CrossFire EU » Argentina, the rival Germany beat 1-0 in

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - In less than a week, Grand Slam tennis will be on the menu once again for the first time in four months. Stan Wawrinka will return as the defending mens champion, but he certainly wont be the favorite heading into the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic failed in his bid to capture a fourth straight and fifth overall title in Oz a year ago, but many expect him to return to the winners circle this time around. Djokovics 2015 season got off to a rough start with a loss at the hands of 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic in a quarterfinal in Doha last week, but rest assured, hell be ready to go for another run at his best Grand Slam event. The top-ranked Serb has won four of the last seven championships in Oz and is 4-0 when reaching the final round at Melbourne Park. Last years Wimbledon champ and French Open runner-up probably figures his stiffest competition will come from last weeks season-opening Brisbane champion, Roger Federer, who claimed his 1,000th career match win with the victory in Brisbane, joining Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071) on that exclusive short list. The 17-time Grand Slam king is a four-time Aussie champ and former runner-up who hasnt run the Down Under table since 2010. The former world No. 1 Federer was last years Wimbledon runner-up to Djokovic and hasnt captured a major title since the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. Note: If Djokovic or Federer capture this years Aussie, that future Hall of Famer would set the Open Era record with five such championships. Then theres the great Rafael Nadal. The Spanish bull has been sidelined since October before returning to action in Doha just last week only to suffer a first-round setback against German fellow left-hander Michael Berrer. Rafa was rusty and it showed. Can he shake off the rust in time to make a big run in Melbourne? The former No. 1 star captured his lone Aussie title six years ago and is a two-time runner-up Down Under, including last year when he was shocked by Wawrinka in four sets in the final. Rafa was slowed mightily by a back injury in the title match and that back problem plagued him for much of the 2014 campaign, as did a wrist injury and a bout with appendicitis, which led to a season-ending appendectomy. Sure, Rafa captured yet another French Open title last year, but 2014 was basically a lost season for the 14-time Grand Slam champ, as he battled that bevy of physical ailments. Having said all that, I would still expect Rafa to be in the mix in Melbourne. The current world No. 4 Wawrinka broke through for his first-ever major title at the 14 Aussie, but he certainly benefited from that Nadal back injury, as the Spanish great was running at less than half speed in that particular final. Dont get me wrong, Stan played great at last years Aussie, but Im not expecting a repeat performance. He also had that tremendous gutsy victory over Djokovic in the quarterfinals, as Wawrinka prevailed in arguably the match of the year by outlasting the then-reigning champ in five sets, including a dramatic 9-7 fifth set. The Swiss slugger opened his latest campaign with a title in India last week. Note: Djokovic, Federer and Nadal had combined to win the previous eight Aussie Opens before Stan the Man broke through last year; and Federer, Nadal and Murray have combined to produce the last six runners-up at the physically demanding major. Kei Nishikori will look to become the first-ever Asian mens champion in Melbourne ... or at any major for that matter. The world No. 5 was last years surprise U.S. Open runner-up and just might have enough game to challenge the big boys this month. He reached the fourth round in Melbourne in each of the last two years and was a quarterfinalist there back in 2012. How bout Andy Murray? Is he all the way back from that back injury? Murray hasnt reached a major final since winning it all at Wimbledon in 2013. The athletic Brit is a three-time Aussie Open runner-up and has reached at least the quarterfinals there every year since 2010. He crashed out in the quarters a year ago while still on the mend from back surgery, but I think hes primed for another big run in the Bourne. Murray is a two-time Grand Slam champion and an Olympic gold medalist who hasnt missed a major quarterfinal (when competing) since the 2010 U.S. Open. The mens Top 10 is rounded out by last weeks Doha runner-up and former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, rising Canadian Milos Raonic, U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, and last weeks Doha champ David Ferrer. Cilic has already announced he will skip the 2015 Aussie due to a right shoulder injury, which will make world No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov a Top 10 seed in Oz. My favorites out of this lot of players to make a run are Raonic and Dimitrov. Raonic, who was last weeks Brisbane runner-up to the great Federer, possesses perhaps the best service game on the planet right now and is in the best shape of his young career, while Maria Sharapovas beau, Dimitrov, is a Grand Slam ace in the making, with his all-around game and fluid style that has forced the comparisons to Federer, thus prompting the nickname Baby Fed. Dimitrov reached the Aussie quarters a year ago. On the comeback front, former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro returned to action this week in Sydney, this after being out of commission since last February with a wrist injury. I dont expect too much from Delpo right now. FYI: The last American man to capture the Aussie was Andre Agassi back in 2003. An American will not win it again this time around. The easy pick here would be Djokovic ... and thats exactly who Im goin with. Nike Sb Shoes Canada . Calgary finished atop the CFL standings with a 14-4 record and earned the right to host the West Division final at McMahon Stadium on Nov. Cheap Wholesale Nike Sb Shoes . Griffin scored 13 of his 31 points in the final 7:05 and Dudley got 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter, leading the defending Pacific Division champions to a 112-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. "Dud is a shooter. http://www.wholesalenikesbcanada.com/ .Mila Kunis was a guest on Kimmel last night and revealed a surprising side of herself that comes out when she watches sports. It turns out screaming something vulgar at professional athletes is therapeutic for Kunis. Cheap Nike Sb Shoes Canada . - Joao Plata scored twice in the final 24 minutes, including the winner in stoppage time, to help Real Salt Lake remain unbeaten with a 3-2 victory over the winless Chicago Fire on Saturday night. Wholesale Sb Canada .DeMarco Murray got his 20th carry late in the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, not long after Dez Bryant made his final catch of the day.Sure enough, a 44-17 win over Washington didnt change Dallas post-season position. FRANKFURT, Germany -- Miroslav Klose, the top scorer in World Cup history, has retired from Germanys national squad a month after the team won the title for the fourth time. The 36-year-old Klose scored twice in Brazil, making him the highest-scoring player in the tournaments history with 16 goals, one ahead of Ronaldo. It was Kloses fourth World Cup tournament. With a career total of 71 goals, Klose is also the highest-scoring player for Germany. He is also the second most capped Germany player with 137 games. "The title in Brazil fulfilled a childhood dream of mine," Klose said in a statement posted Monday on the German national teams website. "I am proud and happy that I could contribute to this great success for the German football. There is no better time to close the national team chapter." Klose is the second member of the World Cup-winning side to step down after captain Philipp Lahm. While Lahms retirement came as a surprise, but Kloses move was expected. The pairs retirement will be marked at a ceremony before the Sept. 3 friendly against Argentina, the rival Germany beat 1-0 in the World Cup final. Neither will play, the German federation said. Germany coach Joachim Loew callled Klose a "world star," and "one of the greatest strikers in football.dddddddddddd" Klose was always Loews preferred striker and he was the only true striker in the World Cup squad in Brazil. Klose started the tournament on the bench but returned to the starting 11 when Loew decided to abandon the "false nine" formation and use a striker again. "You can always rely on Miro Klose, he kept his word," Loew said. "The same thing happened in Brazil, I knew that Miro would be top fit when it mattered." Born in Poland, Klose moved with his family to Germany at an early age and always played for his adopted homeland. Klose made his debut as a substitute for Germany in a World Cup qualifier against Albania on March 24, 2001, and scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory. "The success of the team was always my priority," Klose said. With 71 goals for Germany, Klose surpassed the legendary Gerd Mueller (68). Only Lothar Matthaeus played more games for Germany at 150. Klose played for Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga before moving to Italian club Lazio in 2011, where he has another season on his contract. ' ' '