Well the results are in. If you happed to miss out this year watching the Australian Open, it was full of surprises.

For the men’s singles, it was Novak Djokovic who took the title yesterday over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. For both players it was a huge victory to even get to the finals.

Djokovic ended the 12 time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer’s 19 match winning streak during the semi finals with a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Tsonga, the man who has become know as ‘Ali’ because of his likeness to the American boxing legend, played an amazing semi-final game against No. 2 ranked Rafael Nadal with an emphatic 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win.

The two men began the final match nervously, but their momentum quickly picked up. Having not dropped a sent en route to the final, the world No.3 Djokovic, had to do it the hard way, firstly rallying from a set down and then also battling a hamstring strain that suffered early in the fourth set to beat unseeded Frenchman Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

“I’m very very happy that I won my first Grand Slam here and so hopefully I’ll see you here in this stage more often in the future,” said Djokovic at the trophy presentation.

Despite his loss Tsonga was none the less happy to have just made it as far as he did. “I’m very proud of myself” he said. “I’m happy for Novak, because he played unbelievable today. I don’t know if I have to be sad or happy of this final, but I feel great.”

As for the women’s singles it was Maria Sharapova who came out on top against Ana Ivanovic. Sharapova mad the stronger start and grabbed the momentum with a break in the fifth game when Ivanovic hit a backhand long, but three games later the set was back on an even keel thanks largely to three Sharapova double faults. The game ended with 7-5, 6-3 win.

This will be Sharapova’s third Grand Slam victory already being a champion at Wimbledon in 2004 and the US Open in 2006.

“If someone had told me in the middle of last year that I would be standing in the middle of this tennis court holding the big one, I would have said get out of here” Sharapova said.

One month ago, the New England Patriots beat the New York Giants by three points. So why are the Patriots laying 11.5 points at Super Bowl XLII?

Because they’re that good. Judging the Patriots purely on the merits of their Week 17 performance at Giants Stadium would give you the wrong idea of how capable they really are. Sharp handicappers have long memories (it’s all about sample size) of the Pats starting the season 8-0 ATS.

But the much more recent success of the New York Giants cannot be ignored. They’ve played four outstanding games in a row after a dangerous midseason stretch that threatened to derail their playoff hopes. Eli Manning appears to be following in big brother Peyton’s footsteps after all. Or we could see Bad Eli make a cameo appearance in Glendale on Feb. 3. Then again, even Peyton had his detractors before the Colts won last year’s Super Bowl.

Many boxing fans would agree, Ricky Hatton aka “The Hitman” is one of, if not the greatest British fighters of all time and is ranked among the best pound for pound boxers in the world.

Hatton’s debut fight was on September 11, 1997 against Colin McAuley where he won by a KO in 1.

Considered on of best victories by a British boxer in the last 20 years, was Hatton’s fight against Kostya Tszyu. Hatton was the heavy underdog for this fight and won by technical knockout after the Australian failed to answer the bell in the 12th round. This win announced his entry to the upper echelons of the world boxing scene.

In December 2007 Hatton’s welterweight fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. was considered to be the biggest welterweight fight since the 1999 clash between Oscar de le Hoya and legend Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad. Unfortunately the fight went to Mayweather when Hatton wobbled and fell straight on his back in round 10.

Currently Hatton is making plans for his 2008 return. He is currently in South Africa recovering from his defeat against Mayweather and has plans to get back into the ring at the end of May or early June. His opponent is yet to be announced.

“I think one of my best attributes is that I’m pretty fearless, so I’ll fight anyone that is put in front of me” said Hatton.

If you’re a hot dog fan and a baseball fan and especially if you’re a fan of eating hot dogs at baseball games, the following is our list of the best “dogs” in Major League Baseball:
1. The Fenway Frank
Fenway Park, Boston

2. Nathan’s Hot Dog
Yankee Stadium, New York

3. Miller’s Dog
McAfee Coliseum, Oakland

4. Hebrew National Dog
Safeco Field, Seattle

5. Met Jumbo Dog
The Metrodome, Minneapolis

6. Aaron’s Hot Dog
Shea Stadium, New York

7. The Hunter’s Dog
New Busch Stadium, St. Louis

8. Schweigert Hot Dog
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City

9. Grilled Blue Jay Dog
Rogers Center, Toronto

10. Hot Dog Heaven
Turner Field, Atlanta

The San Diego Chargers (+14) might be in over their heads against the New England Patriots. But there is every reason to believe the Bolts can keep this AFC Championship close, maybe even pull off the upset. Reason No. 1: their surprise victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

San Diego has developed a lot since starting the season at 1-3 SU and ATS (including an embarrassing 38-14 loss to New England as 3.5-point road dogs). This is the first year of the Norv Turner regime, and he’s got a fresh set of assistants starting with defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell. While Rivers has developed under Turner’s guidance, Cottrell has tweaked his vanilla 3-4 defense, making it more aggressive to take advantage of the talent he has at linebacker.

I think the Chargers should be getting something a lot closer to that Week 2 spread. San Diego will harangue Tom Brady and bag the cash.

Concerns surrounding match-fixing in men’s tennis have surfaced since August 2007, when an online betting company reported strange betting patterns during a match between Russian fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina. Since then, several players have said they were approached with offers to fix matches for money.

The ATP, which recently introduced anti-corruption rules, suspended Italians Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciali for making bets on tennis matches involving other players.
While men’s tennis may be getting tarnished Maria Sharapova claims the woman’s game is very clean.
Sharapova, 20, said Larry Scott, the WTA Tour chief executive, “is doing all the things possible, from having meetings throughout the year to encouraging players to be safe and smart about their choices.”

Start time: Sunday, Jan. 13th at 4:30 p.m. EST on FOX

Eli Manning must be beside himself. For the first time ever he’s found himself in a playoff situation the same weekend as big bro Peyton Manning. But unlike Peyton, Eli isn’t playing at home. Nope. The younger Manning boy is off to Dallas to face Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys and football analysts are saying it’s not going to be an easy road trip for these Giants.

For one thing, Terrell Owens will be back for the Cowboys and it’s going to take more than one Giant to stop that dude. Overall, the Cowboys’ offense is better than the Giants’ offense. And even though Eli Manning may be playing the best football of his NFL career, Tony Romo is the better QB in this matchup. (Giants odds to win the NFC Championship are 4/1; the Cowboys odds are 5/6.)

A word of advice to Eli: Work your Manning magic on Romo’s girlfriend Jessica Simpson and you MIGHT have a chance at taking this game out of his hands.

Start time: Sunday, Jan. 13 at 1 p.m. EST on CBS

Put yourself in the shoes of San Diego Chargers’ QB Philip Rivers: You narrowly escaped defeat the weekend prior only to find yourself up against the defending Super Bowl Champions — the Indianapolis Colts. No one is really banking on you to win and you’re playing on enemy turf. The odds of you winning this AFC divisional matchup aren’t great. (The odds of you winning the AFC Championship are even greater: 8/1.) But they’re not impossible, either.

Now back to reality…

Remember the regular-season game between these two clubs? Peyton Manning was not at his best and the Chargers ended up winning that weird and wacky game 23-21. (San Diego would then go on to enjoy a nice win streak.)

History has a strange way of repeating itself…but the Colts are healthier and the Chargers are a better defensive team than they were [back in Week 9 when they played the Colts].

This will be another close game, but it will come down to the better team overall winning…and that will be the Colts. (Sorry! I’m a San Diego fan at heart, too.)

Start time: Saturday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. EST on CBS

If you are only going to watch one football game this weekend THIS has to be it. Everyone and their dog will be betting on the perfect Patriots to win against a not-so-perfect Jaguars team. But can you imagine the payout if they lose…and you bet on Jacksonville? And then what if the Jags go on to win the NFC Championship? Right now most sportsbooks have the Jags at 7/1 odds to win the NFC, while the Patriots are the overwhelming favorites at 4/9 odds to win.

The thing is…no one has beaten the Patriots this season and no one really expects them to lose to Jacksonville, either. The Jags have a few rookies and fatties stepping in for a few key injured players. And the Patriots…well, they’ve got Tom Brady. NFL MVP, NFL Offensive Player of the Year and record holder of too many records to list in this blog post.

The only perfect record in the NFL indicates one thing: the New England Patriots are the best team. Are they unbeatable in the playoffs? THAT is the million-dollar question…

Start time: Saturday, Jan. 12th at 4:30 p.m. EST on FOX

Got any plans for Saturday? Well, if you’re any kind of a football fan you’ll be planted in front of your television taking in the Seattle Seahawks vs. Green Bay Packers game. Scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EST on FOX, this NFC divisional matchup will undoubtedly run cold and hot.

While Emerald City isn’t exactly Miami at this time of year, it’s a heck of a lot warmer than Green Bay. (To keep the guys warm Sportsbook World has learned that the organization has purchased “hot pants” for the players. ) But we’re not underestimating the Seahawks drive to win the NFC Division. The thing is…Brett Favre is not about to go down at home without putting up one hell of a fight. This one should be a fairly low-scoring game, but the Packers appear to be in better health and in better shape to win.

The Packers are at 19/10 odds to win the NFC Championship, while the Seahawks are at 7/1 odds to win.