Melbourne, Jan 27: Aussie film director Baz Luhrmann and cricket captain Ricky Ponting are among the top ten who have been named UnAustralian of the year by Zoo Weekly magazine.

Luhrmann was awarded the title ahead of Ponting and boxer Danny Green, who had taken part in Dancing with the Stars, for his film Australia, which the magazine dubbed an "embarrassment".

According to Zoo editor Paul Merrill, Luhrmann took top spot after his film was panned by critics and bombed at the international box office.

Melbourne - Andy Roddick beat the heat as he ended the Australian Open title defence of Novak Djokovic with the Serbian retiring to hand over a 6-7, (3-7), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1 victory in their Tuesday quarter-final.

The pair played in 31 degree Celsius temperatures on the first day of a Melbourne heat wave which was predicted to bring on temperatures 10 degrees warmer by Wednesday.

The retirement after two hours, 29 minutes was the fourth at a Grand Slam for the delicate Djokovic.

Melbourne - Vera Zvonareva booked the first of the semi-final places at the Australian Open on Tuesday as the Russian moved towards a breakthrough top five ranking with a 6-3, 6-0 defeat of Marion Bartoli.

Zvonareva is the forgotten figure among her more prominent Russian colleagues, her low-key profile assuring she remains in the shadows of the sport.

But the 24-year-old took her biggest step at a major with the victory over France's 2007 Wimbledon finalist.

Adelaide, Australia - Lance Armstrong has a lot to be immodest about: champion triathlete in his schooldays, world road racing champion at 21, seven Tour de France victories before retiring in 2005 and, most amazing of all, surviving cancer surgery in 1996 that doctors thought would kill him.

Yet modesty was the great man's hallmark in his comeback appearance in Australia's Tour Down Under.

Out of yellow, the 37-year-old Texan was surprisingly mellow, surprisingly accessible, and surprisingly candid.

Tamworth, Australia  - It's late January and the Australia Day long weekend is coming up.

Some seek relief from the dog days of the southern hemisphere summer at the beach. Others head to Tamworth, a five-hour drive north of Sydney and to its annual country music festival.

Now in its 37th year, Tamworth is the world's biggest country music bash. The 11-day shindig rates eighth in Forbes magazine's list of the world's 10 best festivals.

Queensland couple Del Connolly and John Hastie are in town after a two-day drive, making the scene in Peel Street.

Melbourne  - After a lifetime based in Australia,  may be planning a possible move to the US in hopes of extending his tennis career.

Hewitt, 27, wife Bec Cartwright and the couple's two children could be set for a shift of continent within months, according to Melbourne's Herald Sun - all part of a strategy to dispel any notion that the former number one might soon retire after his ranking dropped out of the Top 100.

Hewitt crashed out in the Australian Open first round.