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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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AO Tennis 2024, Day 1 of the Quarter-Finals review with Djokovic & Sinner both unstoppable over Fritz & Rublev while Sabalenka was too good for Krejcikova

by Sports Benches

The rest of last night during the opening day Australian Open Quarter-Finals other than the three hour, three set women’s match was massive that began with a four set showdown followed by back-to-back straight sets successions as we head into the other half last 8 matches later today & tonight at Rod Laver Arena. Taylor Fritz went so close before he won the 2nd set on what has been a great 1st half effort but Novak Djokovic still holds the court all along to book his place in the semi-final while Jannik Sinner got around Andrey Rublev in the closest of matches & he too has done in straight sets going into Friday as Djokovic’s next opponent. Plus, it’s going to be Coco Gauff v Aryna Sabalenka again this time in the semi after Sabalenka was too good for Barbora Krejcikova.

For Fritz, he had amazing display that pushed Djokovic to the limit earlier on where he was oh so close in the first set followed by a 2nd set win at last to share the lead at 1-1. But just couldn’t kick on when it comes to the 2nd half form unfortunately and that’s where Djokovic eventually caught him out in the end as he had another great finals run here. As for Djokovic, he had some early setbacks against an early finals challenger despite having the early lead. He was able to respond really well like an seasoned champion though for the majority that got him over the line first and the Djoker is ready to take on a challenger who is tipped to win a grand slam trophy sooner rather than later in Italian Jannik Sinner.

Meanwhile, Rublev’s time is over as always where he has still yet to play past the Quarter-Finals after he broke the hearts of Alex De Minaur the other day in the fourth round. He wasn’t bad at the start where he had some great challenges to keep it up with his opponent. But just didn’t have the execution needed to stop Sinner in his tracks unfortunately despite being so close earlier on. On the other hand, Sinner is having the form of his life right now ahead of his 2nd grand slam semi-final after Wimbledon last year this Friday. He had a wonderful start while he never gave up and was being patient the whole way through to win all three sets to become Djokovic’s next opponent, which should be a cracker to watch. A young rising star v an experienced grand slam champ is something Sinner won’t want to hide & show he can live up to his potential at 22 after a great 2nd half of 2023 that includes the Davis Cup title win for Italy.

And looking back at the 2nd Quarter-Final women’s singles game, that was one was so quick in contrast to what we saw between Coco Gauff & Marta Kostyuk earlier in the afternoon. Krejcikova knows how to get the ball rolling but wasn’t consistent unfortunately where she just could not keep it up with Sabalenka for the overall lead. She hasn’t been bad in her last few AO appearances but needs to kick on from here, having had a great 2021 season with her French Open title as well as another Quarter-Final in the US Open before there not much else since then. Sabalenka on the other hand has been so dominant to meet all ends of the court including the other half bridge in particular that blew Krejcikova away. But she has a tough match-up ahead tomorrow night against someone who defeated her in the US Open Final a few months ago named Coco Gauff. She has gone through a series of easy challenges so far up until this next match, but she is the reigning champion here & have been a regular finals competitor throughout last year as Sabalenka won’t take Gauff lightly in order to try & take another grand slam title, which is the same Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.

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AO Open 2024, Coco Gauff escapes a gruelling Marta Kostyuk challenger after a three hour, three set win this afternoon 

by Sports Benches

What a way to start the Quarter-Finals with the three hour, three set thriller between Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk & Coco Gauff from the USA where both players fought so hard with back-to-back tiebreaks as Gauff led the first set while Kostyuk activated the 3rd set tiebreaker at 1-1 apiece. But at the end of the day, the match belongs to Gauff who was too good to pull it off towards the finish line for both the win & the semi-final spot, despite 1-2 late consolation games from her opponent. The final score was 6-7 with 6-8 tie, 7-6 with 7-3 tie & 2-6 as Gauff will be tuning into tonight’s 2nd women’s singles quarter-finals match where Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) or reigning AO champ Aryna Sabalanka (Belarus) will meet her next on Thursday.

It’s been a great journey from the show courts to playing at the main event stage but her time has now came to an end where Kostyuk showed lots of fight to give Gauff a hard time along the way. She narrowly lost the first set and narrowly won back in the hope of continuing her fairlytale run into Thursday’s semi-finals night. But unfortunately, she was outrun so fast before being eliminated from this tournament despite picking it up some games towards the end there. She did Ukraine proud as Kostyuk has age by her side at 21 with lots of potential to hopefully fulfill throughout this year’s tennis season. And Gauff is not done yet following a long afternoon out with the win on her first AO knockout finals campaign. She had some tough challenges here & there where Kostyuk does not give her a free run despite picking up some good points. But her fightback and patience has paid off where she finally found a way out to steer away & into the homestretch from her opponent after sharing the lead with Kostyuk at 1-1. Looks like she’s ready for more where winning another grand slam away from home would be great. She has defeated Sabalenka before en route towards her first grand slam title on home soil (US Open) back in September 2023 & Gauff is ready to do it again in order for this to happen if Krejcikova is out tonight.

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Today’s Tennis Match: Daniil Medvedev overcomes Nuno Borges’s consolation displays to book his place in the Quarter-Finals following a three hour, four set win

by Sports Benches

What an afternoon of Tennis it has been at Rod Laver Arena between 26-year-old unknown challenger from Portugal Nuno Borges and seasoned Grand slam specialist Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev fired off well as always while Borges emerged from the set down to give his opponent some challenging times along the way. But there can only be one winner and that belongs to Medvedev who responded to Borges’s fight back with a quick finish to the match for the win after just over three hours of play. The final score was 6-3, 7-6 with 6-4 tiebreaker, 5-7 & 6-1 as he awaits he will take on Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz who defeated Frenchman Arthur Cazaux in a close straight sets match at 6-7 with 6-8 tiebreak, 6-7 with 3-7 tiebreak and 4-6.

It’s been a great run with some excellent effort from the Portuguese to push Medvedev to the limit after denying him a straight sets path at the first attempt. If he can replicate that form from the beginning, Borges would’ve been in a fair chance towards an outside win & possibly bring his country a rare chance to cheer him on in the Quarter-Finals. But all good things have come to an end having knocked out two Top 15-25 seeders prior to today (Alejandro Davidovich Fokina & Grigor Dimitrov) where Borges was so far behind for the majority as seen with him tiring fast after back-to-back long spells (2nd & 3rd sets) on the court. We wish him all the best to kick on throughout 2024. And Medvedev has been brilliant all along with an easy start followed by a couple of setbacks before he quickly sprinted towards the finish line for the win on what is going to be his 3rd AO finals appearance. Enduring tough challenges is something he will be keen to test himself going forward like Borges did to him for a while in the hope of doing better later this week. He hasn’t had a great 1st half of last year but did so close though during the 2nd half of the grand slam season as another grand slam title would be great to add into his trophy cabinet & he hasn’t done it since the 2021 US Open.

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Qualifier Dayana Yastremska def. former AO champion Victoria Azarenka as she will now take on emerging grand slam star in Linda Noskova for the Quarter-Final

by Sports Benches

Here’s an amazing match by the Ukrainian Qualifier Dayana Yastremska today where her straight sets win in the Round of 16 v 2012-13 Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) has put her through into the Quarter-Final for the first time, 6-7 with 6-8 tiebreaker & 4-6. We know she has played in the fourth round once before back in 2019 at Wimbledon but Dayana still has plenty of potential to prove against an experienced grand slam winner. Not only she got away with a close 1-0 lead but the Ukrainian did not throw her game away where it paid off big time towards the end. Now she will take on a rising star in 19-year-old Linda Noskova from Czech Republic, who saw fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina retire hurt (back) via walkover also today, having eliminated top seed Iga Swiatek by surprise from the opening set down during the 3rd round. But Dayana can too respond so fast like she did against Emma Navarro two days ago, so this court could be hers to take all the way this week.

Meanwhile, Azarenka always wanted to prove what it takes to dominate at Melbourne Park having got an excellent track record that includes the last two years. But today wasn’t her day unfortunately despite a great start and the effort to stay in this fight & if she just held off a bit longer when it comes to the execution, then we would’ve seen another amazing Azarenka display going into the last 8. This is her favourite place to play with 2 x Australian Open trophies to her name over the last decade as she’s not done playing just yet even having her six-year old son by her side at the age of 34.

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AO Open 2024, Novak Djokovic also too good in straight sets against Adrian Mannarino that was done just under two hours during the 4R at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

Like the previous match of the afternoon at Rod Laver Arena, we also witnessed another easy match over in the men’s draw during the fourth round between reigning champion Novak Djokovic & 20th seed Adrian Mannarino from France. The first two sets all belongs to Djokovic unchallenged and although Mannarino finally got the ball rolling but still the match belongs to him in straight sets (6-0, 6-0 & 6-3). He will now be watching the 2nd afternoon match of the day where American Taylor Fritz & last year’s finalist opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) are currently battling it out to try & book a spot with him for the last eight at John Cain Arena.

Well, that was tough but he did bring some smiles and laughter to the crowd after Mannarino was easily eliminated just outside the last eight for the second time at Melbourne Park. The last time he was here was two years ago where the Frenchman was defeated by Rafa Nadal despite an intense first set via the tiebreak  14-16. Yes, he just wasn’t at the races today where Mannarino made some small games this late in this match. However, he had a great run beforehand who overcame a series of five-set showdowns including 16th seed American & also rising star Ben Shelton. He’s currently the best men’s ranked player in his country with still some energy left in the tank at age 35 as let’s hope his next run here will be a QF.

Meanwhile, things ain’t so hard today from the reigning AO champion where he got the job done as quickly on what has been an unusual daytime outime despite the roof being closed as he can in 1 hour and 44 minutes. As said, he was simply too good and unplayable all along without a lot of fuss from start to finish. Now he’s open for another challenge who can push him all the way like 1st round opponent Croatian Dino Prozmic did to him at the tiebreak during the 2nd set before the Serbian responded well towards the end there. That remains to be if it’s going to be Tsitsipas again who is eager to face him again following the last year’s final. If not after another easy run, then there’s always Daniil Medvedev or the new rising Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on the road towards next Sunday’s main event here.

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Aus Open 2024, Coco Gauff too good for Magdalena Frech en route to her first Quarter-Final here at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

The 2nd week of the 2024 Aussie Open has just been started with an easy, hour long 4th round match of the day in the women’s singles draw between Poland’s Magdalena Frech & American Coco Gauff at Rod Laver Arena. Both players may have started side-by-side including the 2nd stage but Gauff was so quick to get the job done in straight sets, 1-2 & 2-6.

Frech had a great run beforehand in her  best grand slam career result yet at Melbourne Park that began with a brilliant straight sets upset at the tie against 16th seed Caroline Garcia in the opening round before she went from a set down to overcome Anastasia Zakharova two days ago. But unfortunately, it wasn’t her day today she just couldn’t handle such a top player like Gauff for most of the time. She has unfinished business ahead throughout the year to kick on from there for her country like compatriot Iga Swiatek. And the current US Open champion is on her way towards her first quarter-final here following a quickfire win against Frech. She was simply too good to pull off right away where Gauff just wasn’t too bothered about giving her opponent a bit of time to catch up thanks to a big lead as this match is truly her court. So far it’s been an easy campaign for the 19-year-old where her next opponent will be a first time knockout grand slam players bound match in either Maria Timofeeva or Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine.

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Miomir Kecmanović sets up a huge challenge v Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz for the last 16 on Monday after cancelling Tommy Paul’s 2-1 lead with the five-set win

by Sports Benches

Also an hour or two ago this afternoon over at Margaret Court Arena, we witnessed another five set stunner between 14th seed American Tommy Paul & Miomir Kecmanović from Serbia. The Serbian got a close opening set lead while Tommy Paul went from a set down to being closer towards the finish line after the third set at 2-1. However, Kecmanovic never gave up when not only he won another set back at the tiebreak but he managed to finish the match by punching his ticket into the last 16 so fast at the 5th & final set decider. The final score was 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 with 7-9 tiebreaker & 0-6.

Bugger for Tommy Paul with the 3rd round exit after his huge breakthrough here 12 months ago where he lost to Novak Djokovic but what an effort thought to fight back nonetheless. He was so close earlier on and he knew what he had to do to rebound before Paul took over top spot over his opponent for the first time. Sadly, he just couldn’t find his way back after he lost both the 4th tie, being blown away fast at final set & the match itself. Paul hasn’t kicked on for most of last year, even though he did okay through to the 4th round on home soil at the US Open. Plus, hats off to Kecmanovic who put in an absolute show where he’s now off to the fourth round for the first time in his grand slam career. Although, he will be tested against one of the world’s best right now in Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. It will be interesting to see if his courageous resistance in long spells would be the key towards an outside chance of a win. But for now, he will need to work on his inconsistency where he struggled midway through the afternoon until he managed to regroup himself during the fourth set before he sprinted his way past Paul again & there goes his huge day on-court. He has gone through a tough 2023 after not being able to advance after the 1R & the Serbian is sure to win back more this year despite a difficult next round match-up.

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Dayana Yastremska fires off and then rebounds fast after losing the 2nd set to eliminate 27th seed Emma Navarro for the 4R earlier this afternoon at John Cain Arena

by Sports Benches

Here’s one of the highlight matches to look back earlier in the 2nd half of 3rd Round women’s singles matches this afternoon when Dayana Yastremska knocked down 27th seed American Emma Navarro after a quick three-set showdown (2-6, 6-2 & 1-6) at John Cain Arena. Dayana’s next opponent on Monday for the fourth round will either be Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko who eliminated Australia’s Ajla Tomjlanovic in the 2nd round or 2012-13 winner Victoria Azarenka from Belarus.

That was really quick for both players who fought back and fourth at every turn but one of them has to advance while another will need to leave and it’s one of the Top 30 seeders in Navarro. She was so good to respond by bringing it into a 3rd set decider after a poor start before the American lost her way once again and that was the writing on the wall towards the end there. This is her best grand slam result so far, having won some ITF tournaments last year as well as Navarro’s first WTA title a few weeks ago at Hobart International. So plenty of time to kick on and have a better impact from there at age 22. Meanwhile, it’s been a long time coming even though the Ukrainian is 23 as this is the second time that Yastremska will be playing in the fourth round since Wimbledon back in 2019. She was on the move that fast to get the ball rolling & although she would have loved to get the job done in straight sets, but still, Yastremska took her time to regroup herself with another quickfire winning set during the decider to bring this game to a close. After languishing between the Qualifers & 1st round last year, she is playing her best tennis at the moment where a last 8 breakthrough would mean a lot to her by flying the flag for Ukraine.

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