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2025 Australian Open Day 5, Round 2: Alex De Minaur on song once again at Rod Laver Arena but Katie Boulter unlucky in her own match at the final set decider

by Sports Benches

Yes, it was another super Alex De Minaur day of Tennis in the 2025 Australian Open R2 albeit during the early afternoon v Tristan Boyer from the USA smoothly and effectively also in straight sets & also at the Rod Laver Arena (2-6, 4-6 and 3-6).

We’ve saw a bit of Alex taking his time there right from the beginning but he knows what to do under pressure as if he’s on the front foot and he’s done that really well by moving onto the third round this Saturday this time against 31st seed Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina.

Looking at his next opponent, he only did well just outside the Quarter-Finals back-to-back on clay at the Roland Garros & has won the Croatian Open a few weeks later last June. But that’s just it really and let’s hope Alex can keep his guard going into Monday’s Round of 16 if he wins it & hopefully earn his first ever AO Quarter-Final either against young American Alex Mickelsen, who just defeated James McCabe, or familiar AO specialist in Karen Khachanov (Russia). All he has to do is take one step at a time and the looming threat can go away under his own eyes.

Congratulations to the Demon once again as so far, so good & who knows if he will get another headline booking at RLA yet again – we shall find out on Day 6 during Super Saturday, should be a beauty!

Other than that, his fiancé Katie Boulter from Leicester in Great Britain saw her AO singles campaign come to an end unfortunately a little later by Veronika Kudermetova – even though she was so close in the first set via tiebreak & found her way back in the 2nd, but got taken away at the deciding end of the match.

What we do know though that she still did her best to fire back to her opponent as our Aussie and British fans were right behind Katie to get this job done. But again, can’t help when Kudermetova managed to pull off really quickly as if it was a final set drag race & the Russian turned out to the quickest than we thought – final score was 7-6 with 6-3 tiebreaker, 2-6, 6-2. 

Such a bummer because had Katie won instead then she would’ve got a great opportunity to play in the 4th round & that next round she was hoping to play against was Beatriz Haddad Maia from Brazil.

So yeah, sad not to see her progress to Saturday’s 3rd Round & looks like there’s no other Aussies left now that Destanee Aiava has been eliminated by 2022 AO runner-up Danielle Collins, as Katie may not be playing doubles but she will 100% be there to see her fiancé play by his side on what is going to be Alex’s biggest campaign up to date, especially at home.

For now, there’s Aleksandar Vukic we need to keep an eye on who could be the one to end Jack Draper’s good record of eliminating Aussies when it comes to his Ashes of Grand Slam Tennis. Don’t forget he’s the one of the two Aussies still in the men’s singles race alongside Alex with Tristan Schoolkate just eliminated by defending champion Jannik Sinner despite his good start & Sinner was just too good.

Can Vukic finally succeed where others failed? We shall find out to prevent Jack Draper’s 3-0 clean sweep at Margaret Court Arena tomorrow night.

And if you want more Alex x Katie, check out their funny appearance together on Andy Lee’s The Hundred quiz show segment dedicated for the annual AO the other day – didn’t know Katie thought that Aussies had less shark attacks of 4% compared to the rest of us at 59% including Alex himself who thinks it’s 81%. Speaking of that percentage they’ve both answered, looks like their own love relationship speaks for itself compared to McLaren in Formula 1 with No.4 representing Katie’s country in Lando Norris while the other No.81 is currently driven by another of our Aussie drivers with the one and only Oscar Piastri.

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Australian Open Day 4, 2nd Round: Thanasi Kokkinakis fell short by top Briton Jack Draper after a long five sets with Destanee Aiava last one standing in the women’s singles draw

by Sports Benches

Oh so close from our own Thanasi Kokkankis who wasn’t bad off the back of a brilliant start via the tiebreak including a third set reprieve and a near finish opportunity where he was only a game away at one stage during the fourth.

It’s a shame he just couldn’t hold off through to the finish line unfortunately having been thrown out at the hands of Briton Jack Draper following a long, gruelling five-set contest last night at John Cain Arena. The final score was 6-7 with 3-7 tiebreak, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 and 6-3 as the Kokk’s time at Melbourne Park isn’t over just yet when he will team up with Nick Kyrgios as his other “Special K’s” duo when the men’s doubles begins today.

If Kokkanikis have won it over Draper, then this could’ve been an all-Aussie third round match against Aleksandar Vukic going into tomorrow. But Vukic can be the one to shock yet another top-seeder in his watch like he did yesterday afternoon against 22nd seed American & 2023 AO Quarter-Finalist Sebastian Korda also following another long five-set stunner of his own (6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 and 7-5).

Although you can tell Jack has been our nemesis for a quite a while now having defeated a couple of Aussies along the way.

He first broke the hearts of Alex De Minaur a few months ago at the US Open Quarter-Final before he was eliminated in the semi by eventual champion Jannik Sinner. Then as said above, he managed to stop Kokkinakis in his tracks from also being very nearly shockingly eliminated to finishing off as triumphant to keep his AO campaign alive – fair play to him for that.

Now it looks like he’s leading this Ashes series of Tennis 2-0 over the best of five – we’re just making this up since Australia and England have a great sporting rivalry together for a very long time.

Who could be the man to stop him and not let Jack collect this Ashes urn? Well, Vukic could be the one to solve this.

And yes, shoutout to John McEnroe who does know his cricket well thanks to the love of cricket bats. His favourite cricket player is not far from the US down south from the Caribbean in West Indies player Sir Vivian Richards – good on ya John!!

Elsewhere, we only have Destanee Aiava in this women’s singles draw and she will have to dig deep this afternoon against 2022 AO runner-up Danielle Collins (USA).

This comes after Talia Gibson was blown away big time by Paula Badosa also last night (6-1, 6-0) while Ajla Tomjlanovic had some good moments too against 12th seed Diana Dhnaider but just not quite enough unfortunately at the end (6-7, 4-5) & also not the same player really since her Wimbledon QF breakthrough back in 2022 thanks to her knee troubles.

Other than that, there’s always Alex De Minaur’s fiance Katie Boulter even though she’s British. She will be back in action  later today v Veronika Kudermetova & so does Alex who will be getting another chance to rock up Rod Laver Arena – his next opponent will be American Taylor Boyer & he will start not long after lunch.

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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). It was also sweet seeing De Minaur rushing his way straight following his own mach from RLA to the one of the show court venues to cheer her on by the way.

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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Tennis: Thoughts on Nine unexpectedly cutting off its Roland Garros coverage a few hours earlier than originally planned lately following wet weather delays last week

by Sports Benches

As we all know that Nine and also its subsidiary paid streaming partner Stan Sport is currently your home of Grand Slam Tennis in Australia showing all four tournaments throughout the year. Don’t get me wrong, the coverage has always been great when they first decided to switch over from cricket back in late 2018 that worked really well as they will continue to get better in the years ahead after successfully renewing the Australian Open rights for another five years until 2029.

But what viewers noticed that some days when most of the Roland Garros were held up by wet weather & even so when the whole day’s play went back to normal, it seems the free-to-air telecasts have unexpectedly finished a few hours early rather than approx. 4.30am as originally scheduled. Although they would be happy to stick around a bit longer now, especially when something interesting happens where one will go on until the match is over but then they would rather leave right away to return to normal programming. We also didn’t know that Brett Phillips was there after all during some of the overnight action last week but not very often before the bad weather changed everything despite not being named on Nine’s press releases.

Given the lack of interest amongst Aussie sports and tennis fans here when most of the world’s top stars regularly do so well other than Alex De Minaur, it seems they would go with covering just 1-2 early matches including the knockout singles ties except the all-important Finals for the whole length rather than showing all of them going into the early morning hours like they did in the last few years. I guess when the US Open comes around later this year even without Brett is that maybe they should show some early matches only involving an Aussie live and then have all the night sessions ready during the morning with their own broadcast team rather than miss the early sessions altogether if that’s the way to keep airing this from here.

It would’ve also been better if they put some on 9Go for the overnight action and just take the whole world feed’s coverage when it comes to the early round matches & then do the same for 9Gem during the later knockout ties. Last year’s Davis Cup Finals isn’t the first time we saw without the network’s own broadcast commentary by relaying the world feed. But unfortunately, that won’t work that much either & that’s probably where they’re going given Nine isn’t throwing away all the other grand slams anytime soon thanks to Stan Sport, who continues to showcase all of the grand slams uninterrupted and also ad-free with a whole lot of on-demand viewing like replays, etc. so at least they can get most of the money back.

We all love watching the Australian Open every year with Wimbledon being another big sporting event going into next month since it’s been popular amongst the free-to-air flavour for so long. But what about Roland Garros and US Open? Not so much during a very different time of the year that isn’t January when most other people are busy watching Footy at the same time.

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