Victoria Azarenka beats Li Na to win Australian Open title

MELBOURNE, Australia - Victoria Azarenka of Belarus,defending champion and world number one overcame a slow start and unfriendly crowd to beat Li Na and retain the Australian Open title after defeating sixth seed Li Na of China 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at Melbourne on Saturday.

After losing first set 4-6, the Belarusian took advantage of a painful-looking ankle injury to the Chinese in the second set to stage her comeback and win her second Grand Slam title.

The world number one had trouble with her serve in the first set as Li pressured her to take it 6-4 before the Belarusian finally found her range with her groundstrokes in the second set and moved a lot better to race out to a 3-0 lead.

Li broke back, but then suffered a sickening ankle injury after she was forced to change direction when an Azarenka backhand volley deep in the court levelled the score at 30-30 on Li's serve in the fifth game.

The Chinese took a medical timeout to have the ankle heavily strapped but held serve on her return and then got three break points in the next game as both players tightened up and were seemingly unable to hold serve.

With the match on serve at 4-3, Li was broken again by Azarenka who then served out to love in the next game to send it into a decider when a Li forehand sailed wide.

Perhaps weighed down by expectation from the most populous nation in the world and with an estimated 100 million people watching on television in China, Li had a shaky start, serving a double fault on the first point and having her serve broken.

The world number six, however, bounced straight back to the delight of the overwhelmingly pro-Li crowd in Rod Laver Arena and used her powerful forehand to break Azarenka twice to hold a 3-1 lead.

Azarenka then battled back to break to reduce the deficit to 3-2, but was broken again by Li, who was relentlessly attacking the Belarusian's serve.

Azarenka was able to hold for the first time in the eighth game and break in the ninth, but Li broke again on her fourth set point when the Belarusian double faulted to take the first set 6-4.

Djokovic easily beat Ferrer into final

Novak Djokovic was barely tested as he buried David Ferrer in straight sets to book his place in the Australian Open final on Thursday night.

The world number one and defending champion hardly got out of second gear as he utterly outclassed the fourth-seeded Spaniard 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

Djokovic will now attempt to win his third consecutive Australian Open against the winner of Friday's second semi between Andy Murray and Roger Federer.

Sharapova losses out of Australian Open

China’s Li Na defeated Russian champion Maria Sharapova in a convincing straight sets victory in Melbourne, putting the Chinese contender through to the final. Li dominated the match, storming through to win 6-2 6-2.

The 30-year-old tennis veteran Li Na will now face off against Belarusian Victoria Azarenka. The defending champion defeated 19-year-old American Sloane Stephens in the other semi, 6-1 6-4.

Sharapova made a shaky start to the match, serving up a double fault on the first point. Li Na then left the Russian in the dust, breaking Sharapova’s serve for the first time in the tournament and taking the first set 6-2.

In spite of Sharapova’s attempts to secure a hold in the second set, an unrelenting display of tennis from the Chinese number six seed left the Russian powerless to respond.

Li Na made short work of the Russian, closing the match in one hour and 33 minutes.
“I think she (Na Li) played a really great match,” Sharapova told the Australian Open’s official website. “She was certainly much more aggressive than I was, dictating the play.  I was always on the defense.”

“When I had my opportunities and break points in games that went to deuce, I don't think any of them really went my way today,” she added.

Prior to the match Sharapova had blazed a trail through the tournament, relinquishing just nine games on her road to the semi-finals. However, in less than a set Sharapova had lost the same number of games as in all of her previous matches combined.

The pair have met previously on 12 occasions, with Sharapova holding an 8-4 win-loss record.

Sharapova beat Venus to reach fourth round

MELBOURNE, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Maria Sharapova missed out on a third successive 'double-bagel' but humbled Venus Williams 6-1 6-3 to charge into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday.

The centre court crowd was left stunned as the second seeded Russian scorched to a 4-0 lead in the first set to rattle her American opponent, and charged on in the second to wrap up the match in 79 minutes on a chilly evening at Rod Laver Arena.

The 25th seed Williams sparked raucous cheers by breaking Sharapova and holding her serve late in the second set, but the Russian sealed the match with an ace and unleashed a fist-pumping shriek.

Sharapova will next play Belgian Kirsten Flipkens as she continues her bid for a fifth grand slam title and second at Melbourne Park. (yahoo news)

Floyd Mayweather vs Canelo Alvarez

Members of Saul Alvarez's team are saying that the five-division world champ has set aside a September date for their fighter for a possible fight with Floyd Mayweather.

Alvarez's trainer, "Chepo" Reynoso recently revealed to what extent these plans are already in motion:

"[Vice President] Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions came to Guadalajara and we agreed that Saul and Floyd would share the evening in May. We already reached a financial agreement [for May], and a guarantee that we will face [Mayweather] in September in Las Vegas," Reynoso told Notifight.com/Boxingscene. "We believe that it is time for Canelo to show what he is made of."

The proposed Mayweather-Alvarez clash would jettison the 22-year-old WBC junior middleweight champ, who will be 23 by the proposed September 14 fight date, into a completely different atmosphere in terms of level of opposition.

Alvarez, whose career high-spots have come against names such as Ryan Rhodes, Josesito Lopez, and Kermit Cintron, could very well be in over his head against Mayweather, but given that the money is right and the opportunity is of the once-in-a-lifetime variety, taking the fight is a no-brainer.

Radwanska wins Tennis ASB Classic title

Agnieszka Radwanska may have an unorthodox style and lacks power but she proved how good she is by taking the title and defeating Yanina Wickmayer with 6-4 6-4 score.

She admits she can't serve at 200kmh or outslug some of the heavyhitters on the women's tour but makes up for it with her court-craft, anticipation and mental toughness.

She is currently world No and today she collected the 11th title in her successful career.