Serena Williams became just the second women ever unseeded player and the first since 1978 to lift the Australian Open crown for the third time in her career. Serena stunned hot favorite Russian Maria Sharapova to win 6-1 6-2 in a trifle over one hour. Serena who was ranked a lowly 81st coming into the tournament made an absolute mockery of the ranking as she forced her way through the tournament with her powerful ground strokes and immaculate strength both which are a characteristic of Williams’ play.  The victory would take Williams to 14th in the ranking as she continues to claw her way back into the top ten having suffered a career threatening knee injury.

From the first point onwards there looked only one winner in the match and that undoubtedly being Serena. Maria struggled with her serve and Serena dominated her own which set the tone for the rest of the match. She lost her service twice in the first set which lasted just about 27 minutes. Sharapova managing to win just one game and hardly managing any winners seriously dented her confidence. The second set started pretty much on a similar not when the Russian was immediately broken to cede advantage to Serena who had little problem in taking the second set 6-2 and seal the championship. And that sealed one of the most remarkable injury come backs seen in recent times.

Sharapova would gain the number one ranking when WTA announces new rankings on Monday, but she would do better to put this game behind her and look forward to the future. The Russian was very gracious in defeat saying that Serena was an amazing champion. As far as Serena is concerned she very well knows that if she continues like this its not too far away when she for sure would be one of the top three ranked players in the world, if not the number one that is. As of now this is her third Aussie Open crown following her triumphs in 2003 and 2005.

The competition apart from the top slot is much keener, stronger and on a given day any of the top twenty players are capable of beating one another except of course the top guy. Roger Federer sits atop the tree completely peerless. And as of now if a player is able to take a set from Federer that in itself looks like the biggest achievement one could have against the Swiss number one.

Heading into finals the scenario is pretty much the same last year it was the un-fancied Marcos Bagdattis and this time it could be Fernando Gonzalez or Tommy Hass . For sure many must have been thinking of another Federer-Nadal showdown or the Roddick fans must have been looking forward to a Roddick-Rafael clash. Just as Marcos last year Fernando has earned his place in the final, but even the most staunchest of Federer’s might be convinced that it would need to be the best day of the the opponents life and the worst of Federer’s life for him to be able to beat the guy who is almost playing the most perfect tennis one has ever witnessed on earth.

Its not Fernando’s fault, neither is it Rafael’s nor its about a bad day for A-Rod it’s a simple fact that all these great players themselves find the cruel reality that in spite of everything in mortal ability they are playing alongside arguably the great player of any era… someone who can only be called immortal… Roger Federer.

The second set saw Safin come into his elements as he quite literally demolished Roddick serve as he quickly wrapped up the second set to 6-2 and it looked like it could be a long night at the Rod Laver Arena. But as the players came up for the third set Safin was raising the tempo on the anger front and it seemed he was getting close to his dramatic best. Safin at his dramatic best arguing line calls, swearing and rasping his knuckles on the court. But Safin’s dramatic best also seemed to get the best out of him in terms of tennis and he was clearly the man on top until he blew it up in the ninth game of the third set Roddick held his serve as it led 2 sets to 1 Safin totally outrageous by now.

Heaven’s open up just at the beginning of the fourth set but the showers would not cool the tempers and when the umpire called ‘time’ for play to begin the 2005 champion would have none of it, he refused to play under the pretext that the court was too wet for him while A-Rod waited patiently for him at the other end. The fourth set went pretty much on serve only to have been interrupted by more obscenities spelt out by the Russian this time on live television.

Though some sanity restored towards the end of the match but the Russian had clearly lost it by the time the match headed into a tie break and once again Roddick came up triumphant 7-2 take the match in a lil under four hours 7-6 6-2 6-4 7-6. Roddick would now face Mario Ancic in the pre-quarters. The number six seed surely looking good for now and into the second week of the tournament he’s pretty much in the race for his first Australian Open crown.

Else where, it was another day at the office for world number one Roger Federer as she steamed rolled into the fourth round with ease wining 6-3 6-3 7-6. David Fererer, Tommy Robredo, Mardy Fish, Nicholay Davidenko all making steady progress into the fourth rounds.

On the women’s side Maria Serena Williams came from a set down to win against Russian Nadia Petrova as she sounded ominous signals for the title. But fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova had it pretty ease against compatriot Maria Kirilenko wining 6-1 6-4. The only major casualty for the day being Tatiana Golovin of France, she lost to Israeli Sahar Peer. The fifteenth seed came from a set down to win 3-6 7-5 7-5. But compatriot Amelie Mouresmo broke lil sweat in beating Eva Birnerova in straight sets 6-3 6-1.

Rafael Nadal survived a third set scare to see of German Challenger Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets. The German showed plenty of grit and character against his much fancied Spanish opponent but in the end Rafa prevailed with his brut power and ground strokes. Andy Murray kept the British hopes alive with a scratchy 7-6 7-5 6-4 win over Fernando Verdasco. Finnish 17th seed Jarkko Nieminen was the men’s seed to have fallen to have fallen on day four when he lost to Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela. Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and Sebastein Grosjean were stretched to five sets before they prevailed in their respective encounters.

In the women’s singles the top seeds didn’t have much to bother as both Kim Clisters and Maria Sharapova brushed aside their opponents with relative ease. Martina Hingis also made her way into the third round with a smashing performance. Patty Schnyder was made to stretch a in the first set but prevailed over her Chinese opponent 7-5 6-3. Home favorite Alicia Keys was meanwhile taken to three sets by Kaia Kanepi but the Aussie came back from a set down to win. 15th Daniela Hanchucova also prevailed in three sets over French woman Emilie Loit.

Day three at the Australian open saw much cooler temperatures and with better conditions returned some familiar score lines as most of the top seeds made an easy passage into the third round. Men’s top seed Roger Federer lead the way as he returned to his sublime best as he upstaged Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-2 6-3 6-2 in his second round match on Rod Laver Arena. Bright sunshine and a mild wind made it almost perfect whether to play and Fedex ran away with the match without breaking much sweat.

Also into the third round was Andy Roddick who now looks almost up to his very best as he prevailed over another Frenchman Marc Gicquel in straight sets 6-3 7-6 6-4. Roddick won the match with one break each in the first and third set whereas his opponent did manage to force a tie break in the second that Roddick won 7-4. Roddick will face Russian Marat Safin in the third round who saved a match point in the fourth set to beat his Israeli opponent Dudi Sela 6-3 5-7 6-4 7-6 6-0.

The other seeds who booked their places in the third round included 14th seed Novak Djokovic, 22nd seed Dominik Hrbaty, Mikhail Youzhny and Radek Stephnek seeded 25th and 20th respectively. Meanwhile Spain’s 24th seed Juan Carlos Ferraro lost out in four sets to Thai challenger Danai Udomchoke.

In the women’s singles the Russian brigade of Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva, and Nadia Petrova all made it to the third round with ease, apart from of course seventh seed Elena Dementieva who was stretched to three sets by German Martina Muller. Elena won the scratchy first set with a single break of serve but lost the second 6-3 to take the match into a decider. But Elena balked out the German in the final set to seal the match 7-5 6-3 6-0.

Former Champion Serena Williams put aside the fist set frustration to send Anne Kremer packing in the second and win the match 7-6 6-2. Also in to the third round was French teenager Tatiana Golovin while compatriot Marion Bartoli lost out to unseeded Victoria Azarenko. Wednesday also saw a few delayed first round matches where eighth seed Patty Schnyder won against American Madison Brengle. Dinara Safina also made it to the second round with an easy win over compatriot Ekaterina Bychkova.

Maria Sharapova struggled to come to terms both with the heat and also her opponent Frenchwoman Camille Pin. Maria won a ragged first set 6-3 but the unseeded Camille hit back winning the second and then led the fifth 5-0 as Sharapova was staring down at defeat. The 2006 US open champion who had to battle the extreme heat the found enough reserves in her to stage a stunning come back to take the set and match 6-3 4-6 9-7.

Meanwhile, Kim Clisters made light work of Russian Vasilisa Bardina blanking out her opponent 6-0 6-0. Swiss Miss Martina Hingis also registered an easy straight sets win over Nathalie Dechy winning in straight sets 6-0 6-2.  Other seeded players to have progressed included Samantha Sotsur, Anna Chakavetadze, and Tatiana Garbin. Eleni Denilidou was the only seeded woman’s player to have fallen on day two who lost to Japanese Aiko Nakamura. Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza also won her match against Ukrainian Olga Savchuk 6-3 7-5.

The men’s side saw much tougher competition but British number one Andy Murray had it as easy as it could get winning 6-0 6-0 6-1 against Spaniard Alberto Martin. The match was a total disaster for the clay court specialist as Murray produced a clinical performance and Martin just about got onto the score sheet in the second last game of the match. Another Spaniard and number two seed Rafael Nadal meanwhile had a good workout against American Robert Kendrick forcing a first set tie-breaker. Nadal won in straight sets 7-6 7-3 6-2.

Home favorite Lleyton Hewitt was trailing by two sets to nil before he staged a remarkable come back against American Michael Russel to move into the second round with a 3-6 3-2 6-3 6-3 6-3 win. Marathon man David Nalbandian was also two sets down before he won the next two and his opponent Janko Tipsarvic conceded the match in the fifth. As the heat continues Oliver Rochus also took the match the maximum distance to win 6-3 5-7 5-7 7-6 7-9. Tenth seed Fernando Gonzalez meanwhile battled past Russian Evgeny Korolev to win in four sets 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-2.

It was business as usual for Nickholay Davydenko, James Blake, Fabrice Santoro and Tommy Hass all won their respective encounters in straight sets. Frenchman Sebastian Gorsjean though won when his opponent Christophe Rochus conceded the contest in the second set when the twenty-eighth seed was leading 6-4 4-1

American Andy Roddick also found going though against Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga as he lost the first set in a marathon tie breaker. The second set also went down to the wire but this time Roddick seemed to be coming into his elements as he took the tie break 7-2 to level the match at one set a piece. But the rhythm that the sixth seed found in the second set tie-breaker helped him take the next two 6-3 6-3 as he closed out the match in four sets. Most definitely Roddick would know that if wants to repeat a Federer beating performance as he did last week he’s got to pull up his socks by a mile.

Fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic was the only major casualty for the day after being dumped out by American Mardy Fish in four sets. That capped a rather unfortunate and a forgetful day for the Croats at the Aussie Open. Jose Acsusos and Agustin Calleri were amonst the other seeded players to have bowed out on day one. Meanwhile, seventh seed Tommy Robredo, Serbian Novak Djokovic, Richard Gasquet and ninth seed Mario Ancic all made it to the second round without much hassle.

On the women’s side the story with the story with the defending champion seemed to rather similar with Amelie Mauresmo looking hardly herself in her 6-3 6-4 win over Shenay Perry. She was broken early in the first set and had a patchy second one and made it in to the second round knowing pretty well that another performance like this could very much spell doom for her in the later rounds.

Also in to second round was the Russian brigade of Nadia Petrova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dememntiva all registering easy wins over their opponents. 20th seed Tatiana Golovin and 11th seed Jelena Jankovic also had no problems seeing off their opponents.

The standout performer of the day seemed to be two time Champion but unseeded Serena Williams who blew apart Italian Mara Santangelo 6-2 6-1. Serena looked the most convincing or rather commanding, pretty much her old self. The world number 81 made an expected slow start but once into her elements she tore apart the Italian with big serves and powerful forehands as her opponent was forced into making a string of unforced errors and handed the match without any real fight.