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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

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

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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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AO Open Tennis, Linda Noskova def. McCartney Kessler to book a 3rd Round tie with Iga Swiatek after they both won their own three-set 2nd Round matches on Day 5

by Sports Benches

Here’s one of the excellent Round 2 women’s singles matches so far on Day 5 of the 2024 Australian Open Tennis between American McCartney Kessler & Linda Noskova at Show Court Arena where Noskova fired off well while Kessler responded really quickly that sets up a 3rd decider. Only of them can only go into the third round though & that is Noskova who defeated the American in the end by two games the difference (3-6, 6-1 & 4-6). It’s been not a bad run from Kessler on her first grand slam tournament but her time has now come to an end, having defeated Fiona Ferro the other day also in a three-set contest. Looks like she brought in such a tremendous effort to hang in there from start to finish like that fiery 2nd set response to give herself the chance to get the job done on her own terms. Sadly, she just fell so short where her opponent had the better execution like it was in the opening set, which would be the slow starts/re-starts as her weakness. This years tournament is the one she can look back with more to come from the 24-year-old soon.

Meanwhile, Noskova had a brilliant game to start and finish off the match with another win to go into the 3rd round. Yes, she would need to work on her inconsistency after being challenged by Kessler on occasions, particularly during the 2nd set. But she has the ability to go all the way to make things shine at age 19 as seen during the final set decider where the Czech can rebound under pressure to close the match 2-1. This is her highest grand slam singles performance yet so far as there will be another huge test to come when she will take on seasoned grand slam champion Iga Swiatek from Poland, who just defeated 2022 runner-up Danielle Collins from the USA (6-4, 3-6 & 6-4).

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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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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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British Women’s No.1 Katie Boulter def. Yue Yuan to kickstart her 2024 Australian Open Tennis campaign in straight sets at Court 7

by Sports Benches

Here’s another close straights sets match we just saw not long ago over in Day 3 of the 2024 Australian Open women’s singles draw when Briton Katie Boulter has just defeated China’s Yue Yuan at Court 7 as her next opportunity next for Round 2 this Thursday will either be China’s Qinwen Zhang (12th seed) or Ashlyn Krueger from the USA. The final score was 7-5, 7-6 with 7-1 tiebreaker & the match was done in just under two hours at 1 hour & 55 mins. Great effort by Yue Yuan to keep her game up with Boulter where she was so close to getting the set done herself after giving her opponent a hard time on occasions on the court. Unfortunately, she just couldn’t hold on and get that breakthrough where Boulter had the upper hand with the win as this is her 2nd grand slam singles appearance here at Melbourne Park. We wish her all the best, having played her first WTA Tour final a few months ago (October) where she lost to American Jessica Pegula in the Korea Open.

Meanwhile, the current women’s British No.1 has played her A-game to begin her Australian Open tour with the win. She never lets herself down without a fight against her opponent right through the very end of each set before things went her way where Boulter has the better pull to get things done under pressure & she did exactly just like that today. Now this will be her 2nd round appearance since the 2019 Australian Open, but she had a great 2nd half of 2023 thanks to back-to-back 3rd Round glam performances at Wimbledon & the US Open. Let’s take one match at a time but hopefully she’ll make another big breakthrough herself just like her boyfriend of our Aussie own Alex De Minaur aka The Demon.

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2024 Australian Open Tennis, Sumit Nagal shocks Alexander Bublik by flying the Indian flag in straight sets at Court 6

by Sports Benches

Someone else has made a name for himself just a while ago on Day 3 of the Australian Open today at Court 6 in none other than Sumit Nagal from India, who defeated 31st seed Kazakh Alexander Bublik. It was such a close game by both players, even though it ended up in three straight sets where Nagal holds all the cards (4-6, 6-2, 7-6 with 7-5 tiebreaker).

Not the exit Bublik wanted to see out as the three-day first round’s leg is coming to a close ahead of the 2nd round over Tomorrow & Thursday. He did well at times from the start and during the 3rd set to try & stay in the fight, but unfortunately, he was so inconsistent as the match goes on with the lack of executions being counted against him. Yes, he had a career highlight moment last year at Wimbledon where he went as high as the 4th round. However, he has yet to have gone past the 2nd round here twice despite his highly seeded Top 30 ranking back in 2021 & 2022. And the man of the moment after his breakthrough moment goes to 137th ranked Nagal who will now take on either USA’s Mackenzie McDonald or Shang Juncheng from China this Thursday. He put in a brilliant show all along that surprised the Kazakh where Nagal got away with a close first stage lead before he was too good in the 2nd set & although he had some challenges in the 3rd set, but managed to get the job done under pressure at the tiebreak. This is the second time he has advanced into the 2nd Round of his grand slam career since the 2020 US Open. Let’s hope he can fulfil his potential onto something big & special at Melbourne Park.

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Tennis News, Rafa Nadal is the 2022 Australian Open Men’s Singles champion after he pulled off one of the greatest comebacks from the opening two sets down v Daniil Medvedev

by Sports Benches

What a way to wrap up two exciting weeks of Grand Slam Tennis in Melbourne!! We just saw a thrilling five 1/2 hour marathon of tonight’s men’s singles final where Rafa Nadal pulled off one of the greatest comebacks v Daniil Medvedev, having gone from 0-2 down to 3-2 in the end & that is sensational world-class sport to watch. It’s Rafa’s 21st Grand Slam title plus his 2nd on Australian soil since 2009.

Love how the crowd got behind Rafa especially during these tough times earlier on when Rafa had a poor start before he was almost done by the third set, but he never gave up with so much to reset his mindset, as this is the main reason how Rafa made up lost time step by step that eventually helped him leapfrog Medvedev towards the finish line after the 5th & final set decider.

And Medvedev gutted to settle runner-up here again for the second year running, he had a brilliant 1st half spell off the back from an easy start followed by a close 2nd set tiebreaker. However, he just couldn’t sort things out when it comes to the executions having hit and missed some easy shots plus a few heated exchanges with that chair umpire, unfortunately, these mistakes eventually came back to to him before it was too late which confirmed his runner-up status.

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

Medvedev may not be what some fans see as the nice guy here, but he’s a great athlete nonetheless with a US Open title already bagged late last year and Daniil will bounce back for more silverware throughout 2022. Meanwhile, Rafa is still thriving at age 35, who still has a few more years, left in the tank before retiring as he’s unbelievable once again that put grand slam tennis to another level.

The summer of Australian sport is done for now but can’t wait for more grand slam tennis with the French Open next up from Sunday May 22 to June 5.

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Tennis News, Ash Barty just became the new Australian Open women’s singles champion on home soil after she defeated Danielle Collins in straight sets

by Sports Benches

Wow!! Can you believe it as Ash Barty just defeated 27th seed American Danielle Collins in straight sets & made history at Rod Laver Arena, as she is now the new Australian Open women’s singles champion. It’s her third grand slam title that first began at the French Open in 2019 followed by Wimbledon last year and her dream to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup on home soil has now been fulfilled in Melbourne tonight.

She and Collins were on the same page at the beginning before Barty shifted a gear or two which justified the opening set lead, now Barty may have been tested a few times by Collins, who almost tied 1-1, after a brilliant response. However, she never gave up with so much patience having fought back a couple of games, brought it towards a tiebreaker & renewed that momentum where Barty beat Collins to the punch in the end.

And Collins would be disappointed to end up behind Barty, she came in this main draw as the 27th seed where she worked very hard through each round by upsetting some opponents along the way and here she is now in the main event. Collins returned the favor well back to Barty especially in the 2nd set having respond beautifully which was almost too good to pull off & still be in the game, it’s just not her night when it comes to the 2nd half momentum as Collins couldn’t hold back Barty before she eventually ran out of options at the tiebreak that saw her opponent race towards a home run.

Final Score: 6-3, 7-6 via 7-2 tiebreaker to Barty

Love seeing an Australian win a major grand slam title at home, it’s a huge night to write another breakthrough moment in the history of Australian sport. Let’s hope Ash continues her best tennis throughout the year and the next few years to come for more Grand Slam silverware. And for Collins, she will use her runner-up campaign here for some room for improvement, so she can try to improve these other Grand Slam records towards at least more Finals appearances that will help finally win a championship.

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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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