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2025 Australian Open Day 13: Novak Djokovic forced to retire hurt while Jannik Sinner unstoppable v Ben Shelton that sets up a Top 2 seed Men’s Final v Alexander Zverev

by Sports Benches January 24, 2025

It’s been a huge men’s semi-final day Friday with one magnificent show to watch just now at night and another that out to be both abruptly heartbreaking earlier in the afternoon but also rewarding too when it comes to that other winner who will now go step one closer for Sunday’s big dance.

This upcoming contest will see the best of the Australian Open Top 2 men’s seeders from this year’s edition as these two players who are still standing will be batting it out for that ultimate prize with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

It’s No.1 seed & defending champion Jannik Sinner from Italy v 2nd seed German & 3 x grand slam runner-up finalist so far in Alexander Zverev.

Yes, it was heartbreaking to see Novak Djokovic calling it a day retired hurt straight after losing the first set via tiebreak. But at the same time, he had to do what’s best for him and therefore, Zverev deserves to take that opportunity instead of Novak, who had to take care with his body when he wasn’t able to last for throughout this whole afternoon.

Instead, the 1st semi was done immediately in just under 90 minutes. We wish Novak the best of luck with his recovery as let’s hope he is not done playing just yet where his partnership with coach Andy Murray is one of the best things to happen as of late – surely, this won’t go away until Novak feels like he doesn’t want to play anymore at 37-38.

For now, Zverev deserves a crack in the Final hoping to finally win his first grand slam championship at age 27 – it’s about time and there’s no better place to do it where first time winners were made here at Melbourne Park. Jannik Sinner was a good one when he made himself known to the entire world last year from defeating a veteran like Novak to finish off the tournament as a first-time champion.

Speaking of Jannik, that other other semi-final match at night was more like it who continued to shine left, right and centre whereas Ben Shelton fought back at times like Patrick Mahomes – as if he’s perfectly suited to American Football (NFL) but more as an individual athlete with a trainer closely on his corner than in a team.

At the end of the day though, Sinner always hold out the cards in straight sets with little problem finishing up a piece of craft he’s assembled from scratch.

And yes, it wasn’t Ben Shelton’s night tonight when he was unable to bounce back from an intense opening set battle that went all the way through to the tiebreak. But he did throw things away however at the same time that led to an easier and more extended lead by the Italian to sign him off as eliminated from the last 4 right there. There’s still more to come from the young 22-year-old American though and if Shelton does play in a Grand Slam Singles’ Final someday, then every one of his biggest games will be his own Super Bowl.

Now bring on back-to-back defending champion Aryna Sabalenka v another American Madison Keys for the women’s singles Final first up on Saturday night.

January 24, 2025 0 comment

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2025 Australian Open Day 12: Aryna Sabalenka unstoppable over Paula Badosa with Madison Keys sensational with the hope of going one better for this Saturday’s Final

by Sports Benches January 23, 2025

Wow! What a night of women’s semi-final Tennis at Rod Laver Arena that began with Aryna Sabalenka always 100% on fire over her bestie Paula Badosa from Spain in straight sets that booked her yet another chance to get the job done for Saturday’s main eveny – final score was 6-4, 6-2.

Who will be there to stop her though? Now this time her opponent will be American Madison Keys who just won the other semi later on over Poland’s Iga Swiatek, having gone from a set down to a two-set comeback including an unreal finish during the 10-set tiebreak race towards the checkered flag and safe to say that she has done it with so much tears & joy!

Here’s the 2nd semi result as it goes 5-7, 6-1 and 7-6 with 10-8 tiebreaker.

We thought the worst of Aryna could come when she has lost her cool at times from her previous match in the QF the other day v Anastasia Pavlychenkova. But her class is always permanent who fought like a tiger that proved her worth as elite grand slam champion both here (2 x times) as well as also the US for the first time a few months ago.

For Badosa, she’s currently on a roll off the back of her good US Open run in the QF last year and now this year by going one better than the last 8 at Melbourne Park, especially on the hard courts. It’s just wasn’t her night though where Sabalenka proved to be too strong as again, she still has unfinished business with the upcoming grand slams to show that she means business in finals this year.

Looking back at that 2nd terrific semi, Iga also had a good run this time around at Melbourne Park which is better than the previous ones in the past apart from the 2022 semi – also defeated by another American in Danielle Collins before Ash Barty managed to steal the show on home turf during that year. It’s just a shame she has lost it following a brilliant start to her shift and even though she was closer than ever at times towards an AO final, Iga just couldn’t hold on a bit longer there sadly.

And for Keys, this will be her 2nd ever grand slam final since the 2017 US Open where she lost to fellow American Sloane Stephens. Yes, it’s been a long time between drinks but she came from a long, long way. Also, the last time she played in an AO semi final was 10 years ago back in 2015 & she too was also defeated by another American in Serena Williams.

Now it’s up to her how to end Sabalenka’s long-running dominance and what a way it could be if Madison Keys can finish her 2025 AO campaign off in style with her first ever grand slam win by taking home the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy at the age of 29 – turning 30 soon next month. Sure fans would love to back the underdog over the favourite which is something what sport is all about but we shall find out by 9-10pm Saturday night.

In the meantime, it’s the men’s turn as four will become two on its own before the weekend’s main event blockbuster where champions will be crowned. Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev will have to battle it out in the afternoon – can Novak overcome the sunny skies and make this his possible 11th AO title opportunity or will it be Zverev’s turn this time?

Also, the reigning champion Jannik Sinner who defeated Alex De Minaur the other day will take on American Ben Shelton during the evening. Are we about to see the best of past and present if Sinner wins once again or will another American be represented this time in the men’s and Ben Shelton could be their answer to possibly take on Novak or even Zverev himself?

It’s all to play for going into Day 13 of 15 at Rod Laver Arena & Melbourne Park.

January 23, 2025 0 comment

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2025 Australian Open Day 11: Alex De Minaur has everything to be proud of as his home campaign now over after the QF with Jannik Sinner off to the last 4 in straight sets

by Sports Benches January 22, 2025

After a few goes of making playing a few consecutive Round of 16s before being finally able to play in a home QF, Alex De Minaur’s run here at Rod Laver Arena are now over unfortunately tonight at the hands of defending champion Jannik Sinner in straight sets – 6-3, 6-2 and 6-1.

That means the Italian in Sinner will continue his title defense ahead of his next match in the semis this Friday v Ben Shelton from the USA amid illness concerns as of late but he will still want to go all the way with another Finals opportunity up for grabs & the winner of that next match will go on to either take on the winner of that other semi between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.

First of all, ‘The Demon’ as we always call it as Alex’s nickname had some brilliant early moments right from the very start.

It’s just a shame he threw things away at times that could’ve mean business to throw the pressure back at Sinner & try to map things out on his own, especially when this opponent here is someone he couldn’t beat over the last few times including the last two Davis Cup Finals yearly tournaments – and yet Sinner got the better execution than him.

We also wish his fiancé Katie Boulter (Great Britain) was cheering on by his side when his mother Esther was holding the Aussie flag with pride once again. But as Todd Woodbridge said during commentary, she was unable to attend in-person this time around unlike the last two of his matches, as she has a match to prepare on her own over the next few days or at the start of next week.

I’m sure we are all disappointed to see him being eliminated even with no Katie on his corner. But again, there’s every good moment we can look back from start to finish for Alex at this year’s Australian Open, and the best part about Alex’s 2025 campaign here is that every round of his matches were all played at the RLA.

I mean, a full house with full Aussie support alongside his explosive skillsets of grand slam brilliance that we can all be proud of as Tennis/Sports fans! How good!

Not only that, there’s still more to come from Alex throughout the course of 2025 as well. I see the early round Davis Cup Qualifiers are happening next weekend where Australia will fly over to Sweden as their first opponent away from home.

What else? Oh the other three grand slams where he made the last few QFs too & sure he will look to play his ever first semi-final there either way – you never know what will come if he does win that next match towards a shot in the Final.

So there you have it, while there’s no Aussies left in either singles draw or even doubles other than the mixed doubles category (an all-Aussie contest btw) – there’s always the two must-match semi-final days across tomorrow night for the women and throughout Friday for the men before all champions will be crowned this weekend.

Here’s the list below:

Ayrna Sabalenka v Paula Badosa
Madison Keys v Iga Swiatek
Novak Djokovic v Alexander Zverev
Ben Shelton v Jannik Sinner

January 22, 2025 0 comment

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2025 Australian Open Day 10: Some surprising moments with the women’s singles QF games while the experienced men’s players still hold off with their own wins at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches January 21, 2025

The first of the two Quarter-Final days at Melbourne Park was almost full of surprises but with 1-2 seasoned champions still in the race towards their own semi-final battles that will take place tomorrow night for the women and all of Friday with the men.

Who was the surprise winner there? New York-born Spaniard Paula Badosa over American Coco Gauff even though it was a close two set game but only one have won it in straight sets (5-7 & 4-6).

Plus, Anastasia Pavlychenkova almost shockingly stole the spotlight when Ayrna Sabalenka lost the second set that easily along with a small lead before Sabalenka came back and was relieved at the end to see out the Russian with the win (6-2, 2-6 and 6-3).

So the first semi locked in for Badosa v reigning champion Sabalenka.

Meanwhile, Tommy Paul had some good moments of his own at times at the break against the 2nd seed Alexander Zverev while he denied him a straight sets opportunity with a clean strike at the 3rd set. However, the lead was way off his opponent’s radar though especially when given the chance at the tiebreak (sets 1 & 2) when Zverev clearly turned out to be the winner out of a four-set showdown – 6-7 (1-7 tie), 6-7 (0-7 tie), 6-2 and 1-6.

And last but not least, looks like the Novak Djokovic x Andy Murray duo with Murray coaching him has gone to live another day thanks to Novak’s win over Carlos Alcaraz.

The only place where Alcaraz has not won a grand slam title here will have to wait another year. Yes, he had a terrific start as one of today’s and tomorrow’s finest elite Tennis players. However, King Djokovic isn’t done with retirement just yet even at the age of 37, and there he goes to lock the Spaniard out once again like it was at the Paris Olympics gold medal match last August when it comes to the long runs – the final score was 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 & 6-4.

1st semi-final now confirmed between regular semi-finalist Zverev & 10 x Australian Open winner in Djokovic.

There’s two more QF matches today in both the women’s and men’s singles draw:

Madison Keys v Elina Svitolina
Emma Navarro v Iga Swiatek
Ben Shelton v Lorenzo Sonego
Jannik Sinner v Alex De Minaur

That last game of the day today is the one we are looking for as Australian sports and Tennis fans as well as some from the UK if you’re a Katie Boulter fan. We all know what was like when Sinner regularly won games against The Demon before but Alex’s full support will be key no matter what the result will be tonight at the RLA.

January 21, 2025 0 comment

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2025 Australian Open Day 9: Alex De Minaur now a first-time Quarter-Finalist on home soil following his straight sets win over American Alex Michelsen

by Sports Benches January 20, 2025

The winner of the Alex final 4th Round match last night goes to our own Alex De Minaur over American Alex Michelsen in straight sets 0-6, 6-7 with 5-7 tiebreak and 3-6 at Rod Laver Arena – the place he’s only been playing there through his whole 2025 Australian Open run so far.

For Michelsen, it’s been great seeing the best of him up until this point having made a name himself at only 20 through upset wins over Stefanos Tsitsipas (1R) & Karen Khachanov (3R). Yes, it wasn’t his day when he lacked a couple of areas to tidy up his game but surely there’s a lot more to come from him soon throughout 2025.

Now bring on reigning champion Jannik Sinner from Italy for Wednesday night’s Quarter-Final no matter what happens with the result, especially when Sinner has always been the better player than him with 2 x grand slam championships on hand. Well, he may be the current and future of men’s world tennis but that doesn’t mean ‘The Demon’ can’t do well or at least be at his best, especially when playing in front of his home supporters.

This is what we want for Alex to be on the front foot off the back of his tremendous start last night along with the bull of a fighter like we saw during that intense 2nd stage encounter all the way to that tiebreak & he knows what to do to sign things off when the match goes his way.

Nothing more, nothing less – that’s all.

Our Aussie support needs him and he needs them to cheer him up, especially if his next opponent will be Sinner as miracles tend to happen too amongst other players so far in this tournament.

Over to you Alex now for his first Australian Open QF tomorrow night thanks to his brilliant form so far at the RLA including a string of recent grand slam Quarter-Final appearances outside of Melbourne Park last season.

In the meantime, what a win and what a night it was last night with his mother Esther in attendance who witnessed so much joy of seeing his son finally able to play in a home QF grand slam for the first time as these are things you love to see. Not only that, here’s some more Katie & Alex together in action where Katie was cheering on once again by his side as a spectator.

January 20, 2025 0 comment

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Tennis x Sports Crossover at the 2025 Australian Open: Super Rugby, All Blacks & Wallabies preview along with Netball in New Zealand and Jack Doohan under pressure for only the first six races in Formula 1 at Alpine-Renault

by Sports Benches January 19, 2025

And last but not least, how about we give a shoutout to two Wallabies stars Harry Wilson (Queensland Reds) and Max Jorgensen (NSW Waratahs), who were both in attendance at Melbourne Park this weekend to cheer on Alex De Minaur.

Yet, the Demon did win after all to play in the 4th round for the 4th straight year of his AO men’s singles career.

It was also nice seeing Harry and Max lend over that Wallabies green and gold jersey to Alex and look at him go! – How good!

Rugby Union

We first have a jam-pack year of Rugby ahead of us with the 11-team Super Rugby competition set to start in a month’s time before the British and Irish Lions arrive at our own backyard during winter. Plus, there’s Club Rugby at the same, the Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup in August-September, and we finish off the year in Europe v the North’s best sides on earth.

First of all, it’s been a bitter blow not seeing Melbourne field a Rugby team anymore in the Rebels when they are a big sporting city due to financial problems. But with lots of people playing AFL (Aussie Rules) and even NRL (Rugby League), it seems there’s no room for Rugby to succeed in that place unfortunately.

Now we are down to four teams with the Western Force still around & as we all know the ACT Brumbies would love to finally play in a Grand Final. However, we would need the Tahs, Reds or even Force to be playing in the semis either way in order for the Wallabies to succeed & that includes the Brumbies. It’s never been a better time to try taking that advantage now, especially with Joseph Suaalii onboard from the Sydney Roosters (NRL) to the Waratahs.

Other than that, the NZ teams will still be dominating for the most part along with a new-look Crusaders, even though the All Blacks had their bad times last season when it comes to the Springboks and France.

Netball

If Rugby isn’t big enough for NZ, why not Netball when they also have a huge year ahead?

The Silver Ferns will be stopping by in Sydney soon to spend nine days there as part of their training camp including a Practice Match v the NSW Swifts featuring the Ferns former star shooter (for now) Grace Nweke on Sunday, February 2.

They will also have a slightly different ANZ Premiership season amongst half of the six teams having brand new coaches (Mainland Tactix, Southern Steel and Northern Stars) between May-July including Finals with a two-round home-and-away format across 10-12 weeks rather than playing three times last year.

Yes, the Ferns haven’t organised any matches lined-up yet for the second half season but we are still expected to see the Taini Jamison Trophy series back regardless of opponent. Although England have won it last year but the good news is that they will be able to defend the Constellation Cup v the Aussie Diamonds following their 3-1 series win back in late October.

And shoutout to former Silver Fern and current GWS Giants (Western Sydney) player Gina Crampton who plays at Wing Attack and was also in attendance from the stands for Alex De Minaur’s game yesterday – sure she still has plenty to offer at age 33, especially playing against the best in Super Netball.

Formula 1

What else? Rugby & Netball isn’t the only sport who mix and matches well with Tennis.

I also wish Alpine-Renault’s Jack Doohan from Formula 1 was there to see Alex also because they do look like each other with both of them having a smiley face personality. Surely, Jack can get some tips on defying those odds from Alex when there’s a bunch of reverse drivers waiting in his wings under pressure including Franco Colapinto. Alex did beat another Argentine actually yesterday too in Francisco Cerundolo; hopefully, this will cheer Jack up in a bid to keep his seat over the first six odd races of the season.

Although I can understand Jack is more aligned with Ayrna Sabalenka because she visited his team’s garage in his unexpected F1 debut last month at Abu Dhabi & Jack came back in return for Ayrna when she played a match a few weeks ago at the Brisbane International.

Post-Notes

Can’t believe there’s a whole lot of other athletes watching for fun there rather than looking to go toe-to-toe with the pro Tennis players & see who’s better?

Time will tell.

January 19, 2025 0 comment

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2025 Australian Open Day 8: Ayrna Sabalenka too good over Mirra Andreeva & a heartbreaking end for Jack Draper due to injury with Carlos Alcaraz’s win via walkover

by Sports Benches January 19, 2025

Day 8 of the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park so far began with Ayrna Sabalenka being too good for Mirra Andreeva, Coco Gauff sensational from the opening set down to a tremendous 2nd & 3rd set fightback over Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, and Carlos Alcaraz through to the Quarter-Final thanks to Jack Draper’s injury issues when he couldn’t continue following the 2nd set.

With Sabalenka, we always love having a crowd favourite, especially at the RLA alongside her love of dance moves on TikTok unlike 2022 AO women’s runner-up Danielle Collins, who was knocked out in straight sets by her US compatriot Madison Keys. As said, she was unstoppable and unchallenged from start to finish – that’s all. Now her opponent will be 4 x AO and seasoned Quarter-Finalist in Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

For Andreeva, her record here wasn’t bad while she’s slightly better on clay when playing at the Roland Garros (semi-final where she was def. by Jasmine Paolini) including the Paris Olympics (Silver medal with Diana Shnaider for their unofficial Belarusian & Russian country team in the women’s doubles) last year. Yes, she’s only 17 and has a very bright future ahead but just not her day today at the hands of a AO’s back-to-back defending champion.

Meanwhile, the first of the men’s R16 also began during the day a bit later in the afternoon with Alcaraz and Draper. That first set was top-notch between someone who has won each of the grand slams outside the AO so far and a rising Brit coming off a breakthrough US Open run outside of the Final last year.

Alcaraz managed to win the first two sets with the second one being too quick.

But then the match ended right on the spot without seeing the other half distance hoping to see a Jack Draper miracle from behind when the Briton just couldn’t go on due to injury issues. He took some medical time out following the first set before he realised he had to retire hurt after he lost the second by saving it for the best next time.

Yeah, heartbreaking to see him go following a brilliant run up here until this point every time Jack sees off through a series of five-set contests & nothing else like a straight or four-sets win – such as Argentine Mariano Navone (1R) + two Aussies in Thanasi Kokkinakis (2R) & Aleksandar Vukic (3R). We wish him all the very best with his recovery as he’s got really good potential to dominate in the other grand slam events later this year.

Carlos Alcaraz’s bid to finally win his first AO continues and that may be a bit of a tall order when it comes to his next opponent. Although he has that young age advantage if 22 x championship winner Novak Djokovic wins over Jiří Lehečka tonight & it looks like Novak has Andy Murray by his side as his coach.

Interesting to see what both veterans has been up to stop these next gen elite youngsters stealing the torch from him as this ain’t over by the 37-year-old himself.

For now, Day 8 continues tonight with Alex De Minaur coming back out tomorrow night to hopefully book his first AO Quarter-Final when he takes on 20-year-old US superstar Alex Michelsen, even though that potential QF opponent may likely to be current champ Jannik Sinner.

January 19, 2025 0 comment

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2025 Australian Open Tennis Day 7: Alex De Minaur marches his way into the 4th round for the 4th straight year following his four-set win v Francisco Cerundolo

by Sports Benches January 18, 2025

After nearly four hours through the course of this entire afternoon, Alex De Minaur is still in it with the men’s singles race as the lone Aussie standing at the famed RLA thanks to his 3rd round win over Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina in the best of four sets – 7-5, 6-7 (3-7 tie), 3-6 & 3-6.

It’s been a sigh of relief for Alex to get past the Argentine who has been a tough opponent for him at times having lost the opening set. But boy, he’s been ever so strong & persistent in the long runs, especially when he slapped his thighs as his lucky charm to keep himself moving by covering lots of ground along the way.

Although not only Alex needs to better get himself ahead early but he would have to finish well as best as he possible can because his next opponent will be a rising wonderkid in town who hails from the US & has been making waves so far at only the age of 20 – his name is Alex Michelsen.

Yes, he may have won against Michelsen twice last year but still he’s a completely different player on another level now.

So yeah, it’s game on between the Demon and another US Tennis wonderkid.

Whoever wins this next round will be expected to go up against men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner (Italy) unless someone else shockingly eliminates him in the process but we are sure to live with that as we know what was like when De Minaur previously faced the World No.1 many times before with extreme difficulty.

If he’s going to face the Italian again, then our strong Aussie support would do it to keep him keep on churning in home turf, having supported him well today and they are sure to continue cheering on his brilliant journey all on the one place so far at RLA, and that includes his fiancé & British tennis star Katie Boulter by his side!

Super Saturday continues to live on through the night before the Round of 16 portion starts during midday tomorrow.

Since fellow Briton Emma Raducanu has been blown away real fast by one of the world’s top players in Iga Swiatek who still has a point to prove other than being the Queen of Roland Garros, there’s still a hunch of US players to look out for between now & the 2nd week. There’s like 2023 US Open winner Coco Gauff, Emma Navarro and either one of Madison Keys or the female version of Daniil Medvedev in 2022 AO runner-up Danielle Collins.

January 18, 2025 0 comment

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2024-25 EFL Championship Match 27 of 46: Burnley sees off 0-0 draw thanks to James Trafford’s back-to-back shot-stopping saves v high-flying Sunderland AFC at Turf Moor

by Sports Benches January 17, 2025

Well, Burnley may have been gone into the weekend with some signs of relief despite their 0-0 draw v Sunderland, with thanks to super towering goalkeeper James Trafford, who saved not one but two late penalties against opposing striker Wilson Isidor, as hats off to the club’s strongest defensive efforts + Trafford hands down.

While Isidor was disappointed not to push Sunderland back closer towards the Top 2 when he tried to score a few times even during penalties, Burnley needs to keep Trafford at all costs for at least the next one-and-a-half years, as we do understand his ambitions to play for a Top 6-7 Premier League club like Newcastle United at some point. We know Sunderland has been like this season so far under new coach Regis Le Bris and even though they may have slipped away a bit outside the Top 2 automatic spots, they’re still flying high especially when they gave a good scare against the Burnley defense in attack.

What Burnley could’ve done better though is the way they attack on their own which can be frustrating at times. Like nothing against Zian Flemming (currently on-loan) who can give his fans some really good moments every time he knicks a goal, but it seems he would be better off behind the striker at No.10 rather than lead the line (No.9). At the end of the day though, Scott Parker continues to be happy with his striking options, especially wanting to do things differently as their head coach.

Maybe Burnley should think about that instead with only a week and a bit to go in the January transfer window, although they might as well another Championship-quality winger in Morgan Whittaker from Plymouth Argyle as their primary signing target. So a new striker may not be necessary when they aren’t a prolific scoring team – that’s okay. However, injecting more pace into the final third though would probably be a game changer – as long as the tactics are right.

For now, they are joint leaders with Daniel Farke’s Leeds United on 53 points; Although not for long with Leeds United most likely going to beat Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow morning & so would Sheffield United v Norwich City. That means, Burnley would be in 3rd but still there’s still a fair bit of work to do if they wish to dominate the Championship – they’re currently 3 points shy off top spot.

January 17, 2025 0 comment

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2025 Australian Open Day 6: Jack Draper comes out triumphant following his 3R win against another Aussie opponent yet again this time against Aleksandar Vukic

by Sports Benches January 17, 2025

Damn, that was a bummer when Aleksandar Vukic was so close to closing out his third round match against 15th seed Briton Jack Draper but it seems he threw his chances away when trying to cross that finish line, and it turns out Draper succeeded in the end where Vukic failed following a long four-hour contest.

So that means, Jack Draper has once again won yet another Ashes of Tennis match against the Aussies this time under much a much higher standard against a completely different opponent in Vukic, having previously defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis in the 2nd Round a few days ago.

When will this winning streak gonna end? Don’t know. For now, he deserves to hold that little Urn as if it’s a five-match series.

But he will have a tough next match ahead this Sunday v Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (3rd seed), who only needs this tournament to complete his collection of grand slam champions, other than the Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open.

He’s been there in the toughest of circumstances before off the back of his stunning US Open breakthrough in September last year from breaking Alex De Minaur’s heart at first in the Quarters to being knocked out by eventual champion Jannik Sinner during the last 4.

But he’s only just getting started at the age of 21 with more bumps expected to learn along the way regardless of this Sunday’s result. Other than that, it’s been a journey Vukic can be totally proud of following his best grand slam performance to date, especially at the ripe age of 28.

We wish Vukic all the best and he still has unfinished business at Melbourne Park when it comes to the men’s doubles competition straight after a good night’s rest and his first game will be an all-Aussie affair where he will join forces with James Duckworth against Luke Saville & Li Tu.

For now, we are rolling onto Super Saturday for Day 7 of 15 at Melbourne Park as everyone in Australia will be right behind Alex De Minaur – the only one standing in this men’s singles draw. Plus, there should be some from Great Britain if you’re a Katie Boulter fan who will be by his side from the stands – even though she won’t be able to take any further part following her elimination from 2R the other day in the women’s singles draw by Veronika Kudermetova. His next match will also be an afternoon game at the same Rod Laver Arena showpiece this time against Francisco Cerúndolo (Argentina).

January 17, 2025 0 comment