Only two other men, American Jack Crawford (1931-33) and Australian Roy Emerson (1963-67), have won three or more consecutive Australian championships.

NPR: Djokovic Beats Murray For 3rd Straight Aust. Title

Wayne Ferreira and Max Mirnyi , the top two seeds, were both defeated in the Australian Men's Hardcourt Championships in Adelaide on Wednesday.

BBC: Costa crashes out

Van der Burgh also broke a mark set at the 2009 championships in Rome, shaving Australian Brenton Rickard's old mark of 58.58 seconds.

CNN: July 29, 2012 -- Updated 2305 GMT (0705 HKT)

Their first win followed in 1979, when Swiss Clay Regazzoni won the British Grand Prix, and their first world championships in 1980, when Australian Jones won the drivers' title and Argentine Carlos Reutemann added enough points to secure the constructors' crown.

BBC: honours F1 team boss Williams

But 30 unforced errors off the racket of Ms. Sharapova, who had not played a match since retiring from the WTA Tour Year-End Championships in Istanbul in late October before the Australian Open fortnight, helped Ms. Azarenka stabilize.

WSJ: Azarenka Wins Australian Title