One of the things that makes sport such a wonderful part of life is the upset.

I’m someone who took my family to the US last year to see the All Blacks crush Ireland at Chicago (and also to see Clinton beat Trump).

Well, we all know what happened that day in Chicago (and then a few days later with the election).  Well, at the stadium, there were Irish men and women of all ages from kids to elderly men in their 80s, who had supported Ireland all their lives and never thought they’d live to see the day when Ireland would beat the All Blacks, and they had tears in their eyes.

And after cheering the All Blacks and mocking the Irish fans all through the game – and vice versa – at the end of the game we all stood and cheered the Irish as they celebrated their win. And I swapped my All Black shirt with an Irish fan for a Munster shirt. And we all walked back to the hotel thrilled to have been part of history and it made the trip even more special than had the All Blacks won.  (It might have been a bit different had we travelled all the way to Chicago and the All Blacks had lost to Australia!)

Anyway, there was a fantastic game of tennis in Auckland yesterday – one of the great upsets in this history of the game.

The world number 72, Madison Brengle, beat the world number 1, Serena Williams, the greatest woman tennis player the world has ever known, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 – some say the greatest sportsperson, male or female, in any sport, ever.

It was a fantastic coup for the ASB Tennis Classic to bring Serena Williams to New Zealand. And if Madison Brengle achieves nothing else in her career – if she loses in the quarter finals today or tomorrow – she will always have this. Nothing can take it away from her. If you win, you win.

Serena Williams was as graceless as ever. She blamed the conditions. She said she was off somewhere warmer and better.

And if she ends up winning the Australian Open we’re going to ask the question, aren’t we: How hard was she trying in Auckland? Was she just here for the appearance money? Was it just to stop her older sister from nagging her to come to Auckland? Would it have been better had she not come at all?     

You might remember the McEnroe-Lendl game in Auckland back in the early 1980s. They just came over after the Aussie Open, hit the ball backwards and forwards over the net, took their money and flew out again. Lendl won. But people were disgusted by the cynicism and greed.

I’m not suggesting anything sinister about Serena Williams’ loss and certainly not about our All Blacks losing in Chicago, but can we trust sport anymore? Can we trust that everyone is trying their hardest all the time? After what’s happened with Indian cricket, do we trust that sportspeople are even trying to win at all? Or, after Lance Armstrong, that they’re not just on the drugs?

Congratulations to Madison Brengle. You deserved your win. I hope go all the way here in Auckland. I’ll be cheering for you in the quarter finals. And I hope you play Serena Williams again, perhaps at the Aussie Open in a couple of weeks, and I hope you beat her.

But I’m interested in everyone’s thoughts on all this – tennis fan, rugby fan, cricket fan, cycling fan, athlete, parent, grandparent, whatever. Taking your calls this morning on 0800 80 10 80.