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Ash Barty

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Nick Kyrgios is now one win away from taking home the Gentlemen’s Singles title at Wimbledon after Rafa Nadal’s exit due to injury yesterday

by Sports Benches

Earlier this morning here in Australia, we woke up to the news that 22 x grand slam champion from Spain Rafa Nadal made a difficult decision to exit in this year’s running at Wimbledon ahead of tonight’s semi-final due to injury. That paves the way for our own Nick Kyrgios – who is now one step away from winning his first grand slam championship on Sunday – thanks to Rafa’s withdrawal via walkover. For now, he will watch the other semi final in a few hours time & see who will be his next challenger – either Britain’s Cameron Norrie or Novak Djokovic from Serbia.

Yes, it’s been heartbreaking not to see him continue if you’re a Rafa fan, but recovery comes first before getting back up to speed with fitness on the tennis court. We would’ve liked to see him win his third straight grand slam title this year, as well as make it title No.23 & go one better to complete the clean sweep at the US Open.

Although he can take home the fourth & grand slam tournament of the year in mid-September, but he will be approaching age 37 now going into mid-2023. So there will be plenty of decisions made if Rafa is gonna bounce back or else retire next year. If he still chooses to play, then he will try and be the third player to win all four grand slams in a single year before retiring from the sport for good – after Rod Laver back in 1962 & 1969 & Don Budge in 1938.

Meanwhile, what a moment to savour from our Aussie own Nick Kyrgios in his first grand slam final appearance – with the Wimbledon Men’s Singles trophy now on his sights. This is the moment he has been waiting for a long time after he took the world by storm out of nowhere – especially when he shocked 4th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece in the 3rd Round a few days ago.

Yes, there’s going to be talk about his off-court life over the next few weeks but now it’s not the time to talk about it. Instead, Australia is right behind him on the cusp of making history at Wimbledon – which would mean another golden moment in Australian tennis and sport in general – alongside the now retired Ash Barty earlier this year at the Australian Open.

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The next best Australian Tennis stars to watch following the retirement from Ash Barty

by Admin

Ashleigh Barty, a three-time Grand Slam champion, has announced her retirement from tennis. Barty, the No. 1 ranked women’s player got her country most of its major tournament, made it known publicly on Wednesday that she was leaving tennis for other pursuits. This will be the third time that Barty has stepped away from professional tennis but this is her first time of announcing her retirement. But her sudden retirement announcement coming after her triumph Melbourne, is a decision she has considered a lot. She has spent 113 weeks altogether at No. 1 putting her seventh on the career list. Barty happen to be the first women’s player to retire while on top of the single rankings since the Belgian star Justine Henin suddenly announced her retirement in May 2008.

Presently, and probably for eternity, Barty has ended her career $23.8 million prize money plus 15 career singles titles, including three at Grand Slam tournaments. In 2019, she won the French Open, in 2021 she won Wimbledon, and Australia Open this year, which means that she has won major singles titles on all three of tennis’ primary surfaces (clay, grass and hard court). Her triumph in the Australia Open gave her a great ending. She withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open making her Melbourne triumph her last match.

To conclude with, her unexpected retirement is obviously a blow to the sport. Barty is extremely popular in Australia with her humble personality. She is also a very important figure of Indigenous Austrailan descent.

After Barty’s retirement, there are few Aussie women’s players to watch: There are just two Australian women sitting in the world’s top 100 and they are Ajla Tomljanovic and Astra Sharma.

Ajla Tomljanovic has recorded eight singles wins in her career best Grand Slam season. She reached the Wimbledon quarter finals and US open third round. Ajla played a major role in the Fed Cup final in November 2019, making her first win for the country.

Astra Sharma won her first WTA singles title in April. She won her second WTA doubles title in Guadalajara. She was named twice in the Fed Cup team in 2019.

A 19 year old Olivier Gadecki. She is one of the fastest risers on the WTA the previous year. She moved from no ranking to mid-200s.

Charlotte Kempenaers and Tayla Preston are the two highest ranked juniors at the moment. They are both ranked in the top 40 – 50 in the world. Both of them will be competing at the upcoming junior grand slams.

THE NEXT BEST AUSTRAILIAN TENNIS STAR (MEN)

At 23, Alex de Minaur is one of Australia’s brilliant tennis prospect. He has continued to arise heads and he is still a player to keep close eye on moving forward.

De Minaur will be in action at the Miami Open on the 29th of March to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of 32. Alex De Minaur has kept Australia’s hopes alive with a victory in the Davis Cup qualifier over Marton Fucsovics. In a relentless display, De Manaur defeated Fusovic, who is is ranked No. 35 in the world and 5 places below De Minaur.

James Duckworth is an Australia professional tennis player. He has a high rank in Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of the world No. 47 who he achieved on November 8 2021 and No. 185 doubles achieved on February 10 2020. Duckworth has won three titles and reached the semifinals of the 2010 French Open.

Thanasi Kokkinakis has made another chapter in his stunning 2022 comeback story with a victory over Hungary in the Davis Cup qualifier. It was his first match win in the world team event since 2015. That was the last time he represented Australia against Great Britain in the World Group semifinals.

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Tennis News, Ash Barty just became the new Australian Open women’s singles champion on home soil after she defeated Danielle Collins in straight sets

by Sports Benches

Wow!! Can you believe it as Ash Barty just defeated 27th seed American Danielle Collins in straight sets & made history at Rod Laver Arena, as she is now the new Australian Open women’s singles champion. It’s her third grand slam title that first began at the French Open in 2019 followed by Wimbledon last year and her dream to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup on home soil has now been fulfilled in Melbourne tonight.

She and Collins were on the same page at the beginning before Barty shifted a gear or two which justified the opening set lead, now Barty may have been tested a few times by Collins, who almost tied 1-1, after a brilliant response. However, she never gave up with so much patience having fought back a couple of games, brought it towards a tiebreaker & renewed that momentum where Barty beat Collins to the punch in the end.

And Collins would be disappointed to end up behind Barty, she came in this main draw as the 27th seed where she worked very hard through each round by upsetting some opponents along the way and here she is now in the main event. Collins returned the favor well back to Barty especially in the 2nd set having respond beautifully which was almost too good to pull off & still be in the game, it’s just not her night when it comes to the 2nd half momentum as Collins couldn’t hold back Barty before she eventually ran out of options at the tiebreak that saw her opponent race towards a home run.

Final Score: 6-3, 7-6 via 7-2 tiebreaker to Barty

Love seeing an Australian win a major grand slam title at home, it’s a huge night to write another breakthrough moment in the history of Australian sport. Let’s hope Ash continues her best tennis throughout the year and the next few years to come for more Grand Slam silverware. And for Collins, she will use her runner-up campaign here for some room for improvement, so she can try to improve these other Grand Slam records towards at least more Finals appearances that will help finally win a championship.

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Tennis News, Danielle Collins will face Ash Barty for the 2022 Australian Open women’s singles final after she just defeated comfortably v Iga Swiatek in the 2nd semi-final tie

by Sports Benches

There’s another easy semi-final win from American Danielle Collins, who just knocked down 7th seed from Poland Iga Swiatek, in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, as she will meet Australian Ash Barty for Saturday’s Australian Open women’s singles final.

Swiatek would be gutted with the semi-final loss, she fought so hard to keep in contention having won back some games in the opening set that almost derailed Collins’s strong start. She just couldn’t match what her opponent offered where the strong start build-up play, building a decent lead and being afforded ample time to execute saw her eventual elimination out of the Final 4.

And Collins was unbelievable on the court tonight, not only did she credit the closed roof while the rain was there but also the hard track surface where she produced the better game than Swiatek. Collins used her early lead with patience which paid off in the opening set before she went full-on after the break & that proved easy to nail down in just over an hour of play.

All eyes on the main event this Saturday, can Collins win her first grand slam or will it be Ash Barty, who can end the 43-year long drought, and be the next Australian to win on home soil since Chris O’Neil in 1978?

For now, the tables turn on the men’s semi-finals day tomorrow with Matteo Berrettini v Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas v Daniil Medvedev as four will turn to two by the Men’s singles final on Sunday.

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Tennis News, Ash Barty is through to the Final of the 2022 Australian Open womens’ singles final after she defeated Madison Keys in straight sets

by Sports Benches

We have an Australian in an Australian Open womens’ singles final at last in a long time, Ash Barty has made it after a very easy & straight sets win (6-1, 6-3) v American Madison Keys in just 62 minutes at Rod Laver Arena. All eyes on the 2nd and last semi-final game shortly between another American Danielle Collins v Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

Keys went a long, long way after a disappointing 2021 campaign & kickstarted 2022 with a bang on Australian shores, she fought back some games after the break having tried to hold this tie for longer. However, a poor start combined with a huge lead gap behind the Aussie was just too much to catch up before it was over.

And Ash Barty was outstanding where she was on the same page as Keys at the beginning before she shifted plenty of gears that reflected an easy 1st set spell, it gave her time to finish up the job going into the 2nd set while Keys fought back a few games late as Barty pulled off comfortably towards the homestretch.

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Australian Open News, All eyes on Alex De Minaur in the Men’s singles Round of 16 tie today v Jannik Sinner for Australia after Ash Barty advanced to the women’s Quarter-Final last night

by Sports Benches

Great to see Ash Barty in the Quarter-Finals after another straight sets (6-4, 6-3) win v Amanda Anisimova, she had fought back a series of close battles at the beginning which wasn’t easy before it led to a easier path later on that summed up Barty’s terrific Sunday night at Rod Laver Arena. Her next challenger will be 21st seed Jessica Pegula on Wednesday, where one of them will face either Barbora Krejcikova or Madison Keys for the first semi-final tie on Thursday.

Anisimova played some great games especially when she fired off early on both sets, but she just couldn’t bridge that 2nd half consistency that became her huge weakness throughout this round of 16 tie and it eventually let her down. She has a bright future though having upsetted the reigning champion Naomi Osaka prior to her meeting last night v Barty, and Anisimova is sure to return where she left off from the 2019 French Open semis with the help of her consultant Darren Cahill.

For now, it’s all eyes on the men’s singles side and hope that another Aussie will advance to the Final 8, when Alex De Minaur will meet 11th seed Italian Jannik Sinner later this afternoon also at Rod Laver Arena.

#Tennis #AshBarty #AmandaAnisimova #JessicaPegula #AustralianOpen #GrandSlam #RodLaverArena

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Tennis News, Ash Barty continues her 2022 Australian Open campaign with another easy win against 30th seed Camila Giorgi from Italy at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

What an easy win where Ash Barty has just wrapped this up in just one hour & one minute through straight sets at Rod Laver Arena v 30th seed Italian Camila Giorgi, she will now face American Amanda Anisimova, who just upset reigning Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka, for Round 4 on Sunday.

Final Score: 6-2, 6-3

There are no problems whatsoever from Barty, who fired off and built a very easy lead, now she may be a bit challenged along the way where Giorgi fought back a game or two but she always showed plenty of firepower that reflected her easy spell tonight.

And Giorgi gutted with the loss after being eliminated in Round 3, she won a couple of games & did her best to rescue this game having been on the same page as Barty after the break, however, she was way behind when it comes to the overall lead and just couldn’t catch up through the end of both sets.

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Tennis News, Sam Stosur wraps up her singles career at the 2022 Australian Open with the doubles still the come before beginning retirement after her defeat in RD2 v Anastasia Pavlychenkova

by Sports Benches

Sam Stosur may have just been eliminated in Round 2 from this year’s Australian Open women’s singles tournament by 10th seed Russian Anastasia Pavlychenkova (2-6, 2-6), but what a stellar career she’s had in the singles circuit for a long time having been runner-up in the 2010 French Open, won the 2011 US Open women’s singles title & an elite player in the doubles with four grand slam championships too.

Now she still has the doubles campaign to play a part later on in Melbourne with Zhang Shuai (Women’s doubles) & Matt Ebden (Mixed doubles), but Stosur will also want to end things on a high note on home soil before she begins retirement off the court & spend more time with her partner Liz and 1 1/2 year old daughter Genevieve.

It’s great to see Sam Stosur lift the profile of Tennis in Australia that inspires these kids to take up this sport & follow her lead in the hope of becoming the next Grand Slam star, have a look at Ash Barty, who currently holds the baton in this legacy, having won the French Open in 2019 as well as Wimbledon last year & now she hopes to become the next Aussie win at home for the first time since Chris O’Neil in 1978.

For now, we wish her all the best on life off the court.

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Tennis News, Ash Barty’s bid to win the Australian Open on home soil in 2022 kicks off with an easy 1st Round win v Lesia Tsurenko at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

Ash Barty’s bid to win the Australian Open at home began with a super-easy Round 1 tie v Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko at Rod Laver Arena, she wrapped this up in just under one hour through straight sets (6-0, 6-1) as her next opponent for Round 2 will be Qualifier Lucia Bronzetti from Italy.

She’s done it from top to bottom which is what her fans have paid for to see her play at Center Court, better to take it one tie at a time before that ultimate dream will come as her best finish here was the Semi-Finals in 2020 and Quarter-Finals last year.

It’s always for Tsurenko tough to break down against such an elite opponent which is something anyone will not like to face as she’s already eliminated here in Melbourne, she did take a game or two but then it’s Barty at the same time pulling it off by more than a mile towards the homestretch.

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2021 Wimbledon Tennis News, Women Singles Final Review of Ash Barty v Karolina Pilskova

by Sports Benches

This year’s Wimbledon women singles final is incredible to watch.

Great start to build a great 1st set base from Ash Barty at 6-3 which isn’t hard.

She may have fought tough close battles against Karolina Pilskova along the way, having lost the second set 6-7 via the tiebreaker (2-7).

The competitiveness remained top quality going into the 3rd set, as Pilskova did her best to stay in contention.

But it’s Barty who pulled off first at the finish line, when she overcame another stage of huge duels against Pilskova at 6-3. That is enough to crown her as this year’s Wimbledon ladies singles champion.

Well done on making the whole entire of Australia proud Ash!!

And fair play to Pilskova on her fightback from the 2nd set after a slow start, she just couldn’t find the time needed to hold back Barty.

Onto to the Matteo Berrettini v Novak Djokovic meeting in the Men’s Singles Final tomorrow now.

#wimbledon #thechampionships #tennis #grandslam #ashbarty #karolinapilskova #centrecourt

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