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Melbourne Park

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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The 2024 Australian Open Women’s singles final is now done and dusted with one more match to go for tonight’s men’s singles final before the 15-day competition is over between Jannik Sinner v Daniil Medvedev as Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka is your champion once again after she got the job done without having to drop a set against Qinwen Zheng with the win at Rod Laver Arena. Sabalenka had an amazing performance all around & commiserations to Zheng who gained a little here & there as of late but then the standard was just too much for her to catch up in the end. The final score was 3-6 & 2-6 being done in almost 90 minutes of play. This is Sabalenka’s 2nd straight Australian Open trophy & although she will still be World No.2 behind Iga Swiatek, the search is now on to win the other majors after falling short at the 2023 US Open to Coco Gauff (USA).

First of all, Zheng finally got the ball rolling from behind where she did her best to hold back Sabalenka following a poor start of the match. If she did give herself some time with the early headstart, then she would be in a fair shot to try and bring home another Australian Open trophy for China since Li Na last did that just 10 years ago. But she still could not exploit all of Sabalenka’s weaknesses where Zheng fell way behind as the game does on despite denying her a few Championship points when Zheng unfortunately did not have the chance to bridge her best 2nd half form & finish things off her way in defeat. She had a great last few months of Tennis as Zheng is age 22 with loads of potential to fulfill at World No.7 in the singles rankings.

Meanwhile, it’s been another amazing win from the Belarusian who is now a 2 x Australian Open women’s singles champion this time without having to lose a set and also without too much fuss v Zheng unlike Elina Rybakina last year. She was so quick to get off the mark which was huge so she can take her time to bridge the other half form while Zheng showed a bit of fightback here & there, but Sabalenka didn’t need to throw her game away and that is exactly she has done to bring home another grand slam major with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup to her silverware cabinet. As said, the game is on for Sabalenka to win both another grand slam title or two or even three where she always fell short other than some usual good performances from the 1st round to the knockout stages as well as being the World No.1 singles player again off Swiatek.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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