Henin down Under

The New England Patriots are one of the most well-run franchises in all of sports these days; the squad has been en rout to three Super Bowl Championships in the last six years and four championship appearances while being able to retain many of the core players from histories' past.

Team sports are one identity; take on a similar kind of domination with "an individual" having a thirty-two match winning streak snapped

Justin-Henin might be the world's number one women 's player (in spite of losing in the Austrailian Open quarters to Maria Sharapova last night 6-4, 6-0) but there are clear indications that this just might be Sharapova's tournament PERIOD.

The powerfully swift and fabulous looking tennis star from Russia advanced to the Aussie Open semifinals for the fourth consecutive year...winning for only the the third time in nine opportunities against the world's elite player.

Meanwhile, after this Henin loss along with Serena Williams being elimnated from the tourney there is a guarantee of the road being a little bit easier for Sharapova...who is 2-3 against the former world's number one.

Later on in the tournament Venus Williams tries her luck against Ana Ivanovic in an attempt to salvage any American pride left on the women's side (there is only one United States representative left on the men's side...James Blake).

Men's tennis has been vastly more exciting than the women's side especially with third round action going late into the early afternoon on Saturday

The two matches going the distance included number one Roger Federer against Janko Tipsarevic in a clasic ending in overtime with Federer taking ten games and Tipsarevic grabbin only eight.

Later on in the Melbourne night, #19 Leyton Hewitt took out #15 Marcos Baghdatis in a five-setter that broke the record for the longest match played in this history of the Austailian Open. The summation of matches ended the latest in the history of the Aussie Open by more than an hour.

More tennis to come