TENNIS in DEPTH.

Novak Djokovic took 90 minutes to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on a day when seven of the eight top seeds all successfully advanced. Djokovic recovered from a break down in the second set to beat Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 and seal a last-eight showdown against his friend and fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic. Tipsarevic, seeded seven, shrugged off a below-par first set to beat Italy’s world number 86 Flavio Cipolla 6-7 (7-2) 6-1 6-1, and Djokovic expects a much tougher match against his Davis Cup team-mate. Djokovic told atptour.com: “[Janko] is very dangerous from the baseline. When he has time and steps into the court, he is very dangerous. I need to try to be aggressive and stay close to the line.”

The only top eight seed to fail to reach the quarter-finals was American sixth seed Mardy Fish, whose disappointing recent form continued as he was beaten 6-2 7-6 (7-0) by Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny. Next up for Youzhny is second seed Roger Federer, who swept past Feliciano Lopez of Spain 7-5 6-3 and said: “I stayed calm and found a way to come through. These are the kinds of matches you need at this stage in a tournament.”

Third seed Andy Murray had few problems dispatching Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli 6-3 6-4. Murray did not face a single break point in the match and broke his opponent twice to ensure a routine progression. Murray’s next opponent, Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych, enjoyed an even more comfortable run to the last eight with a 6-1 6-2 win over Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko in just 69 minutes.

The final quarter-final will be between in-form Juan Martin Del Potro, who beat qualifier Andrey Golubev 6-4 6-2, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was a 6-3 6-4 winner over Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic.

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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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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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Novak Djokovic booked a semi-final against Andy Murray at the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over David Ferrer. Djokovic saw off the challenge of fifth seed Ferrer 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 in Tuesday night’s quarter-final on the Rod Laver Arena. The world number one’s reward is a clash with British hope Murray in the last four, a repeat of the 2011 final which the Serb won in straight sets to set the tone for a year of dominance. Djokovic secured the opening break in the fifth game before going on to serve out the first set in 58 minutes. But Ferrer showed his resilience in the second set, twice retrieving in a break, including when an increasingly frustrated Djokovic served for it at 6-5. A tie-break was required and the Spaniard battled into a 4-2 lead before blowing his chance. Djokovic reeled off five points in a row to turn the tie-break around and claim a two-set lead. Ferrer dropped his opening service game of the third set and, from there, Djokovic was able to close out the result without alarm.

Murray played some sublime tennis at times as he wrapped up a 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the third successive year. Nishikori, who came through a five-set epic against sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the previous round, desperately tried varying his game but he could find no answer to Murray’s play. However if there was one thing that did let Murray down at times it was his service game – with the 24-year-old broken twice. Murray broke back immediately on each occasion, though, to limit the damage. Nishikori, the first player from Japan to reach the last eight at Melbourne Park in 80 years, had spurned five break-point opportunities in the opening set. The Scot, though, was even more wasteful as he missed eight opportunities – however the one he did take was enough for him to seal the set. Murray broke at the start of the second set – only for Nishikori to hit back immediately, although he almost let the world No.4 off the hook as two chances passed him by before he finally levelled. Nishikori’s joy was shortlived, though, as Murray broke twice more to move into a two-set lead. The 22-year-old looked out on his feet at the start of the third set as Murray moved 2-0 up – although a couple of double faults allowed Nishikori to break back. Yet again Nishikori, though, failed to take advantage as Murray moved 3-1 up before accelerating away to wrap up the set and the match.

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Andy Murray breezed in to the third round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over Edouard Roger-Vaselin. Murray, the world No.4, never looked back from a lightning-fast start as he recorded a 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory. With his first serve working beautifully, Murray showed a clear improvement from his tough first-round tie against Ryan Harrison. Murray said: “I served well today. I didn’t give him too many opportunities on my serve, which was important as he played well in the second and third sets.”

Novak Djokovic stressed the importance of winning easily in the opening rounds after breezing past Santiago Giraldo at the Australian Open. The defending champion has been untroubled so far in Melbourne – and that’s just how he likes it. Having won his first-round match for the loss of just two games, the world number one posted another easy win on Thursday, beating Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-3 6-2 6-1. Djokovic dropped his serve early on but that proved the only blip as he cruised through to a clash with Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. He said: “I am trying to be physically fit and fresh for the upcoming rounds. The longer the tournament goes, the tougher it gets. ”Especially in the opening rounds you are trying to get the rhythm to play well in every match.

“You can’t underestimate any opponent and Santiago is a tricky player. It was really important to win the first set.”

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The world’s best player outplayed fifth-ranked David Ferrer 6-2, 6-1 on his debut at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition tournament in UAE. The Serbian showed why he is no. 1 at the moment and played some great tennis with remarkable shots. The message is clear. Nole is fresh and hungry to win as he has been throughout the 2011. The prestigious exhibition event which has attracted six of the world’s top 10 players, was a good warm-up for the new season. Nole began his preparations with victories over Gael Monfils (6-2, 4-6, 6-2) and Roger Federer (6-2, 6-1).

He will now head to Australia for the first Grand Slam of the 2012 season, the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, January 16. The 24-year-old Serbian star has had a dream run in 2011 with a 70-6 win-loss record and he finished the year with 10 titles, including 3 Grand Slams and a record five ATP World Tour Masters trophies.

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