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Matteo Arnaldi off to a great start after he defeated wildcard Adam Walton on Day 1 of the 2024 Australian Open Tennis at Kia Arena

by Sports Benches

Great start to the 2024 Australian Open campaign by Matteo Arnaldi from Italy with the straight sets win in Round 1 v Adam Walton at Kia arena. It was a tight opening stage battle for a start between the two players that went all the way through the tiebreak before one player went on to get the job done at his own pace that bundled up with the big lead for the win 7-6 (7-5 tiebreak), 6-2 & 6-4. 

Arnaldi is doing so well as he’s currently ranked just 40 in the ATP rankings at the age of 22, having reached his best finish in the 4th Round late last year where he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open. Keep an eye out though as his next round opponent will either be another Aussie Alex De Minaur or Canada’s Milos Raonic, which will take place 7pm tomorrow night at Rod Laver Arena.

Meanwhile, Walton’s time was short-lived at Melbourne Park today when he entered this tournament as the wildcard player. He did give the Italian a hard time at times, especially from the beginning where he tried to stop him from taking the opening set lead. But an unfortunate 2nd set saw Walton try to hang in there under pressure at 0-2 before it was too late in the end. He will keep on churning every week in the hope of getting better & better on the ATP circuit once this tournament is over.

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Joaquin Niemann’s outstanding show on the final day today has secured him the 2023 Australian Open victory via a two-hole Playoff shootout v Rikuya Hoshino

by Sports Benches

The 2023 Australian Golf Tournament is finally done and dusted just in time with rainy weather at the Royal Australian Golf Club in Sydney. First of all, we entered Championship day with our Aussie own Min Woo Lee and Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino as the joint leaders as they both battle it out upfront once again this time for the Stonehaven Cup. Now Hoshino has bounced back through the end to score a playoff shootout but not with Min Woo though as the 25-year-old from Perth did not have a great weekend out, even though he finished two strokes shy of third with a final score today at two over 72.

The same can be said with fellow Aussies Adam Scott & Lucas Herbert who sniffed around top spot earlier in the day for a while & they weren’t also bad too in the Top 10 alongside Min Woo, but both of them couldn’t keep up the consistency particularly at the back nine in Tied 4th & outright 7th respectively. Instead, Hoshino was met by a new challenger in none other than Joaquin Niemann Chile after he was simply outstanding today at five under 66.

So both Niemann & Hoshino were tied at -14 ahead of the two-hole Playoff shootout with Niemann keeping it straight, while Hoshino couldn’t get the ball land through the middle of the fairway as it ended up going wide either near the trees or the bunker. Yes, Hoshino is excellent at getting out of trouble, especially when he was lucky the first time around after Niemann missed that eagle put. However, Hoshino’s luck eventually ran out at the 2nd attempt when Niemann’s perfect eagle performance on Par 5 18 has all but confirmed the Chilean with the Stonehaven Cup trophy by just one stroke.

Great day by Niemann who had to wait for like two hours with some driving & putting practice before he had to play again at the 18th hole twice with Hoshino for the Playoff shootout. But his final day performance has been extraordinary with some sensational drives & shots along the way that saw him move his way up front as he deserves to win the 2023 Australian Open Golf tournament – well done!!

And on Hoshino, it’s hard to see him fall short once again like he was last weekend to Min Woo Lee at the Australian PGA Championship as no one likes to miss out the top prize in 2nd place. He has been an top player to watch though where Hoshino knows how to get into the game late during the final weekend rounds over the last two weeks & if he can keep the consistency all along from start to finish, then he’ll sure win sooner rather than later.

It was a fantastic two week show of major Australian Golf Tournaments this year as they’ve been brilliant hosts to all players both here & overseas across Brisbane for the Australian PGA Championship & Sydney over the last four days with the Australian Open. They will be back back bigger & better for the next one in 2024.

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It’s Min Woo Lee v Riyuka Hoshino Round 2 this time for the Stonehaven Cup trophy in 2023 Australian Open Golf ahead of Championship Day tomorrow in Sydney

by Sports Benches

While Min Woo Lee’s performances on Moving Day earlier today might not be as the same as Day 2 yesterday, but he’s still leading the 2023 Australian Open alongside Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino where they are both at -13 ahead of Championship day tomorrow to finish off the two weeks of major tournament golf here in Australia. But that’s not all as there’s couple of players going after them for the Stonehaven Cup such as Alex Fitzpatrick from England (-12) while American Patrick Rodgers (-12) never looked out of place so far right from the very start. Plus, don’t forget fellow Aussie Lucas Herbert who also done well today as he is just three strokes (-11) behind the Top 4 front runners over in outright 5th. Yes, it’s possible that we will see a strong Top 5-10 finish when it comes to our representation of Aussies in action. But it’s all about Min Woo v Hoshino again where his amazing final day performance last Sunday has saw him won the Australian PGA Championship at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane. Will Min Woo get to pull off the same thing tomorrow and complete the double as the next Aussie to win this tournament since Matt Jones in 2019? Otherwise, will we see Hoshino get his revenge or a else different foreigner keeping the Stonehaven Cup away from the locals like Poland’s Adrian Meronk did last year come tomorrow arvo.

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2023 Australian Open Golf Day 1 & 2 Review: Cameron Davis off to a flying start but Min Woo Lee’s strong Back 9 yesterday has overtaken Connor Syme with a two-shot lead

by Sports Benches

The 2023 Australian Open Golf is back for another year this time in Sydney where the  first two days were held at two different golf venues (The Lakes Golf Club & Royal Australian Golf Club) since it’s a combined mixed event for the men’s, women’s and all abilities categories. It’s also good to see our Aussies lead the charge as well with Cameron Davis off to a great start as the opening day leader. Now he might have slipped away over the course of Day 2 yesterday, but there’s another Aussie who absolutely shines from difficult and extraordinary situations in none other than last weekend’s Australian PGA Championship winner Min Woo Lee. He too wowed majority leader of Day 2 Connor Syme from Scotland as he’s currently leading by two strokes at -12, especially when Min Woo got away with strong back nine performance from 14th to 1st that includes sharing the lead with Syme for a while before he became the outright leader after a birdie the Par 4 16th. And we also couldn’t forget a brilliant end to his shift off the back of a eagle on the Par 5 18th – what a player he is so far by our own Min Woo Lee.

It’s also great to see some Aussies moving up the leaderboard ahead of moving day today with Jason Scrivener & Jeffrey Guan. Plus, Lucas Herbert is in Tied 16th & Cameron Smith gets to play this weekend down in Tied 28th after he missed the cut last week during the Australian PGA Championship. Gotta say it’s Min Woo v the world for this one as he hopes to keep on staying up front by flying the flag for Australia with more of his individual brilliances coming his way later today in Sydney. 

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A sensational finish in the 2022 Australian Open saw the towering Adrian Meronk crown as the first-time winner after rough Day 4 outings from Adam Scott & Min-Woo Lee

by Sports Benches

What a day, what a moment from the unbelievable & very tall Adrian Meronk of Poland – who just won this year’s Australian Open Men’s Tournament here in Cheltenham, Victoria. He got away with a fantastic front nine of back-to-back birdies at the start plus a two more on the 9th & 15th before Meronk wrapped up his final shift with a sensational eagle putt on the Par 5 18th at 4 under 66. How good!!

Adam Scott came home in 2nd by just five strokes behind Meronk at -9. He was on par with the Pole for the majority since his remarkable turnaround over the last two days. However, a mix of bogeys on the front nine & an poor 17th hole on double bogey – including an out of bounds mistake in his first shot – have effectively ended his hopes on top – as he finished Day 4 on two over 72. After Scott, Min-Woo Lee rounds out the Top 3 on -8. He came here hoping to take home home this tournament his own after an unreal first hole eagle on the Par 5 – but couldn’t find much special to kick on ever since that saw him settle for 3rd best on 1 under 69. 

Plus, hats off to Alejandro Canizares from Spain when he moved a whopping 26 spots up to Tied 4th at -7 alongside Haydn Bannon, as well as topping the charts of the final day alone with eight birdies despite two bogeys in between Holes 2 & 4 on six under 64. And it’s good to see a bunch of Aussies finish inside the Top 10-15 mark – including the resurgent Lucas Herbert down in Tied 10th by ten shots behind Meronk (-4) – when he fired off slow in the early stages – but found a way up over the weekend that reflected his late progress right until the very end. 

That is that as congrats to Adrian Meronk with his stunning day today as the new Australian Open Men’s champion.

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Adam Scott’s fantastic Day 3 performance puts him in the box seat towards the Australian Open Men’s title going into the final day

by Sports Benches

Adam Scott is such an amazing player to watch since his resurgence from Day 2 on Friday, as he will enter the fourth & final Day as the Australian Open Men’s leader on 11 under par. He was consistent through for most of the time bar the bogey on the Par 5 9th, but his back nine was superb especially when he sinked two birdies plus an unreal end to his shift with an eagle on the Par 5 18th of 3 under 67. 

Look out behind Scott by one stroke in 2nd at -10 when it comes to the towering 6 ft 6 in Adrian Meronk from Poland. He too also continued his resurgence like Adam with an extraordinary front nine of six birdies alone before he capped off a brilliant spell including an additional three birdies of the last 4 holes on 7 under 63.

It’s also good to see another pair of Aussies such as Haydn Barron & Min-Woo Lee in Tied 3rd – who are both ready to challenge Scott & also Meronk for the trophy – as they’re just four strokes behind Scott at -7. Bannon never looked out of place after he got away comfortably on two under 66, while Min-Woo Lee continued his progress further through the field but he would need a perfect Sunday finish & pray for the best if a breakthrough win ends up on his way. The same goes with Jason Scrivener when he moved way up from T32 to T12 at -4 after a brilliant run today of two under 66, but he doesn’t want another repeat of what happened last Sunday when a mix of errors on the Par 3 17th at the Australian PGA Championship ultimately cost him the title. 

Although David Micheluzzi‘ strong first-half start went downhill from top spot to Tied 12th following a rough score of -7 73, but again he would need a mix of consistency & luck if he wants the Australian Open title so bad by the end of tomorrow afternoon. But there’s one player for sure who can’t be present on Day 4 after he missed the 2nd cut-off bubble; Sadly, it’s current Australian PGA Championship winner Cameron Smith – even though he slightly improved a bit on Day 3 but a poor first half ruined his chances of collecting the double here in Victoria.

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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, Rafa Nadal is the 2022 Australian Open Men’s Singles champion after he pulled off one of the greatest comebacks from the opening two sets down v Daniil Medvedev

by Sports Benches

What a way to wrap up two exciting weeks of Grand Slam Tennis in Melbourne!! We just saw a thrilling five 1/2 hour marathon of tonight’s men’s singles final where Rafa Nadal pulled off one of the greatest comebacks v Daniil Medvedev, having gone from 0-2 down to 3-2 in the end & that is sensational world-class sport to watch. It’s Rafa’s 21st Grand Slam title plus his 2nd on Australian soil since 2009.

Love how the crowd got behind Rafa especially during these tough times earlier on when Rafa had a poor start before he was almost done by the third set, but he never gave up with so much to reset his mindset, as this is the main reason how Rafa made up lost time step by step that eventually helped him leapfrog Medvedev towards the finish line after the 5th & final set decider.

And Medvedev gutted to settle runner-up here again for the second year running, he had a brilliant 1st half spell off the back from an easy start followed by a close 2nd set tiebreaker. However, he just couldn’t sort things out when it comes to the executions having hit and missed some easy shots plus a few heated exchanges with that chair umpire, unfortunately, these mistakes eventually came back to to him before it was too late which confirmed his runner-up status.

Final Score: 2-6, 6-7 via 5-7 tiebreaker, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5

Medvedev may not be what some fans see as the nice guy here, but he’s a great athlete nonetheless with a US Open title already bagged late last year and Daniil will bounce back for more silverware throughout 2022. Meanwhile, Rafa is still thriving at age 35, who still has a few more years, left in the tank before retiring as he’s unbelievable once again that put grand slam tennis to another level.

The summer of Australian sport is done for now but can’t wait for more grand slam tennis with the French Open next up from Sunday May 22 to June 5.

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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, Daniil Medvedev confirmed booking for Sunday’s Australian Open Men’s Singles Final after he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2nd semi-final last night

by Sports Benches

The 2nd semi-final tie from last night has been written at Rod Laver Arena, Daniil Medvedev got ahead with the early lead before Stefanos Tsitsipas came back after the break & tied at 1-1. However, Medvedev managed to steer in the right direction since then with the 3rd & 4th set turnaround, despite his dismay towards the umpire at one point, as he shown enough to seal victory plus booked his place for Sunday’s main event v Rafa Nadal.

Gutted for Tsitsipas, who had Melbournians rooting him last night, especially when some of that population has a strong Greek community. There’s no letting down on effort and fightback where Tsitsipas was always on the same page as Medvedev, he just couldn’t unpack the checkpoint and finish line.

And congratulations to Medvedev, who just advanced, to his 2nd straight Australian Open Final. It wasn’t the easiest of times when he battled against a fellow elite opponent like Tsitsipas, but he never gave up having kept being patient even though he lost his cool at one point, before the Russian saw light at the end of the tunnel & eventually made his way out of here first.

There’s only two days left of Australian Open Tennis in Melbourne, first up will be Australia’s own Ash Barty v American Danielle Collins tonight then we wrap this up with Nadal v Medvedev tomorrow.

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