Venus One And Done Down Under

((HT: ESPN))

22-seed Ekaterina Makarova knocked off Venus Williams in Day One, Round One of the 2014 Australian Open...

Here's the short version...


Venus loses in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

"My level was a little bit too up and down

"Obviously my error count was a little high," Williams said after the match. "I have to give her a lot of credit, though, she was very determined, played hard."

It was only the second time in 14 appearances that Venus lost in the first round. Her best appearance was a loss to her sister in the 2003 final.

Azarenka Pulls Injury Time Out To Beat Stephens

((HT: ESPN))

A lot of people are referring to it as gamemanship- others are calling it flat out fakery...

But Victoria Azarenka used an injury timeout to stop Sloane Stephens' momentum in their semi-final match at the Australian Open. Up 5-3 in the second, Azarenka served for the match and had five match points- losing them all.

She called for a doctor, as rules allow for an injury, and walked off the court. After a 15 minute gap, she came back to the court, won the next game, and ended up in the final against Li Na.

Here's analysis from the four-letter...
((HT: ESPN))


Stephens said after the match about Azarenka: “I’m sure we’ll talk. She should get an oxygen tank and figure it out."

The HQ thinks Stephens knows she got played...

Djokovic Survives Down Under

((HT: EuroSport/ATP/WTA))

And a lot of people have a newly-found level of respect for Stan Wawrinka after this match in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open...

Djokovic needed just over 5 hours to beat Wawrinka 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 12-10. Remember, last year at the Australian Open final, Djokovic needed almost 6 hours to knock off Rafa Nadal.

Here's some of the highlights... if we ran the whole match down below, we'd run out of space (or memory- whichever applies...)


"I just had flashback of 2012," Djokovic said afterwards in the post-match interviews. "It was maybe 45 minutes less this match than the one 12 months ago, but still it was still as exciting. I tried to enjoy the moment and couldn't ask for more. What a match point ... unbelievable."

And don't think Tomas Berdych wasn't watching this match, either...

Jerzy Janowicz goes postal during Australian Open

((HT: Australian Open))

How many TIMES?!?!?!

24th seeded Jerzy Janowicz from Poland did not like the chair umpire's call during his first set tiebreak against India's Somdev Devvarman in the second round of the Australian Open.

Check out the video below:


Wow.

He went totally nuts a-la John McEnroe, spitting on the court, hitting the umpire's chair with his racket, and was even getting supporting chants from the crowd!

No good deed goes unpunished, Janowicz has now been fined $2,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The end of the story? Janowicz ended up defeating Devvarman 6-7 (10-12), 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 in 3 hours and 58 minutes.

Djokovic-Nadal Goes Monday Morning On Us

((HT: TennisAustralia/EuroSport/youtube))

For those of us who follow tennis regularly, and admittedly the HQ only does it around the time of the majors, Novak Djokovic is the man- currently.

And after a five-hour roll in the semis against Andy Murray, Joker had to go 5:53 in the final against Rafa Nadal- just to finish...

And, no that was not a misprint...

For those of you on the east coast, you got a bit of a "Breakfast At..." bonus. The match coverage started a little after 3AM eastern time and didn't finish until 10AM eastern time.

Here's how it ended...


The match was the longest final ever for a grand-slam event. The previous record was Mats Wilander's win over Ivan Lendl at the U.S. Open in 1988, which lasted 4 hours, 54 minutes.

The longest Australian Open final also involved Wilander when he beat Pat Cash in 1988. Today's match was also the longest in the tournament's history.

Not a shock...

But the best part was when, in the longest self-important thank you at the end of the tourney, aides had to bring chairs for both finalists to sit down in- since they were the last part of the ceremony and their bodies were locking up.

Four-letter play-by-player Chris Fowler had it right when Patrick McEnroe asked "What else do you say...?"

his response: "Thank you, Rafa. Thank you, Novak."

Here's last analysis from ESPN...

Patrick McEnroe Knows He's On Cable

Andy Murray was well on his way to horizon jobbing his opponent, and P-Mac just got all kinds of excited...

((HT: AustralianOpen/ESPN/youtube))


But that's why we like P-Mac... always says what he thinks...
Never ask a New Yorker to hold back, y'all...