier in the year to Belle Vue.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary, Competitions
The Scottish Greyhound Derby featured five Irish hounds in the final and the event was won by Cabra Cool. On the same night as the final Greenwell River set a new track record of 28.66 in the invitation race.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary, News
Geoff De Mulder, one of the all-time great trainers, died aged 79. The 'Wizard of Meriden' who had been ill for some time sent out two English Greyhound Derby winners, a Scottish Greyhound Derby, the Welsh Greyhound Derby and four consolation Derby events. He sent out 14 Derby finalists and won a whole host of other major races.


2009 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary, News
Track bookmaker Tony Morris stood for the last time at Wimbledon and top greyhounds Lenson Joker, Horseshoe Ping and Flying Winner were all retired, the latter had broken eight track records.


2009 UK Championship
The 2009 Pukka Pies UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 5–13 December 2009 at the Telford International Centre in Telford, England.


2009 UK Championship
This was the first time that the UK Championship was sponsored by Pukka Pies. Shaun Murphy was the defending champion but he lost 3–9 to Ding Junhui in the Last 16. Ding won the tournament for his second UK title, beating John Higgins 10–8 in the final  .


2009 UK Championship, Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:


2009 UK Championship, Prize fund
Winner: £100,000Runner-up: £46,000Semi-final: £23,250Quarter-final: £16,450Last 16: £12,050Last 32: £8,750Last 48: £5,500Last 64: £2,300


2009 UK Championship, Qualifying
These matches were held between 23 and 30 November 2009 at the Pontin's Centre, Prestatyn, Wales.


2009 UK Independence Party leadership election
The UK Independence Party (UKIP) held a leadership election in 2009, with ballots closing on 26 November. The election was won by Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch.


2009 UK Independence Party leadership election
The Eurosceptic party had been led by Nigel Farage since he won the 2006 leadership election. He announced his resignation from the post in September 2009, stating that he wanted to devote more time to his campaign for a seat in the United Kingdom House of Commons.


2009 UK Independence Party leadership election, Candidates
Gerard Batten was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and stood unsuccessfully in the 2008 London mayoral election. His main policies were to broaden the party's policies beyond Euroscepticism, and to focus on winning representation at Westminster.


2009 UK Independence Party leadership election, Candidates
Mike Nattrass was also an MEP. His main policies were to focus on the upcoming general election, opposition to the Conservative Party, and to reject a merger with similar parties elsewhere in Europe.


2009 UK Independence Party leadership election, Candidates
Lord Pearson was a member of the House of Lords. Originally appointed as a Conservative Party peer, he joined UKIP in 2007. His main policies included a focus on direct democracy and on opposition to Islamism. He had the support of Farage, who declared that Pearson was the only "serious, credible" candidate. He also had the support of the party's deputy leader, David Campbell-Bannerman, who had been expected to stand in the election. The Daily Telegraph declared in September that Pearson was the favourite to win the election.


2009 UK Independence Party leadership election, Candidates
Nikki Sinclaire was another MEP. Her main policies were to professionalise the party, introducing a shadow cabinet, and to focus on communication through the media.


2009 UK Independence Party leadership election, Candidates
Alan Wood was UKIP's nominating officer and a district councillor. His main policy was to focus on an alliance with other Eurosceptic parties, although not with the British National Party. He was also opposed to Pearson's policy of prioritising anti-Islamism.


2009 UK Independence Party leadership election, Result
Pearson was elected, taking almost half of the votes cast.


2009 UK Music Video Awards
The 2009 UK Music Video Awards were held on 13 October 2009 at the Odeon West End in Leicester Square, London to recognise the best in music videos and music film making from United Kingdom and worldwide. The nominations were announced on 28 September 2009. British rock band Coldplay won Video of the Year for "Strawberry Swing", directed by Shynola.


2009 UK Music Video Awards, Video Genre Categories
Department of Eagles – "No One Does It Like You"  (Directors: Patrick Daughters, Marcel Dzama)


2009 UK Music Video Awards, Video Genre Categories
The Presets – "If I Know You"  (Director: Eva Husson)


2009 UK Music Video Awards, Craft and Technical Categories
Florence and The Machine – "Drumming Song"  (Stylist: Aldene Johnson)


2009 UK Music Video Awards, Craft and Technical Categories
Glasvegas – "Flowers and Football Tops"  (VFX: Johan Drehn, Martin de Thurah)


2009 UK Open
The 2009 Blue Square UK Open was the seventh year of the PDC darts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, England, between 4–7 June 2009 and has the nickname, "the FA Cup of darts" as a random draw is staged after each round until the final.


2009 UK Open
Phil Taylor won the title for the third time by defeating Colin Osborne 11–6 in the final.


2009 UK Open, 2009 UK Open Regional Finals
There were eight regional final events staged between January and May 2009 to determine the UK Open Order of Merit Table. The tournament winners were:


2009 UK Open, Format and qualifiers
The tournament features 129 players. As in previous years, eight regional UK Open events were staged across the UK where players winning are collated into the UK Open Order Of Merit. The top 96 players and ties in the list, who played a minimum of three events received a place at the final stages.


2009 UK Open, Format and qualifiers
The Holsten qualifiers and the players outside the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit began the tournament on the Thursday night. They played down to 32 players, and they were joined by the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit the following night, to provide the competition's last 64. A random draw was made after each subsequent round.


2009 UK Open, Format and qualifiers
32 players were due to have qualified from four Holsten Pils qualifiers held in Aylesbury, Batley, Birmingham and Salford. However, Peter Green had to withdraw for unknown reasons, thus meaning there were only 31 qualifiers present in Bolton.


2009 UK Open, Prize money
In addition, Holsten offered a £3,000 bonus to the Pub Qualifier to get the furthest into the tournament (shared by Ken Mather and Andy Roberts).


2009 UK Open, Draw
The draw for the preliminary, first and second rounds was made on 25 May, ahead of the 2009 Premier League Darts Play-Offs by Sid Waddell and Keith Deller.


2009 UK Open, Draw, Preliminary round
This match was the best of eleven legs, and was played on 4 June.


2009 UK Open, Draw, Second round
† Mark Lawrence was given a bye into round three, as Paul Cook was disqualified.


2009 UK Open, Draw, Final stages
There was a draw after each round; this bracket has been compiled retrospectively.


2009 UMass Minutemen football team
The 2009 UMass Minutemen football team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. The team was coached by Kevin Morris and played its home games at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Hadley, Massachusetts. The 2009 season was Morris's first as head coach of the Minutemen, as Don Brown left the position in the offseason to become the defensive coordinator at Maryland. It was also the first year UMass finished with a losing record since joining the CAA, both overall (5–6) and in-conference (3–5).


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul
The 2009 UN guest house attack happened in the early hours of October 28, 2009, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Three Taliban attackers stormed a guest house used by the United Nations, killing five UN staff, two Afghan security personnel and an Afghan civilian.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Background
The Bakhtar guest house is a privately owned, 42-room guest house in Kabul, Afghanistan that catered to foreign aid workers. According to a statement made by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 25 UN staff members were there, including 17 men and women of the United Nations Development Programme election team (UNDP/ELECT). The attack was part of the Taliban's plans to disrupt the Presidential election runoff.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Attack
According to survivors, three attackers, dressed as policemen, arrived at the compound around 3:30 a.m. and shot and killed two Afghan security guards at the compound's front entrance. Two of the attackers then climbed a wall and began firing rifle grenades at the guest house while the third fired a machine-gun to repel counterattacks by other security guards and police.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Attack
Two UN security guards responded and fired pistols at the attackers, while 25 of the guests escaped out the back of the house. One UN security guard, an American from Miami named Louis Maxwell, climbed to the roof of the building to fire at the attackers. Maxwell and the other security guard, Laurance Mefful from Ghana, were able to prevent the attackers from entering the building for almost one hour.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Attack
Maxwell and Mefful were then reportedly killed by the attackers, although later reports suggest Maxwell was wounded but survived the confrontation, only to be executed by Afghan policemen responding to the attack. The attackers then apparently approached the building. Two of the attackers were killed by gunfire from unknown sources and the third detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and at least two guests who had not evacuated the building.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Attack
Nearly simultaneous with the guest house attack, rockets were fired at the Afghan Presidential Palace and the Serena Hotel, though there were no injuries in either incident.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Attack
The attackers wore explosive suicide vests. Even after the Afghan security forces arrived, they moved slowly into the compound which allowed the event to go on for over 6 hours.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Attack
After the attack, the UN questioned why it took Afghan police and NATO forces more than an hour to respond and come to the UN's aid. Afghan authorities denied that the police response was slow and NATO stated that no one called it to ask for help.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Attack
'The Sentimental Terrorist' a novel of Afghanistan is partially based on this incident, with jihadists preparing to attack a Kabul guest house.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Casualties
Five UN staff, two Afghan security personnel and an Afghan civilian were killed in the attack. Nine additional UN staffers were also injured. The dead UN staff members were from Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, the Philippines and the United States. The civilian was the brother-in-law of Provincial governor Gul Agha Sherzai, who had been watching the attack and was killed by a stray bullet.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Casualties
Two of the three other UN staffers killed in the attack, Lydia Wonwene of Liberia and Jossie Esto of the Philippines, were election workers. The third staffer killed worked for UNICEF.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Responsibility
Zabiullah Mujahid, a regular Taliban spokesman, confirmed that the Taliban was responsible for the attacks and that it was part of a plan to disrupt the Presidential election runoff. Zabiullah asserted that the Taliban had warned those working on the election that if they continued they were to be the targets of an attack.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Responsibility
An Afghan government intelligence official, Amrullah Saleh, stated that the attacks were planned and carried out by the Haqqani network with help from Al Qaeda in Pakistan.


2009 UN guest house attack in Kabul, Responsibility
The report of the United Nations Board of Inquiry confirmed the political connotation of the attack and details the findings on whether UN staff members were killed by friendly fire.


2009 UNAF U-17 Tournament (Morocco)
The second 2009 edition of the UNAF U-17 Tournament took place in December 2009, with Morocco as the host of the tournament.


2009 UNAF U-17 Tournament (Tunisia)
The 2009 UNAF U-17 Tournament was an association football tournament that took place on 12-20 August 2009 in Ain Draham, Tunisia.


2009 UNAF U-20 Tournament
The 2009 UNAF U-20 Tournament was the 5th edition of the UNAF U-20 Tournament. The tournament took place in Libya, from 5 to 9 August 2009. Tunisia won the tournament for the third time.


2009 UNAF Women's Club Tournament
The 2009 UNAF Women's Club Tournament is the 3rd edition of the UNAF Women's Club Tournament. The clubs from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia faced off for the title. The tunisian team ASF Sahel wins the tournament.


2009 UNAF Women's Club Tournament, Tournament
The competition played in a round-robin tournament determined the final standings. It's hosted in Suez, Egypt.


2009 UNAF Women's Tournament
The 2009 UNAF Women's Tournament is the 1st edition of the UNAF Women's Tournament, an association football tournament open to the women's national teams of UNAF member countries. The tournament took place in Tunisia. Of the five UNAF member countries, Libya and Morocco chose not to participate in the competition. Tunisia won the competition after winning their two games against Algeria and Egypt.


2009 UNCAF Nations Cup
The UNCAF Nations Cup 2009 was the tenth edition of the UNCAF Nations Cup, the biennial football (soccer) tournament for the CONCACAF-affiliated national teams of Central America. The first five places qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The event was going to take place in Panama City, Panama between January 22 and February 1, 2009, but the Panamanian FA announced that they would not host the event due to not having an adequate stadium available for the time period of the tournament. The alternative hosts were Honduras and Guatemala.


2009 UNCAF Nations Cup
Honduras submitted an official replacement bid on November 12, and after some consideration it was moved to Honduras. All games were played in Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino in Tegucigalpa. The tournament was sponsored by Digicel. On 1 February 2009 Panama won the tournament, the first UNCAF Nations Cup win in the country's history.


2009 UNCAF Nations Cup, First round
The group stage draw took place on December 9, 2008 in Guatemala City. The reigning champions, Costa Rica, and the hosts, Honduras, were automatically drawn as top seed in their respective groups. Costa Rica was paired with Panama and Guatemala, the first two runners-up from the UNCAF Nations Cup 2007. The remaining teams – El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Belize – were drawn into the same group as Honduras.


2009 UNCAF Nations Cup, Final round, Fifth place
The winner of the fifth place match qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup as the fifth and final entrant from Central America.


2009 UNCAF Nations Cup, Final round, Semifinals
All four semifinalists qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.


2009 UNCAF Nations Cup squads
Below are the rosters for the UNCAF Nations Cup 2009 tournament in Honduras, from January 22 to February 1, 2009.


2009 UNCAF U-16 Tournament
The 2009 UNCAF U-16 Tournament was the 3rd UNCAF U-16 Tournament, a biennial international football tournament contested by men's under-16 national teams. Organized by UNCAF, the tournament took place in Costa Rica between 4 and 8 August 2009.


2009 UNCAF U-16 Tournament
The matches were played at Estadio Ebal Rodríguez. Five Central American teams took part of the tournament, playing each other in a round-robin format. Honduras and Belize did not send a team.


2009 UNGL Draft
The 2009 UNGL Draft was the inaugural draft for the United National Gridiron League. The draft was held on January 8–9, 2009. What made this draft unique was the fact that the league chose to skip having a rookie combine and held the draft online, in order to start the league in the spring of 2009. The first overall selection of the draft was UAB running back Dan Burks by the Alabama Blackbirds. The following is an incomplete list of players selected in the 2009 UNGL Draft.


2009 UNGL Draft, Players included in the draft
Included in the draft where players from other leagues, such as the All-American Football League (AAFL), Arena Football League (AFL), American Indoor Football Association (AIFA), Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL), arenafootball2 (af2), Indoor Football League (IFL), and some from practice squads of National Football League (NFL) franchises.


2009 UNIFFAC Cup
The 2009 UNIFFAC Cup was the second UNIFFAC Cup competition to take place. All games were hosted in Limbe, Cameroon. It was contested by players under 17 years of age.


2009 UNLV Rebels football team
The 2009 UNLV Rebels football team was the 42nd varsity football team to represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The Rebels play in the Mountain West Conference and compete each season against the remaining eight members of the conference and one permanent interstate rival: Nevada. In 2009, UNLV also played non-conference games at home against Sacramento State, Oregon State and Hawaii. Mike Sanford entered his fifth and final season as UNLV's head coach and the Rebels played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada.


2009 UNLV Rebels football team
In November, head coach Mike Sanford was fired after five losing seasons, a 16-43 record and no bowl appearances. He won his last game as head coach against San Diego State on November 28, 2009, 28-24, with a fourth quarter comeback.


2009 UNLV Rebels football team, Pre-season
At the 2009 Mountain West Conference Media Day in Las Vegas, the Rebels were picked to finish fifth in the conference, the highest preseason ranking since the Rebels were picked to finish tied for fifth with BYU in 2004. ESPN NFL analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. named the Rebels, along with Miami (FL), California and SMU, as one of his sleepers that could make "national noise" in 2009.


2009 UNLV Rebels football team, Pre-season
Kiper stated: "If Omar Clayton, their quarterback, can stay healthy and get the ball to Ryan Wolfe, UNLV, I think, can go bowling for the first time in a long time and be a factor in the Mountain West Conference." Paul Myerberg of The New York Times ranked UNLV in the 84th position in their preseason Quad Countdown, in front of Ball State and behind UTEP. The ranking was an improvement of 27 spots from their 2008 preseason ranking of 111th. Myerberg predicted that the Rebels would go 6-6 and earn their first bowl berth since their 2000 Las Vegas Bowl victory against Arkansas.


2009 UNLV Rebels football team, Pre-season
Junior quarterback Omar Clayton received much praise during the preseason including that from The New York Times and Mel Kiper, Jr. and was named as one of the favorites to be named the conference's Offensive Player of the Year by Bleacher Report's Mountain West Conference writer. Senior wide receiver Ryan Wolfe was named as one of the best non-BCS receivers in the country by The New York Times and was named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list during the preseason. Wolfe enters the season only 50 receptions and 900 yards away from breaking the conference's career receptions and receiving yards records. Wolfe and senior linebacker Jason Beauchamp were both named to the All-MWC preseason team.


2009 UNLV Rebels football team, Pre-season
On July 3, 2009, sophomore linebacker Bryce Saldi suffered severe injuries following a skateboarding accident while in southern California. Saldi was placed in the intensive care unit at Loma Linda University Medical Center. There has been no word on a timetable for Saldi's return.


2009 UNLV Rebels football team, Pre-season, Key Losses
The following are some of the key players who will be no longer eligible to play in the 2009 season:


2009 UNLV Rebels football team, Game summaries, Sacramento State
UNLV opened their season as a 22-point favorite against FCS squad Sacramento State from the Big Sky Conference. Both teams' passing games were hampered by the 32 mph wind gusts that were recorded around the stadium. UNLV took a 10–3 lead into halftime after a one-yard touchdown run by junior runningback Channing Trotter and a 39-yard field goal by senior kicker Kyle Watson gave UNLV the 10–0 lead after the first quarter. Sacramento State would get their only points of the game on a 44-yard field goal by Hornets' kicker Chris Diniz


2009 UNLV Rebels football team, Game summaries, Sacramento State
In the second half, the Rebels would explode on offense, starting with another 1 yard touchdown run by Trotter late in the third quarter. Trotter would score his third one-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to push the Rebels lead to 24–3. The Rebels increased their lead midway through the fourth on a 55-yard strike from senior quarterback Omar Clayton to senior wide receiver Rodelin Anthony. Clayton's backup, sophomore Mike Clausen, played the final minutes of the game and sealed the Rebels victory with a 4-yard touchdown run. The win against Sacramento State was their fourth straight opener.


2009 US Open (darts)
The 2009 US Open Players Championship was the third edition of the US Open tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation.


2009 US Open (darts)
Dennis Priestley won the tournament, beating Andy Hamilton in the final.


2009 US Open (tennis)
The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the men's singles final match on Sunday, September 13, but due to rain the tournament was extended by one day. Like the Australian Open, the tournament featured night matches.


2009 US Open (tennis)
Former World No. 1 and 2005 US Open women's singles champion, Kim Clijsters, competed in the 2009 US Open after being granted a wild card entry, returning to professional tennis after more than two years of retirement. She made it to the women's singles semi-finals, where she knocked out the defending champion Serena Williams in controversial circumstances.


2009 US Open (tennis)
In the final, Clijsters defeated Caroline Wozniacki, the first Dane, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era, in straight sets: 7–5, 6–3. Clijsters thus became the first mother to win a Grand Slam since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980. In the process, she also became the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament.


2009 US Open (tennis)
In the men's singles final, five-time defending champion Roger Federer lost to Argentina's Juan Martín del Potro in a match lasting over four hours.


2009 US Open (tennis), Arthur Ashe Kids' Day
The Arthur Ashe Kids' Day was held on August 29, 2009, prior to the start of the tournament. It featured an exhibition tennis match involving American player Andy Roddick and Great Britain's Andy Murray, who were joined by actor and comedian Will Ferrell. American Idol winner Jordin Sparks performed her hit single "Battlefield", along with rising stars Honor Society and Justin Bieber. There were also tennis matches and contests featuring Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, and James Blake. The popular tennis and music festival, which included interactive games, musical entertainment and tennis clinics, was hosted by television personalities Susie Castillo and Quddus.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 1 (August 31)
The first day of the tournaments saw many seeds get through pretty easily in straight sets: Roger Federer, James Blake, Lleyton Hewitt, Nikolay Davydenko and Radek Štěpánek. The day also produced a couple of upsets, when Mikhail Youzhny continued 26th seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu's horrible US Open record by beating him in four. While, tall American John Isner did the same to 28th seeded Victor Hănescu by ending the Romanian's 2009 bid in three with the second set going to a tie-break 16–14.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 1 (August 31)
The exciting day continued with a couple of five-set marathons, with Simon Greul defeating Giovanni Lapentti, Guillermo García-López out-lasting Peter Polansky, and Jan Hernych surviving against Rainer Schüttler. The days last match featured America's hope Andy Roddick prevailing over Björn Phau in straight sets in a match that started at 11:00 pm.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 1 (August 31)
On the women's side, former world no. 1 Kim Clijsters opened the play, winning over Viktoriya Kutuzova losing only two games. Joining her were defending 2009 Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Serena Williams, Amélie Mauresmo, Victoria Azarenka, Flavia Pennetta, Elena Vesnina, Agnieszka Radwańska, Li Na and Marion Bartoli who all won in two sets. Australian Samantha Stosur was pushed by veteran player Ai Sugiyama in three sets, Daniela Hantuchová got past American Meghann Shaughnessy in three as well.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 1 (August 31)
In the first night match, Venus Williams was able to claw her way to avoid an upset to win against Russian Vera Dushevina in a very close three-setter. Venus committed four foot faults in the match. With Venus and Serena getting past the first round, a few American players saw success on the women's side with Vania King, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Jill Craybas getting to the second round. Austrian and 28th seeded Sybille Bammer, who defeated Serena Williams in Cincinnati, and 25th seeded Kaia Kanepi were the only casualties of the day.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 2 (September 1)
On the men's side, many seeded players got through in straight sets: 2008 US Open runner-up Andy Murray, 2008 Australian Open Champion Novak Djokovic, Tomáš Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando González, and Fernando Verdasco. No. 30 seed Victor Troicki survived a five-set scare, 6–3, 6–3, 1–6, 2–6, 6–1. However, some seeds failed to be as lucky and fell in the first round with Ivo Karlović falling to Iván Navarro and Igor Andreev falling to American Jesse Witten, both in straight sets, while Stan Wawrinka fell in five. American players were once again successful, with 5 out of the 11 getting past the first round: Sam Querrey, Kevin Kim, Jesse Witten, Jesse Levine, and Taylor Dent.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 2 (September 1)
On the women's side, the first major upset of the tournament occurred with Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko upsetting 11th seed and former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic committed 50 unforced errors. In the second round, her sister Alona Bondarenko, 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, Nadia Petrova and Tathiana Garbin all advanced. Other seeded players that were eliminated in the first round were 32nd seed Ágnes Szávay, losing to Israeli Shahar Pe'er in straight sets, Alisa Kleybanova, losing to Petra Kvitová in three and Virginie Razzano losing to Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets. Day 2 was a good day for women American players with three out of five getting through: Melanie Oudin, Shenay Perry, and Christina McHale. However, world no. 1 Dinara Safina struggled in her match against Olivia Rogowska but manage to survive, winning in three sets


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 2 (September 1)
On the doubles side, the day was led by 2nd seeded Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić, who won in straight sets, and the only seeds that were eliminated were No. 15 seed Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 3 (September 2)
The men's side saw Rafael Nadal playing his first match at the 2009 US Open and winning against his friend Richard Gasquet. He was joined by no. 1 seed Roger Federer, Juan Martín del Potro, Gaël Monfils, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Gilles Simon, who all won in straight sets, while David Ferrer, Nicolás Almagro and American Robby Ginepri won in 4. Joining them was Austrian Jürgen Melzer, who defeated Marat Safin in Safin's last Grand Slam match.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 3 (September 2)
On the women's side, upsets continued with Amélie Mauresmo falling to Aleksandra Wozniak, Anabel Medina Garrigues losing to Kirsten Flipkens, and dark horse favorite Australian Samantha Stosur losing to American Vania King, all in straight sets, while Marion Bartoli and Agnieszka Radwańska both fell to resurging players Kim Clijsters and Maria Kirilenko in three. However, the day also saw half of the seeds getting through easily and was led by former champion Venus Williams and Flavia Pennetta, who won in double bagel, Victoria Azarenka, Francesca Schiavone, Elena Vesnina, and Li Na. The day ended for the first time in over 30 years in the US Open history by a women's match, which saw Serena Williams dispatching Melinda Czink in just 53 minutes.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 3 (September 2)
On the doubles side, there were a couple of major upsets: sixth seeded Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, fell in their opening round, as well as unseeded world no. 8 in doubles Lisa Raymond and her partner Shenay Perry.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 4 (September 3)
Day 4 continued the success of the top men's seeds, with no. 4 seed Novak Djokovic dispatching Carsten Ball 6–2, 6–4, 6–4. He was joined by 2009 French Open runner-up Robin Söderling, 2009 French Open semifinalist Tommy Haas, 2009 Hamburg Open Champion Nikolay Davydenko, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Tommy Robredo. The Americans once again took advantage of their home court, with four of them winning their matches: James Blake surviving against Olivier Rochus in four, with Blake committing 53 unforced errors, John Isner, Jesse Witten, and Sam Querrey. Andy Roddick once again got through easily against Marc Gicquel 6–1, 6–4, 6–4. He produced 33 winners and only 10 unforced errors in the last match of the night.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 4 (September 3)
The women's side received a lot of buzz, with 17-year-old American Melanie Oudin upsetting hot favorite and US Open Series champion Elena Dementieva in the second round. Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan upset last year's runner-up Jelena Janković in three sets. Seeded players who joined Dementieva and Janković were Alona Bondarenko, who lost to Gisela Dulko, and Patty Schnyder, who lost in straight sets, while Sabine Lisicki lost in three to the last Australian and qualifier on the draw Anastasia Rodionova. No. 1 seed Dinara Safina once again survived a scare from Kristina Barrois, winning 6(5)–7, 6–2, 6–3. However, a few seeded players got through quite easily, led by Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Nadia Petrova, and Danish player Caroline Wozniacki. Unseeded players who got through in straight sets were Kateryna Bondarenko, who eliminated Ivanovic, Shahar Pe'er, Sara Errani, and Petra Kvitová.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 4 (September 3)
On the doubles side, it was the opposite, with all of the women's doubles seeds getting through. However, on the men's side, the highest seeded players who fell were no. 9 seeded Łukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach, losing to veteran doubles players Leoš Friedl and Jaroslav Levinský.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 5 (September 4)
The fifth day of the US Open saw many seeds struggle on the men's side, with no. 30 seed Viktor Troicki losing to Julien Benneteau in four sets, and no. 18 seed David Ferrer losing to José Acasuso in five sets. This day also saw Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray struggle with their matches, with both of them being pushed to four sets. A couple of seeds were also pushed to four: Tomáš Berdych and Fernando González. No . 24 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero and no. 16 seed Marin Čilić both survived their matches, despite losing the first two sets.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 5 (September 4)
Many victors were pushed to five sets: Nicolás Almagro, a returning Taylor Dent, and Denis Istomin. Although many seeds struggled, French seeds got through easily with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gaël Monfils, and Gilles Simon winning their matches on straight sets. They were joined by Argentine Juan Martín del Potro, who also won in straight sets.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 5 (September 4)
On the women's side, Victoria Azarenka lost to Italian Francesca Schiavone in three sets after Azarenka double-faulted on a match point. The rest of the matches were all won in straight sets, led by Serena Williams, who defeated María José Martínez Sánchez, who had a controversial match at the 2009 French Open. She was joined by Daniela Hantuchová, who crushed American Vania King, Li Na, Kim Clijsters, Flavia Pennetta, and Venus Williams. Elena Vesnina lost to 7th seed Vera Zvonareva.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 5 (September 4)
On the women's side, seventh seeded Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai were ousted by the American team of Alexa Glatch and Carly Gullickson. They were followed by no. 14 seed Sania Mirza and Francesca Schiavone, who lost to Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko in a tight three-setter.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 6 (September 5)
Five-time defending champion Swiss Roger Federer took out the 2001 Champion Lleyton Hewitt in four sets after losing the first to set up a match-up with Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the fourth round, who beat American James Blake in three sets. Swede Robin Söderling took out the young American Sam Querrey in four sets in order to advance to face Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth round, who won his match against Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli in straight sets.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 6 (September 5)
One-time slam champion Novak Djokovic won in a four-set match after losing the first set against American qualifier Jesse Witten in order to advance to the fourth round against Czech Radek Štěpánek, who won in a match against German Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets after losing the first. Spaniard Fernando Verdasco sent German Tommy Haas packing in a brutal five-set match, Verdasco met American John Isner in the next round because Isner eliminated the 2003 champion Andy Roddick from the tournament in another five-set battle.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 6 (September 5)
American Melanie Oudin defeated three-time slam champion and 2006 US Open Champion Russian Maria Sharapova in three sets, losing the first and winning the next two to advance into the fourth round. Russian Nadia Petrova defeated Chinese Zheng Jie 6–4, 6–1 to set up a match with Melanie Oudin in the fourth round. Danish Caroline Wozniacki took out doubles partner Romanian Sorana Cîrstea in the third round in 6–3, 6–2, which allowed her to set up a match with Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round, after Kuznetsova beat Israeli Shahar Pe'er 7–5, 6–1.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 6 (September 5)
Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko bested Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova in the third round 7-6(7–4), 6–4, which allowed her to meet Argentine Gisela Dulko, who beat Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 6–3, 6–4. Czech Petra Kvitová took down top-seeded world no. 1 Russian Dinara Safina in three up-and-down sets 4–6, 6–2, 7-6(7–5). This set up a fourth-round match with Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, who took down Italian Sara Errani with a score of 6–3, 6–4.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 7 (September 6)
Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Nicolás Almagro played in a third-round match which was won in straight sets by Rafael Nadal, who would face Frenchman Gaël Monfils in the fourth round. Monfils beat Argentine José Acasuso in straight sets. Chilean Fernando González won in straight sets against Czech Tomáš Berdych and would face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau in straight sets. Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero won over higher-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon. Ferrero advanced to play Argentine Juan Martín del Potro, who won in four sets over Austrian Daniel Köllerer. Croatian Marin Čilić won in three easy sets over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan to face Briton Andy Murray, who beat American Taylor Dent in three sets.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 7 (September 6)
American Serena Williams beat Slovakian Daniela Hantuchová in two sets that totaled 64 minutes of action to face in the quarterfinals Italian Flavia Pennetta, who beat Russian Vera Zvonareva. Zvonareva had six match points in the second set, but had a meltdown and lost the third set 6–0. Chinese Li Na won in two sets over Italian Francesca Schiavone. Na advanced to play wild-card Belgian Kim Clijsters, who took down third-seeded Venus Williams in three sets after two love games, 6-0 for Clijsters and 0-6 for Venus Williams. The third set went to Clijsters in one break of Venus's serve 6–4.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 8 (September 7)
Swede Robin Söderling advanced to the quarterfinals with a retirement of Russian Nikolay Davydenko to face the Swiss Roger Federer, who beat Spaniard Tommy Robredo in straight sets. This would mark the third time the duo of Federer and Söderling has met in a Grand Slam in 2009, including the 2009 French Open final and the 2009 Wimbledon Championships fourth round, which were both won by Federer. Spaniard Fernando Verdasco beat American John Isner to advance into the quarterfinals, which means for the first time in US Open history no American male advanced into the quarterfinals of the tournament.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 8 (September 7)
Verdasco would face Serbian Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals because Djokovic took down Czech Radek Štěpánek in straight sets. After defeating Štěpánek, Djokovic provided a light-hearted moment for the crowd along with former tennis great and current commentator John McEnroe. Djokovic began by impersonating McEnroe, who grew up in the nearby Queens neighborhood of Douglaston. He then motioned for McEnroe to come down from the press box; McEnroe obliged, mimicking some of Djokovic's mannerisms before the two played a few points. The two then embraced at the net.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 8 (September 7)
The first match featured Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko making quick work of Argentine Gisela Dulko in double-bagel sets in 47 minutes. Dulko had beaten Bondarenko's sister, Alona Bondarenko, in the second round. with Dulko making 20 unforced errors compared to Bondarenko's 6, while Bondarenko made 17 winners to Dulko's 7. Melanie Oudin advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 1–6, 7–6, 6–3 win over No. 13 seed Nadia Petrova.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 8 (September 7)
Belgian Yanina Wickmayer won in a three-set match against Czech Petra Kvitová to advance into the quarterfinals, making two Belgians who have advanced to the quarterfinalss for the first time since the 2003 US Open tournament. Wickmayer took advantage of the Czech's unforced errors and won the match 4–6, 6–4, 7–5. Caroline Wozniacki defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 2–6, 7–6, 7–6 in an absorbing contest that kicked off Monday's night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 9 (September 8)
In the fourth round of men's singles, Juan Martín del Potro won in straight sets over 2003 finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero 6–3, 6–3, 6–3. This set up a quarterfinal clash with Marin Čilić, who upset second-seeded Andy Murray in straight sets as well. In a closely contested match Fernando González prevailed over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets. The 11th-seeded Gonzalez advanced to his second US Open quarterfinal, having reached this stage seven years ago. This set up a meeting with Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals who outlasted the last Frenchman Gaël Monfils in four sets.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 9 (September 8)
Belgian wild-card Kim Clijsters won over Chinese Li Na in two sets 6–2, 6–4 to make it to the semifinals. The next match featured American Serena Williams who defeated a gritty competitor in Italian Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals in two hard-fought sets. This set up a meeting in the semifinals with Clijsters, who defeated Serena's sister Venus in the fourth round.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 10 (September 9)
The first quarterfinals match in the Men's side featured no. 4 seed Novak Djokovic taking on no. 10 seed Fernando Verdasco, with Novak Djokovic prevailing over Fernando Verdasco 7–6, 1–6, 7–5, 6–2 to reach his third straight semi-finals in the US Open. The next match saw Robin Söderling against Roger Federer. Federer defeated Söderling in four sets: 6–0, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 10 (September 9)
The third quarterfinals match and the first of the day for the Women's side featured Belgian Yanina Wickmayer beating Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine in two sets, joining Belgian Kim Clijsters in the semi-finals. This set up a semifinal match with Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark, who defeated American Melanie Oudin in two sets 6–2, 6–2.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 11 (September 10)
Argentinie Juan Martín del Potro defeated Croatian Marin Čilić in four sets and became the third of his country to qualify for the semifinals (after Vilas and Nalbandian). The other quarterfinal match between Rafael Nadal and Fernando González was suspended due to bad weather and would be resumed on Friday. Rafael Nadal was leading 7-6(4), 6-6(3-2) when play was stopped.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 11 (September 10)
The Williams sisters defeated Russians Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova in three sets and qualified for the final. The mixed doubles final saw Americans Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott claim the title in straight sets over Zimbabwe's Cara Black and Indian Leander Paes.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 12 (September 11)
All the matches that should have been played this day were postponed due to the continued rain.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 13 (September 12)
Rafael Nadal needed 34 minutes to finish off Fernando González in their rain-interrupted quarterfinal, advancing 7–6, 7–6, 6–0 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Nadal led 7-6 and 3–2 in a second-set tiebreak when play was called off late Thursday evening. Precipitation throughout a gloomy Friday rendered play impossible, throwing the schedule into chaos and prompting a resumption on Saturday at noon.


2009 US Open (tennis), Day-by-day summaries, Day 13 (September 12)
Kim Clijsters won an entry into the women's singles final after a dramatic ending to her semifinal against Serena Williams. After losing the first set 4–6, Williams smashed her racquet into the ground, giving her a code violation warning for racquet abuse from the chair umpire. In the second set, down 5–6 (15–30), Williams had a foot fault called on her second serve, giving Clijsters two match points at 15–40. Williams started yelling at the line umpire, who reported to the chair umpire.