May be strange but the best point of the recently finished Australian Open happened in the first round, and on the first day. It was in the match between third seed Jelena Jankovic and rising star Tamira Paszek, on Paszek's first match point, in the third set at 5-4. During the point, there were at least three occasions when I though it was over for Jankovic. But, she defended so well and stayed in the match eventually winning 2-6 6-2 12-10.

Jankovic could have lost in the first round, but her fighting and extreme determination won the match, and in the end she turned out to be the semifinalist, beating even defending champion Serena Williams in the quarters!

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Maria Sharapova's father Yuri is well-known, but her mother Yelena has stayed somewhat mysterious. Yelena doesn’t attend her daughter’s matches any more, and many people wonder what she looks like and what the relationship between her and Maria is. I revealed part of the secret of Maria's mother last month, when I included a Christmas photo of the two of them together. However, in an interview after the Australian Open semifinal against Jelena Jankovic, Maria, who soon after became the tournament champion, explained the role of her mother in her life.

Q. Your father's very visible. How would you say your mother contributes in a positive way to your career? Read more »

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Impressive Maria Sharapova defeated Ana Ivanovic in the final of the 2008 Australian Open, or as some people called it a "glam slam" decider, referring to the glamor and beauty of the two young tennis stars. The trophy ceremony was very emotional for both Maria and Ana, and I'm sure for many fans all around the world.

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Russia’s Maria Sharapova won her third career Grand Slam title with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Serbia's Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 Australian Open.

Last year, Sharapova won only three games in the Australian Open final against Serena Williams, but this year she was simply unstoppable. During the whole tournament at Melbourne Park fifth-seeded Sharapova hasn't dropped a set, and I believe that in the final there was nothing Ivanovic could have done to win the match, if she had taken her chances, she could have only made it longer. Read more »

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Unseeded Ukrainian sisters Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko won the Australian Open women’s doubles title beating 12th seeds Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Israeli Shahar Peer 2-6 6-1 6-4.

It was the first time the Bondarenko sisters had won a doubles title in their 38th tournament playing together. Alona Bondarenko believes that the key to success may be the fact that they stopped fighting on the court, and started listening to each other.

Their previous best was reaching three semifinals in WTA Tour events.

Reminder: In singles Alona was seeded 21st and lost to Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in the second round, while unseeded Kateryna lost in the first round to France’s Aravane Rezai. (source: Reuters, photo via Yahoo)

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