The Australian Open began in fine style last week, the men's draw staging one of the great tournament fourth round matches as The Other Swiss, Stanislas Wawrinka, lost 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7, 12-10 to Novak Djokovic over five hours of extreme power-tennis. In the women's draw, Laura Robson thwacked Petra Kvitova into submission in the second round before losing to Sloane Stephens, while Serena Williams continued to present a terrifying spectacle in orange and purple, serving at over 200kmh in a Godzilla-like swatting aside of Japan's Ayumi Morita. Maria Sharapova reached the quarters with a 6-1, 6-0 demolition of Kirsten Flipkens and put her form down to a "steamy" relationship with Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov ... Eurgh.
Goal drought in Africa Cup
Football's Africa Cup of Nations kicked off not with a whimper so much as a prolonged clearing of the throat as tournament favourites Ghana scored the first goal of the competition after 219 minutes of group stage action. Seydou Keita's goal then gave Mali an emotional first win of the tournament, a 1-0 defeat of Niger. Veteran Cup watchers are already settling in for the nil-nil draws and interminable shoot-outs of the final stages. Meanwhile in Spain, Barcelona finally lost a match this season at the 20th attempt, giving up a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Real Sociedad. No talk of crisis yet though; Barca are still eight points clear at the top of La Liga. In snow-laden London, Chelsea earned a 2-1 win over Arsenal, while Clint Dempsey's injury-time equaliser rescued a point for Tottenham against Premier League leaders Manchester United.
Brisbane's Twenty20 success
Another month, another groin-thrusting, disco-dancing Twenty20 champion unveiled as the Brisbane Cheese-Steaks beat the Perth Furballs by 34 runs in the final of the Big Bash at the Waca – note: team names may be only roughly correct – bringing to a close a rather meandering tournament. Elsewhere, India regained their one-day international world No1 ranking by thrashing an increasingly supine England by seven wickets in Ranchi to lead the series 2-1. "We have to look deep in the dressing room," Alastair Cook said, unsheathing his spy-glass.
49ers' Superbowl comeback
The Superbowl will be contested by the San Franciso 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens, after the 49ers came back from 17-0 down to beat the Atlanta Falcons and the Ravens thrashed the New England Patriots. The Ravens' 17-year hall-of-famer Ray Lewis will garner a lot of attention, but the 49ers remain favourites to take the bowl when the tights go on for the big day.
