John McEnroe believes World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has “become as mentally tough - as you possibly can be - on a tennis court. Certainly athletically.”

Speaking at a tennis academy, in New York, on Wednesday, McEnroe said, “Djokovic has lifted his game to a point where I think his return has now maybe surpassed [Andre] Agassi. It used to be [Jimmy] Connors and Agassi. Now it’s like beyond belief, what [Djokovic] can do with the return.”

Djokovic captured his fifth Grand Slam championship title as he defeated No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 in five hours and 53 minutes - the longest major championship final on record - at the Australian Open on Sunday. 

“He’s much more elastic,” said McEnroe. “I noticed years ago, how flexible he was and how hard he worked on it. I thought to myself, ‘This is going to pay off.’ I didn’t realise to what extent and [how big an] advantage this would be. I think it’s something that has to be considered very seriously by other players, because there is lost more balls being hit with an open stance, off the back foot.

“I think his forehand is one of the biggest shots in the game, and his backhand has become better. [It] doesn’t seem like a whole lot of things are going to go wrong.”

McEnroe believes men’s professional tennis is presently in a golden era, with the Top 4 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings - Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray - all posting deep runs at the major championships.

“I think it’s an incredible time, actually,” said McEnroe. I think we [had] better enjoy it while it lasts. The shots that these guys can come up with … is phenomenal. They’ve taken the baseline game to a whole new level.

“Roger is 30 now, and he’s still playing pretty amazingly well. Murray played the best match I had ever seen him play even though he lost it [against Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals]. Those guys, sort of get into these war of wills, where they’re just going to sort of break each other until one of them literally falls over.”

McEnroe is scheduled to play an exhibition match with Milos Raonic, the defending SAP Open champion, against Gael Monfils and Jack Sock in San Jose on 13 February. 

When asked about the next generation of young talent on the ATP World Tour, McEnroe said, “I see Bernard Tomic and I see Milos at the moment with the greatest up side. I think Ryan [Harrison] is going to be an excellent player as well, but these guys have that extra gear it appears.

“Bernard sort of plays his own game, but Milos, to me, has an incredible chance to do something really big in tennis. I feel like he’s making some great progress. I think he’s definitely going to have a chance to win majors if he can continue to add to his game.”   

McEnroe won seven Grand Slam championships during his career. The 52-year-old American clinched his 78th doubles title with Jonas Bjorkman at the SAP Open in 2006.

From 13-16 March, McEnroe will play an ATP Champions Tour event in Stockholm.

Rafa Nadal issued a statement on Thursday saying he had met all his fiscal obligations after a Spanish website published details about several companies linked to the world number two it said had been set up to drastically trim his tax bill.

The website Primeran (www.primeran.com) said the companies had been created with their domicile in the Basque region to take advantage of special tax rules designed to help local firms and had been used to radically cut the amount of tax paid on income from Nadal’s image rights.

El Confidencial, another Spanish media outlet, said Basque tax authorities were probing the case. The regional government could not immediately be reached for comment.

Nadal’s spokesman published a statement which acknowledged the existence of the Basque companies but said they had now had their domicile transferred to Nadal’s native Balearic Islands, where he lives.

“The companies mentioned and the tennis player himself are up to date with the payment of all their tax obligations,” the statement said.

“Since the start of his career Rafa has always wanted to maintain his residence in Spain and that’s the way it has been, reaffirming his commitment as a Spaniard on, as well as off, the court,” the player’s agent, Carlos Costa, added.

LONDON, February 1, 2012 - A glittering collection of the world’s greatest sports stars have just five days to wait to discover if they are winners of Laureus World Sports Awards.

World tennis No 1, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, fresh from his brilliant Australian Open win in Melbourne at the weekend, is hoping to climax a remarkable 12 months by winning the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award for the first time.  In 2011, he won the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open Grand Slams and had a winning record of 70-6.

One of his biggest rivals will be Argentina’s charismatic football star Lionel Messi, who has also been nominated for the Sportsman Award for the third straight time, while his team FC Barcelona are also on the shortlist as Laureus World Team of the Year for the fourth time.

Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova and ‘Blade Runner’ Oscar Pistorius are both nominated in two categories - Kvitova for Sportswoman and Breakthrough, while athlete Pistorius qualifies for the Breakthrough and Disability Awards.  Dutch wheelchair tennis legend Esther Vergeer, a winner of the Laureus Disability Award in 2002 and 2008, is nominated again. Surfing legend and three-time winner Kelly Slater is also nominated once more for the Laureus Action Sports Award.

Jamaica has two Nominees. Sprint star Usain Bolt, twice previously winner of the Laureus Sportsman Award is nominated again, while Yohan Blake is on the shortlist for Breakthrough of the Year after his 100 metres win at the World Championships in Daegu. Another great athlete, Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya, is nominated for Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year after her 5,000 and 10,000 metres double in Daegu.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the calendar year 2011, are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar.   The winners, as voted by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 47 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time, will be unveiled at a televised Awards Ceremony staged in London on Monday, February 6.

Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports 91 community sports projects around the world. Since its inception, Laureus has raised €40 million for projects which have improved the lives of more than one-and-a-half million young people.

The 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony, which will be attended by the greatest names in sport, past and present, will be staged in the heart of London at Central Hall, Westminster.  

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: “I am excited that the Laureus World Sports Awards and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation have decided to bring the Awards to London for 2012. Laureus and I share a commitment to making sport a positive part of everyone’s life regardless of age and ability.  Celebrating the power of sport here in London with the world’s sporting superstars will provide the perfect start to our Olympic year and it marks the beginning of a real and long-lasting grassroots sports legacy for London and beyond.”

Not all Novak Djokovic fans left happy Sunday night. A Aussie “mum” is in hot water in Melbourne this week. Shortly after his stunning win Sunday night at the Australian Open, Djokovic began unloading his apparel and other items into the crowd for his fans. Among the treasures was a game-worn shirt which he threw to young girl, 14-year-old Melissa Cook. But an elderly woman, Yael Rothschild, snatched it in mid-air before reaching the alleged intended target.

Rothschild has denied playing spolier, suggesting the 14-year-old already had Djokovic items in her possesion.

“She was seen holding his sweat band, his towel and his shoe - not a bad night’s winnings,” Rothschild told the Herald Sun.

When the shirt was thrown, there would have been 20 excited people, all with their hands out,” she said.

“After (it had been) thrown, there would have been 19 disappointed people.

“Such is life. I am not sure how you can snatch out of the hands (of) someone sitting three seats away from you with a barrier between the seating,” she said.

Cook denied the items she had were from the finals match

“I started crying because I couldn’t believe that something I truly believe he meant for me was taken by someone else,” Cook told the Sun on Monday.

“I had been yelling out to him the whole match and he had looked up and acknowledged me and then at the end he came straight over to my direction and threw the shirt up.”

And then it was gone.

Rothschild said she’s keeping the Djokovic shirt. For now.

The video clearly shows Rothschild stealing the shirt away from Cook. Shame on her!

Andy Murray pulled out of Britain’s Davis Cup matchup against Slovakia with an injury, joining Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and runner-up Rafael Nadal on the sidelines.

Murray, who pushed Djokovic to five sets in an Australian Open semifinal that lasted almost five hours, has been advised to take a few weeks off by doctors after picking up “a few injuries,” the U.K.’s Lawn Tennis Association said in a statement on its website today.

Britain, which last won men’s tennis’s top team competition in 1936, plays Slovakia in Glasgow on Feb. 10-12 in the first round of Europe/Africa Group I, one tier below the elite World Group. Without Murray, fourth in the ATP Tour rankings, Britain’s highest-rated player is James Ward at No. 155.

“I’m gutted to miss out on the Davis Cup having really enjoyed playing last year, but as it’s only the start of an important season, which includes the Olympics in London, it’s probably a sensible decision,” Murray said in the statement.

Nadal said last month he wouldn’t be playing Davis Cup this year for Spain, which opens defense of its title against Kazakhstan. Top-ranked Djokovic said two days ago after beating Nadal in the longest Grand Slam final in Open era history — five hours, 53 minutes, — he wouldn’t play for Serbia against Sweden to give himself time to recover.

Unlike last year, when he beat his friend Andy Murray in straight sets and then kicked off an all-night party with a rock band in the locker room, Novak Djokovic admits he dispensed with the band and the raucous dressing room celebrations.

But, after the longest final ever in a Grand Slam, it was only fitting that Djokovic put on a solo act. He chose the AC/DC rock anthem ‘Highway To Hell’, belting out a few lyrics and strumming the air guitar.

After a couple of hours sleep, Djokovic arrived at a customary post-victory photo shoot in a downtown Melbourne park, where he recalled the brief pre-dawn celebrations at Rod Laver Arena and made a half-hearted attempt to sing the refrain. His legs were too tired, and his throat a bit hoarse: ‘Oh man, I’m tired.’

Water guy: Novak Djokovic raises the Australian Open trophy in front of the Royal Exhibition Buildings

And so he should be. Djokovic completed a 5-hour, 53-minute 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory over Rafael Nadal at 1.37am - ending an epic match with a forehand winner that finally finished off the Spaniard.

He defied exhaustion to tear off his shirt and flex his bare torso as he made his way over to celebrate with his friends and family. He was still doing interviews after 4am. It didn’t leave much time for celebrating.

‘I didn’t have any more energy left to celebrate,’ Djokovic said on Monday. ‘I was preferring my bed.’

Who’s your friend: Djokovic adds a furry companion to the Norman Brooks Trophy (above and below)

When he awoke not long after, his body reminded him not just of the incredible events of the previous evening, nearly six hours of physically punishing tennis against one of the game’s most ferociously competitive athletes, but also of a near five-hour semi-final two nights earlier against Murray.

‘I felt lots of pain all over the body,’ he said. ‘The adrenalin is still there and I still am very excited about what I have experienced here in the last two weeks and especially last night. I’m full of joy, but I think still I don’t have a real sense of what’s going on.’

Djokovic wasn’t the only one feeling a little dazed Monday. There were still 1.86million people watching in Australia until after 1.30am. The peak audience was 3.86million, approaching about one-fifth of the population. When the last ball was struck, hardly any of the almost 15,000 spectators in Rod Laver Arena had left.

National hero: The world No 1 signs an enthusiastic supporter’s Serbia football kit

An historic final provided a fitting climax to a men’s tournament that also featured two riveting semi-finals between Nadal and world No 3 Roger Federer, and Djokovic and No 4 Murray.

Tournament director Craig Tiley, celebrating a record crowd attendance of 686,006 across the two weeks, described the final as ‘the greatest match of all time’.

A day after celebrating her first Grand Slam title, even Victoria Azarenka came out to watch the men’s final. The 22-year-old Belarusian needed 82 minutes - two minutes more than the first set lasted between Nadal and Djokovic - to rout Maria Sharapova and claim both the trophy and the No 1 ranking.

Great job: Tournament director Craig Tiley (left) congratulates the champion on his awesome victory

Djokovic’s seventh straight win in a final over Nadal underlined his dominance of the men’s game, which until last year had been headlined by Nadal and Federer. Nadal got closer to ending the Serb’s recent stranglehold over him, but after being a break up in the fifth set, couldn’t get over the line.

Despite a third straight loss in a Grand Slam final, Nadal leaves Melbourne more motivated than ever. Less than 24 hours before the tournament began, he was in tears, believing a freak knee injury he sustained while sitting on a chair would prevent him from competing in the tournament.

To end it having pushed his nemesis to the limit was more than enough consolation for the 10-time Grand Slam champion.

‘I wanted to win, but I am happy about how I did,’ he said. ‘I had my chances against the best player of the world today. I played one against one.’

Sealed with a kiss: Djokovic is now turning his sights on winning the French Open

In the end, Djokovic’s unshakable belief that began to develop when he won the Davis Cup with Serbia at the end of 2010, and strengthened when he went the first 41 matches of last season unbeaten, pulled him through.

Once the bridesmaid to Nadal and Federer, Djokovic understood exactly how his opponent felt.

‘When I played three, four years ago against Rafa and Roger in Grand Slam semi-finals and finals, I felt that they were just superior on the court, that they had this mental advantage,’ he said. ‘Because they just know that when the time comes, when the match is breaking down, fifth set, they will always prevail, because they believe more, they have more experience and they know what to do.’

Now Djokovic is experiencing that unbeatable feeling. He is the fifth man in the Open Era to win three straight major titles, and already has the French Open - the one major to elude him - in his sights. He won’t even rule out the ultimate: the Grand Slam.

Utter agony: Rafael Nadal suffered at the hands of his nemesis yet again in Melbourne

‘One player (Rod Laver) has done it, so it is possible,’ he said. ‘Obviously the times are different and tennis nowadays is much more competitive and much more physical. And that makes that challenge more difficult to achieve. But everything is possible.’

With the London Olympics to follow Wimbledon this year, Djokovic could even make it a Golden Slam by winning the gold medal at London 2012 to go with the annual four majors.

‘The facts are that I’m at the peak of my career,’ he said. ‘I feel physically and mentally at the peak, I feel strong, I feel motivated, I feel eager to win more trophies.’ 

Novak’s time: The final was the longest ever in grand slam history

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2093714/Novak-Djokovic-celebrates-Australian-Open-2012-win-AC-DC-anthem.html#ixzz1kxna3QNb

Roger Federer has been given free passage to the third round of AO2012 after Andreas Beck pulled out of their Wednesday match.

The German Beck was forced to withdraw due to a back injury, just hours before their scheduled clash at Hisense Arena.

The withdrawal means Federer advances to the third round where he will meet the winner of Wednesday’s match between Ivo Karlovic and Carlos Berlocq.

Federer said the withdrawl came as a surprise.

“I didn’t know anything about it. It came as a surprise. He said he had a lot of painkillers and pain in the last match. I guess it’s the smart decision for him to take.

“I would have loved to have played. I feel sad for the fans at Hisense who would have loved to come and see me play,” Federer said.

The third seed said he hoped the walkover would not affect his preparations for the third round.

“I’ll just relax this afternoon and have an intense hit tomorrow,” he said.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Former champion Mats Wilander has been admitted to a hospital in Melbourne following a fall on the eve of the Australian Open.

The 47-year-old Swede is being treated for a laceration to one of his kidneys, according to a post on the Facebook page for his company, Wilander on Wheels.

The post says the internal bleeding stopped on Monday but Wilander will be “out of commission for a while.”

Wilander, who won three Australian Opens among his seven Grand Slam singles titles, fell at his apartment in Melbourne late Saturday. He was scheduled to host a daily highlight show for television channel Eurosport at this year’s tournament.

MELBOURNE, Australia — A day after a rare show of discord, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal quickly closed ranks.

Nadal had criticized Federer for his unwillingness to speak out on issues affecting the men’s game, allowing others to “burn themselves” as they seek improved conditions for players.

After joining Nadal in the second round of the Australian Open with a win on Monday, Federer said “things are fine” between the two longtime rivals, although he concedes that they disagree on a way to resolve a list of player grievances that includes the length of the season and the distribution of prize money.

“We can’t always agree on everything,” Federer said. “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.”

For his part, Nadal apologized for airing his disagreement with Federer in public — although he didn’t back down on the views he expressed.

“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. Just I said we can have different views about how the tour needs to work. That’s all.”

The rift emerged following a player meeting on Saturday that sparked talk of a possible strike for the second time in six months.

Nadal wasn’t alone in questioning Federer’s stance. Former No. 3-ranked Nikolay Davydenko said Monday he didn’t understand why the 16-time Grand Slam champion wasn’t supporting his fellow players.

The Russian said that while Nadal and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic had been leading the push for changes, Federer had been reluctant to get involved.

“I don’t know why Roger is not supporting the players,” Davydenko said. “Because he don’t want … any problems. He’s nice guy. He’s winning Grand Slams. He’s from Switzerland. He’s perfect.

“He don’t want to do anything, he just try to be an outsider from this one.”

However, Federer said his reluctance to speak out shouldn’t be construed as a lack of support.

“I was in the meeting. I completely understand and support the players’ opinions,” Federer said. “I just have a different way of going at it. I’m not discussing it with you guys in the press room. It creates unfortunately sometimes negative stories.”

The players plan to meet again at the Indian Wells Masters tournament in March when they will assess how much progress has been made before deciding on a course of action.

Davydenko said a strike remained a remote prospect, but that “the ATP should try to do something between now and Indian Wells.” Federer wants to avoid such drastic action if possible.

“(Strike) is such a dangerous word to use,” Federer said. “It’s not good for anyone really. We’ve seen it in other sports happening in the States. That’s why I’m always very careful about it.

“If there’s no avoiding it, I’ll support the rest of the players. But I just think we have to think it through how we do it, if we do it, can we do it, whatever it is, instead of just going out and screaming about it.”

Federer said there are “two or three” big issues that the players have been discussing. They include the length of the season and prize money at Grand Slam tournaments, which some players believe has not increased proportionately with growing profits.

American John Isner said he had been to the meeting and felt the players had a “legitimate beef” over prize money, which is also an issue at the Indian Wells tournament, where Davydenko said those players who lose in the first round can sometimes lose money after paying tax and travel costs to compete.

Federer said he was confident “a good solution” would be reached and he welcomed the healthy debate. Nadal, meanwhile, vowed that he wouldn’t be speaking about it in public again.

“I do not talk anymore,” he said. “Yesterday (Sunday), I started, and I say I don’t want to talk anymore about this. Finally I talked too much as usual. That’s not going to happen again. You can try hard, but I’m going to talk about tennis.”