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2025 Australian Open: Alex De Minaur and Katie Boulter off to their own good starts as the three-day opening round becomes back-to-back next rounds from today

by Sports Benches

So there you have it, it was a really top and lovely day yesterday for those who have been keeping an eye on one of the most power couples of world Tennis and also soon to be husband and wives too – our own Alex De Minaur and Katie Boulter from Great Britain in Leicester.

De Minaur absolutely too good thanks to a flying start by writing off the looming threat his that first round opponent was about to come up with against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets (1-6, 5-7 & 4-6). Looking at that Dutchman when some people has been talking up about him, it seems that he did do well at the US Open last year through to the third round but so far played in a Quarter-Final at the same place once back in 2021 – not much of a shock there to kick the Demon out. But hey, at least, De Minaur was the better player we know with still a long way to go if he was going to play his first Quarter-Final on home soil – very important to get behind him all along as a huge Australian Sports and Tennis fan.

Next up, American Tristan Boyer tomorrow rolling onto Round 2 as so far, so good to kickstart his journey on home crowd at the famed Rod Laver Arena showpiece.

Not only De Minaur was up and flying, his fiance Katie Boulter also off to a great start also at the same time last night, even though she had to overcome a 2nd set loss to shut down Canadian Rebecca Marino (4-6, 6-3 and 5-7).

Yes, her journey looks a bit different to her loved one but she has been improving though in recent months, especially at WTA events plus the team tournaments for her country as we speak. Entering the 2025 AO as the 22nd seed with ranked No.23 in singles is such a huge reward for her to justify also going into tomorrow when Katie will take on Veronika Kudermetova who just defeated Olivia Gadeki (also one of our own) yesterday in straight sets (6-1, 6-1).

Another day, another win from both players with a bit of fun along the way when Alex and Katie appeared on The Hundred AO edition segment last night with comedian Andy Lee on Nine. We are sure to come back tomorrow for their next journey as we shall see both staying on for this weekend’s third round and hopefully the next for the Round of 16.

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Australian Open Tennis 2025: Nick Kyrgios eliminated on his return to grand slam singles by Jacob Fearnley from Scotland after a long time away due to injury

by Sports Benches

Last night was the moment we’ve been waiting for Nick Kyrgios to return out on-court after a long 1 1/2 years away from Tennis due to injury. Although his return wasn’t the result we wanted with Scotland’s Jacob Fearnley going through to the second round in straight sets, he at least did his best even though he wasn’t 100% fit to keep up with his opponent.

Yes, he fired off not bad where he gave us a really good time (love him or hate him, he’s one of our Aussie Tennis players) but still lack the long runs to beat him to the punch. 

Not long following his early-round elimination, it seems he played his final singles’ match again – at least at Melbourne Park with a bit more to go in the other grand slams later this year- during his post-match press conference. 

However, he has been successful in doubles before and that’s where he can still play an important for the rest of his career, especially at the age of nearly 30.

Yeah, gonna miss his own swashbuckling personality no matter how you see it as that’s how Nick operates if he truly decides to stick only on doubles for at least the next few years. 

Everyone in Australia has cheered on him many times before including his Wimbledon Final breakthrough by surprise back in 2022 alongside Ajla Tomjlanovic (eliminated in the Quarter-Finals) only for him to be defeated by his good mate Novak Djokovic. 

We also hoped he & Ajla could’ve carried into the 2023 AO with high hopes like Ash Barty did from her 2021 Wimbledon win on what has been her home championship win in the women’s singles’ Final v Danielle Collins (USA) before she announced her retirement from the game on a high note.

But again both of them suffered huge injuries along the way and unfortunately, that’s probably the last we probably saw from Kyrgios and Tomjlanovic.

For now, will we see Nick make a huge splash with our strong doubles’ competition & have his other “Special K’s” partner Thanasi Kokkinakis that is to begin later this tournament? We’ll see as his fitness to keep himself in good condition is at the upmost priority for now.

And if you want more AO spice today, there’s not only but two players everyone in Australia needs to get behind with:

  • Katie Boulter’s journey (even though she’s British & plays for them at team tournaments) set to begin this afternoon v Canadian Rebecca Marino.
  • Then her fiancé Alex De Minaur will also begin his own campaign tonight v Botic van de Zandschulp from the Netherlands.

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Australian Open 2025 Day 1: Sabalenka, Zverev, Ruud among the winners

by Admin

The first day of the Australian Open 2025 set forth plenty of action including the reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka defending the crown for the second time as well as top seeds Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, and Zheng Qinwen getting a taste of the competition.

Here is everything you need to know about AO 2025 Day 1.

Anca Todoni vs Qinwen Zheng

Chinese tennis star Qinwen Zheng began the Australian Open by facing Romanian Anca Todoni. There was little to differentiate between the two in the first set, which went to a tiebreak. 

After a grueling 75 minutes, Zheng ultimately secured the first set 7-6. The second set was much different. Despite the thunderous weather, the world number 5 looked more comfortable at the Rod Laver Arena. She got the lead 3-0 early into the second set and finished things off 7-6, 6-1 with an ace to qualify for round 2. 

She acknowledged after the match that the first set was “not easy” for her. It is unclear so far who she’ll face in round 2.

Casper Ruud vs Jaume Munar

In men’s singles, world number 6 Casper Ruud took on the tricky Spaniard Jaume Munar. In a five set thriller, Munar showed incredible tennis as he won the second set 1-6 after Ruud secured the first one 6-3. 

The Norwegian went on to win the third set 7-5 and lose the next one 2-6. Munar’s resilience eventually faded away, as he didn’t have much to show in the fifth set which ended in favor of Casper Ruud (6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1).

Casper will either face Jakub Mensik or Nikoloz Basilashvili in the next round. With 48 winners in the match and a close finish in last year’s Roland Garros, the Norwegian looks in good shape and could be up for winning his first ever grand slam title.

Aryna Sabalenka vs Sloane Stephens

Aryna Sabalenka continued her top form from the 2024 season where she captured her second Australian Open title and also the US Open title. The world number 1 tennis star has her eyes set on winning the AO title for the third consecutive time, a feat not very common in the women’s singles.

Sabalenka faced Sloane Stephens (US Open 2017 winner) in her first main draw fixture. While the overall affair was in favor of the defending champion(6-3,6-2), Sabalenka’s serves ignited discussion online. 

Her first serve success rate was at 70%, her second serve fell even below that number. However, this is something that might get better as the tournament progresses. 

Sabalenka will next face Spanish star Jessica Bouzas in round 2.

Lucas Pouille vs Alexander Zverev

Last year Alexander Zverev had his hopes shattered in the Australian Open semi-final against Daniil Medvedev in an iconic 5-set classic. Since then, the German tennis star has played the Roland Garros final and US Open quarter-final.

Now, he looks hell-bent on winning a grand slam in 2025, as he says himself “everybody knows what I’m chasing.” Zverev who entered the tournament as world number 2 played against Lucas Pouille, the Frenchman who was the Australian Open semi-finalist in 2019.

While Pouille showed great tennis skills, it all went down to Zverev’s deadly first serves which also included 18 aces.

The final scorecard as expected was a straight set victory for Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The German will next face Spanish tennis star Pedro Martinez in the Australian Open round 2.

With Tsitsipas, Sinner, Dimitrov, Djokovic, Gauff, Azarenka, Svitlona, and Collins all scheduled to play their first round matches on Monday, action for Australian Open 2025 day 2 will continue from tomorrow.

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2024 Aus Open Golf: American Ryggs Johnston now a first-time champion with the Stonehaven Cup amid Lucas Herbert’s struggles on the final day at the Sandbelt

by Sports Benches

There were a bunch of our Aussie players still right up there when it comes to the lead over the weekend for the Australian Open Golf at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf Club aka the Sandbelt. But at the end of the day, an overseas player has won them over for yet another year & also loves our country – this time it’s Ryggs Johnston from Libby, Montana in the USA.

Ryggs thought he has lost it yesterday at times but that’s golf for you when playing in poor weather conditions, and he managed to recover that brilliantly before he kept that lead clear right through the very end – enjoy your Stonehaven Cup trophy along with the $290,000 bonus.

You gotta feel for Lucas Herbert who started off well & also kept the lead for the majority where he went into Day 4 with a small lead over Johnston. However, his series of mistakes including on the putting green made him wanting to pull his hair out, which was quite frustrating to hear.

It’s a shame that proved extremely costly after he fell down the pecking order from 1st-2nd to around shared 5th over the course of the final day’s afternoon.

Meanwhile, oh so close from Curtis Luck with his resurgence from just inside the shared Top 10 pack. It may not be enough to cut down Ryggs Johnston’s lead on time but good to see him finish 2nd by a three strokes gap though. So does Marc Leishman who also had a great weekend out alongside the improved Jasper Stubbs, even though it was a bit of a long shot following their shared third-placed finish by just four strokes behind at -14.

Also, shoutout to Kiradech Aphilbarnrat from Thailand off the back of his impressive day shift over in shared 5th alongside last weekend’s Australian PGA Championship winner Elvis Smylie, Harrison Crowe & last year’s Australian Open winner in Sydney Joaquin Niemann.

And last but not least, also great to see two Koreans take home both the women’s and the all abilities contest. This is the second time since 2013 that Jiyai Shin has won it that ended a two year feat from South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai, with amateur Hyojin Yang in 3rd. They also couldn’t get enough of Simon Seungmin Lee, who has autism, also too good with  the All Abilities category title over Wayne Perske (scoliosis & also a former player) by 12 after the best of three yesterday.

So the two big weeks PGA Tour of Australia’s major tournaments are now over for another year. We continue to see more of our Aussies dominating the Australian PGA Championship where we always continue to see this coming but not so much when it comes to the Australian Open since the event was organised in an all-in-one package since 2022. For now, best of luck to all both here and overseas going into season 2025.

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2024 Australian Open Golf Day 1 & 2: Lucas Herbert still holding on top spot with a few other overseas players coming after him to keep their streak of recent winners

by Sports Benches

The 2024 Australian Open Golf Tournament has returned to Melbourne once again across Kingston Heath and the Victorian Golf Club after last year’s event was being held in Sydney. 

The good news is for a start that we have an Aussie leading the charge ahead of moving day tomorrow in the hope of getting the job done by final day Sunday thanks to Lucas Herbert, who started off well and is still hold on in a great position by four strokes at 14 under par, as this could be a long time coming since Matt Jones last won it as a Aussie back in 2019.

If that’s not enough, we got last weekend’s Australian PGA Championship winner Elvis Smylie making his way up the food chain in Tied 3rd, and that brilliant shift earlier today came from Kingston following a slow start yesterday at the Vic. 

Looks like he’s right on the money if he can stay that way throughout this weekend since the last two rounds will only be dedicated at Kingston, having seen the organisers already sought out the bottom half players who will no longer take further part now than Day 2. 

Should he win the Australian Open instead of Herbert, Elvis would be the next player to accomplish the Australian PGA major double since Robert Allenby back in 2005 & also Peter Leonard back in 2004 – how good would it be to see that happening at the age of 22.

Don’t forget there’s a slate of overseas players still wanting to make this tournament their own and we’ve continued to see that happen since this tournament was heavily expanded in 2022. 

There’s Ryggs Johnston still in 2nd after another brilliant shift to his good start also with fellow American Jordan Gumberg leading the way in Tied 3rd alongside Harry Higgs, as well as Oliver Lindell from Finland, Austrian Lucas Nemecz & don’t forget the Englishman in Matt Southgate.

Although you never know what could come if and when a few other Aussies and even Kiwis would be up for a great battle to try and steal the show as long as they can keep things up ahead of Sunday.

Elsewhere, Cameron Smith’s beef with the Sandbelt at Kingston continues this time on-course following a poor Day 2 earlier today from Tied 4th to now Tied 16th. The same goes to amateur Rintaro Nakano from Japan the other way round by surprise who was 2nd but now Tied 12th after he swapped from Kingston to the Vic. 

Plus, Min Woo Lee somehow survived the cut despite some knee issues as he’s currently on Tied 37th with still more work to do. And we won’t be seeing Anthony Quayle this weekend when he came off a good run a week ago from finishing just behind Smith and Smylie at the Aus PGA Championship in Royal Queensland to a bang average Aus Open show to forget. 

Now let’s hope this Aus Open 2024 edition will cap it off with a Aussie winner at last or yet another overseas player to saviour, which one would it be? It’s all happening at Kingston Heath’s Sandbelt as make sure you’re there to see it all if you can or there’s always Nine/9Now and Fox Sports/Kayo Sports on TV and online on the go.

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Today’s Tennis Match, Jannik Sinner goes from 2-0 down to now becoming the Australian Open winner on his first grand slam final match v Daniil Medvedev at RLA

by Sports Benches

How good was that men’s singles final to wrap up a long 15 days of the 2024 Australian Open at Melbourne Park when we thought Daniil Medvedev (Russia) was just one set away in his 3rd attempt here after a great start with the 2-0 lead v Jannik Sinner (Italy). However, Sinner won back to deny him not just a straight sets attempt but he also brought himself up into a 5th set decider at 2-2 all before the Italian quickly nailed down the seasoned grand slam finalist that secured him his first grand slam trophy towards the end in his first grand slam final. The final score lasted nearly four hours at 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 & 6-3.

Commiserations to Medvedev with the loss yet again who had a brilliant early form to get himself ahead of the match & he thought this would be breakthrough at last to take home his 2nd grand slam trophy since the 2021 US Open as Novak Djokovic cannot defend his title after his unexpected semis loss the other day v Sinner. Despite some close executions to try and shut down Sinner in his tracks whilst leading, he unfortunately lost his way that led to the 4th and 5th sets being activated including the top spot before Medvedev eventually ran out of huff and puff where he had to settle 2nd best in the end to a young and energetic elite challenger right there in Sinner. He will be 28 soon next month but the Russian will need to move on now and improve his other grand slam records at the Roland Garros and Wimbledon later this year which isn’t the same and hopefully that would help him come back & go one better for the fourth possible finals attempt next time in 2025.

Meanwhile, Sinner is having the best form of his life after he came off a semi-final breakthrough at Wimbledon last year while he played a key role with Italy’s Davis Cup win a few months later as the team trophy wouldn’t have happened without his outstanding tennis IQ and physicality that would’ve gone to Serbia or Australia. Now he might have struggled earlier on despite a great start but his long-form game began to click in the third set at 0-2 and he too has got the set or two back from Medvedev, who was never close to Championship Point himself at all, before he overtook the Russian for the lead the first time & Sinner has unleashed so fast he too didn’t hesitate so much to pull off such an unbelievable comeback from behind to now standing on top of Melbourne Park with the Norman Brookes Memorial Cup. It’s his moment tonight and he too deserves that breakthrough as what’s next for him now? He will look to win more grand slams from here by leading the line in Tennis’s next generation of grand slam superstars ahead of Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz just like the 2020s Roger Federer v Rafa Nadal.

The 2024 Australian Open Tennis tournament is now over where we had an awesome 15 days rather than 14 days as well as long spell showdowns, some upset moments that changed the course of the draw and a few first time finalists that includes one first time winner now in the men’s draw named Jannik Sinner. And shout out to some of the Aussies who did so well on home soil such as Alex De Minaur (men’s singles 4th round), Storm Hunter (women’s singles 3rd round) and Matt Ebden (men’s doubles title win last night with Rohan Bopanna). There is plenty of Tennis to look forward throughout the year with the next grand slam of 2024 coming up at the Roland Garros in Paris, France that will begin on Sunday 26th May-9th June.

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AO Open Tennis, Aryna Sabalenka goes back-to-back with the Championship win this time in straight sets against China’s Qinwen Zheng

by Sports Benches

The 2024 Australian Open Women’s singles final is now done and dusted with one more match to go for tonight’s men’s singles final before the 15-day competition is over between Jannik Sinner v Daniil Medvedev as Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka is your champion once again after she got the job done without having to drop a set against Qinwen Zheng with the win at Rod Laver Arena. Sabalenka had an amazing performance all around & commiserations to Zheng who gained a little here & there as of late but then the standard was just too much for her to catch up in the end. The final score was 3-6 & 2-6 being done in almost 90 minutes of play. This is Sabalenka’s 2nd straight Australian Open trophy & although she will still be World No.2 behind Iga Swiatek, the search is now on to win the other majors after falling short at the 2023 US Open to Coco Gauff (USA).

First of all, Zheng finally got the ball rolling from behind where she did her best to hold back Sabalenka following a poor start of the match. If she did give herself some time with the early headstart, then she would be in a fair shot to try and bring home another Australian Open trophy for China since Li Na last did that just 10 years ago. But she still could not exploit all of Sabalenka’s weaknesses where Zheng fell way behind as the game does on despite denying her a few Championship points when Zheng unfortunately did not have the chance to bridge her best 2nd half form & finish things off her way in defeat. She had a great last few months of Tennis as Zheng is age 22 with loads of potential to fulfill at World No.7 in the singles rankings.

Meanwhile, it’s been another amazing win from the Belarusian who is now a 2 x Australian Open women’s singles champion this time without having to lose a set and also without too much fuss v Zheng unlike Elina Rybakina last year. She was so quick to get off the mark which was huge so she can take her time to bridge the other half form while Zheng showed a bit of fightback here & there, but Sabalenka didn’t need to throw her game away and that is exactly she has done to bring home another grand slam major with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup to her silverware cabinet. As said, the game is on for Sabalenka to win both another grand slam title or two or even three where she always fell short other than some usual good performances from the 1st round to the knockout stages as well as being the World No.1 singles player again off Swiatek.

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AO Tennis 2024, Men’s semi-final review with Novak Djokovic eliminated by surprise from Jannik Sinner while Daniil Medvedev is hopeful for a 3rd time breakthrough after an epic five set comeback v Alexander Zverev

by Sports Benches

Yesterday’s Australian Open men’s singles semi-final day was huge where one of the best and legendary grand slam champs was out of the main event by surprise by a rising star, while a seasoned finalist will hopefully get his hands on another grand slam title v a first time challenger for Norman Brookes Challenge Cup come tomorrow night at Rod Laver Arena. But for now, the women’s final will be decided tonight between Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v Qinwen Zheng (China).

Jannik Sinner stunned Novak Djokovic from the beginning where he was too good with an easy 2-1 lead. Although the Serbian might have got one back at the tiebreak, but then it proved to be such a tall order to crawl back when Sinner at last has dethroned the veteran in the end with the win. Novak has been an top player as always but yesterday wasn’t his day when he wasn’t equipped to handle Sinner mightily on-court that cost him big time before he was finally caught up as he won’t be able to defend his crown and will have to wait until 2025 to get it back. On the other hand, Sinner has been simply outstanding where he will now be on course to hopefully win his first grand slam title at age 22. He was so quick to get off the mark before he took his time to expose the long-form skillsets of Djokovic, having been denied a straight sets route but eventually got away towards the finish line at last in the fourth set. He made it to the Wimbledon semi-final last year as well as winning the Davis Cup for Italy, what’s next? The Australian Open Final. Let’s see if he can go all the way tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, 2 x AO semi finalist Alexander Zverev also fired off really well with a 2-0 lead v Daniil Medvedev. However, Medvedev turned himself around in the toughest of the challenges where he won back-to-back tiebreaker sets before he completed an incredible turnaround at the 5th & final set decider for the win after 4 hours & 18 minutes. Zverev thought he had it at one stage but lost his way against a resurgent Medvedev during the second half there. He’s had an amazing summer here that began with the United Cup win including a mighty doubles effort straight after playing singles for the best of his country (Team Germany) before he continues to shine up in the main draw up until this point & unfortunately he just could not pull off v such a opponent who has been to handful of finals more than him. And last but not least, it’s 3 x AO finalist Danill Medvedev from Russia where might had struggled earlier on despite a great start. But he never gave up as the game goes on where Medvedev turned out to be the better player than Zverev when it comes with the long-form game from two escaping tiebreakers to an unbelievable finish for the win. It’s been a long time coming since he first won the 2021 US Open where he defeated Djokovic in straight sets as he won’t be facing him this time like it was two years ago here that went past 1am but he will instead v first-time finalist in Jannik Sinner in the hope of finally winning one as the next AO champ at RLA.

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2024 AO Tennis, women’s singles semi-final night review being done in straight sets with Sabalanka v Zheng now set for tomorrow night’s main event match at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

Time flies so fast but the Australian Open women’s semi finals night was all done as tomorrow’s last two challengers line-up is now set for the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy at Rod Laver Arena. Coco Gauff fell short both ways earlier on but defending champion Aryna Sabalanka didn’t lose her game at all by booking herself in another Final by in straight sets (6-7 with 2-7 tiebreak & 4-6). Then it was a battle for the first timers and same thing happened to Dayana Yastremska with the early pace form as that 2nd semi match was dominated by China’s Quinwen Zheng also in straight sets (4-6 & 4-6). Now the men’s semi-finals will roll out throughout today with Novak Djokovic v Jannik Sinner in the afternoon followed by Daniil Medvedev v Alexander Zverev at night.

Looks like Gauff has almost got it after a poor start she closed herself in towards the opening set. But not so fast when she just could not hold stop a patient Sabalenka in her tracks before Gauff was unable to bring a 3rd set decider also after falling short again in the 2nd set. She will get better with experience as this is her 2nd grand slam knockout finals match & the first outside USA. Sabalanka on the other hand will get another chance to hopefully take home the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy for the second time tomorrow night on what has been a tremendous win last night the opponent she lost at the US Open Final a few months ago. She was outstanding all along where Sabalanka fired off comfortably before she eventually found her opponent’s weaknesses while Gauff caught up as the game goes on & then tricks her during each and every stage, which is exactly she wants to do to set the benchmark for AO title win No.2 v Zheng.

Speaking of Zheng, the 21-year-old Chinese player will now be playing in first grand slam final as Li Na has last done so here back in 2014 with the big win v Lucie Safarova. She simply found a way to get the ball rolling to win the other half form that Yastremska couldn’t do after a slow start before Zheng didn’t hesitate to lose her game where she found the finish line first for the win. And Yastremska’s time is now over after a great fairytale run from the bottom up prior to this at Melbourne Park, having got a strong build up base to get off the mark including an improved 2nd set performance. But unfortunately, she wasn’t quite close as she hoped for when it comes to the execution, which is a key area she has struggled v Zheng. Let’s hope she can continue to inspire more with a consistent last 16/8 run from here.

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2024 AO Open Tennis, 2nd half of Quarter-Final matches review with back-to-back long sets as well as first time moments in the women’s singles ahead of the semis tonight

by Sports Benches

It was a huge day of Tennis yesterday on what has been a great end to the 2nd half of the Austtalian Open Quarter-Final matches at Rod Laver Arena with back-to-back long spells for the men while there’s some first time breakthrough moments ahead of tonight’s semi-finals in the women’s singles draw followed by a day of the men’s portion on Australia Day Friday.

First of all, Hubert Hurkacz never gave up without a fight including some incredible fight backs to stay in this match. However, Daniil Medvedev has found the great escape just exactly a minute before the four hour mark. The Pole had a great record over the last two years here but this was his 2nd finals match since the 2021 Wimbledon semi-final as he looks to kick on from here in the next grand slam showings as a regular last 16-8 contender. Plus, Alexander Zverev has eliminated 2nd seed Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz by surprise where he got the job done following an unreal 1st half performance with the 3-1 set win. Didn’t see that coming when the 2 x grand slam champion was the favourite to win this one but not only he fired off poorly but was so far behind for the majority despite some good shots in the latter stages. It remains to be seen if Zverev can find a way to beat Medvedev & have the best shot of being in the Final again since the 2020 US Open where he lost to Austrian Dominic Thiem.

Meanwhile in the women, the rising star 19-year-old Linda Noskova’s time was over at the hands of Dayana Yastremska in straight sets. The Czech got a great start to kick things off including the restart but struggled to bridge the other half unfortunately where Yastremska got the upper hand. From Qualifier to now Top 4, she is now one step away from Saturday’s final where beating Zhang & then maybe taking home the trophy would be a fairytale ending from the bottom up to reaching the highest levels in this draw like Emma Raducanu did in the 2021 US Open. And 12th seed Qinwen Zheng from China has overcame a tight 1st set loss on what been a great comeback win v Anna Kalinskaya. Kalinskaya wasn’t bad on her first grand slam knockout match after some highlight wins v Sloane Stephens & 26th seed Italian Jasmine Paolini beforehand with a close 1st set lead. But unfortunately she could not stay ahead & hang in there a bit longer whilst leading up front when Zheng closed in from behind to see her eliminated from the last 8. Zheng is coming off the back end of last year as a first time finalist at the US Open where he could face Aryna Sabalenka again but this time for the final if she can get the job done tonight.

Tonight’s matches Coco Gauff v Aryna Sabalanka again having last met at the US Open Final a few months ago before Yastremska takes on Zhang where one of them will advance on centre stage this Saturday. For Friday, it will be Novak Djokovic v Jannik Sinner followed by Medvedev & Zverev as all three have yet to win a AO trophy here except Novak.

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