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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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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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2024 Constellation Cup Netball Game 4: Aussie Diamonds finish off on a high in Melbourne 63-50 as Silver Ferns still get to collect the series trophy back home in NZ

by Sports Benches

The 2024 Constellation Cup series has just ended for another year at John Cain Arena in Melbourne with the Aussie Diamonds capping off a much better performance this time on a high note by 13 goals at home (63-50), but still a largely underwhelming run though as the Silver Ferns officially took home the series trophy back where it belongs in New Zealand for least the next 12 months with three straight wins (two at home in New Zealand) to one including that monumental 43-61 win the other day away (RAC Arena) in Perth.

It was a close 15 mins from the beginning by both teams with Ferns able to lead out a few times by a couple of goals. However, it was the Diamonds who began to turn the tide with a six goal lead (32-26) ahead of half-time while they kept their winning lead intact throughout the 2nd half. Yes, Ferns tried to play catch up that fast in the last 15 but Diamonds didn’t panic though by keeping their lead intact once more & never looked back since then – that’s all.

Great to see Courtney Bruce smiling with confidence, especially when her Diamonds team were winning while being the (goal) keeper of this back three. She’s been so good at nailing down by ripping the ball away off a different side of the Silver Ferns attack thanks to her brilliant running talent, even when Grace Nweke was there off the bench while the game went on who will be playing here more often for the NSW Swifts next year. Maybe she should be in the 100m dash (Athletics) but glad to hear that Bruce still has lots to offer though after all where playing v the world’s best will help her personally as a professional athlete & sure she’ll want to keep on going into 2025 beginning with the West Coast Fever in Super Netball.

Next up is fan favourite for the Melbourne Vixens is Kate Moloney who has been bossing the mid-court throughout the full hour tonight. She credits her Diamonds back three especially with Jamie-Lee Price being much better at Wing Defense, so she can do damage to link up her attackers towards the other end. They just keep on coming with goals under her watch as what could’ve happened if she did start from Game 1 of this series instead of Price or even Paige Hadley much like Sophie Dwyer for the Goal Attack role, although there’s still huge competition there off the back of Kiera Austin’s return to form tonight. For now, she’s flying high this year in a finalist Vixens outfit as more to come for 2025.

And Kate Heffernan rounds out the Top 3 once again. Yes, might not have heard much from her earlier on when the Silver Ferns would like to try out something different with their squad, having won the series already. But she is someone who always put on her A-game and she continues to do so consistently with a mix of good passes as well as marking/deflecting balls from up high. Also, there may be some complaints about Kate not being good at Centre where she done that before for the Southern Steel and she wasn’t that bad, particularly when trying to play catch up in the last 15. But surely if the Steel wants to be Top 3 again, then the safe option is for Kate to be at Wing Defense than at C. For now, she’s had an outstanding Trans-Tasman series – more to come from Kate Heffernan alongside her twin Georgia (in goal attack) for 2025.

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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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AO Tennis 2024, Amanda Anisimova advances into the 4th round after being too good for Paula Badosa but has a tough next match ahead v Aryna Sabalenka for the 4th Round

by Sports Benches

Here’s another match to look back earlier in the afternoon when it comes to the women’s singles match in the 3rd Round between USA’s Amanda Anisimova & New York born Paula Badosa from Spain at John Cain Arena. Badosa had the early headstart but it was Anisimova who had the all-round performance to confirm her elimination in straight sets at 7-5, 6-4.

It’s been a tough last year due to injury where she has gone closer outside the knockout rounds the year before but the Spaniard didn’t do bad to start the match with a bang. She’s so good at catching up where Badosa was so close to catch her opponent and get the job done on her terms but just couldn’t go all the way with a lack of execution going against her for the loss after a great run over the last couple of days against USA’s Taylor Townsend (1R) & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (2R) prior to today. Then hats off to Anisimova who has now reached the 4th round for the third time in a few years, having last done so back in 2021 & 2019. She just couldn’t give up her game in the way the American has caught up to Badosa with patience and finish off her way as the match goes on & that’s how Anisimova stood tall without giving it away towards the end there. But there is a tough challenge ahead this Sunday though where her next opponent for the fourth round will be reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus. It’s not the first time she will back away, having shocked 2021 champion Naomi Osaka two years ago before the 2022 champ Ash Barty confirmed her elimination the same round later (Round 4). Like Badosa, she too hasn’t been playing for most of last year but for a different reason due to mental health & now is a great time to come back in the hope of making another miracle & play in her 3rd knockout finals match (last 8) since the 2022 Wimbledon tournament.

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Storm Hunter has stood tall from start to finish in a three-set win during the 2nd Round v Germany’s Laura Siegemund

by Sports Benches

Here’s another terrific amongst Aussies at the Australian Open on Day 4 earlier today and shoutout to 29-year-old Qualifier Storm Hunter who eliminated Germany’s Laura Siegemund in the toughest of challenges over at John Cain Arena. They both had great starts & restarts with Hunter having the early lead while Siegemund is great when it comes to the rebound. However, it can only be one winner & Hunter has answered Australia’s United Cup semi-final defeat with her grand slam singles win against one of the lead-up title winning opponents out of a three-set contest (4-6, 6-3 & 3-6). 

She’s normally the best in the world when it comes to the doubles circuit, but looks like Hunter is making waves here as well as a singles player in front of her home crowd. This is the first time she will be playing in the third round at a grand slam after making the 2nd round last year at Ronald Garros in Paris. As said, she had some tough duels against Siegemund, whom she faced recently a few weeks ago at the United Cup semi-final in a losing mixed doubles effort with Matt Ebden. But this time Hunter is the one that stood tall one-on-one along the way where the early lead and the patience needed to get the job done has gave many reasons why she is not going to back down without a fight – how good! Now she will take on 9th seed & 2021 French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova from Czech Republic for the 3R. And fair play to Siegemund with a brilliant effort on the court where she gave Hunter a hard time at times to try and stop her in its tracks. She gave herself the chance to get the job done following the 2nd stage win but couldn’t do so against the resistance of Hunter’s final set performance under pressure towards the end there with the loss. She might be a great team player but the German only made the Quarter-Final once at the 2020 US Open, so that is something she will need to work on & bounce back better next time.

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Felix Auger-Aliassime too good for Dan Evans in straight sets at John Cain Arena as he advances to Round 4 of 2022 Australian Open

by Sports Benches

Felix Auger-Aliassime too good for Dan Evans at John Cain Arena where he nailed down in straight sets (4-6, 1-6, 1-6), he will be watching the Andrey Rublev and Martin Cilic tie with interest & study what these players are like where one of them will meet him for Round 4 on Monday.

For Evans, he endured a huge blow against the 9th seed Canadian which wasn’t easy to reflect on after this match, even though he came off a brilliant warm-up spell before the main draw in Sydney via the semis. He was on the same page at the beginning where Evans narrowly fell short & had the chance to tie 2-2 in the 3rd set, unfortunately, the Brit just couldn’t unpack some fire having fell way behind before Auger-Aliassime comfortably made it home at the other end.

And Auger-Aliassime is one of two Canadians alongside Denis Shapovalov in the 4th Round as this is be an exciting time right now for that country, he displayed lots of Grand Slam quality that helped him shift up a few gears ahead of Evans & never looked back ever since. He had an excellent 2nd half last year with the Quarter-Final in Wimbledon & Semi-Final at the US Open, he has Daniil Medvedev on his radar where he hopes to upset last year’s runner-up in the Final 8 & potentially come home with a grand slam trophy.

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Tennis News, Nick Kyrgios advances into R2 in a tough encounter ahead with Daniil Medvedev after he defeated Liam Broady in straight sets

by Sports Benches

Another Aussie who advanced into Round 2 of this year’s Australian Open tomorrow is Nick Kyrgios, he too defeated Briton Liam Broady in straight sets early in three stages at John Cain Arena (4-6, 4-6, 3-6) & will face 2nd seed & reigning US Open men’s champion Daniil Medvedev from Russia.

Kyrgios and Broady were always side by side for the whole time when they both tussled for every game and point, however, Kyrgios produced the better conversion first ahead of Broady before he sprinted a few blocks in the 3rd set & dominated this tie in the end.

And Broady is disappointed with the loss where he showed a good build-up base from the start & was so close to winning those two sets, but he just couldn’t provide the 2nd half consistency that gave Kyrgios the upper hand having felt like he’s fallen off a cliff & then couldn’t keep in contention.

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2021 Australian Open, Section 3 R3 Men’s Singles Game: Dominic Thiem v Nick Kyrgios

by Sports Benches

It has been a tough stage 1 encounter between the 3rd seed Dominic Thiem & Nick Kyrgios. It was Kyrgios who touched the halfway lead first 3-2. Before Thiem came back from a slow start by holding back Kyrgios on occasions 4-5. But Kyrgios shut him down for the first stage win unscathed 6-4. Having crossed just 37 minutes in R3 of this game. As the crowd roars at John Cain Arena.

The close battle goes on after the break where Thiem have the early 1st half advantage. In a bid to try and distance himself away from Kyrgios. Kyrgios though catches up to Thiem going into the halfway mark 3-3. And this progress remained still unchanged for a little longer. Where one of them will have to finish first in stage 2. After a few deuce attempts between the two players. Kyrgios overcome this part to lead 5-4 with one point away from winning Stage 2. And Kyrgrios once again has two mini wins v Thiem 6-4. Now Kyrgios is one set away from going to Round 4. While Thiem will need ideas now to get himself back in the race towards a possible Stage 4.

Thiem has the 1st half foundation build up as proven with the early lead in Stage 2-0. Despite a tough series of deuces duels v Kyrigos for these valuable points. As he touched the halfway line first 3-0 to try and bridge his 1st set win. While Kyrgios have played well so far with the deuces battles as of late. But is beginning to lack the momentum behind Thiem. Kyrgios did move away after a slow start to catch up the 3rd seed from Austria 3-5. There is a 2nd half strength seen alone. But not enough time to deny Thiem with the third stage win 6-3. As Kyrgios still has two set wins to his name.

Kyrgios finally took the first point in Stage 4 After he overcame another series of deuce battles. While Thiem kept the 3rd stage momentum to save his game. Both players still side by side at the halfway distance 3-3. Krygios has a few chances with the advantage to reach that 5th point. But just unable to get the finishing done whereas Thiem does in the contrary 6-4. As Thiem came back from behind Kyrgios 0-2 to two straight wins in the 3rd & 4th set. The decider is in between Kyrgios and Thiem in the 5th & final stage.

Just three hours in and both players battling hard to secure this 5th stage win. It will mean a lot to them with the Round 4 ticket in two days. Thiem began to pull the overall lead away from Kyrgios having drawn 3-3. Before he was just one point from winning the 5th stage & this game tonight. And once Thiem got into match point he found a way from out of nowhere after Stage 3 to comeback glory. The final score was done in 3 hours & 18 minutes: 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 & 6-4.

So unlucky from Kyrgios who fired off with two early stage wins to his name. And was one stage win away from finishing this game early at the first attempt. But the momentum began to decline unfortunately. As Kyrgios just unable to find these 2nd half conversions at least to make Thiem hard to catch up. Well played as we wish Nick all the best. Just not his night to exit this journey.

And on Thiem what a performance from the Austrian who is the 3rd seed of the world. Might have lost the first two stages behind Kyrgios. But he kept himself close to him at all times rather than being blown away too easily. Before Thiem found his finishing strategy that was not seen earlier on. And used this improved 2nd half run to outclass Kyrigos that eventually crossed the line 1st.

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Tennis Australia News, 2021 Australian Open Section 3 of R2 Game: Nick Kyrgios v Ugo Humbert

by Sports Benches

It has been a close start by the two players in the middle from Nick Kygrios & Ugo Humbert. Where the Aussie & Frenchman went side by side with a point win each as the game goes. So nothing much changed in the first part of stage 1. Even a little longer past halfway.

But Kyrgios just unable to find the finishing tools to get past Humbert for the stage 1 victory 5-7. Having lost a deuce during the 5th point battle. Before a sub-par run in the 6th score saw Kyrgios forced to wait a bit longer. And find a different strategy to make up lost time in order to advance in Round 3 after the first set loss.

The second stage though remains the same momentum as it was from Stage 1. With Kyrgrios made some progress this time with the early lead going at halfway 3-1. As he still needed to stay in the race by holding off Humbert. When the Frenchman began to catch up to Kyrgios point by point. Before Kyrgios bounced back in Stage 2 6-4.

As always so far in this game tonight Kyrgios & Humbert fired off side by side. Both players trying hard to find their middle ground that would eventually end this game first. They are tied 3-3 by the halfway mark in the 3rd set. But Kyrgios unable to bridge that consistency in the 2nd half of this stanza. Whereas Humbert did when he found it not hard to win Stage 3 with two mini wins 6-3.

Humbert finally got the feel needed to fire off with an easy headstart v Kyrgios. The halfway point was there when Humbert checked in first 3-1. Kyrgios may have held the Frenchman back on occasions. Where the Australian desperately scrambled to fight back for the stage 4 win. And still in the running to meet Dominic Thiem in Round 3. Having only registered one set win during Stage 2. With not much progress heard since then. Even though he has raised a few complaints to the umpire. As well as whacking a tennis racket one time after Kyrgios narrowly fell short in the 1st stage.

Kyrgios was almost of the cusp of being flushed away against Humbert in the 1st match point 3-5. With Humbert have two set wins in Stages 1 & 3. But Kyrgios denied not one but both attempts to still be in the game. So he can take it towards a decider in the 5th & final stage. Having taken the late Stage 4 lead off Humbert 6-5. Before the Frenchman bounced back a point 6-6 that leads to a tiebreaker.

Both men shared the lead 1-1 apiece in a race that will go on towards Stage 5 for Kyrgios. Or else have it wrapped up early with Humbert in the box seat. Kyrgios have the upper hand 5-1. Where Humbert needed to find new ideas now to get himself back in the mix. And reach the home stretch by the easiest of margins. But Kyrgios just edged Humbert for the fourth stage win 7-6. As this game is not over yet going into the fifth and final stage.

Kyrgios and Humbert dueled each other out side by side in a race towards the final stage win. Kyrgios have a much better conversion tools to move around this time 3-1. Where Humbert did not give up a fight by beginning to bounce back. While Kyrgios reached the 5th point that is just one away from winning the 5th stage & overall win.

Humbert may have denied Kyrgios his first match point attempt at 3-5. But Kyrgios ended up unscathed in the end. After a first set loss & whacked the racket. As well as a few verbal fights with the chair umpire. Almost got sinked by Humbert out of the Australian Open Tournament during Stage 1. And within one hour Kyrgios came back out of nowhere. Before Kyrgios came home first as the winner.

The final score at John Cain Arena is 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 with the 7-6 tiebreaker & 6-4. Where this game was completed just over the three hour mark. Nick will meet Dominic Thiem from Austria in the third round on Friday. While praises to Ugo Humbert with the foundations built. Having held and tracked down Kyrgios on most occasions. But he just unable to hold on until the end. Even when the Frenchman missed his match point chance in the first place.

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