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The second last day of this year’s Masters have been hit by wet weather once again at Augusta National where we had to squeeze in some catch up time from Friday’s 2nd Round before players below the Top 50, who missed the cut, had to leave the golf course ahead of the Round 3 start right away. But then there’s more of the same interrupted drama as not only these players will have to get through the leftover Day 3’s play done tomorrow AM, but also the full final round later in the afternoon as well to cap off such an up and down few days of major C’ship golf.

Now the makeup of the final Day 3 leaderboard hasn’t been finished yet but Brooks Koepka is still your leader at -13 ahead of Jon Rahm in 2nd (-9). And amateur Sam Bennett (-6) still hopes to turn things around from 3rd & go after Koepka & Rahm for the top spot despite his poor start of back-to-back bogeys. Then there’s more people coming in and out of the Top 5-10 apart from Koepka & Rahm – maybe Bennett if he can pull off a masterstroke Round 3 spell – with Patrick Cantlay & reigning US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick emerging into the Top 4 as of late at -4 alongside Collin Morikawa & Viktor Hovland.

And we still have three Aussies & one Kiwi in the mix despite little upturn in progress if they want to wrap up on a high even as outside contenders.

Good to see NZ’s Ryan Fox improving up a few spots to Tied 14th (-3), even though he had two bogeys in between the first nine & still has 7 holes left to finish after a great two days out. Jason Day is still holding on the Top 10 places in Tied 8th, but his shift earlier today hasn’t been the same so far with just one birdie on the Par 5 2nd. And so does Adam Scott where he regressed massively from a 1st half Top 10 to now Tied 28th, while there’s not much progress from Cam Smith in Tied 23rd.

Well, we didn’t get to see much through the rest of Day 2 at Augusta National when rain interrupted ongoing play late this afternoon. There were players and spectators being forced to evacuate by officials, while there was a huge tree collapse over on the 17th tee where no one was fortunately hurt. So we will wait and see how the make up of the current leaderboard look like going into tomorrow before entering the final two rounds in the race for the one & only green jacket prize.

In the meantime, we saw a huge reshuffle of players coming in and out of the Top 10 places so far until this point. The man to watch right now is USA’s Brooks Koepka, who is currently in top spot by himself now after an excellent shift today on 5 under 67 which puts him at a total of-12, with Spaniard Jon Rahm is not far behind even though he has another 9 holes to go from the 10th. So does Last year’s US Amateur champion Sam Bennett where he moves up to 3rd right now (-8) through excellent back-to-back scores of 68, as he looks to become the first amateur player to win the The Masters in its 87-year existence. 

Then we have our Aussies & Kiwis corner with Jason Day (Tied 6th at -5) & Adam Scott (Tied 10th at -4) still in the Top 10 despite some dips in form. Although Scott still has some holes to catch up, so there’s plenty of time left to make a late charge going into this weekend. Meanwhile, nothing much has changed from NZ’s Ryan Fox over in Tied 18th, while Cam Smith can hopefully turn things around going into the back nine & climb a few places on Tied 22nd right now. And sadly, there’s very little chance of both Harrison Crowe (Tied 63rd) & Min Woo Lee (Tied 71st) surviving the Top 50 cut ahead of this weekend where Harrison didn’t improve that much & Min-Woo going from bad to worse with 3 holes still to play.

The Masters is back for another year at Augusta National in Georgia where we are currently seeing a three-way tie for the lead following the first day’s play all on 7 under 65. These players come from three different countries such as Jon Rahm from Spain, Norwegian Viktor Hovland & USA’s Brooks Koepka. It’s been a long time since Koepka has been hanging round top spot after his win at the 2019 PGA Championship, while Hovland has been excellent from start to finish & Rahm’s first hole double bogey didn’t bother him too much with so much consistency & excellent scores over in the other 17 holes.

Then we have two Aussies of Jason Day & 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott rounding out the Top 10. Day sits at Tied 4th alongside Cameron Young on 5 under 67 with two birdies on the front nine followed by three more at the back nine apart from every other par he scored along the way. Yes, Scott may be a bit unhappy with his bogey on the Par 4 18th as he‘s not far behind on Tied 6th at 4 under 68, but he too didn’t do bad though where he collected three birdies + an eagle on the Par 5 15th. So fingers crossed on these two to keep up that strong start & hopefully bridge their way into the top spots tomorrow ahead of the weekend’s final two rounds.

There’s still time to turn things around & go one better over in Tied 17th from the current British Open champion Cameron Smith on 2 under 70 alongside NZ’s Ryan Fox where his back nine wasn’t bad but needs to improve his back nine despite a good end to his shift. Plus, Min Woo Lee needs to cut down these bogeys if he wants to survive the Top 50 RD2 cut following an inconsistent shift of 3 under 75 in Tied 63rd. And so does Harrison Crowe who is currently in the same spot as Min Woo; he too got away with two birdies despite some inconsistency on the front nine, but sadly didn’t gain anything particularly on the 13th & 14th holes for the rest of his day. Opening Day done, three more to go for the race towards donning the green jacket come Sunday.

Wow!! What a night it has been in the 2023 Australian Open women’s singles final between Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) & Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus). They both fired off well where Rybakina got away with a competitive first stage lead. However, Sabalenka wasted no time with an easy 2nd fight return going into the 3rd set dash towards the finish line. And the winner goes to Sabalenka who not only overtook  Rybakina for the lead, but she also executed well without hesitation here at Rod Laver Arena. The final score was done in 2 hours & 28 minutes – 6-4, 3-6, 4-6.

Rybakina played not bad where she never gave up from start to finish. She was glad to overcome such a difficult opponent like Sabalenka earlier on, having got away with a great start as well as the opening set win. But then Rybakina began to slip away under pressure as exposed by her opponent at times beforehand. That weaknesses not only blew her away going into the final set dash, but also eventually forced Rybakina to settle as 2nd best in the end to Sabalenka. Gutted to see her lose in a grand slam final for the first time at the 2nd occasion following a triumph Wimbledon campaign last year, as it’s best if she can improve her record at Roland Garros & US Opens later this year before more grand slam silverware will come her way sooner rather than later.

And how good was Sabalenka tonight with her first grand slam & Australian Open women singles title. Now she may have dropped the opening set, even though Aryna finally got the ball rolling after a slow start. But she also gave Rybakina a huge warning when trying to stay ahead; it’s something Aryna did with so much fight in return before she ticked off not only one but two sets needed that secured her huge breakthrough. Although she will be ranked No.2 starting next week behind Iga Swiatek, but Sabalenka played such an incredible performance where the fight, patience & execution helped her stood out on top v Rybakina. Let’s hope she stays that way in a bid to chase more grand slam silverware going forward before Sabalenka can dethrone Swiatek as the world’s top-ranked female tennis player.

The second & last player to punch their ticket ahead of Sunday’s main event & final match of the 2023 Australian Open goes to Novak Djokovic from Serbia, who is now set for his 10th men singles final appearance here, having won all nine of them & no runner-ups yet so far at Rod Laver Arena. He & Tommy had a couple of duels earlier on, but Novak too was just too good going forward against Tommy Paul (USA) in straight sets – 7-5, 6-1, 6-2.

Well played from Tommy Paul on his first grand slam singles semi final where he fired off really well that went nearly all the way throughout this opening set. But then he couldn’t stay on top of Novak as this match-up goes on when it comes to the momentum before he was easily dismantled in the end. We would’ve loved to see him go one better at Melbourne Park & test himself v Stefanos Tsitsipas this Sunday, but sure he will look back from his 2023 Aus Open campaign with such incredible moments right from the 1st RD.

And well done to Novak with another brilliant display that got him one step closer towards collecting grand slam title No.22 if he can defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday night, which could see him tie that record with Spaniard Rafa Nadal. He overcame a series of close battles against Tommy Paul for the first set lead, and that early advantage helped him respond to not only one but two quick set finishes where Novak ticked off all of these boxes comfortably with the win. Now if he also takes home the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after this weekend, then he will be back on top of the ATP rankings once again since June 12th last year.

Joining Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) as the other opponent for tomorrow’s women singles final is Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus. 

She too responded to Magda Linette’s brilliant fire off really well, having closed in on her semis opponent that went all the way with the first set tiebreak win before Sabalenka was just too good in the end via straight sets – 6-7 (1-7 tiebreak) & 2-6.

We’re so gutted for Linette as her fairlytale campaign at the 2023 Aus Open has came to an end just outside the Final two places. She got away with a really good start against another of the rising stars right now in Sabalenka. But when it comes to the fightback and execution though, she just couldn’t keep the momentum that 

let her slip up as this other semi final goes on. Sadly, Sabalenka saw a great opportunity to pick up the pieces & build an extended lead on Linette where she eliminated her comfortably. Let’s hope Linette will continue to build on her unreal run here in her prime right now at age 30.

And congratulations to Sabalenka on her breakthrough into the Final for the first time on her fourth attempt following the 2021 Wimbledon & 2021-22 US Opens beforehand. The response and fightback she did on Linette in the opening stage was so good to watch, which made her make up lost time that went into the tiebreak and came out on top with a 1-0 lead. Then the pressure began to alleviate where Sabalenka wasted no time with the patience needed on the run home & she did it just that to collect the 2nd & last Main Event ticket for tomorrow as a player alongside Rybakina. Well done as a grand slam singles’ title here would be her next best breakthrough moment yet at age 24.

The first person who booked her spot for tomorrow night’s Main Event in the women’s singles draw goes to Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan. She and Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) both fired off well on the page before Azarenka made the first move when it comes to the overall lead. However, Rybakina showed tremendous fight that went all the way into the tiebreak of the opening set, as well as the patience needed to the get the job done where she ticked off all these two boxes to wrap up this 1st semi-final tie.

The final score here at Rod Laver Arena was 7-6 (7-4 tiebreaker) & 6-3.

Great to see Azarenka return to the Australian Open knockout rounds for the first time in several years. The way she gone ahead earlier in the first set, plus the fightback later on to keep her in contention has been good to watch that threw the pressure back at Rybakina. But she just couldn’t arrest her & finish it off her way past the tiebreak, then Azarenka struggled to keep up to Rybakina for most of the 2nd stage before she was eliminated from the last 4. We would’ve liked to see her go all the way for tomorrow’s final also for the first time in a nearly a decade, especially when she’s now a mother of one. Sadly, it’s just wasn’t her time last night when conceding defeat to one of the elite rising stars at present.

And hats off to Elena Rybakina who is now set for her 2nd grand slam singles final appearance tomorrow, having won Wimbledon l back in July last year. That response when Azarenka led briefly in the early stages of the first set was unbelievable. She never gave up along the way with patience before not only did it pay off with the opening set lead, but also the straight sets win when Rybakina went on to execute an easy finish of this match-up. How good! As Rybakina has these strengths in her arsenal that would hopefully help her take home the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy tomorrow night.

And rounding it off earlier from Day 10 of the 2023 Australian Open yesterday was one of the last women singles’ Quarter-Final match ups between Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) v Magda Linette (Poland).

Both players were side by side from the beginning but one player has to end up first as this tie goes on, and it turns out that Linette’s fairytale campaign here goes onto another day after she closed out Pliskova in straight sets. Now she’s set for another huge test that could see Linette step into Saturday’s main event for the trophy ahead of her next meeting in the semi-finals later tonight v 5th seed Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus.

The final score here at Rod Laver Arena was 3-6 & 5-7.

Pliskova has been in good form lately over the last few months with back-to-back last 8s off the back of the US Open last year to now onto the next grand slam here at the Australian Open. Her next semis opportunity will have to come next time though, having last made the semis here a four years ago plus the Wimbledon final two years ago to the now-retired Ash Barty. She fired off not bad in the early stages through both sets; she just wasn’t consistent when trying to connect the other half momentum & arrest Linette there, which allowed her opponent to shut out Pliskova before it was too late.

And how good was Linette with another amazing victory in the QF to continue her breakthrough campaign here at Melbourne Park. She read Pliskova’s game well with an easy bridge towards the opening set lead before Linette responded to her opponent’s next set performance under pressure that was enough to land her past the finish line first. Well played by the 30-year-old as it will be interesting to see what Linette has to offer against a 3 x semi finalist in Sabalenka. If she can get def. Sabalenka tonight, then playing in Saturday’s Final & even taking home the women’s Aus Open title will cap off one of the most incredible campaigns ever seen in women’s singles grand slam history.