Aussie....Aussie...Aussie!

Oh my God!

What an Australian Open!

Janko Tipsarevic

Janko Tipsarevic, the 49th-ranked player in the world, took the Greatest Player Who Ever Lived to the very limit in a thrilling, 4 1/2 hour, five-set match which included a 10 - 8 fifth set!

Roger Federer

Roger Federer had ample opportunties (21 break points) but Tipsarevic refused to die (Fed only converted 5 break points) and consistently took it to Fed. Finally, it was some Sampras-like serving by Fed (39 aces - 14 more than his previous best) to take him over the top (Fed's never been known for his serve the same way that Pete was, but without it he would have lost).

Marat Safin

Prior to that you had more thrilling matches. Marcos Baghdatis over my beloved Marat Safin (so sad...though I do like Baghdatis) in another epic 3 1/2 hour, five set match that featured inspired shot-making from both players. All of this on top of the controversy surrounding the nationalistic statements made by the Cypriot Baghdatis that had drawn the ire of the Turkish community in Australia.

James Blake

You also had the stirring comeback from James Blake against Sebastien Grosjean after losing the first two sets and being down two breaks ( and 1 - 4 in the tiebreak) in the fourth set. Blake would spin this fact endlessly in the post-match interviews, but this was only the second five-set match he had ever won; in fact, he had never won a five-set match until the US Open last year.

Andy Roddick

Of course, you had Andy Roddick going down to the unheralded German Philipp Kohlschreiber in another five-set epic, which not only included two tiebreaks in the third and fourth sets, a 9 - 7 fifth set, fantastic tennis, a career-best 42 aces from Rodick, but also plenty of ranting and raving from the frustrated American (including some Connors-worthy put-downs of the umpire).

Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez

There were plenty of other upsets as well. Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, last year's finalist, lost to a 19-year-old Croat with a big serve and uncanny shot-making ability (where have we heard that before?), Marin Cilic.

Amerlie Mauresmo

Amerlie Mauresmo (my favorite on the women's side), Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anna Chakvetadze all went down; and even Venus Williams was given a tough fight by our very own Sania Mirza.

Lleyton "C'Mon!" Hewitt

And then, to bring it all to a head you had the 4 hour 45 minute slugfest between Baghdatis and Lleyton Hewitt which ended at 4:33 am local time. Hewitt looked out of it in the beginning, but hung in there. Then Baghdatis rolled his ankle, but came roaring back. Hewitt served for the match and set in the fourth at 5 - 1 and 5 -3, but Baghdatis rallied to force a tiebreak and push things into a fifth set.

And then it was finally over. At 4:33 am, with Baghdatis gracious in defeat, but in tears in the locker room.

And, oh yeah, there were incidents of crowd misbehaving throughout the first six days.

And the first week is finally over...whew!