Maria's and Nole's Stories Everywhere

Maria Sharápova wins her 1st Australian Open Championship

Maria Sharapova of Russia collected her third major tennis trophy - the Australian Open 2008 (adding to her Wimbledon 2004 and US Open 2006 wins) at Melbourne Park Saturday afternoon after dispatching Serbian sensation Ana Ivanovic in straight sets 7-5 6-3.

On her way to the finals, she never dropped a single set nor got engaged in any tiebreak. Seeded fifth this year, she defeated Jelena Kostanic Tosic 6-4 6-3 in the 1st Round, former world #1 Lindsay Davenport 6-1 6-3 in the 2nd Round, fellow Russians Elena Vesnina 6-3 6-0 and Elena Dementieva 6-2 6-0 in the 3rd and 4th Rounds, top seed and current world #1 Justine Henin 6-4 6-0 in the Quarterfinals and third seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-1 in the Semifinals.

Read more of the stories of her successful comeback here.

Novak Đoković wins his 1st Grand Slam Championship

Serbian Novak Djokovic ended Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's suprising run at the Australian Open 2008 by defeating the Frenchman at Rod Laver Arena Sunday evening 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6 (2) to grab his first ever Grand Slam trophy.

On his way to the finals, he never dropped a single set and even managed to conquer current world #1 Roger Federer in straight sets 7-5 6-3 7-6 (5) during their Semifinal showdown last Friday - ending Federer's run of 10 successive Grand Slam finals appearance and freezing his hopes to match Pete Sampras's record of 14 major championships. Seeded #3, he thrashed German Benjamin Becker 6-0 6-2 7-6 (5) in the 1st Round, Simone Bolelli 6-1 6-2 6-2 in the 2nd Round, Sam Querry 6-3 6-1 6-3 in the 3rd Round, local bet and former world #1 Lleyton Hewitt 7-5 6-3 6-3 in the 4th Round, and #5 seed David Ferrer 6-0 6-3 7-5 in the Quarterfinals.

Read more of the stories of this fast-rising tennis star here.