January 29th update

Azarenka, Djokovic win down under

• The Australian Open came to a conclusion this weekend with Victoria Azarenka and Novak Djokovic winning the women’s and men’s titles in matches that could not have been any more different.
• Djokovic won his fifth Grand Slam Championship defeating Rafael Nadal in 5 sets in an epic back and forth battle that lasted nearly 6 hours, and a full hour longer than the longest final in any grand slam tournament in the open era. It was also longer than any Australian Open event ever and the fact that both players were still playing well by the end is a tribute to how incredible these two athletes are.
• It was not a perfect match by any means by Novak, and he had 69 unforced errors, but overcame a 4-2 disadvantage in the 5th set to win 7-5. Djokovic has beaten Nadal 7 times in a row now and has won the last two Grand Slam events (Wimbledon and US Open). He will look to be the first person since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam Championships, at the same time, at the French Open in May, which would also give Djokovic the 'Career Grand Slam' or wins in all four events.
• The main court at the Australian Open is named after Laver, who was also at the trophy presentation.
• The women's final was not nearly as memorable as Azarenka defeated former world #1 Maria Sharapova soundly, preventing her from retaking that top position. Azarenka won 12 of the last 13 games of the match, and sent Sharapova home with a bitter taste in her mouth following a very solid run until the finals. It was Azarenka’s first Grand Slam Championship. Despite being ranked #3 in the world before the tournament, Azarenka will be ranked #1 in the world when the new rankings come out (Sharapova was #4 but also would have moved to #1 with a win).


Two Sports Hold All-Star Games

• The NHL All-Star game was Sunday afternoon in Ottawa. Under the rules the NHL implemented a few years ago, the teams were named after Captains (the massive Zdeno Chara and Daniel Alfredsson). The All-Stars were selected throughout the first half of the season, but on Thursday Chara and Alfredsson pretended they were in the backyard and drafted teams. Team Chara won 12 – 9.
• Even with MVP Marion Gaborik and Chara himself making noise (Gaborik for scoring 3 goals and had an assists, Chara scored the game winning goal), the biggest story was two players who were missing. Sidney Crosby is still out due to issues from a concussion he had last year, and Alexander Ovechkin took himself out of the game after he was suspended for an illegal hit.
• Brandon Marshall led the AFC to a 59-41 victory in the highest scoring Pro Bowl ever (the NFL’s All-Star Game). Marshall had 5 catches, including a few that will be on the highlight reels for years and had 4 touchdowns. This was fitting for a year in which lots of offensive records were bested. This generally unenthusiastic game was actually pretty tense at a few times, with a few big hits dealt out, especially by the AFC team.
• The NFC's Larry Fitzgerald had a stellar game himself, catching 6 passes for 111 yards and 3 touchdowns.