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Getty ImagesWith 2009 on the horizon, it's time to take a quick look back at some of the headlines from the past calendar year.
JANUARY
1. THE DJOK'S ON THEM: Novak Djokovic captures his first major championship at the Australian Open, becoming the first Serbian to win a Grand Slam singles title. The 21-year-old dropped just one set en route to the title, earning a win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final after ousting top seed and defending champion Roger Federer in the semis.
2. Maria Sharapova wins the Australian Open championship.
3. Federer struggles with a "stomach virus" (later diagnosed as mononucleosis).
FEBRUARY
1. SO LONG TO SELES: Nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles announces her retirement. Owner of 53 career titles, Seles remains the youngest French Open winner in history (16 years, six months). Her return to tennis in 1995 after being stabbed in the back by a deranged fan two years earlier is perhaps more impressive than any win she ever had.
MARCH
1. HERE COMES SERENA: Serena Williams wins the first of her four titles in 2008 with a triumph at Bangalore. The American would go on to win her next two events played - Miami and Charleston -before seeing her 17-match win streak end against Dinara Safina in Berlin.
2. Andy Roddick announces his engagement to swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker.
APRIL
1. DIRTY WORK: Sharapova, who has won every Grand Slam except the French Open, captures her first claycourt title with a victory at Amelia Island. It didn't help her at Roland Garros, where she was stunned in the fourth round by Safina, who came back after being down a set and 5-2.
2. Federer ends the drought by winning his first title of the year in Estoril.
MAY
1. TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT: Justine Henin stuns the tennis world by abruptly announcing her retirement. The Belgian, who turned 26 this year, becomes the first woman to retire from the sport while ranked No. 1. She finishes with 41 titles and seven Grand Slam championships. Sharapova takes over the No. 1 ranking.
2. Venus and Serena Williams are upset in the third round of the French Open - on the same day.
3. Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten officially retires after a first-round loss at Roland Garros.
JUNE
1. RAFA RULES: Rafael Nadal wins his fourth straight French Open title with a dominating 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Federer. The loss is Federer's worst at a major, and pushes Nadal's record at Roland Garros to 28-0. It caps another incredible spring for the Spaniard, who also won claycourt titles at Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg.\
2. Ana Ivanovic wins her first Grand Slam title at French Open and becomes the new world No. 1.
JULY
1. THE EPIC: Nadal becomes the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win at Wimbledon and Roland Garros in the same year. The 22-year-old defeats Federer - the five-time defending champion - in the final, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7, in what is widely considered one of the greatest matches ever played.
2. Venus Williams defeats sister Serena in the Wimbledon final to claim her fifth title at the All England Club.
3. Aleksandra Wozniak wins at Stanford, becoming the first Canadian in more than 20 years to win a WTA singles title.
AUGUST
1. END OF AN ERA: Nadal overtakes Federer for the No. 1 ranking, ending the Swiss superstar's record run of 237 consecutive weeks at the top.
2. Jelena Jankovic takes the No. 1 ranking from Ivanovic, who regains the top spot a week later.
3. Nadal and Russia's Elena Dementieva win gold medals at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
4. Sharapova withdraws from Olympics and U.S. Open due to shoulder injury and misses remainder of the season.
5. Juan Martin del Potro wins his fourth straight event with a victory in Washington.
SEPTEMBER
1. SAVING THE SEASON: After suffering through a down year by his standards, Federer salvages his season by winning the U.S. Open for the fifth consecutive year. It is his 13th Grand Slam title, leaving him one shy of tying Pete Sampras' record of 14.
2. Serena Williams wins her ninth Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open and reclaims No. 1 ranking, which she last held in 2003.
3. Russia beats Spain to capture fourth Fed Cup title in five years.
4. Nikolay Davydenko of Russia is cleared of any involvement in match-fixing after a year-long investigation by the ATP.
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1. JANKOVIC TAKES CONTROL: After losing to Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final, Jankovic strings together wins in three straight tournaments, culminating with a victory at Moscow. That win comes less than a week after she moves ahead of Williams atop the rankings, where Jankovic finishes the year.
2. Nadal clinches year-end No. 1 ranking, the first Spaniard to accomplish the feat.
NOVEMBER
1. BIG FINISH: Djokovic wins the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, while Venus Williams claims the title at the Sony Ericsson Championships.
2. Spain beats Argentina to capture its third Davis Cup title.
DECEMBER
1. SHE'S HAVING A BABY: Lindsay Davenport pulls out of the upcoming Australian Open because she is pregnant with her second child. The three-time Grand Slam champion says she is "putting tennis on hold for the foreseeable future."
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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