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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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2024 AO Open Tennis, 2nd half of Quarter-Final matches review with back-to-back long sets as well as first time moments in the women’s singles ahead of the semis tonight

by Sports Benches

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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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: Daniil Medvedev overcomes Nuno Borges’s consolation displays to book his place in the Quarter-Finals following a three hour, four set win

by Sports Benches

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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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, Daniil Medvedev confirmed booking for Sunday’s Australian Open Men’s Singles Final after he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2nd semi-final last night

by Sports Benches

The 2nd semi-final tie from last night has been written at Rod Laver Arena, Daniil Medvedev got ahead with the early lead before Stefanos Tsitsipas came back after the break & tied at 1-1. However, Medvedev managed to steer in the right direction since then with the 3rd & 4th set turnaround, despite his dismay towards the umpire at one point, as he shown enough to seal victory plus booked his place for Sunday’s main event v Rafa Nadal.

Gutted for Tsitsipas, who had Melbournians rooting him last night, especially when some of that population has a strong Greek community. There’s no letting down on effort and fightback where Tsitsipas was always on the same page as Medvedev, he just couldn’t unpack the checkpoint and finish line.

And congratulations to Medvedev, who just advanced, to his 2nd straight Australian Open Final. It wasn’t the easiest of times when he battled against a fellow elite opponent like Tsitsipas, but he never gave up having kept being patient even though he lost his cool at one point, before the Russian saw light at the end of the tunnel & eventually made his way out of here first.

There’s only two days left of Australian Open Tennis in Melbourne, first up will be Australia’s own Ash Barty v American Danielle Collins tonight then we wrap this up with Nadal v Medvedev tomorrow.

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Tennis News, the 2nd Semi-Final tie is set at the 2022 Australian Open after Daniil Medvedev completed a terrific comeback from 0-2 sets down to 3-2 v Felix Auger-Aliassime

by Sports Benches

The 2nd semi-final tie is all set for Friday night, we’ve saw Stefanos Tsitsipas took down Jannik Sinner before Daniil Medvedev derailed Felix Auger-Aliassime’s strong start from 0-2 to 3-2 in the end that completed a stunning rebound from the reigning US Open men’s champion.

Bugger for Auger-Aliassime where he fired off really well at the beginning even though the 1st set spell was really competitive which reflected his 2-0 lead headstart. Yes, he battled so hard against a grand slam winning opponent, but just couldn’t match the 1st half momentum where he had to make up some lost time & he’s also been hesistant at times that left limited time to execute his way.

And hats off to Daniil Medvedev with the trilling Quarter-Final win, he was almost on the brink of elimination at one point in straight sets after a 0-2 lead. However, he managed to regroup himself when Medvedev was being patient which gave him time to nail down his opponent’s weaknesses, that pragmatic 2nd half approach alongside a decent lead he kept during the 3rd-5th sets helped him shift maximum speed against Auger-Aliassime & nailed towards the finish line first.

All eyes on Tsitsipas v Medvedev now in a last year’s repeat semi-final also on this Friday night, will Medvedev advance into the Final once more & go one better or is it going to be Tsitsipas this time with his possible 2nd grand slam final meeting since last year at the Roland Garros?

For now, it’s the women’s semi-finals day today with two matches taking place tonight where one of them includes Australia’s own Ash Barty v American Madison Keys.

#DaniilMedvedev #FelixAugerAliassime #Russia #Canada #Tennis #AustralianOpen #GrandSlam #ATPTour

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Tennis News, Sam Stosur wraps up her singles career at the 2022 Australian Open with the doubles still the come before beginning retirement after her defeat in RD2 v Anastasia Pavlychenkova

by Sports Benches

Sam Stosur may have just been eliminated in Round 2 from this year’s Australian Open women’s singles tournament by 10th seed Russian Anastasia Pavlychenkova (2-6, 2-6), but what a stellar career she’s had in the singles circuit for a long time having been runner-up in the 2010 French Open, won the 2011 US Open women’s singles title & an elite player in the doubles with four grand slam championships too.

Now she still has the doubles campaign to play a part later on in Melbourne with Zhang Shuai (Women’s doubles) & Matt Ebden (Mixed doubles), but Stosur will also want to end things on a high note on home soil before she begins retirement off the court & spend more time with her partner Liz and 1 1/2 year old daughter Genevieve.

It’s great to see Sam Stosur lift the profile of Tennis in Australia that inspires these kids to take up this sport & follow her lead in the hope of becoming the next Grand Slam star, have a look at Ash Barty, who currently holds the baton in this legacy, having won the French Open in 2019 as well as Wimbledon last year & now she hopes to become the next Aussie win at home for the first time since Chris O’Neil in 1978.

For now, we wish her all the best on life off the court.

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Tennis Australia News, 2021 Australian Open Men’s Singles Final: Novak Djokovic v Daniil Medvedev

by Sports Benches

Novak Djokovic fired off with an easy serve where he first built a 1st half lead 3-0. Daniil Medvedev began to fight back with the next run 3-1. After he fell behind as soon as the game started. The momentum has swapped places this time when Medvedev another point. While Djokovic struggled with the feel that began to miss valuable points.

Medvedev managed to catch up a slow start to tie with Djokovic 3-3 for the stage 1 lead. It has been a hard fought battle between the two finalists. Djokovic nearly reached the 1st set win at the first attempt 5-4. But Medvedev is not done yet with the continued resurgence in this half 5-5. Before Djokovic just closed Medvedev out for the Stage 1 win 7-5. There is some fightback from the Russian to try and save this game. But not enough though.

Both players bounced back and forth with a great battle as Djokovic won the 1st half of Stage 2. With Medvedev struggled again to push on his early start as it was from the 1st set. Before the Serbian able to bridge a productive 2nd half play. As Djokovic wins Stage 2 6-2.

Medvedev unable to find the middle ground to get himself ahead of Djokovic. Where his 1st & 2nd half runs are lopsided throughout this stage. He even felt frustrated in agony by whacking his racket. The Russian is 2-0 down for the overall lead. With Medvedev needed to find a corner somewhere to keep himself in contention. Or else it could be game over as Djokovic is one stage away from the title.

1 1/2 hours into this game Djokovic continued to extend his lead ahead of Medvedev 3-0. Again another productive next half of play from the Serbian. With three points needed to reach the finish line first. Medvedev began to fight back once more for lost time. As the Russian wanted to win Stage 3 badly for the game to continue.

The 2nd half momentum began to finally put the puzzles together by Medvedev. When he gained two points as of late in Stage 3 off Djokovic. But the Serbian however is already miles ahead 5-2. With just one point away from the title. Before he pulled off in the end via the championship point immunity that sealed his ultimate prize.

The Final score was done in one hour and 53 minutes at 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

Commiserations from the 4th seed in Daniil Medvedev. He may have started off somewhat behind Novak. His 2nd half runs began to work and almost derailed the opposition’s progress for the 1st set win. The same goes for a little bit during the 3rd set having lost the 1st half of play 3-0. But Medvedev unfortunately rushed without the foundations set by Djokovic. And it really frustrated him for the whole night. He had a great run though before the big final. Not the night he wanted to settle 2nd but we wish Daniil the best of luck.

And congratulations to Novak Djokovic with the big win tonight at Rod Laver Arena. He got the foundations right to build a healthy lead. It was there when Novak won the 1st half of play very easily 3-0. Before he was able to bridge a balanced productive run for the whole night in the office. That reflects his natural game as a top quality player. Even so in the elite group of grand slam champions.

Novak Djokovic is your winner in the Men’s Singles Final.

It has been two weeks of Australian Open Tennis from Melbourne Park. We cannot wait for 2022.

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