Well, just could not resist posting this photo of his backside as he took a tumble during a Davis Cup match against China’s Zhang Ze.

Hewitt, a former number one player who has won Wimbledon and the US Open, won the match 6-2, 6-1, 7-6.

As an added bonus, Hewitt and the rest of the Australian Davis Cup team are being coached by the very hunky Patrick Rafter, a two-time US Open champion who also reached the finals of Wimbledon twice. Rafter reached the number one ranking as well but I hesitate to mention because he only held the ranking for one or two weeks!

It is when a tennis player wins all four grand slam titles in a single year plus the Olympic Gold Medal.

It is only possible every  four years and has only been accomplished once: Steffi Graf won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in 1988 then went on to take the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Souel, South Korea.

The only players who can possibly accomplish this feat this year are Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka who won Australian Open singles titles last week.

Okay, as far as Azarenka goes, not going to happen.

As far as Djokovic goes, I think he’s got as good a shot as anyone ever has. He won three of the slams last year in emphatic fashion and showed all kinds of heart in defeating Rafael Nadal in a classic five-set final on Sunday.

Next up is the French Open. This is Djokovic’s biggest hurdle. He’s never won there or even made the final. Last year, he was riding a 45-match winning streak when Roger Federer beat him in the semifinals in Paris.

Djokovoic, however, had beaten six-time French Open champ Nadal twice in the weeks leading up to Paris in clay court tournaments and has proven himself to be capable of winning in Paris.

Wimbledon would be next and Djokoic has already proven he can win there. Later in the summer, the Olympic Games in London will be held at the same location: Wimbledon. No reason for him not to be able to win there again. (At the 2008 Olympics in China, he won the bronze medal).

The last hurdle would be the US Open at the end of the summer. Djokovic came within once point of losing in the semifinals to Federer but managed to win.

He showed all kinds of confidence and heart that day in Flushing Meadows and again in Australia on Sunday. That’s why I think Djokovic has a realistic chance of completing the Golden Slam provided he stays healthy and injury free.

He makes no secret of his ambitions.

“The Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic Games are my priority this year,” Djokovic told the Politika daily in an interview published Tuesday. “Honestly probably Roland Garros is my number one priority but my ambition is unchanged and I’d like to win all tournaments I play in.”

Wow.

In one of the most stupendous finals in Grand Slam history, Novak Djokovic continued his reign atop men’s tennis and his mastery of Rafael Nadal with a record-setting 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory in the Australian Open final.

The match lasted five hours, 53 minutes, shattering the record for the longest Grand Slam final in history.

“We made history tonight and unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners,” Djokovic said after the match.

It was his third straight major title for reigning Wimbledon US Open champion Djokovic who joins Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Nadal as the only men in the Open era to accomplish that feat.

Djokovic also has won seven finals in a row against Nadal, including in each of the last thee slam finals. The Spainiard became the first man in the Open Era to lose three straight major finals.

Having reduced Federer to tears when he won the title over five sets in 2009, Nadal maintained his composure during the on-court speeches—and even managed a joke.

“Good morning, everybody,” Nadal said, earning laughs and loud applause from the crowd. “Congratulations to Novak and his team. They deserve it. They are doing something fantastic, so congratulations.”

The previous longest major singles final 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 in 1988, when the Swede beat Pat Cash. Sunday’s match was also the longest in the tournament’s history.

The win was the fifth grand slam title and third Australia Open crown for Djokovic who had toiled for years in the shadows of Nadal and Federer.

He’s now the biggest star in tennis and celebrated his victory by literally ripping his shirt off much to the delight of straight women and gay men everywhere!

Talk about huge wins, Victoria Azarenka not only won the Australian Open earlier today over Maria Sharapova, she also became the number one ranked player in the world.

Will she stay at number one awhile and win more slams or will she follow in the footsteps of recent single slam winners Li Na, Samantha Stosur, Petra Kivitova, Francesca Schiavone who have failed to turn their victories into tour domination?

Kim Clijsters has won three slams since returning to the tour in summer of 2009 but she has only spent one week as number one while Serena Williams, winner of 13 slam titles, has not been playing enough tour events in recent years to remain at number one.

The game could use a new superstar and Azarenka could very well be it.

Time will tell.

Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki has got to be somewhat relieved to no longer be the number one after reigning for one year and four months.

During that time, Wozniacki failed to win – or even make it to the finals – of a single grand slam tournament.

This basically has made the top ranking a big joke.

Before Wozniacki’s slamless reign, only Jelena Jankovic (18 weeks) and Dinera Safina (26 weeks) had been the number one player without ever winning a grand slam before, during or after their time at the top.

That had never happened during the first 33 years of official ranking when all-time greats such as Chris Evert (260 weeks, 18 slams), Martina Navratilova (332 weeks, 18 slams), Steffi Graf (377 weeks, 22 slams), and Monica Seles enjoyed stellar runs at the top and won slams left and right. (Seles surely would have been number one longer than 178 weeks and won more than 9 slams had she not been stabbed by a madman during the peak of her career).

The men’s game has benefited from having its true superstars at the very top. Either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal was number one from early 2004 through July of 2011 when Novak Djokovic became the top player while winning three of the year’s four slams.

Tomorrow, Djokovic and Nadal face off in a slam final for the third straight time when they play for the Australian Open title.

If Nadal wins, it will be his 11th slam title overall tying him with Bjorn Borg on the all-time list. (Federer holds the record with 16 slam wins). If Djokovic prevails, it will be his third Australian Open title and fifth slam overall.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN: You gotta feel for poor Andy Murray, a really great tennis player who has the misfortune of playing during the same era as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – a trio of greats who have won 30 grand slam singles titles between them.

The world’s fourth-ranked player and the runner-up at the Australian Open the last two years, Murray lost a dramatic five-set semifinal to Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 7-5. The match lasted nearly five hours.

Djokovic will face Nadal on Sunday in the finals of a grand slam tournament for the third straight time. He beat the Spanish star in last year’s Wimbledon and US Open finals as well as in four other finals.

“I know that I maybe have a mental edge because I’ve won six finals. … We played in 2011 and I’ve had lots of success against him,” Djokovic said after the match. “That’s going to be my main priority and concern the next day and a half, to physically be able to perform my best and be ready to play five sets.

Murray said he is more encouraged than ever that he can break through and become the first British man to win a Grand Slam singles title since 1936.

“Tonight’s match was important for many reasons,” the 24-year-old said. “Obviously I wanted to win first and foremost. But also sort of after last year, the year that Novak’s had, I think there’s a very fine line between being No. 1 in the world and being 3 or 4. I think that gap, I feel tonight I closed it. My job over the next two or three months is to surpass him and the guys in front of me.”

It was Nadal who won in four sets 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Federer had a whopping 63 unforced errors in the match to lose to Nadal for the eighth time in a grand slam match and for the second time at the Australian Open.

Nadal will play either Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray in the final.

“It’s a fantastic victory for me. Very, very happy playing against the greatest of the history in semifinals, big match on Rod Laver (court),” he said. “It’s one of the victories that’s going to stay in my mind forever. It’s a fantastic way to start the season. Very happy for everything.”

Federer said after the match he thinks his rivalry with Nadal is good for tennis.

“I hope it inspires future generations or other players, being nice to each other on the court and all that stuff … works as well at the highest of levels,” he said. “We also kind of play well against each other. I always think he plays a bit better against me than against other players, but that’s good for him.”

These two champions, who have 26 slam singles titles between them, have not played in a semifinal of a major since way back in 2005 at the French Open. Since then, they have played in the French finals four times, the Wimbledon finals three times and once in the Australian Open final.

Both are seeking redemption in this tournament.

Nadal lost his number one ranking to Djokovic last year as well as the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open. His last win at a major was the 2011 French Open over Federer. For the Swiss superstar, the slam drought has lasted even longer. His last win at a major came two years ago at the Australian Open – a record 16th slam title.

But Federer has been in better form than Nadal since last fall winning three straight tournaments including the year-end ATP Masters title where he beat Nadal in the process. Federer won his first three matches at his first tournament this year in Qatar but defaulted before his semifinal match with a back injury.

They have played 26 times, and Nadal leads their overall head-to-head series 17–9, with 14 of those encounters having been on Nadal’s favored clay court surface.

The two champions have always gotten along famously despite an intense on-court rivalry. But on the eve of this tournament, Nadal was critical of Federer for not taking a leadership role in addressing some of the issues in the men’s game such a scheduling and prize money.

Both insist the issue has been put behind them.

Okay, I’m going to go ahead and make a prediction: Federer in four sets. It might be based more on my hoping so than reality but I do believe he has been stronger and grown more confident in recent months. He hasn’t actually lost a match (besides the default) since the semifinals of the US Open in September when Djokovic survived two match points and went on to beat Federer in five sets.

Go Roger!!!

Martina told reporters after her match that she hadn’t spoken to Court for years:.“She was all about Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. She repeated that about four or five times, so I just felt I couldn’t get through to her. Maybe she thought she could get through to me.”

To read what Martina had to say about about playing on Margaret Court Arena and about the gay marriage, debate, see my story posted on Gay Star News.

He burst onto the scene at 16 when he won his first pro tournament in his hometown of Adelaide over a guy named Andre Agassi.

Within a few years, he was number one in the world, had won Wimbledon and the US Open, the Davis Cup and two year-end  ATP Championships.

Hewitt, who turns 31 next month, has endured two hip surgeries in recent years and is no longer in the top 100. But he can still compete and showed that earlier today when he took defending champion Novak Djokovic to four sets in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Good luck the rest of the year Lleyton!

American cutie Andy Roddick had to quit during the middle of his match with Lleyton Hewitt at the Australian Open today due to injury.

Roddick, the second-highest ranked player in the U.S., had won the first set then in the third came of the second set, he injured a hamstring when he overstretched his leg going after one of Hewitt’s shots.

“It’s a miserable, terrible thing being out there compromised like that,” Roddick told the press of his attempt to play with the injury. “I wanted to see what I could do. You don’t really have much time for clarity in that situation. He’s a tough guy to play … he knew what was going on.”

Hewitt said the injury was “a nightmare for both of us.”

“Obviously, he stretched something,” Hewitt said. “It’s not easy for the person up the other end of the court. It’s hard to concentrate when they’re having injury timeouts.

“Andy’s a great competitor … he’s similar to me. He plays with his heart on his sleeve, has that never-say-die attitude as well. It’s never easy to play injured or to pull out of a match. It’s not a good feeling.”

Roddick and Hewitt have had similar careers with both experiencing their greatest success before Roger Federer ascended to the number one ranking in 2004. Roddick won the US Open in 2003 and obtained the number one ranking. Hewitt, also a former number one, won the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002.

Neither has managed to win another major title although Roddick is a three-time Wimbledon finalist. Hewitt was a US Open finalist in 2004 and at the Australian Open in 2005.

Her greatest rival throughout the 60s and early 70s was an Australian player named Margaret Court.

Flash-forward 40 years and they are still on opposite sides of the court – so to speak – with King a lesbian and advocate for LGBT equality and Court a preacher who is one of the most vocal opponents against gay marriage becoming legal Down Under.

“I totally respect her opinion, but I don’t agree with her at all. We have a rising problem with homophobia globally,” King said in an exclusive interview with The Desert Sun. “This is about civil rights. It’s about equality, having equal opportunities and rights. Everyone gets too wigged out on it. I guess because it’s sexual, people get funny. But it’s just about equal rights. That’s all it is. And I don’t know what they’re trying to make it into. It’s just equal rights.”

Last month, Court said: “Politically correct education has masterfully escorted homosexuality out from behind closed doors, into the community openly and now is aggressively demanding marriage rights that is not theirs to take.”

Court’s outspoken views have led to protests against the winner of a record 24 grand slam singles titles and people calling to have her name removed from one of the stadium courts at Melbourne Park where the Australian Open is currently being played.

King thinks that’s taking things too far.

“No, no, no, get rid of her for that? Because you don’t agree with her? Are you kidding? Just because you don’t agree with someone? Please. She deserves it. She’s a great player,” she said.

If they both win their first five matches, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will square off in the semifinals of the Australian Open.

But these two all-time greats, who have always seemed to get along famously, had a rare public disagreement over the weekend.

Nadal, who has always treated Federer with deference, was frustrated that the Swiss superstar was not taking a public stance against tour organizers over prize money and an over-demanding tennis calendar.

Sniped Nadal: “For him, it’s good to say nothing. Everything positive. ‘It’s all well and good for me, I look like a gentleman,’ and the rest can burn themselves.”

A day later Nadal was not sorry for what he said but sorry he had done it so publicly.

“Probably I am wrong telling that to [the media], especially because these things can stay, must stay in the locker room,” Nadal said. ”I always had fantastic relationship with Roger; I still have fantastic relationship with Roger, it’s just I said we can have different views about how the tour needs to work. That’s all.”

For his part, Federer did not seem to be holding a grudge: “We can’t always agree on everything,” Federer told reporters after a straight-set win over Alexander Kudryavtstev. “So far it’s always been no problem really. Back in the day he [Nadal] used to say, ‘Whatever Roger decides, I’m fine with.’ Today he’s much more grown up. He has a strong opinion himself, which I think is great.”

Between them, they have won an astounding 26 grand slam singles titles (16 for Federer, 10 for Nadal) and have enjoyed such a wonderful and respectful rivalry – both such a credit to the game. But Nadal’s body has historically not held up as well as Federer’s throughout an entire season and you have to wonder if that’s why they so strongly disagree.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN: The first grand slam tournament of the year begins on Monday. Rafael Nadal was seen warming up earlier today. He will need the practice. The Spanish stud has not won a tournament since last year’s French Open in June. He has lost to Novak Djokovic six times in a row and in the process, lost his number one ranking.

Rabid Roger Federer fans – and we know who we are – are a little nervous about our guy heading into next week’s Australian Open where he will begin his campaign for a fifth title Down Under.

Federer pulled out of last week’s Qater Open before his semifinal match due to a back injury.

It’s nice to see these photos of him practicing looking so terrific. But it remains to be seen if his back is strong enough to withstand the rigors of a grand slam tournament.

Also getting some practice in is two-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray (pictured below) who won his warm-up tournament in Brisbane. He is now being coached by Ivan Lendl who ruled tennis in the late 80s winning the Australian Open twice and the US Open and French Open three time each.

My all-time favorite player, the great Roger Federer, has begun defense of his title at the Qatar Open this week and is riding a 17-match winning streak carried over from last season when he won three straight tournaments including the ATP Finals.

“You can definitely take confidence from the end of the year and sort of just carry it over because you’re in a good mindset,” Federer said told reporters this week. “You know, you just believe that you’re doing the right things on the court. You’re not second guessing yourself. From that standpoint, confidence is … it’s a huge part of our, you know, life sometimes as a tennis player.”

Federer, 30, has a record 16 grand slam titles to his credit but has not won one of the sport’s big four championships since the 2010 Australian Open and has not been ranked number one since August of that year.

He is currently ranked third behind Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. But he has not given up hope of regaining the top ranking later this season.

“You have to go step by step, and right now focus is on Doha, my first round,” he Federer said. “Then I do hope I can move on and defend my title here and then go to sort of Australia and make my move over there. Then I have a lot coming up in February, as well, for me. So it’s going to be an interesting next two months for me, because I will be playing a lot of tennis. So I hope that I will hold up well physically.”

King went on to beat Riggs and the rest is history.

Now Court, winner of a record grand slam single titles, wants to set back the marriage equality movement as well!

She is senior pastor in Perth’s Victory Life Church and is speaking out against efforts in Australia to legalize same-sex marriage, according to The West Australian newspaper.

Said Court: “No amount of legislation or political point-scoring can ever take out of the human heart the knowledge that in the beginning God created them male and female and provided each with a unique sexual function to bring forth new life. To dismantle this sole definition of marriage and try to legitimise what God calls abominable sexual practices that include sodomy, reveals our ignorance as to the ills that come when society is forced to accept law that violates their very own God-given nature of what is right and what is wrong.”

It’s interesting that you have Court being such a homophobe while her former rivals King and Martina Navratilova (pictured above with Court and fellow Wimbledon champ Steffi Graf) have lived with such courage and been such leaders in the fight for gender and LGBT equality.

The 19-year-old rose in the rankings from 208th to 42th in 2011 and pushed the world’s top-ranked player, Novak Djokovic, to four sets in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. A couple of months later, he also took Roger Federer to four sets on grass in their Davis Cup tie.

Tomic has got the tools to make it to the top of the game: terrific serve, slice and backhand. The Australian also plays without fear going for his shots on the most important points in a big match.

All that plus he’s cute!

He’s also the youngest player in the top 100 and the top-ranked Australian male player. He’s got a very big future ahead of him.

That practice paid off today as Nadal clinched the Davis Cup title for Spain by defeating Juan Martin del Potro to give his country an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

Nadal recovered from a terrible start to beat del Potro  1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 to secure the Davis Cup for Spain for the fifth time.

It’s a triumphant end to a season that saw Nadal lose his number one ranking to Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic.

But he did manage to win the French Open for the sixth time and reached the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open.

“Today is one of the most emotional days of my career,”  Nadal said after the match. “After such a difficult year, this was a spectacular finale to the season. To win a final this way is very special.”