TENNIS in DEPTH.

At the Ceremony, staged in the heart of London at Central Hall, Westminster, the world’s best player, winner of 10 titles last year and reigning Australian Open champion, has won the top honour seeing off competition including stars like Lionel Messi, Usain Bolt, Dirk Nowicki and others.

“Thank you for this great award. I am beyond words to describe how i feel tonight. Just to be in the same room with the world’s greatest athletes, whom I will allow myself to call “LEGENDS of the sport“ is a great honor and privilege. Well, then, you can imagine how honored I feel right now to be entitled to hold this award, and to be called the World’s sportsman of the year. This award means a lot to me, my team, my family, and my fans around the world. I will use this opportunity to thank the Laureus Foundation for doing a great job around the world. Sport is indeed an inspiration and motivation to many of us, the language we all understand and love. I hope that my example can send a powerful message to all the kids around the world. I was also a kid who grew up in a poor country, torn apart with war, kid who dared to dream about becoming the world’s best athlete. And yet, I stand here in front of you tonight, with this special and dear award, and hope that each kid dares to dream, and choses this path that I chose. Sport is something that every society should nurture, and this is what Laureus stands for. I will make sure on my side that the message is conveyed and that sport stays as pure as it is today. Thank you for considering me for this award, and for honoring me to take it home with me tonight.”

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Third seed Mikhail Youzhny ended his 16-month ATP title drought with a straight-sets victory over unseeded Slovakian Lukas Lacko in the PBZ Zagreb Indoors final. The Russian was always in control against world number 97 Lacko, who was competing in his first Tour final. Youzhny did not face a break point throughout, won 75 per cent of points on his serve and broke his opponent’s serve three times en route to a 6-2 6-3 triumph. The victory marked the world number 39′s first tournament win since he prevailed in Kuala Lumpur in 2010.

Top seed Juan Monaco won his first title in five years with victory at the VTR Open in Vina del Mar. The Argentinian beat his less experienced compatriot Carlos Berlocq 6-3 6-7 (1) 6-1 to finally get his hands on a trophy after seven finals appearances since his last win. ”I’m very happy to be champion again,” he told the ATP’s official website. ”I lost the last seven finals, so this is a very special moment for me. ”I’m very happy because I fought a lot, I practised a lot and I was thinking a lot about winning a tournament again. It gives me confidence and motivation.”

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The top-seeded Czech broke for a 5-3 lead in the final set on a double fault from Monfils, clinching victory with his 12th ace. “It was very close in the end. I’m happy that I was able to do it,” Berdych told Canal Plus television. “Actually, it’s even more special to beat the home player, unfortunately for the crowd.” Berdych relied on a strong serve and deep groundstrokes to go a set up but made several unforced errors to drop the second set. “Tomas had a great match,” Monfils said. “He got off to a good start, so I had less maneuvering room. I tried my best. I tried to return better, I tried to play with a bit more aggression too.”

The 2010 Wimbledon finalist broke Monfils for a 2-0 lead when the Frenchman sent a backhand long. Berdych then saved three break points to hold serve before hitting two consecutive return winners to take the first set. In the second set, Berdych double-faulted to give Monfils a break chance that the Frenchman converted for a 3-2 lead when the Czech’s backhand volley sailed long. Monfils erased three break points at 4-3 and leveled at one set each on a forehand error from Berdych. Berdych had won their only previous meeting four years ago in Dubai.

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Five French players were in quarter-final action in Montpellier on Friday and while three fell by the wayside, both Simon and Monfils reached the last four. Second seed Simon beat compatriot Guillaume Rufin in what was a hard-fought contest which lasted almost three hours. Simon eventually prevailed 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (2/7) 6-2 with his opponent’s game undermined by 11 double faults. Monfils, seeded three, has things easier, defeating veteran Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-3. Monfils lost just six points on his own serve and did not face a break point in the 54-minute match. The French pair will now face off on Saturday.

Top seed Tomas Berdych also eased through, seeing off another of the home hopes, Nicolas Mahut, 6-3 6-4. Richard Gasquet had hoped to complete a semi-final line-up featuring the top four seeds but he fell to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the last match of the day. Gasquet went down 6-2 3-6 6-3 as his German opponent blasted down 18 aces.

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Fourth seed Richard Gasquet booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Sud de France Open in Montpellier with a 6-3 6-4 win over Russian wild card Nikolay Davydenko. Gasquet needed one hour and 26 minutes to complete his win and reach the last eight where he will meet Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, who beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4 7-5. There was further French success with second seed Gilles Simon overcoming Italy’s Flavio Cipolla 6-3 6-2, while wild card Guillaume Rufin was a surprise 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 winner over fifth seed Feliciano Lopez.

Top seed and home favourite Ivan Ljubicic crashed out of the Zagreb Indoors in Croatia after falling 6-4 6-4 in his second round match against Germany’s world number 105 Michael Berrer. Austrian qualifier Jurgen Melzer will play Berrer in the quarter-finals after defeating Italian fifth seed Andreas Seppi 6-2 6-3. Melzer, who needed just over an hour to progress, saved all but one of six break points against him.

Seventh seed Robin Haase beat Matthias Bachinger 7-6 (7/4) 3-6 6-3 while in first round action there were wins for Dudi Sela, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Grega Zemlja and fourth seed Ivan Dodig.

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Novak Djokovic is eyeing sporting immortality after denying Rafael Nadal once again to dramatically defend his Australian Open crown at Melbourne Park. Serbia’s tennis super-Novak outlasted Nadal 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7(5) 7-5 in the longest men’s Grand Slam final in history – a brutal five-hour, 53-minute encounter that started on Sunday night and finished at 1:37 am on Monday morning. The gripping contest eclipsed Mats Wilander’s four-hour, 54-minute win over Ivan Lendl in the 1988 US Open final. It was also the longest match in Australian Open history, surpassing Nadal’s five-hour, 14-minute semifinal win in 2009 over countryman Fernando Verdasco and left both combatants almost out on their feet at Rod Laver Arena. Djokovic’s epic triumph from a service break down in the fifth and deciding set placed the 24-year-old alongside his vanquished Spanish foe and fellow all-time greats Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Rod Laver as only the fifth man in the 45-year open era to win three consecutive majors. Djokovic will now head to the French Open in May bidding to join the legendary Laver in an exclusive club of just two players to have held all four Grand Slam men’s singles trophies simultaneously. And after thwarting Nadal for a seventh straight time in nine phenomenal months, Djokovic will arrive at Roland Garros also striving to become the first man since Donald Budge in 1937-38 to complete a non-calendar-year Grand Slam sweep.

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World no.1 showed a terrific display against no.2 seed Spaniard Rafael Nadal today, capturing his 3rd Australian Open crown and 5th Grand Slam trophy. He came back from a set down and a break down in a decider to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 in 5 hours and 53 minutes. Extraordinary performance by Nole and Rafa in one of the most epic Grand Slam finals in tennis history! It was the longest men’s Grand Slam final and the longest-ever match at the Australian Open.

First set lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes. Nadal made a break in the fifth game and saved two break points before holding to increase his lead. Novak broke back and held to equalise the result. The Manacor native made one more break and closed the set 7-5. Nole earned two break points in the second game of the second set, but Nadal held. The Serb continued to push Rafa, broke his serve in the fourth game and consolidated the break to increase his lead to 4-1. He missed one set point in the eight game and squandered two more serving for the set at 5-3. The Spaniard broke back, but Novak put the pressure on him once again and forced him to deuce. The 24-year-old Belgrade native brought up a fourth set point with a booming backhand winner and took the set 6-4 in 66 minutes when Nadal double-faulted. The top seed continued his momentum into the third set. He made a double break and stormed to 6-2 and two sets to one lead in the grand finale. Nole was pushed to deuce twice in the opening game, but held to move 1-0 ahead in the fourth set. He earned himself three break points in the eighth game, but the Spaniard fought off all. The pair was locked at 4-4 when rain suspended play for 10 minutes to get the roof closed. The set went into a tie-breaker. Though Novak had a 5-3 lead, Nadal won it 7-5; the set took 88 minutes. In a dramatic contest on Rod Laver Arena, Nole overcame a 2-4 deficit in the fifth set. He fought back to 4-4 and broke Rafa again in 11th game to earn himself a chance to serve for the win. The Serbian superstar saved a break point before claiming a remarkable victory and 29th career title. Match statistics: aces (9-10), double faults (2-4), winners (57-44), unforced errors (69-71), total points won (193-176). Novak converted seven of his twenty break point opportunities, while Nadal capitalised on four of his 6 break point chances.

“Rafa, you’re one of the best players ever, one of the most respected players on tour. We made history tonight; unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners tonight. I wish you all the best for this season and I hope that we will have many more finals like this,” said Nole at the trophy ceremony. The 2009 winner praised our champion: “Congratulations to Novak and his team, they deserve it, they are doing something fantastic, so congratulations. To start the season here and play this fantastic match against Novak is, I believe, a fantastic start.” It was the third successive Grand Slam final that Nole and Rafa have played, and the Serbian no.1 extended his winning streak over Nadal to seven straight matches (six wins in 2011 – Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, Wimbledon and US Open). Djokovic has become only the fifth man since the Open Era started in 1968 to win three straight majors (joins Laver, Sampras, Federer and Nadal). He’s also joined Agassi, Federer and Wilander as only players in Open Era to win 3 and more Australian Open trophies.

With this memorable victory, Nole, one of the bravest fighters in the history of the game, claimed back-to-back titles in Melbourne and defended 2000 ATP points for a perfect start of the 2012 season.

Congratulations!

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Andy Murray pushed Novak Djokovic to the limit of his powers but went down in five sets to miss out on a place in the Australian Open final. The British number one fought back from losing the first set to win the next two, and from 5-2 in the decider. But defending champion Djokovic raised his level to battle through 6-3 3-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 7-5 in four hours 50 minutes. The world number one, who beat Murray in the 2011 final, plays Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s showpiece at 0830 GMT. ”I’m extremely delighted to be in another final,” said Djokovic, who looked exhausted when Murray led 2-1. ”It was a physical match. Andy deserves credit for coming back. He was fighting, I was fighting. ”It was one of the best matches I’ve played.”

Murray becomes the fist man in the Open Era to be eliminated in semi-finals at four successive Grand Slams. But he can take heart from one of the best performances of his career so far, just a few weeks into his partnership with new coach Ivan Lendl.

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