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Tennis News, Danielle Collins off to her 2nd Australian Open women’s semi-final since 2019 as she watches on either Iga Swiatek or Kaia Kanepi as her next opponent

by Sports Benches

Danielle Collins is off to her 2nd Australian Open semi-final having done once before in 2019 after she defeated Alize Cornet in straight sets (7-5, 6-1), she will be watching that 4th & last Quarter-Final right now between Poland’s Iga Swiatek & Kaia Kanepi from Estonia where one of them will face her in the 2nd semi-final tie tomorrow night.

Cornet gutted to be eliminated from the Final 8 after she finally made her first Grand Slam knockout appearance at the age of 32, this in incredible when her best previous record beforehand was a series of 4th Rounds. She showed some fightback as of late in the 1st set but a poor start & a lack of 1st half momentum saw Cornet being outplayed by Collins, Cornet still has a few years left at singles’ level so she hopes to continue that breakthrough run going into the Roland Garros in late May.

And Collins too good left, right and center thanks to an a terrific start that helped her build a big lead over Cornet, it allowed Collins to group some pieces together before she wrapped this up so quick and effective in the end.

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Tennis News, Recap of the first two thrilling Quarter-Final ties between Shapovalov v Nadal, Monfils v Berrettini from yesterday at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

Two brilliant Quarter-Final match-ups last night at the same Rod Laver Arena venue in Melbourne, these players such as Denis Shapovalov & Gael Monfils showed plenty of fight on the Tennis court but one of them had to end out on top as Rafael Nadal & Matteo Berrettini defeated their respective opponents, as they will face each other in the 1st semi-final on Friday Afternoon.

Unlucky from Shapovalov, who fought very hard, after he went from the first two sets down to a 2-2 lead that led to the 5th set decider. It goes to show he is no stranger of playing through long spells and did hit back Rafa on occasions, he just couldn’t hold it off a little longer during that climax towards the finish line and had to smash his racket in the end.

The same went with 35 year old from France Gael Monfils where he too was always on the same page as Berrettini, now Monfils began to make up lost time from the close first two set defeats & almost pulled a late comeback. However, he was blown away quickly by Berretini when it comes to a final lap sprint which confirmed his elimination from the Final 8 of this main draw.

Meanwhile, Rafa Nadal off to a flying start with an early lead following the first two sets, although he was tested on occasions later on but he had the better experience when it comes to his finishing & that came back to haunt Shapovalov’s renewed 2nd half momentum. And Berrettini just never gave up, who didn’t have the easiest of battles along the way, against an experienced Grand Slam semi-finalist like Monfils. He eventually found light at the end of the tunnel during the 5th set decider having held his early two sets lead intact as his advantage & pulled off too good in the end.

Look out for Jannik Sinner v Stefanos Tsitsipas plus Felix Auger-Aliassime v Daniil Medvedev in the other two Quarter-Final ties later today.

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Tennis News, Denis Shapovalov just eliminated 3rd Seed Alexander Zverev in straight sets as he will meet Rafael Nadal in the Quarter-Final match-up on Tuesday

by Sports Benches

We’ve just seen one fantastic Round 4 match from the Rafa Nadal v Adrian Mannarino tie to another, as Denis Shapovalov has just eliminated the 3rd seed from Germany Alexander Zverev at Margaret Court Arena. It’s an easier run this time having overcome a couple of long grueling spells in the opening three rounds beforehand, and the Canadian managed to wrap this up in straight sets (3-6, 6-7 via 5-7 tiebreaker & 3-6) where he will now face Rafa Nadal on Tuesday in which will be an interesting take here.

Zverev’s 2022 campaign in Melbourne has came to an end after Round 4, he did his best to stay in the game during the 2nd set via tiebreaker from the opening set down but unable to unpack most of the fire and executions for the majority where Shapovalov noticed his weaknesses, built a decent lead as this tie goes on & couldn’t hold him off following the 2nd set.

And Shapovalov once again unbeaten so far after the first week of the 2022 Australian Open, he credits his ability to play during these long spells which played a part of his upset against the 3rd seed today. Seeing the 14th seed Canadian build such an early lead + escape a 2nd set tiebreak before getting the job done in straight sets is incredible, these types of skillsets will throw Nadal on the pressure cooker & see if this will shock his next opponent towards the semis in two days.

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Tennis News, Rafael Nadal confirmed as the first player into the Quarter-Finals of 2022 Australian Open after he defeated Adrian Mannarino in straight sets

by Sports Benches

Wow! This is such a brilliant contest we’ve just seen at Rod Laver Arena as Rafael Nadal is the first player confirmed into the Quarter-Finals, he had to overcome a grueling and competitive opening set run against Adrian Mannarino via tiebreaker before Nadal wrapped this up quick and easy in straight sets (6-7 via 14-16 tiebreaker, 2-6, 2-6).

Not the best day out there for Mannarino in the office, he fought really hard at the beginning where the Frenchman was on the same page as Rafa that went all the way & almost got snatched the early lead. However, he just couldn’t kick on ever since having fell way behind, as these consolation games Mannarino accrued later on reflected his next run of inconsistency & eventual elimination from this main draw.

And congratulations to Rafa with the win, the Spaniard endured plenty of highs throughout this tie such as when Rafa came out unscathed after a very competitive opening set tiebreak. It boosted his confidence before he used that early lead towards bridging that other half run towards the finish line, and Rafa wrapped this up in the next two sets without a fuss as he will now face Candadian Denis Shapovalov for a Final 4 spot on Tuesday.

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Tennis News, Alex De Minaur advances to Round 4 of the 2022 Australian Open v Jannik Sinner after he defeated Pablo Andujar in straight sets

by Sports Benches

What an easy win for Alex De Minaur here at Rod Laver Arena as the Aussie nailed down Spaniard Pablo Andujar in straight sets (4-6, 4-6, 2-6), he will now advance into the 4th round which is his career-best here so far and will face 11th seed Italian Jannik Sinner on Monday for a shot towards the Final 8.

Andujar was disappointed with the loss where he showed some fight that remained so competitive against De Minaur for the majority while fighting for these stage wins, he just missed that finishing part that fell just short twice before Andujar was wiped out this quick in the 3rd and final set.

And nice to see the Aussie crowd upped the noise for their hometown hero Alex De Minaur, who is the only guy still in contention, for the Round of 16. He’s got that build-up base going that allowed him to stretch a decent lead while Andujar fought back late, it gave him time to keep the momentum as this game goes on and it worked well where he went all-in with a super-easy run to the finish line.

We’ll see if this stella campaign from “The Demon” continues on Monday and have an extended shot towards the title.

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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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Chris O’Connell’s stellar campaign to his 2022 Australian Open spell have came to an end as Maxime Cressy advances to Round 4 v Daniil Medvedev

by Sports Benches

Tough luck for Chris O’Connell as his stellar spell to the 2022 Australian Open campaign has just come to an end v Maxime Cressy in Round 3 at Court No.3, he fought back with a 1-1 lead even it’s a very close tiebreaker, unfortunately, it didn’t help him stay in contention especially when he had a hip issue earlier on, couldn’t bridge his strong 1st half feel & Cressy began to notice these weaknesses in which helped him collect the remaining 3rd & 4th sets.

Well, O’Connell is age 27 in his prime right now as he hopes to use this breakthrough campaign in Melbourne towards better honors this season in the ATP Circuit, while improving his other Grand Slam records in Paris, Wimbledon & New York later this year.

And congratulations to Cressy with the win where he was always on top of his game apart from the narrow 2nd set loss, he wrapped a very easy first set before Cressy pulled way ahead of O’Connell as this tie goes on that reflected an excellent run of momentum in the end. The American will have a difficult encounter next up though, if he was to get past 2nd seed Russian Daniil Medvedev in the 4th Round on Monday.

Final Score: 2-6, 7-6 via 8-6 tiebreaker, 3-6, 2-6

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Taylor Fritz advances to Round 4 of the 2022 Australian Open after he defeated Roberto Bautista Agut thanks to an early start & 2nd half rebound

by Sports Benches

Such a brilliant contest between Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and American Taylor Fritz in R3 of the 2022 Australian Open at Kia Arena, Fritz had an easy start before Bautista Agut began to catch up with the next two sets that puts him a games away towards the finish. However, this tie isn’t over after all when Fritz went on to level 2-2 lead through the 5th set decider & blew Bautista Agut away with the win.

Final Score: 0-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6

Bautista Agut disappointed to leave early from the main draw, having not made it past the third round since 2019 when he last played in the Final 8 back then. He battled so hard after an uneasy opening set run & almost pulled off a stunning comeback with a 2-1 lead in set No.4, he was just unable to stop Fritz’s 2nd half rebound that went on and on until the Spaniard eventually ran out of ideas in the end after match point.

And Fritz played amazing tennis where he fired off well with a quick and easy opening set lead, now he may have been inconsistent a couple of times as it almost put Fritz on the brink of elimination but the American improved his 2nd half momentum when it comes to the executions and that helped play a big part of his comeback today.

We’ll see if Fritz can knock down another higher seed player in the 4th Round on Monday for a spot in the Final 8, this time it’s coming from the Top 5 in Greek Stefanos Tsitipas, who was a semi-finalist here last year.

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Tennis News, Danielle Collins went from the opening set down to a thrilling comeback against Dane Clara Tauson in the 3rd Round at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

Fantastic rebound from American Danielle Collins with the win, who went from the opening set down against Clara Tauson, to tied 1-1 going into the 3rd set decider and now advanced into the 4th Round of 2022 Australian Open. She will now face Belgian Elise Mertens on Monday for a spot in the Final 8, plus head off straight away to 1573 Arena in the Round 2 doubles tie with fellow American Desirae Krawczyk where they too will face off another American pair of Jessica Pegula and Asia Muhammad.

Final Score: 6-4, 4-6, 5-7

Unlucky from Clara Tauson after being eliminated from Round 3 of the Opening grand slam tournament in Melbourne, she fired off well that gave her the early lead. Now she continued to rack up more games to stay in the game, but she just couldn’t pull off these conversions where Collins read her main weakness that eventually caught up to her before it’s too late.

She’s 19 right now & currently ranked 39th in the women’s WTA singles rankings, it’s also her first Grand Slam main draw here when Tauson only made the 1st Qualifying Round twice in 2020-21 beforehand, so no doubt the Dane will get better with experience before challenging the title at some point.

And Collins was again brilliant on the court when she fought so hard against Tauson & at one point was almost eliminated even though Collins was on the same page, her past experience playing here as a semi-finalist once before in 2019 & fightback gave the American the better edge when she closed in to Tauson at a 1-1 lead, overtook her through the 3rd set decider & held off with the win.

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

by Sports Benches

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

Final Score: 6-2, 6-3

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

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

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