Melissa Cook, the 14-year-old tennis fan who had Novak Djokovic’s shirt snatched from her hands at the end of the Australian Open final, will get her souvenir after all.

The mother of two who grabbed the shirt that Djokovic intended to throw at the teenager put the garment up for auction earlier this week. It sold for $5,877. The winning bid was put in by Melissa Cook’s mother.

Proceeds went to The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, a charity designed to help child victims of bullying.

Yael Rothschild put the shirt up for auction because she felt “abused and threatened,” according to her husband.

“My wife has been vilified in the social media and by some traditional media as a result of misunderstanding over the shirt of Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic,” he said. “Our home address has been broadcast on Facebook and this has led to personal abuse and even threats.”

Except for the decision to donate proceeds to charity, none of this story is what you’d call uplifting. Rothschild grabbed the shirt that was clearly intended for someone else. The press, this blog included, rightly criticized her for that decision. Idiots on Facebook then took that too far and made threats. Then Cook’s parents bought her the shirt, teaching the erroneous lesson that money can solve all problems.

Hope the shirt was worth it.

Andy Murray has already improved under the tutelage of Ivan Lendl. Mentally, he was able to better deal with his frustration during the first rounds and played with will and authority. On returns, he’s more inside the court and is keen on attacking his opponent. He’s remaining on the baseline more too and doesn’t get pushed back, even when he’s in trouble.

All this pairing needs is time. Lendl is probably more in an position of observation so far and the coaching will come later. Like Roger Federer, Andy dropped physically in his semifinal. Knowing how professional and addicted to work Lendl is, there is no doubt that he will work on this fitness matter in the coming months. After that, the sky’s the limit in Grand Slams.

To end the talk about this “big four,” it has to be noticed that those players are very close from each other. We’re probably witnessing the most intense top four in all of tennis history. So it’s tough for the other members of the top 10 to come into this close circle. It’s also interesting to point that this top 3 is even more tense because of some incompatibilities of their games: Novak Djokovic dominates Rafael Nadal who dominates Federer who is an issue for Nole.

- Tomas Berdych is improving, despite that loss to Nadal in Melbourne.

- Juan Martin Del Potro, who is back into the Top 10, will go on in climbing the ranking even if, for now, he lacks footwork and confidence against the top players.

- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is always very dangerous but looks stuck at a certain level at the moment. He needs to find a new start by hiring a coach.

– This Australian Open allowed us to discover some of the next big things. Bernard Tomic, the Australian, achieved much in this tournament and showed how in control he was, how gifted he was to cover his ground, how smart he was and how able he was to constantly change the pace.

– American Ryan Harrison took a set off Andy Murray with a very offensive tennis, helped by a good serve and a tendency to go to the net.

– Kei Nishikori from Japan is now a top-20 player. He entertained us with his efficient backhand when played crossed or down the line, his speed, his ability to take the ball early or to turn around his backhand.

– We were waiting for Milos Raonic, the Canadian. He was stopped by Lleyton Hewitt but there is no doubt that this amazing serve and his ability to be offensive will bring him high in the majors.

– Alexandr Dolgopolov was the revelation of the event. He’s a player who’s able to speed up the game in a brutal way but also owns a very special chop on his backhand.

Looking particularly radiant after her Australian Open win, new world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka visited “The Ellen Show” this week to discuss her prescient t-shirt selections, quitting tennis and her love of teddy bears.

The story Ellen DeGeneres refers to at the beginning of the clip is that Vika had to be talked out of quitting tennis by her grandmother following a tough loss to Li Na at last year’s Australian Open. Given the emotional toll that major defeats can take, this sounds completely plausible. But, come on, Victoria Azarenka was probably as serious about quitting tennis as you are on those days you get home after a stressful day of work and tell your spouse that you’d like to leave it all behind and take cooking lessons so you can open that restaurant on the beach like you’ve always wanted. There are so many good narratives to explore about Azarenka’s ascension to No. 1. Playing up an overblown tale of quitting isn’t one of them.

We’ve had a few days to reflect on the on the epic fight between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nada in the Australian Open final. Let’s break it down a little further:

– The level of play was average

If you forget the intense drama and determination, the level of tennis reached in this match was very far from the last US Open final. Nadal played very short all along the match, and Novak wasn’t able to take advantage of it enough. At the end, the ratio of winners to unforced errors was 101 to 140.

– Rafa didn’t step up

If you compare his level during this final to the one he displayed against Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer earlier in the tournament, the gap is huge. Rafa was taken by the event because he certainly realized how important this match was for his season and career. He wasn’t able to start this match with a good balance between aggressiveness and stress. The consequence was that he was defensive right from the start and played very far from his baseline. After three sets, he was spending four percent of his time inside the court, whereas it was 34 percent for Djokovic. He played short, a lot in the middle, and tried to protect himself more than to hurt his opponent. During the first three sets he wasn’t moving well, like he was submerged by the pressure of the event. Then he was also too predictable, so it helped Djokovic be one shot ahead all the time.

Rafa should have stepped up into this match to win it, he shouldn’t have avoided the backhand diagonal on his rival forehand, he should have turned more often around his backhand. The issue is that this tension he’s going through pushed him to play shorter and gave him the feeling that he needed more time Instead, it led to him playing shorter and getting attacked.

– It was still brave

His first serve saved him a lot during this final and he ended with 67 percent of first serve and he won the same amount of points on it. This excepted, the Majorcan didn’t play particularly well. Without the courage and will that was out of this world, the final would have been over in four sets. Once more, Rafa showed amazing fighting abilities and such a heart. It has never been reached by any other player.

– Next time

Rafa and Nole will face each other again this season. What should Rafa remember? He needs to dictate the play. Rafa will have to be able to do this to match the Serbian. He will also have to add more variety to his game which is now too predictable. He always plays in the same areas on the return, his backhand nearly always down the line to change the diagonal, his forehand too often crossed, his slice on serve too often on Novak’s backhand. He will also have to improve his second serve.

To dictate the pace he needs to not be afraid to hit hard on his crossed backhand so he can turn around to his forehand. He has to hit more forehands down the line to try and hurt Djokovic rather than protect himself. And he needs to hope Novak Djokovic can’t keep up the blistering play that has brought him four major titles in the past 13 months.

The teenage girl who had Novak Djokovic’s shirt stolen from her grasp on Sunday is speaking out against the middle-aged garment thief who grabbed the souvenir.

Melissa Cook, 14, had a front-row seat cheering on Djokovic during his epic victory over Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final. When the world No. 1 finally defeated Nadal after five hours, 53 minutes, Cook managed to get his attention as he was changing clothes. Djokovic walked over to Cook to toss her a spare shirt, but it was grabbed instead by a woman sitting two seats away.

“I started crying because I couldn’t believe that something I truly believe he meant for me was taken by someone else,” the teenager told Australia’s Herald Sun.

Yeah, that was pretty cold of that lady. Like we wrote on Sunday, she was like that guy at a baseball game who fights a little kid for a foul ball. There’s nothing wrong with an adult catching something from an athlete. To take it from the hands of a child is unacceptable.

[ Related: Djokovic and Nadal barely able to stand after marathon match ]

Cook wanted Djokovic’s shirt to hang on the “Novak Wall” in her bedroom. From the looks of the video, it looks like the tennis star intended for her to get it.

“I had been yelling out to him the whole match and he had looked up and acknowledged me,” she said. “Then at the end he came straight over to my direction and threw the shirt up.”

Update: The woman has been identified as mother of three, Yael Rothschild. She’s heard Melissa’s story and insists she’s keeping the shirt, saying that it was fair game for any of the spectators in the first few rows.

“When the shirt was thrown, there would have been 20 excited people, all with their hands out,” she told the Herald Sun. ”After (it had been) thrown, there would have been 19 disappointed people. Such is life. I am not sure how you can snatch out of the hands (of) someone sitting three seats away from you with a barrier between the seating.”

Oh, I don’t know. Because your arms are longer? Because you leaned over the railing? Because you put your hands in front of a teenagers and grabbed it first?

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Rafael Nadal wasn’t the only person who left Rod Laver Arena disappointed on Monday morning.

As Novak Djokovic was changing clothes for the awards ceremony following his record-breaking Australian Open win over Rafael Nadal, he walked over to the crowd and tossed his shirt to a young fan. At least, that’s what he intended to do. His throw ended up being intercepted by a middle-aged woman who showed no remorse for grabbing the sweaty memento away from a teenager.

Hey lady, just because you call for it doesn’t mean it’s yours. You’re like the 40-year-old man who catches a foul ball over an elementary school student at a baseball game. For shame! (But between you and that ballboy, you could make a pretty good defensive backfield.)

I have to admit though, I’m reluctant to fully blame the interceptor because Djokovic bears partial responsibility. Giving a souvenir to a young fan is always appreciated. Yet if anyone in the crowd needed a new shirt, it was clearly this guy:

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had just played the longest match in Grand Slam finals history. How did Australian Open officials thank them for the effort? By making them stand through what seemed like the longest awards presentation in Grand Slam history.

Except that the rivals were so exhausted from their five-hour, 53 minute epic that they could barely stay upright. As numerous executives from sponsor companies and Australian tennis droned on about leadership and history, Djokovic and Nadal spent time stretching, resting their hands on their knees and even leaning up against the net for support. ESPN’s Chris Fowler joked that both players would have accepted half as much prize money if they were allowed to leave the court to go lay down.

Going from nearly six hours of activity to 10 minutes of standing in place is like a formal invitation for cramping. Thankfully, someone at Rod Laver Arena noticed the pain of Djokovic and Nadal and retrieved them some chairs.

How do you spell relief? S-I-T-T-I-N-G.

It didn’t last long though. Just as Nadal was given his chair, he was called up to the podium to accept his runner-up trophy.

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In one of the most extraordinary finals in Grand Slam history, Novak Djokovic continued his reign atop the game and his mastery of Rafael Nadal with a record-setting 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory in the Australian Open final.

The match lasted five hours, 53 minutes, shattering the record for the longest Grand Slam final in history. It was also the longest continuous match in major history and the third-longest overall.

[Related: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal can barely stand after five-set Australian Open final]

For Djokovic, it was his third straight major title. He joins Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Nadal as the only men in the Open Era to accomplish that feat. Djokovic also has won seven finals in a row against Nadal, including in each of those three Slam finals.

Nadal took the first set, but rarely has getting out to an early lead inspired so little confidence. Djokovic’s game was off early in the match and it took Nadal 80 minutes to capitalize and grind out the set. Djokovic reasserted himself in the next two sets and appeared to be on his way to cruising to a four-set victory when he held a 40-0 lead on Nadal’s serve at 4-4 in the fourth set.

But Nadal fought back with six gutty points and went on to extend the match by winning a fourth-set tiebreak.

In the fifth set, Nadal seemed to have the upper hand. Djokovic was in his 10th hour on the court since Friday and his legs showed it. Nadal broke at 3-2 and had an easy backhand to go up 40-15 on his serve. He pushed it wide, Djokovic came back to break. What was close to being a 5-2 Nadal lead was back on serve at 4-3.

Even as the match stretched past previous records, the top two players in the world were exchanging rallies of over 30 shots. Djokovic broke Nadal at 5-5 and then held his serve to take the final set, 7-5. By the time it was over, it was past 1:30 a.m. in Melbourne.

[Related: Vlade Divac roots on Novak Djokovic in Australian Open final]

Nadal may have been the loser on the scoreboard, but the match was won by Djokovic, not lost by Nadal. Though Rafa played a passive game for the middle sets, he  ramped it up late, turning aggressive on Djokovic’s serve and going for more winners as the hours grew later. Djokovic was simply better. He was able to hold serve easier throughout the match and put pressure on Nadal with his assertive return game.

The loss may not be as devastating for Nadal as you’d expect. Had he gone down without much of a fight then there could have been concern that the gulf between he and Djokovic was too wide. The pain of losing the longest match in Grand Slam finals history will linger, but at least Nadal knows he’s closer than he’s been to Djokovic in 13 months.

For Djokovic, the win continues one of the most dominant stretches the sport has ever seen. He’ll go for the Djoko Slam (holding all four majors at once) at the French Open. There’s even legitimate talk of a real Grand Slam possibility.

But as dawn grew nearer in Melbourne, Djokovic wasn’t looking forward.

“We made history tonight,” he said after the match.

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Hip-hop mogul, actor and that taking advocate Diddy was in Novak Djokovic’s player’s box during his epic five-set victory over Roger Federer in the US Open semifinals. When it was learned that another rap star, Kanye West, would be in Melbourne this weekend performing at a concert, inquiring minds (OK, just me) wondered if Djokovic would be getting cheered on by Mr. West. He was at Djokovic’s French Open semifinal match, after all.

Kanye wasn’t there, but Djokovic had other star power watching him instead: Former NBA All-Star, and Serbian basketball legend, Vlade Divac. The two are sporting ambassadors for their native country. Divac is the president of the nation’s Olympic committee. Something tells me Nole will be earning a berth on that squad later this year.

Though Divac’s presence wasn’t immediately felt on the court, if you see Djokovic flop in the middle of a point, now you’ll know why.

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Over the course of his five-hour marathon final with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic has gone from breaking his racquets to trying to devour them. Hopefully it was one of the gluten-free models.