This year’s Australian Open singles champions, Roger Federer (men) and Serena Williams (women), held on to their number one rankings as the updated ATP and WTA rankings were released on February 1, 2010, Monday.

Federer defeated Andy Murray of Great Britain in three sets in the men’s final on Sunday. The Swiss star begins his 268th week as the world number one and is in third place for total number of weeks as the world’s top-ranked player. The overall leader is Pete Sampras at 286 weeks followed by Ivan Lendl with 270.

For failing to defend the title this year, Spain’s Rafael Nadal drops two places to number four. Taking his place as the world’s second-best player is Novak Djokovic of Serbia followed by Murray at number three.

“It is not important for me, the ranking issue and losing a few spots— that’s normal when you are not able to compete,” Nadal said. The Spaniard was reportedly relieved after medical experts cleared him of the knee tendinitis which led him to skip Wimbledon last year. He will be out of competition for the next four weeks.

World number Roger Federer clinched his 16th Grand Slam title after beating Britain’s Andy Murray 6-3 6-4 7-6 in the final of the Australian Open on Sunday.

The Swiss star avoided a fourth set encounter after winning the thrilling third set tiebreak 13-11.

Murray has been in the Grand Slam final twice. He’s been attempting to become the first British player to win a Grand Slam title for more than thirty years. The last Slam winner from his country was Fred Perry at the 1936 US Open.

(quotes and other updates to follow)

The highly anticipated Australian Open 2010 final match between top-ranked Roger Federer and fourth-seed Andy Murray takes place on Sunday, January 31. Federer easily eased past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets during the semifinal match on Friday. Murray advanced after beating Marin Cilic of Croatia in four sets.

Federer and Murray have met ten times in the past, with the British number one leading the head-to-head match record at 6-4. However, Federer has the upper hand when it comes to the biggest stages. The two met at the 2008 US Open final in which the Swiss star emerged as the champion. Would Murray get his first ever Grand Slam title Down Under and set a record for his country?

Watch the Roger Federer vs Andy Murray Australian Open 2010 Final Live Video Streaming Match Coverage HERE.

Third-ranked Novak Djokovic seemed headed to the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open before he started losing momentum due to sickness which eventually led to a heartbreaking loss.

The Serbian lost the marathon five-set semifinal match against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 67 76 61 36 16. This is a reversal of their Australian Open final match two years ago where it was Djokovic who got the trophy.

Djokovic took a medical timeout in the beginning of the fourth set. He dropped a service game and was seen clutching at his stomach and seemed struggling to breath.

Tsonga went on to take the set and the deciding set to set up a blockbuster semifinal match against top-seed Roger Federer.

World number one Roger Federer cruised to his 23rd consecutive Grand Slam semifinal after beating Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. This effectively snapped Davydenko’s 13-match win streak which included title wins at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in November and season-opening Qatar Open earlier this month.

The final score: -6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5

“It’s incredible looking back on how many years that is now, you know, I’m able to deliver at Grand Slam play, especially this year,” Federer said.

“Looking at the draw with Hewitt in the fourth round and Davydenko in the quarters, who has been on fire the last weeks and even today, you know, we saw big signs of it,” he added.

Up next for the top-ranked player is France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who ousted world number three Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller on Wednesday night.

World number six Nikolay Davydenko is currently making waves in the men’s circuit after winning the year-end ATP World Tour finals last year and the Qatar Open earlier this month. In both of those tournaments, he had defeated reigning world number one Roger Federer.

This time, the pair will meet for the fifteenth time at the Australian Open quarterfinals and the question looms: Can Davydenko make it three wins in a row against the mighty Swiss?

Watch the Roger Federer vs Nikolay Davydenko Australian Open 2010 Quarterfinals Live Video Streaming Match Coverage HERE.

Roger Federer reached his 23rd consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal on Monday after beating Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets at the Australian Open.

The capacity crowd at the Rod Laver Arena were left stunned with the Swiss’ demolition of the local favorite. Federer won 62 63 64 in less than two hours. This served as Federer’s 15th straight victory over the Australian former world number one.

There was great anticipation on this match since Hewitt reached the fourth round without dropping a set, a sign that he could put up a solid fight against the world number one. However, there was simply nothing he can do, scrapping on for every point since losing the first set.

In the women’s side, world number one Serena Williams ousted local bet Samantha Stosur 64 62 to reach the quarterfinals.

World number one Roger Federer has invited a number of tennis stars to take part in exhibition doubles matches on Sunday at the Melbourne Park, the day before the Australian Open, with the aim of raising funds for the victims of the deadly earthquake that took place in Haiti on Tuesday this week.

The players invited to take part in this initiative include Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.

“I had the idea that we could do something,” Federer said.

“It’s before the first Grand Slam, so it’s for some not so easy to mentally separate, but it’s a great initiative,” he added.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake affected millions of residents with more than 50,000 deaths reported.

Major sporting leagues such as the NBA, NFL and MLB have already pledged financial assistance.

Federer said that the players he invited have agreed to participate. He said that doubles or mixed doubles matches will take place at the Rod Laver stadium.

A blockbuster final match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at this week’s Qatar Open may become a reality as both players advanced to the semifinals.

Federer endured a tough three set match against Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 while Nadal won against Steve Darcis of Belgium. Darcis retired because of back problems.

“I know that Gulbis is the player with the most potential right now. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the ranking he deserves. I took him very seriously. I wasn’t surprised by how he played,” Federer said.

The world number one will next face third seed Nikolay Davydenko, who squeaked past big serving Ivo Karlovic of Russia 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7). Federer has the chance to avenge his defeat from Davydenko at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals. Davydenko went on to win the title.

World number two Rafael Nadal ended the two-match losing streak to Swede Robin Soderling on Saturday in the final of the Capitala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition tourament held at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Spaniard dispatched the world number eight with the score of 76 75.

Soderling made headlines last year when he ended Nadal’s 31-game winning streak at the French Open last year. The Swede went on to reach the final before losing to Roger Federer. In the season-ending ATP Tour World Finals in London, Soderling once again outplayed Nadal during the round robin stage.

Roger Federer settled for third place after defeating David Ferrer of Spain 61 75.

Nadal said that his main focus for this season is to win as many tournaments as he can. Reclaiming the number one ranking from Federer won’t be his main goal for the season.

The season-opening Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates will conclude this weekend with a title match between Rafael Nadal of Spain and Robin Soderling of Sweden.

Nadal dispatched compatriot David Ferrer 76 63 while Soderling finally won a match against top-ranked Roger Federer after thirteen attempts.

The final match between Soderling and Nadal will be interesting considering that it was the former who stopped Nadal’s four year reign at the Roland Garros. Soderling went on to reach the French Open final last year, eventually losing to Federer.

Russian Nikolay Davydenko outlasted top-ranked Roger Federer in a three set thriller at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday to reach the season-ending tournament final for the second straight year. It also marked the end of Davydenko’s 12-match losing streak against the Swiss star.

It seemed like Federer was headed for victory in the third set when he was just two points from the win when he led at 5-5 and 0-30 on Davydenko’s serve. However, the world number seven held on to his nerves to eventually break the Swiss star’s defense and record a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory.