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Italy

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Matteo Arnaldi’s excellent 3rd set response v Alexei Popyrin & Jannik Sinner being too good for Alex De Minaur has secured Italy’s Davis Cup title since 1976

by Sports Benches

It’s not the day the Aussie Davis Cup Team wanted to bow out with another runner-up finish this time to Italy, but it was still a great run again nonetheless where they showed some fight by staying on right through the very end during Finals week in Malaga, Spain. We didn’t have a great start v Czech Republic but Alex De Minaur and the strong doubles pair of Matt Ebden & Max Purcell has turned things around from 0-1 to 2-1 that saw them live another day onto the semi-finals v Finland after they shockingly knocked last year’s champs Canada out of the tournament.

Yes, that semis performance was easily good enough without the need of a doubles match following a 2-0 whitewash win v Finland as the Aussies go through to the final for the second straight year. They needed that prestigious trophy so bad having last won it back in 2003 on home soil v Spain at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. But coming back again this time v the Italians after their big win in the other semi-final from Saturday v Serbia, we unfortunately fell short once again fair & square with a 2-0 loss where Italy set the benchmark higher ahead of everyone & they too deserve to win the Davis Cup Trophy for the second time since 1976.

Oh so close when Alexei Popyrin fought back from the opening set down but fair play to Matteo Arnaldi who responded really well to nail him down during the 3rd set drag race. And Jannik Sinner has unleashed his A-game in the 2nd singles tie after he blew Novak Djokovic away where Alex De Minaur just couldn’t grasp any of his weaknesses all along. If De Minaur or Popyrin won their own games, we could’ve seen our strong Doubles team back in the final tie decider to maybe outmuscle them towards the end there.

Italy has some excellent talent as they hope to see Sinner and/or Arnaldi go all the way in the next few grand slams starting with the annual Australian Open at Melbourne Park in January. Meanwhile, as said, Australia should keep on working that saw them work their way through to the big Davis Cup Final over the last two years. You never know as the Aussies can continue to be at their best when it comes to the World Cup of team Tennis & surely they will finally win back the Davis Cup next time around sooner rather than later.

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Rugby

France vs Australia rugby: Result and final score as late Damian Penaud TRY won the game for France

by Admin

• Match ​ ​ : Australia vs France
• Series ​​ : Autumn International
• Venue​​ : Stade de France
• Time ​​ : Sunday, 6th Nov. 2022

The Wallabies led late after impressive tries from Lalakai Foketi and Jock Campbell, but Damian Penaud’s brilliance seized the win for the French at the death.

Points Summary

FranceAustralia
TriesTries
Penaud 75′Campbell 40′
Marchand 40′Foketi 17′
ConversionsConversions
Ramos 40′Foley 18′, 57′
Penalty GoalsPenalty Goals
Ramos 6′, 9′, 32′, 37′, 45′, 72′Foley 3′, 12′, 42′, 65′
Hodge 74′

• In a game that featured 33 points from penalty goals, the first of four tries saw Tom Wright fly down the left flank before putting Lalakai Foketi through to score as Australia raced into a 10-3 lead with a 100-metre effort. France rallied, though, and Thomas Ramos kicked two more penalties before Julien Marchand crashed over on the stroke of half-time.

• More penalties followed early in the second stanza before Jock Campbell found his way over in the corner to give the Aussies a 23-22 lead as Bernard Foley nailed the conversion. Ramos, Foley and Reece Hodge kicked further three-pointers and Australia led 29-25 with five to go when France threw the ball wide to the right.

• Penaud had played out a relatively quiet game, making half-breaks here and there aside from solid defence on the wing. But when he caught Matthieu Jalibert’s pass, he defied gravity, logic and the Wallabies’ cover defence to beat three before gliding over in the corner. Ramos couldn’t convert but France still had the lead, and they held it for three more tense minutes as the clock hit 80 to seal a one-point victory for Les Bleus.

Match Preview

  • The Australian team showed a good aggressive style of play in the first half. Then after the France team started scoring points, it was tight contest between the two sides.
  • At the end of the first half, the France team was leading by 16:19. After a tight contest in the second half Damian Penaud’s last minute goal won the match for France.

Wallabies will come back stronger

  • Any rustiness seen last week against Scotland was truly ironed out in this game as the Wallabies threw the ball around seamlessly and created many an opportunity to score with ball in hand.
  • Foketi’s opening try will go head-to-head with Penaud’s winner in the ‘try of the autumn’ stakes, and the more Australia play like that, the more likely they’ll be to finish on the right side of future contests.

France set standard ahead of South Africa visit

  • The tough tests don’t let up for France, with their match next weekend coming against the current Rugby World Cup holders, South Africa.
  • The Springboks are a tough test of physicality and skill for any side but if France want to be seen as true contenders to win their home World Cup in 2023, they’ll need to push the Boks as closely as they were pushed by the Wallabies here.
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Other Sports

Tennis News, Rafa Nadal became the 1st player to advance in the 2022 Australian Open Men’s Singles Final on Sunday after he defeated Matteo Berrettini

by Sports Benches

Rafa Nadal became the first player, who just punched his ticket, for the men’s singles final on Sunday night. He was brilliant as always with the strong start that gave himself time to build a decent lead at 2-0, he was challenged on a few occasions when Matteo Berrettini fought back in the 3rd set but used the early 1st half momentum to his advantage & wrapped this up in three sets accrued out of four at Rod Laver Arena. Well done to the Spaniard as he’s looking to add Grand Slam title No.21 plus his 2nd championship here on Australian soil.

And Berrettini would be gutted to lose out to Rafa with the semi-final loss, like the fight he displayed in the 3rd set where it gave some renewed momentum following a 1-2 lead. However, a poor start gave Berretini too many gaps to fill having climbed back a couple of games late before Rafa comfortably crossed the finish line. He just couldn’t be on the same page as his opponent for the entire time, in which it’s one thing how his 2nd half momentum was cut short after the 3rd set with little patience being afforded to stay in the game.

All eyes on the 2nd semi-final tie at the same venue shortly with Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece v Russian Daniil Medvedev battling it out for the 2nd and last final ticket.

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Other Sports

Tennis News, Stefanos Tsitsipas through to the 2nd Australian Open semi-final tie after he defeated Jannik Sinner in straight sets

by Sports Benches

The 1st of two players confirmed for the 2nd semi-final spot goes to Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece, he just defeated 11th seed Italian Jannik Sinner in straight sets (3-6, 4-6, 2-6) at Rod Laver Arena.

Sinner left Melbourne Park with his highest result so far at the Australian Open in the Final 8, he made up some lost time and won back some games as Sinner doesn’t take Tsitsipas lightly with plenty of tough duels. However, a poor start combined with a huge gap behind Tsitsipas left Sinner no time to execute & stay in contention, when he couldn’t level 1-1 after the 2nd set before he was quickly eliminated. He’s 20 years old though so Sinner has time to improve & win a Grand Slam in the future, having defeated fellow future champion Alex De Minaur prior to the Quarter-Final two days ago in the 4th Round.

And speaking of next-generation Grand Slam stars & champions, Tsitsipas is through to the Australian Open semis once again which will be his third occasion & Melbournians do love him. He simply was unbelievable where he built that early headstart, extended his lead as this tie goes while he overcame a series of competitive battles before Tsitsipas comfortably found the homestretch in just over two hours.

All eyes on the 4th and last Quarter-Final tie with Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime v Daniil Medvedev from Russia, where one of them will race towards that 2nd and final semi-final ticket v Tsitsipas on Friday night.

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Other Sports

Tennis News, Ash Barty continues her 2022 Australian Open campaign with another easy win against 30th seed Camila Giorgi from Italy at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

What an easy win where Ash Barty has just wrapped this up in just one hour & one minute through straight sets at Rod Laver Arena v 30th seed Italian Camila Giorgi, she will now face American Amanda Anisimova, who just upset reigning Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka, for Round 4 on Sunday.

Final Score: 6-2, 6-3

There are no problems whatsoever from Barty, who fired off and built a very easy lead, now she may be a bit challenged along the way where Giorgi fought back a game or two but she always showed plenty of firepower that reflected her easy spell tonight.

And Giorgi gutted with the loss after being eliminated in Round 3, she won a couple of games & did her best to rescue this game having been on the same page as Barty after the break, however, she was way behind when it comes to the overall lead and just couldn’t catch up through the end of both sets.

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Other Sports

Tennis News, Matteo Berrettini wrapped up a gruelling four-hour duel against Carlos Alcaraz with the win at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

Just saw an entertaining four-hour showdown at Rod Laver Arena where Matteo Berrettini took the first two sets before Carlos Alcaraz came out of nowhere and tied a 2-2 lead that went to a 5th set decider, but it’s Berrettini, who rejuvenated himself, during the best of ten tiebreaks & came out on top with three sets pocketed out of the best of five.

Final Score: 2-6, 6-7 via 3-7 tiebreaker, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 via 5-10 tiebreaker

Well done to Berrettini with the hard-fought win as he will face Pablo Carreno Busta from Spain for Round 4, it wasn’t hard for the Italian to get the ground running when he was close to wrap up the game at the first attempt in straight sets. Although he had some tough moments where he lost the next two sets that included a fall along the way, but he later backed up his early lead advantage that gave him enough time to escape & prevented Alcaraz from plotting an upset.

And unlucky with the 3rd Round elimination from Alcaraz, who has plenty of potential of becoming the next Grand Slam superstar, at just 18 years old, having made it to the US Open Quarter-Final last year & sure this close loss will help him bounce back next time. Like the way how he stopped Berrettini from an early finish in the 3rd set & began to catch up with a 2-2 lead, he almost pulled off an upset, unfortunately, Alcarez just ran out of fire via the deciding tiebreak that saw Berrettini as the winner instead.

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Other Sports

Tennis News, Miomir Kecmanovic advances into Round 4 for the first time of 2022 Australian Open after he upsetted 25th seed Lorenzo Sonego from Italy

by Sports Benches

Hats off to Miomir Kecmanovic from Serbia, who just eliminated 25th seed Italian Lorenzo Sonego, as he advances into the 4th Round of the 2022 Australian Open which will be his first time & face either Frenchman Gael Monfils or Cristian Garin from Chile.

Final Score: 6-4, 6-7 via 8-10 tiebreaker, 6-2, 7-5

Unlucky from Sonego with the loss there, he had to fight back during these tough battles against Kecmanovic when the Italian tied 1-1 via the tiebreak. However, Sonego lost his shape having fallen behind for the majority where he had a few missed opportunities to execute & get ahead of Kecmanovic before it was too late.

And Kecmanovic had a ball against one of the Top 25 seeds in this year’s Australian Open draw, the Serbian fired off well that gave him the upper hand after the opening set. Although he narrowly lost the 2nd set spell via a close battle through the tiebreak, but Kecmanovic is class all-round with a super easy 3rd set followed by the 4th set which was enough to confirm his breakthrough win.

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Other Sports

Tennis Australia News, Section 8 R3 of the 2021 Australian Open Singles Game: Fabio Fognini v Alex De Minaur

by Sports Benches

Fabio Fognini and Alex De Minaur went side by side to kick off this game at Margaret Court Arena. So things went steady between the two. Fognini was the first player to pull the lead away from De Minaur past the halfway mark. De Minaur did close the lead to Fognini 4-5.

But De Minaur just did not have enough time to sort out his conversion play. After a slow first half run where he would like to fix up after the break. As Fognini wins Stage 1 6-4. Nothing much has changed going into Stage 2. Where Fognini still just ahead of De Minaur in a bid to tie two straight mini wins. De Minaur on the other hand reported a lack of feel in the 1st & 2nd half play. And it has been a frustrating night so far for De Minaur. With Fognini once again firing on all corners for the Stage 2 win 6-3. The 33 year old Italian just needs one more stage win to set up a fourth round showdown.

Nothing much unfortunately changed without the control of De Minaur. When the Australian No.1 seed alone searched all night on ways to hold down Fognini. The solutions were not there when Fognini pulled off another big lead away off De Minaur. Progress at last was finally made when De Minaur began to fight back. Where Fognini made two double faults at the first match point attempt. As well as unable to get over the net during the 2nd time of asking. But it was still a big enough lead from Fognini to close out the win. The final score was done just over two hours of play at 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

Bugger for De Minaur who tied his best result of Round 3 twice here from 2019 & 2021. There is fightback and courage at last. But just left it so late until the last minute. Where he was struggling with the fire off & conversion play mightly. And that kind of little to no momentum will leave him isolated. With time eventually ran out against him to repair the Stage 1 & 2 losses. De Minaur though should take those weaknesses & come back better next time.

While Fognini has dominated this game all night to connect the 1st & 2nd half performances. And marry up all three stage victories in straight sets. Where he turned this Round 3 tonight into his 4th round ticket. He will now meet Spainard Rafael Nadal who just beat Cameron Norrie from England. Norrie was originally from South Africa & used to fly with New Zealand colours. The other game scores are 7-5, 6-2 & 7-5. Well there is no Aussies now in the Men’s singles section now. But Ash Barty is still the lone Aussie in the women’s singles where she will face Shelby Rogers from USA.

Day 6 now done at the Australian Open and the first of the five days at least without fans. We are missing the fan crowd/atmosphere & the Jim Courier post-game interviews. Just like NASCAR on NBC refused to have a theme song last year with nobody. But the organisers have to follow the strict Government rules. So we do not get sick. We cannot wait for Day 7 though tomorrow on Valentines Day. Before the finals week begins in the next few days.

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