Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Monday, 22 January 2024
DE MINAUR LEFT DEVASTATED AFTER BELIEVING HE COULD PROGRESS IN OPEN
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| 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.
Sunday, 21 January 2024
DJOKOVIC INTO AUSTRALIAN OPEN QUARTER-FINALS AS BIG NAMES WIN EASY
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| 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.
Saturday, 20 January 2024
WORLD NO. 1 IGA SWIATEK EXITS AUSTRALIAN OPEN IN A 3RD-ROUND LOSS TO CZECH TEENAGER LINDA NOSKOVA
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| 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.
Friday, 19 January 2024
NO HANDSHAKES AS SABALENKA DOWNS UKRAINE'S TSURENKO IN THIRD ROUND
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| Reuters |
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka blocked out the political overtones of her third-round match against Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko at the Australian Open on Friday to ease into the second week of the Grand Slam with an easy 6-0 6-0 victory.
Sabalenka was last scheduled to face the Ukrainian at Indian Wells last year but Tsurenko withdrew after suffering a panic attack when talking with officials about the response of tennis to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, for which Belarus was used as a staging ground.
Reigning champion and second seed Sabalenka is playing at Melbourne Park without official national affiliation under conditions imposed on Russian and Belarusian players by tournament organisers since the invasion.
The match itself was a one-sided affair played out in a muted atmosphere on Rod Laver Arena as Sabalenka ruthlessly handed 28th seed Tsurenko the dreaded "double bagel" in 52 minutes.
There was no traditional handshake over the net at the end of the match with the players merely acknowledging each other with a wave before heading off court.
TSITSIPAS HOPES EMOTIONS OF 2023 WILL BOOST AUSTRALIAN OPEN TITLE BID
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| 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."
Thursday, 18 January 2024
Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Tuesday, 16 January 2024
Monday, 15 January 2024
Sunday, 14 January 2024
SINNER A SUNDAY WINNER, RUBLEV GETS A SCARE AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN
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| 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.
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| 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."