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Australian Open Finals

Australian Open Men's Singles Final Sunday Feb 1

1-Novak Djokovic beat 6-Andy Murray 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0

Australian Open Women's Singles Final Saturday Jan 31

1-Serena Williams beat 2-Maria Sharapova 6-3 7-6(5)

Men's Singles Final

Djokovic Tops Murray in 4-Set Final, Captures 5th Australian Open Crown

atpworldtour.com: February 1 2015 Melbourne, Australia - World No. 1 Novak Djokovic became the first man in the Open Era to win five Australian Open titles on Sunday. The Serb is just one title short of Australian legend Roy Emerson, the great champion of 1961, 1963-67.

 

Djokovic defeated Andy Murray 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0 for the third time in a final at Melbourne Park to clinch his eighth Grand Slam championship crown. Djokovic moves into equal-eighth place with Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Fred Perry and Ken Rosewall on the all-time list for most major titles.

 

It was only fitting that Emerson presented Djokovic with the trophy. "I'm so privileged and honoured and grateful to be standing here for the fifth time, to be in an elite group of players, with legends of our sport out here watching," said the Serb. Djokovic also denied Murray in the 2011 and 2013 Australian Open title matches. It was Djokovic’s 50th match win at the prestigious tournament.

 

The 27-year-old Djokovic won his first major title at the Australian Open in 2008 (d. Tsonga) and followed with three successive victories from 2011-13. He has won 32 of his past 33 matches at Melbourne Park. 

 

Murray has now finished runner-up at the Australian Open four times. No player in the Open Era has ever lost three Australian Open finals before winning the title. Murray had also been denied in 2010 against Roger Federer.

Women's Singles Final

Serena Claims 6th Australian Open Title, 19th Grand Slam; Defeats Sharapova in Final

wtatennis.com: January 31 2015 Melbourne, Australia - Serena Williams held off a determined Maria Sharapova 6-3 7-6(5) to capture her sixth Australian Open title and the 19th Grand Slam title of her illustrious career, separating herself from Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for second-most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era.

 

Going into the final, Williams was the favorite - not just because she was No.1 and Sharapova was No.2, but because she had won the pair's last 15 meetings, 12 of those coming in straight sets.

 

Early on in the match that pattern continued, with Williams breaking in the very first game and, after a short rain delay and the Rod Laver Arena roof closing, grabbing a second break for 5-2. Sharapova got one of the breaks back in the next game but Williams broke one last time to take the first set, 6-3.

 

All of that went out the window in the second set, as the Top 2 players in the world held tightly to all of their service games, with absolutely no breaks of serve - Williams did have her chance to finish the match with Sharapova serving at 4-5, 30-40, the first match point of the night, but the Russian bludgeoned a forehand down the line for a winner and subsequently held that service game.

 

The tie-break was tight but Williams forged ahead, building a 6-4 lead, and after Sharapova fought off a second match point with another huge forehand down the line, Williams had the match on her racquet, stepping up to the baseline to serve on match point No.3. There was a bit of a hiccup - she fired what looked like a massive ace out wide on the ad side, and she even began celebrating, but the serve was called a let. But she regrouped and fired the exact same ace to finally close the match out.

 

Williams came into the Australian Open tied with Evert and Navratilova for second-most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era, but she now has the standalone second-most with 19. Steffi Graf has 22.

Men's Doubles Final

Italians Bolelli/Fognini Capture Doubles Gem

atpworldtour.com: January 31 2015 Melbourne, Australia –Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini captured their first Grand Slam championship doubles title on Saturday at the Australian Open. The Italian duo, playing their ninth major together, defeated all-French team Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-4 in the final. “To do this with Fabio is unbelievable,” said Bolelli. “I think we did something amazing. Now I think we're thinking about the [Barclays] ATP [World Tour] Finals is one of our goals.”

 

“Everything is in our hands now,” added Fognini. “For sure we are going to celebrate.” They are the first all-Italian pairing to win a Grand Slam doubles title since Nicola Pietrangeli and Orlando Sirola lifted the 1959 Roland Garros crown. Bolelli and Fognini’s triumph at the Australian Open marks their third trophy, including the 2011 Umag (d. Cilic-Zovko) and 2013 Buenos Aires (Monroe-Stadler).

 

“All the credit to the Italians who played really good,” said Herbert. “We had an unbelievable team against us and they played a really good match.” Herbert and Mahut, who hit 23 winners, had been bidding to become the first French pairing to win the Australian Open title here since Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro in 2004. Prior to the championships, the pair had never before won a tour-level match.

Women's Doubles Final

Mattek-Sands, Safarova Win Doubles Crown

wtatennis.com: January 30 2015 Melbourne, Australia - Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova won the Australian Open doubles title on Friday evening, which wasn't just the first time either player has won a Grand Slam doubles title, but it was the first time since 2007 that a first-time pairing went all the way at a major.

 

Friday's final was an incredibly close affair, but it was Mattek-Sands and Safarova's gutsy plays on the biggest of points that sealed the victory for them. Safarova ripped a huge backhand down the line winner on set point in the first set and, after a see-saw second set - first they were up 2-0, then they lost five of the next six games to trail 5-3 before coming back to push it to a tie-break - it was Mattek-Sands' turn to step up on match point, ripping her own huge backhand down the line winner.

 

Mattek-Sands and Safarova are the first first-time pairing to win a Grand Slam doubles title since all the way back at the US Open in 2007, when Nathalie Dechy and Dinara Safina lifted the title. The last time it happened at the Australian Open was Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alicia Molik in 2005. Both Mattek-Sands and Safarova captured their first Grand Slam doubles crowns. Mattek-Sands does have one other Grand Slam title - the Australian Open mixed doubles in 2012 with Horia Tecau.

 

Mattek-Sands and Safarova's win over the No.14 seeds in Friday's championship match wasn't their only upset of the two weeks Down Under - they also took out No.10 seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, No.7 seeds Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik, No.3 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina and No.16 seeds Julia Goerges and Anna-Lena Groenefeld along the way to the final.

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