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2024 All Blacks v Italy at Juventus FC’s Allianz Stadium: A brilliant end to their 2024 tour with the win by 18 points

by Sports Benches

After a long five weeks, the All Blacks have now finished their away tour campaign earlier today at Juventus FC’s Allianz Stadium in Torino v Italy. Yes, it has been somewhat scrappy and quiet at times by both teams, but the ABs know what they’re doing to get themselves over the line including their 11 point lead at half-time (6-17) — as a win is a win after all at the end of the day by 18 points, 11-29.

All in all, there is still some room for improvement going into 2025 with some key players moving on like Sam Cane & TJ Perenara. We saw that coming last weekend when they lost to France while they almost to the Wallabies in the 1st Test here and also lost twice to the Springboks all from 2-3 months ago. But not to worry, there should still be more good days ahead for the Men in Black under head coach Scott Robertson after his first year.

It’s been great seeing Cam Roigard back on the field lately in the AB’s away tour after a long six months out from his knee injury. He’s made some terrific moments that a classic half-back could do including a few of his own like the one Cam scored earlier in the first half v the Azzurri as if he scored a goal in soccer for Juventus at their Allianz Stadium. Looks like the Canes need him to stay fit all of next year including another ABs campaign that could hopefully win the Canes a Super Rugby Grand Final – something they haven’t done in a long time since 2016.

We also saw the best of Beauden Barrett who has been doing all sorts of tricks as always on top of his excellent conversion kicks before he managed to finish off the ABs 2024 term in style. He’s at the right place at the right time when he will be back for the championship-winning Blues in Auckland & same again for the ABs next year, so he can play for the 2027 World Cup. Going to miss one of his long-time team-mates in Sam Cane though who made the openside 7 of his own over the last decade. Yes, the ABs made some mistakes too but they should be fine as long as it’s the right replacement for Sam.

And despite the loss, great to see some Italian attacking finesse on top of their good start from their outside backs, particularly in the 2nd half from super sub Marco Zanon. He’s the guy who can create all sorts of moments like how he ran off Mark Talea from the high ball thanks to Tommaso Menacello before he found Menacello again for their one & only TRY. If they had more ball & if it wasn’t for their poor discipline, then they would be right on the money with a more robust backline to make them spin out in circles like in Mario Kart.

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2024 Davis Cup semi-final: Italy too good to end Australia’s hopes of winning this prestigious trophy courtesy of both Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner

by Sports Benches

First of all, it wasn’t the series the Aussies wanted in this Davis Cup semi-final v Italy again – who previously defeated them last time round during the Final last year & did so once again last night – after seeing both of our singles players Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alex De Minaur being run down 2-0 by their own opponents in Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner.

But this is something we should be proud of at the end of the day with our head held high. We were oh close following that brilliant first set tiebreak mini win to begin with from Kokkanikis before he just couldn’t hang in there through the end over the best of three on what has been an excellent Berrettini comeback. 

Also, that Sinner and De Minaur match was extremely difficult to watch either when Sinner right now is our next generation version of Roger Federer from Switzerland today, has won both grand slams in 2024 both at the Australian and US Open & he too has done in straight sets – shame it was a non-starter for Alex there.  All eyes on Alex though if he can make the last 8 again but this time it has to be at Melbourne Park, although it depends on which opponents he will take on soon.

And if Kokkanikis did hold on to at least one of the singles’ match wins, then Matt Ebden and Jordan Thompson could’ve been there to give ourselves another shot at the Davis Cup crown for the Final when it comes to the reserved doubles match tie. 

But with Italy already wrapped up 2-0 without the need of doubles, looks like they are now set to defend their title once again this time v Netherlands tonight from 11pm AEDT only on BeIn Sports and not 9Gem.

So I guess with the new format around the corner for next year’s Davis Cup, it seems Australia would be back in action very early with the first round qualifiers straight after the Australian Open – unless they can be the host nation for that second round for September, which would normally be held in Europe, I assume.

This shouldn’t be too much of an issue though as sure they can continue to keep on rolling and who knows if the Aussies will be back in the Davis Cup Final again someday? Hopefully, they can finally be able to lift that historic trophy once more.

For now, onto the United Cup in little over a month’s time then here comes the three-week home grand slam come early January 2025 across Melbourne Park.

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UEFA Euro 2024: Defending champs Italy now out from the Round of 16 as Switzerland is in the last eight v runner-up England or Slovakia after a 2-0 win at the Berlin Olympiastadion

by Sports Benches

Looks like we will see a new UEFA Euros champion after defending champions Italy were just knocked out of the Round of 16 with a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland, who is now off to their 2nd Quarter-Finals this time v 2021 runner-up England or Slovakia come tomorrow morning. Despite being a bit off possession when Italy tried to keep on chasing the scoreboard, gotta say that Switzerland had a brilliant game where they managed to find the net twice in between two halves. That first one was quick & easy in front of the goalkeeper while the 2nd strike was clearly long and high that just went over the keeper & into the net it goes to extend the Swiss’s lead. They’ve been great in the Euros over the last three campaigns now as this could be their best ever run yet if they can knock off the other Euro finalists. Although the Swiss should take it one step at a time should they go all the way in the hope of making their own history maybe against either Hosts Germany or even Spain in the Final.

Meanwhile, it’s heartbreaking to see Italy bow out early having entered this campaign as the defending champs after they defeated England on their own turf last time out from the previous Final in Wembley 1-0. First of all, the keeper made some fine saves. But despite holding the possession, Italy just wasn’t good enough defensively where they couldn’t stop the Swiss from entering their own danger zone inside the box. Plus, their attacking executions look scrappy including one poorly timed attempt later during the 2nd half that hit the woodwork in between the net & keeper by their main No.9 Giancula Scamacca. 

Not even a near own goal by Switzerland could’ve put them back on track with sheer luck where the opposition were relieved to see the ball being deflected away past the crossbar off a defensive header that almost became very costly indeed. Now that’s something for the Swiss to watch out when clearing the ball next time. Italy’s search for a 3rd championship will have to wait until 2028 across the UK and Ireland as Switzerland’s extended run continues for the last eight next Sunday at 2am AEST.

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UEFA Euro 2024: Ricciardo Calafiori’s own goal gifted the Spaniards another win v Italy

by Sports Benches

Today’s back-to-back Week 2 matchday games in the UEFA Euro 2024 also might have been extremely quiet having witnessed Denmark equalising England to hold out a 1-1 draw in Group C but at least there was at least one winner out of this one between Spain v Italy in Group B. Now both teams might not have been able to find the net off the back of a few hit and misses as well as tremendous saves, but a costly mistake in the 55th minute that went to the other team’s own net by Italy have gifted Spain the win they need 1-0 thanks to centre-back Riccardo Calafiori. Spain are so far undefeated in their group with two wins on six points ahead of 2nd-placed Italy who is currently on three off the back of their 2-1 win the other day v Albania. Italy will need to be at their very best v Croatia (who drew with Albania 2-2 all earlier today) on Tuesday morning at 5am AEST and Spain on the other hand will look to close out Group B on a high v Albania also at the same time (5am AEST).

Unlucky from the Italians when you got Gianluigi Donnarumma stopping the always dominant Spanish ball play from slipping past his own net including some that went away out of goal, although he’s disappointed that his own defender accidentally kicked the ball right inside the net. Meanwhile, they had a few chances to try and get past the Spaniards whenever they had the ball but they were nowhere near inside the box to clearly take a real shot v the other team’s goalkeeper. Yes, defense is important but just need to get more ball right into the middle if Italy wants to defend their crown this time across Germany.

Looking at Spain and they’ve been always dominant in possession with balls flying into the centre that left the Italian defenses shaking at their own box. Okay, ending up with several hit and misses where Spain could’ve scored 1, 2 and 3 goals is something they need to work on having left without a goal of their own at all. Although some of the missed shot on goals might have came off weak every time Donnarumma was able to deflect the ball away from his in-goal, but the Spainards would be happy to take the win thanks to Calafiori’s own goal mistake. They got their Round of 16 place locked in against whichever one finishes 3rd from the other group of A, D, E or F; However, they just need to tone themselves a bit down when looking to get the job done inside the net on top of their excellent possession to dominate the Italians in the attacking third.

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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 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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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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Today’s Tennis Match, Jannik Sinner too good for Sebastian Baez in straight sets during the 3R at Margaret Court Arena

by Sports Benches

World No.4 Italian Jannik Sinner is on a roll this afternoon at Margaret Court Arena following a straight sets win v Sebastian Baez from Argentina. He was too good in the opening two sets & although Baez finally got the ball rolling on time that late in such a huge task to try & hang in there, but Sinner took his time well to bring it home with the win 6-0, 6-1 & 6-3. The Davis Cup team winning player for Team Italy will now face either Tomáš Macháč (Czech Republic) or Karen Khachanov (Russia) for the fourth round this Sunday.

It’s been a great run where this is the second time that Baez has played in the third round after the 2023 US Open but his time was over so fast against such a tremendous player. Like how he fought back in the third set with some good shots to slow Sinner down. But then he was so behind unfortunately for most of the time as there’s nothing he can do about it other than looking to move on next time. He’s ranked 26th right now at age 23 who might not be the tallest but has great ability to unpack things along the way where a great ATP Tour season would see him challenge beyond the third round. And yes, what a player he is from Sinner who is enjoying the Tennis of his life at the moment. He was simply too good over the first two sets over an opponent being so much shorter than him before he took his time a bit longer well against an alert & ready Baez in the third set with a great way to wrap it up in just under two hours of play. Aside from the 2023 Davis Cup team win for Italy, he only made the semi-final last year at Wimbledon but only made the last 8 at Melbourne Park once back in 2022. So he has plenty to prove as his Davis Cup heroics can help springboard his way into something special & win a grand slam from there – same goes to our Aussie own Alex De Minaur who also did well in the Davis Cup and he’s currently ranked World No.10.

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Tennis, Alex De Minaur def. Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets as his Italian affair continues with Fabio Cobolli for the 3rd Round

by Sports Benches

Great to see our Aussie own Alex De Minaur advance into the third round after following straight sets win (6-3, 6-0, 6-3) earlier in the afternoon v Italian Matteo Analdi. He might have been not far behind from the beginning but the Demon has worked his way up with some excellent challenged that reflected his natural game. The first set was there before he too good unchallenged in the 2nd set where De Minaur took his time well towards the end with the win after just two hours of play at Rod Laver Arena. His next opponent will be another Italian in 21-year-old Fabio Cobolli who just defeated Pavel Kotov out of a four-set contest at Court 6 (5-7, 3-6, 7-5 & 2-6). Meanwhile, Arnaldi may have put up a great fight on occasions but his time is now up after a few days at Melbourne Park with the straight sets loss. He started the opening game well before doing the best he can to stay in the fight during the 3rd set. However, he couldn’t bridge the upper half form where Arnaldi just couldn’t keep up with De Minaur that saw him being left out through every set of this match. He had a great career moment off the back end of last year such as the fourth round at the US Open as well as the Davis Cup trophy for his country, but there’s still some work to do if wants to be good as Jannik Sinner next time when it comes to the next few grand slams throughout 2024.

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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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