Serena Williams Wins the WTA Championship

On Sunday, Serena Williams beat opponent Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3, winning the Istanbul hosted WTA Championship for the third time and ending the season with a 59-4 record.  

After surviving a serious injury and near-fatal healthcare, Williams has had an outstanding award-winning year earning seven titles and taking the victor's role in Wimbledon, the Olympic gold medal and U.S. Open, to name a few.

Ms. Williams told the Associated Press "I had such a good year, it was important to end on a good note. It was good for my sanity to win," Williams said. "I really wanted it although I didn't need it. "

Sports: Lewis Hamilton Wins the Australian Grand Prix

The Formula One races are on again and I'm happy to say that McLaren-Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton still has his mojo. The handsome Briton won the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. The Australian Grand Prix is the season opener for the Formula One races. Hamilton won the race effortlessly while the other drivers struggled. If you follow the Formula One, then you've heard about the racist drama Lewis Hamilton was experiencing in Spain due to his ex-racing partner Fernando Alonso and the Spanish racing fans. Well, Alonso came in third place and I hope he enjoys the slice of humble pie that Hamilton just served him.


Australian Grand Prix results

1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 58 laps one hour 34 minutes 50.616 seconds
2. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber +5.478 secs
3. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota +8.163
4. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault +17.181
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +18.014
6. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1 lap behind
7. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari Retired - 55 laps completed
8. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari Retired - 53 laps completed

Venus Williams @ the Qatar Total Open

(Photos:Gettys Images)
Venus Williams is at the opening ceremony of the WTA Qatar Total Open at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha,Qatar. The Total Open started today and will continue through 2/24. Venus will be competing against other tennis stars for the $2.5 million prize. Good Luck!

Shani Davis Wins @ Essent ISU

(Photos:Bongarts)

Congratulations to US speed skater Shani Davis. He won the men's 1000m race of the Essent ISU speedskating world cup in Inzell, Germany on Saturday. Davis defeated Canadian Denny Morrison and Netherland's Jan Bos.

Speedskating is not a sport where you see the African diaspora participating in often, but nonetheless it's amazing to see we do great when we are.

Weekend Flashes: Laureus World Sports Awards Reception in Russia

Edwin and Michelle Moses



Anthony Hamilton (F1 racer Lewis Hamilton's father) with Edwin Moses
(Photos: Ian Walton)

Edwin and Michelle Moses stepped out fabulously this Sunday at the Laureus World Sports Awards welcome reception in St. Petersburg, Russia. Edwin Moses is an Olympic multi-gold winning track and field star and innovative reformer in the areas of Olympic eligibility and drug testing. Since 2000, he's been the first Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, an international service organization of world class athletes that seeks "to promote and increase participation in sports at every level, and also to promote the use of sport as a tool for social change around the world." Numerous Olympic and world champion athletes, through the Laureus Sports for Good Foundation, work to assist disadvantaged youths around the world.

Tomorrow the Laureus Sports Awards will be held at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre and is the only global awards ceremony to represent all areas of sport and is widely recognized as the leading honors event in the international sporting calendar. A elite sports jury of legends will choose the finest sportswomen and sportsmen of the year to be honored in front of their peers. Nominees like Formula 1 star, Lewis Hamilton and soccer star Kaka will be in Russia for the event.

Kobe Reaches 20,000 Points

Kobe Bryant is the youngest player in NBA history to reach the 20,000 point plateau. Bryant's 3-pointer today in the early third quarter of the LA Lakers' game against the NY Knicks allowed him to reach the milestone at 29 years, 122 days. Before him, only Wilt Chamberlain (29, 134) and Michael Jordan (29, 326) had gotten there before turning 30.

Bryant needed 811 games to reach 20,000 points, 15th-fastest in league history. Chamberlain did it in 499 games.

Lewis Hamilton is Sportsman of the Year

Today the Sports Journalists' Association honored Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton with their prestigious 59th Sportsman of the Year and Best International Newcomer awards.

The awards, sponsored by BT Vision and UK Sport, are the result of a poll of the members of the Sports Journalists’ Association (writers, photographers, broadcasters). The presentation was held at a gala lunch in the City of London with nearly 400 from the worlds of sport, celebrity, politics and the media in attendance.

Hamilton had an amazing year with numerous impressive performances that erased all doubt from skeptics. Twenty-two year-old Hamilton from Hertfordshire,UK led the world drivers’ championship going into the final race of the season but finished a point behind the eventual champion, Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton won four Grands Prix during the season and became the first driver to finish on the podium in his first nine races. Hamilton is a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver.

By the age of 13, he was talent spotted and subsequently signed to the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz Young Driver Support Programme by McLaren Group Chairman and CEO Ron Dennis. The program provided Lewis with a long-term contract guaranteeing financial and technical support to help with his future motorsport career and included a future option for the entry into Formula 1.

Lewis remains the only teenager ever to be signed by a Formula 1 team at such an early age.

Soccer: Ivory Coast Selects Drogba

Ivory Coast still selected their injured captain Didier Drogba for their preliminary squad in next month's African Nations Cup.

The Chelsea striker underwent knee surgery on Saturday but is expected to be ready for action in 3 weeks, allowing him to make the Nations Cup finals starting on January 20th in Ghana.

Drogba is one of 17 players retained from the 23-man Ivorian squad that finished runners-up at the previoua Nations Cup tournament in Egypt in 2006.
Goalkeeper Tiassa Kone from new Ivory Coast champions Africa Sports is the only home-based player on the squad.

The Ivory Coast play in Group B in Sekondi with Nigeria, Mali and Benin, at the tournament which runs through to February. 10.

Mayweather Humbles the Hitman

Floyd Mayweather humbled Ricky "Hitman" Hatton when he defeated him Saturday night in Las Vegas. Holding on to the World Boxing Council welterweight crown improving his record to 39-0 with his 25th victory against England's Ricky Hatton.
Hatton did well in the first few rounds, but it was Mayweather's powerful "southpaws" (left hook) that led to the TKO in the 10th round.