LAURA SIEGMUND VS. QINWEN ZHENG | AO ANIMATED

 

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON HIS DEFEAT TO SINNER IN THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN SEMI-FINAL

 

JANNIK SINNER WINS AUSTRALIAN OPEN| CLAIMS FIRST MAJOR

Reuters 

 MELBOURNE, Australia -- Jannik Sinner rallied from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday and clinch his first Grand Slam title.

Sinner, 22, was playing in a major final for the first time. He got there by ending Novak Djokovic's long domination of the tournament in a semifinal upset.

He's the first Italian to win the Australian Open title in what could be a generational shift in tennis.

For 2021 US Open champion Medvedev, the loss was his fifth in six major finals. The third-seeded Medvedev set a record with his fourth five-set match of the tournament and time on court at a major in the Open era, his 24 hours and 17 minutes surpassing Carlos Alcaraz's 23:40 at the 2022 US Open.

Medvedev lost back-to-back finals here to Djokovic in 2021 and to Rafael Nadal -- after holding a two-set lead -- the following year. He won three five-set matches to reach the championship match this time and had two comebacks from two sets down. Sinner dropped only one set through six rounds -- in a third-set tiebreaker against Djokovic -- until he lost two straight to Medvedev.

It wasn't until a break in the sixth game of the fifth set that he really had a full grip on his first Grand Slam title.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON SATURDAY

 

USA TODAY Sports 

Order of play on the main court on the 14th day of the Australian Open on Saturday (times local, prefix number denotes seeding):

* Day session: From 12 p.m. (0100 GMT)

* Night session: From 7:30 p.m. (0830 GMT)

ROD LAVER ARENA

Junior Girls' Singles final

1-Renata Jamrichova (Slovakia) v 6-Emerson Jones (Australia)

Junior Boys' Singles final

Jan Kumstat (Czech Republic) v 4-Rei Sakamoto (Japan)

Night session

Women's Singles final

12- Zheng Qinwen (China) v 2-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)

Men's Doubles final

Simone Bolelli (Italy)/Andrea Vavassori (Italy) v 2-Rohan Bopanna (India)/Matthew Ebden (Australia)

- Reuters 

SENSATIONAL SINNER DETHRONES DJOKOVIČ TO REACH AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL

Reuters 

 Jannik Sinner downed defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-2 6-7(6) 6-3 at the Australian Open on Friday to hand the top seed a first defeat at his Melbourne Park fortress in six years and power into his maiden Grand Slam final.

Sinner's masterclass in the opening two sets set the wheels in motion for Djokovic's only defeat in the semi-finals of his favourite major. The youngster also became the first Italian player to reach an Australian Open singles final.

"It was a very, very tough match," said Sinner, who did not face a single break point in the match.

"I started out very well, for two sets I felt that he was not feeling too good on court so I just tried to keep pushing and then in the third set I had match point and I missed the forehand, but you know, this is tennis.

"I just tried to be ready for the next set, which I started off really well, and of course the atmosphere was so great. It's so great to play here."

Fourth seed Sinner stunned Djokovic twice in three matches at the end of last season and he made a rollicking start on Rod Laver Arena by targeting his 36-year-old opponent's shaky serve and error-prone backhand to comfortably win the opening set.

SUPERB SABALENKA BEATS GAUFF TO REACH AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL

 

Aryna Sabalenka took a big step towards retaining her Australian Open crown by beating American fourth seed Coco Gauff 7-6(2) 6-4 in a thriller on Thursday to reach the final where she will meet Australian Open or qualifier Dayana Yastremska.

In a rematch of their U.S. Open final in September, the two reigning hardcourt Grand Slam champions made contrasting starts as Belarusian Sabalenka fired an ace and revved up her forehand to hold before pouncing on two double faults by Gauff to break.

But what followed was an intense contest between two players hoping to forge ahead and win their second Grand Slam title, and it was Sabalenka who held firm to become the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 and 2017 to make back-to-back Melbourne finals.

COCO GAUFF'S MOTHER REACTS TO DAUGHTER'S SPORTSMANSHIP

 

DE MINAUR LEFT DEVASTATED AFTER BELIEVING HE COULD PROGRESS IN OPEN

Reuters 

 Alex de Minaur's belief that he could beat Andrey Rublev and finally reach the Australian Open quarter-finals made Sunday's defeat all the more devastating for the local favourite.

On a day when Australia Open defending champions Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka were both in action, all eyes in Melbourne were on 10th seed Alex de Minaur as he aimed to keep home interest in the competition alive.

De Minaur was the last Australian left in the singles, but his 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 loss to the fifth seed was certainly a world away from last year's exit at the same stage, when he was demolished in straight sets by Djokovic.

DJOKOVIC INTO AUSTRALIAN OPEN QUARTER-FINALS AS BIG NAMES WIN EASY

 

Reuters 

Novak Djokovic flirted with a rare "triple bagel" and Aryna Sabalenka produced yet another powerful performance as the defending champions swept into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday.

American fourth seed Coco Gauff also rattled through her match in double quick time and while she was only on court for an hour, the U.S. Open champion showed she has all the weapons to win a second Grand Slam title.

Djokovic, playing in an unfamiliar rare daytime match, blanked Adrian Mannarino in the opening two sets and threatened to become only the sixth player to win 6-0 6-0 6-0 in the main draw of a Grand Slam.

However, the Frenchman salvaged some pride in the third set, leaving Djokovic with a 6-0 6-0 6-3 victory, the Serb's 32nd straight match win at his favourite stomping ground.

It also earned the world number one a 58th Grand Slam quarter-final berth, equalling the all-time record of Swiss maestro Roger Federer.

Djokovic said he was almost glad when Mannarino got on the board in the third set.

"I almost felt like it's good to give away the game, just to be able to reset and refocus, because the tension was growing as the match progressed without him winning a game," he told reporters.

"Of course, it's tough for him, but also for me to be able to not think about that ... I was happy that got that out of the way, 1-1 third set, then focused on what I need to do to close out the match."

The Serb next meets Taylor Fritz after the American beat last year's runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3 6-3 to reach the last eight for the first time.

WORLD NO. 1 IGA SWIATEK EXITS AUSTRALIAN OPEN IN A 3RD-ROUND LOSS TO CZECH TEENAGER LINDA NOSKOVA

 

AP Photo 

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Already down a set and facing a break point against Iga Swiatek, No. 50-ranked Linda Noskova decided she had nothing to lose.

She won 11 of the next 12 points to take the second set and swing momentum in their third-round match Saturday, ultimately becoming the first teenager to beat a No. 1-ranked woman at the Australian Open since 1999.

With a big serve and equally big groundstrokes, she unsettled Swiatek and held her cool, even under pressure in the last game to serve it out, for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory that means there's no top 10 players in the top half of the draw.

“I’m just really kind of exhausted mentally and physically,” Noskova said in her post-match news conference following the upset. “I just believed my game tonight. I just really wanted this.”

Swiatek is a four-time major winner but has never been past the semifinals at Melbourne Park. Even so, she was on an 18-match winning streak and expected to account for the 19-year-old Noskova, who is making her main draw debut at the tournament.

Swiatek beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round and had to rally from 4-1 down in the third to overcome 2022 finalist Danielle Collins in the second.

TSITSIPAS HOPES EMOTIONS OF 2023 WILL BOOST AUSTRALIAN OPEN TITLE BID

Reuters 

Stefanos Tsitsipas hopes to tap into "big moments" from his 2023 Australian Open campaign to fuel his quest to reach back-to-back finals, the Greek seventh seed said after easing past Frenchman Luca Van Assche to reach the fourth round on Friday.

The 25-year-old fell to 10-times champion Novak Djokovic in the title clash last year, but not before winning an epic five-setter in the fourth round against young gun Jannik Sinner and impressive displays against Jiri Lehecka and Karen Khachanov.

Tsitsipas, who eased past Frenchman Van Assche 6-3 6-0 6-4 and takes on American 12th seed Taylor Fritz next, said he would use the emotions he felt last year to mentally prepare for the challenges that lie ahead.

"I approach these situations and these experiences with a lot of humility and I'm always trying to get them better. What I mean by that is make them more emotional and create a bigger glory mentally in my mind," Tsitsipas told reporters.

"These moments are glorious, especially when you're able to overcome them and win matches to go to the next sort of level of yourself as a tennis player and they count a lot for me."

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2024 | THIRD ROUND | GAUFF VS. PARKS

ALEXANDER ZVEREV VS.DOMINIK KOEPFER

 

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI VS.MARIA TIMOFEEVA | SECOND ROUND HIGHLIGHTS | AO 2024

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME VS DOMINIC THIEM

 

RICHARD GASQUET VS. CARLOS ALCARAZ | AO 2024

 

MUSETTI VS. BONZI | AUSTRALIAN OPEN HIGHLIGHTS

DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS | PRESNTED BY CHUBB | AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2024

SINNER A SUNDAY WINNER, RUBLEV GETS A SCARE AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Reuters 

Jannik Sinner picked up where he left off in 2023 by easing past Botic van de Zandschulp into the second round of the Australian Open as the year's first Grand Slam got underway a day earlier than usual on Sunday.

The Italian fourth seed, the hottest player on the men's tour at the back end of last season with victories over Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, was quickly back in his groove on Rod Laver Arena.

Although far from perfect, he broke his Dutch opponent to open the contest and grabbed another break to serve for the second set before securing his place in the second round 6-4 7-5 6-3.

"It's my first match of the season and it means a lot to get a win," said Sinner, who was cheered on by the "Carota Boys", a band of fans dressed as carrots.

"It's a tournament where I would like to play as good as possible ... hopefully I can show more as I go along. The first match is never easy, I think I can be happy."

Sinner is one of a band of young guns looking to dethrone 24-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic, who gets his bid for an 11th title underway against Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic in the evening session on Rod Laver Arena.

Reuters 

At 26, Andrey Rublev is probably a bit old to be considered a young gun and the redheaded Russian had a much tougher time getting into round two, pushed all the way by debutant Thiago Seyboth Wild in his 7-5 6-4 3-6 4-6 7-6(6) win.

The often emotional Rublev was clearly furious at his inability to see off the Brazilian world number 78, who produced some sensational shots to frustrate the fifth seed and earn the support of the Margaret Court Arena crowd.

Seyboth Wild, who stunned Medvedev in the first round of last year's French Open, saved three match points at 6-5 down in the decider and raced to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak before Rublev rallied for the victory.

"I'm not going to forget this match," said the relieved Russian.

"I was thinking about Daniil's match at Roland Garros when I had my chances and couldn't take them. Thiago is a super dangerous player, he was serving really hard, first and second serves, and hitting the ball really clean."