MELBOURNE, Australia -- Victoria Azarenka had the bulk of the crowd against her. Jaromir Jagr Jersey . The fireworks were fizzling out, and when she looked over the net she saw Li Na crashing to the court and almost knocking herself out. Considering the cascading criticism shed encountered after her previous win, Azarenka didnt need the focus of the Australian Open final to be on another medical timeout. So after defending her title with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the sixth-seeded Li in one of the most unusual finals ever at Melbourne Park, Azarenka understandably dropped her racket and cried tears of relief late Saturday night. She heaved as she sobbed into a towel beside the court, before regaining her composure to collect the trophy. "It isnt easy, thats for sure, but I knew what I had to do," the 23-year-old Belarusian said. "I had to stay calm. I had to stay positive. I just had to deal with the things that came onto me." There were a lot of those things squeezed into the 2-hour, 40-minute match. Li, who was playing her second Australian Open final in three years, twisted her ankle and tumbled to the court in the second and third sets. The second time was on the point immediately after a 10-minute delay for the Australia Day fireworks -- a familiar fixture in downtown Melbourne on Jan. 26, but not usually coinciding with a final. Li had been sitting in her chair during the break, while Azarenka jogged and swung her racket around before leaving the court to rub some liniment into her legs to keep warm. The 30-year-old Chinese player had tumbled to the court after twisting her left ankle and had it taped after falling in the fifth game of the second set. Immediately after the fireworks ceased, and with smoke still in the air, she twisted the ankle again, fell and hit the back of her head on the hard court. The 2011 French Open champion was treated immediately by a tournament doctor and assessed for a concussion in another medical timeout before resuming the match. "I think I was a little bit worried when I was falling," Li said, in her humorous, self-deprecating fashion. "Because two seconds I couldnt really see anything. It was totally black. "So when the physio come, she was like, Focus on my finger. I was laughing. I was thinking, This is tennis court, not like hospital." Lis injury was obvious and attracted even more support for her from the 15,000-strong crowd. Azarenka had generated some bad PR by taking a medical timeout after wasting five match points on her own serve in her semifinal win over American teenager Sloane Stephens on Thursday. She came back after the break and finished off Stephens in the next game, later telling an on-court interviewer that she "almost did the choke of the year." She was accused of gamesmanship and manipulating the rules to get time to regain her composure against Stephens, but defended herself by saying she actually was having difficulty breathing because of a rib injury that needed to be fixed. That explanation didnt convince everybody. So when she walked onto Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, there were some people who booed, and others who heckled her or mimicked the distinctive hooting sound she makes when she hits the ball. "Unfortunately, you have to go through some rough patches to achieve great things," she said. "Thats what makes it so special for me. I went through that, and Im still able to kiss that beautiful trophy." She didnt hold a grudge. "I was expecting way worse, to be honest. What can you do? You just have to go out there and try to play tennis in the end of the day," she said. "Its a tennis match, tennis battle, final of the Australian Open. I was there to play that. "The things what happened in the past, I did the best thing I could to explain, and it was left behind me already." The match contained plenty of nervy moments and tension, and 16 service breaks -- nine for Li. But it also produced plenty of winners and bravery on big points. Azarenka will retain the No. 1 ranking shes mostly held since her first Grand Slam win in Melbourne last year. Li moved into the top five and is heartened by a recent trend of Australian runner-ups winning the French Open. She accomplished that in 2011, as did Ana Ivanovic (2008) and Maria Sharapova (2012). "I wish I can do the same this year, as well," Li said. Later Saturday, Bob and Mike Bryan won their record 13th Grand Slam mens doubles title, defeating the Dutch team of Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-4. Sundays mens final features two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and U.S. Open winner Andy Murray. Djokovic is seeking to become the first man in the Open era to win three titles in a row in Australia. Azarenka was planning a night of partying to celebrate her second major title, with her friend Redfoo and the Party Rock crew, and was hopeful of scoring some tickets to the mens final. She said she needed to let her hair down after a draining two weeks and hoped that by being more open and frank in recent times she was clearing up any misconceptions the public had of her. "When I came first on the tour I kind of was lost a little bit," he said. "I didnt know how to open up my personality. Its very difficult when youre alone. I was independent since I was, you know, 10 years old. It was a little bit scary and I wouldnt show my personality. "So the (last) couple of years I learned how to open up to people and to share the moments. I wasnt really good before. I hope I got better. Its your judgment." Jussi Jokinen Jersey . - Gaston Fernandez is making the most of his new job with the Portland Timbers. Sidney Crosby Penguins Jersey .Y. -- The NFL says the number of concussions in practices and games in the preseason and regular season dropped 13 per cent from 2012 to 2013.CHICAGO -- Patrick Sharp scored three goals for his third career hat trick and set up one of Jonathan Toews two scores to lead the Chicago Blackhawks past the Colorado Avalanche 7-2 on Friday night. Toews added two assists as both he and Sharp finished with four points. Michal Handzus and Kris Versteeg also scored for the Blackhawks, whose league-leading offence powered them to a second straight win and improved them to 7-1-1 in their past nine. Colorados Paul Stastny and Gabriel Landeskog beat Chicago rookie Antti Raanta, who finished with 16 saves in his eighth straight start -- all since Blackhawks top goalie Corey Crawford suffered a lower-body injury on Dec. 8 Sharp, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on Friday, has 21 goals this season and 10 in his past nine games. He scored twice in Chicagos previous game, a 5-2 win over New Jersey on Monday. But more impressive was how he assisted on Toews second goal of the game against the Avalanche. That score put Chicago ahead 5-0 midway through the second. Colorado leading scorer Matt Duchene was bearing down on Raanta on a breakaway. But Sharp caught up to Duchene just as he was about to shoot, hooked his stick and stole the puck. Sharp then turned deep in his zone and wheeled a pass to Toews down the ice on right wing. Toews moved in, faked and beat a helpless Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Giguere allowed seven goals through two periods on the Blackhawks first 24 shots. Semyon Varlamov relieved him in the third and stopped all 13 he faced. Patrick Kane, Chicagos leading scorer, had an assist to extend his point streak to a career-high 13 games. Kane has seven goals and 15 assists in his streak, and at least one point in all but one of his past 25 games. The Blackhawks took charge in the second half of the first period and led 3-0 after 20 minutes. Lee Stempniak Penguins Jersey. Sharp opened the scoring at 12:27 of the first to cap a sprint from the Colorado blue line. He took a pass from Duncan Keith, gained a step on Avalanche defenceman Jan Hejda then fired a low shot past Giguere from 10 feet. Toews made it 2-0 with 1:57 left in the first when he swept in a rebound from the right side of the net after Marian Hossa had skated through the crease with the puck. Sharps second goal, a power-play score 1:15 later, extended it to 3-0. He connected from the top of the right circle with Andrew Shaw screening Giguere. Sharp completed his hat trick and made it 4-0 just 27 seconds into the second. His backhand attempt on a rebound of Niklas Hjalmarssons shot from the point struck Giguere, but continued into the net. Toews second goal made it 5-0 at 8:21. Stastny backhanded in a rebound of his own close-in shot at 9:07 to get Colorado on the board at 5-1. Set up by Kanes nifty pass, Handzus tapped in a goal with 6:30 left in the second to make it 6-1. Versteeg added to the rout when he whipped in a shot from the slot with 2:12 left in the period. Landeskog scored on a breakaway at 7:37 of the third to complete the scoring. NOTES: Chicagos Duncan Keith had three assists in the game and leads NHL defenceman with 33. ... Sharp has four multiple-goal games this season. ... Duchene, just 22, played in his 300th NHL game. ... Toews ended a five-game goal drought. ... According to Elias Sports Bureau, Kane is the first NHL player to record multiple points streaks of more than 10 games in the same season since 2005-06, when Jaromir Jagr did it. ... Colorado D Cory Sarich was a scratch. ... The United Center crowd of 22,201 was a season high. cheap jerseys from chinacheap jerseys ' ' '
