Tag:

Tennis

Other Sports

Tennis News, Matteo Berrettini wrapped up a gruelling four-hour duel against Carlos Alcaraz with the win at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

Just saw an entertaining four-hour showdown at Rod Laver Arena where Matteo Berrettini took the first two sets before Carlos Alcaraz came out of nowhere and tied a 2-2 lead that went to a 5th set decider, but it’s Berrettini, who rejuvenated himself, during the best of ten tiebreaks & came out on top with three sets pocketed out of the best of five.

Final Score: 2-6, 6-7 via 3-7 tiebreaker, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 via 5-10 tiebreaker

Well done to Berrettini with the hard-fought win as he will face Pablo Carreno Busta from Spain for Round 4, it wasn’t hard for the Italian to get the ground running when he was close to wrap up the game at the first attempt in straight sets. Although he had some tough moments where he lost the next two sets that included a fall along the way, but he later backed up his early lead advantage that gave him enough time to escape & prevented Alcaraz from plotting an upset.

And unlucky with the 3rd Round elimination from Alcaraz, who has plenty of potential of becoming the next Grand Slam superstar, at just 18 years old, having made it to the US Open Quarter-Final last year & sure this close loss will help him bounce back next time. Like the way how he stopped Berrettini from an early finish in the 3rd set & began to catch up with a 2-2 lead, he almost pulled off an upset, unfortunately, Alcarez just ran out of fire via the deciding tiebreak that saw Berrettini as the winner instead.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Tennis News, No problems playing on long periods so far from Denis Shapovalov as he just took down Reilly Opelka in the R3 tie at Margaret Court Arena

by Sports Benches

Denis Shapovalov crossed the finish line 1st ahead of American Reilly Opelka in Round 3 of the 2022 Australian Open at Margaret Court Arena, he fired off well through a close 1st set battle through the tiebreaker before the Canadian was tied 1-1 after the break.

However, Shapovalov later re-grouped himself during the 2nd half run with an improved momentum that was enough to show himself the win in three sets out of four, his opponent for Round 4 on will either be 3rd seed from Germany Alexander Zverev or Qualifier Radu Albot.

Final Score: 6-7 via 4-7 tiebreaker, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6

Looks like he didn’t have any trouble playing for long periods so far from Shapovalov having gone past Serbia’s Laslo Dere in Round 1 & Kwon Soon-Woo during Round 2, Shapovalov is always on top of his game even though he narrowly lost the 2nd set spell as this is all about the overall result where the Canadian managed to get the job done with little to no fuss.

And Opelka never gave up when he fought a series of close battles against Shapovalov after the American tied 1-1 going into the 3rd set, however, the lack of executions/conversions when trying to bridge from his 1st half run saw Opelka being left further behind before Shapovalov confirmed his elimination as soon as this Round 3 tie was done just over the three-hour mark.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Tennis News, Miomir Kecmanovic advances into Round 4 for the first time of 2022 Australian Open after he upsetted 25th seed Lorenzo Sonego from Italy

by Sports Benches

Hats off to Miomir Kecmanovic from Serbia, who just eliminated 25th seed Italian Lorenzo Sonego, as he advances into the 4th Round of the 2022 Australian Open which will be his first time & face either Frenchman Gael Monfils or Cristian Garin from Chile.

Final Score: 6-4, 6-7 via 8-10 tiebreaker, 6-2, 7-5

Unlucky from Sonego with the loss there, he had to fight back during these tough battles against Kecmanovic when the Italian tied 1-1 via the tiebreak. However, Sonego lost his shape having fallen behind for the majority where he had a few missed opportunities to execute & get ahead of Kecmanovic before it was too late.

And Kecmanovic had a ball against one of the Top 25 seeds in this year’s Australian Open draw, the Serbian fired off well that gave him the upper hand after the opening set. Although he narrowly lost the 2nd set spell via a close battle through the tiebreak, but Kecmanovic is class all-round with a super easy 3rd set followed by the 4th set which was enough to confirm his breakthrough win.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Tennis News, Stefanos Tsitsipas advances to Round 3 of 2022 Australian Open after a competitive R2 match-up today v Argentine Sebastian Baez at Margaret Court Arena

by Sports Benches

Another decent match-up we’ve just seen on the 4th Day of the 2022 Australian Open as Stefanos Tsitsipas went from the opening set down to the next three sets nailed down against Argentine Sebastian Baez at Margaret Court Arena, he will wait for either Grigor Dimitrov from Bulgaria or Frenchman Benoit Paire as his next opponent for Round 3.

Final Score: 6-7 via 1-7 tiebreaker, 7-6 via 7-5 tiebreaker, 3-6, 4-6

Unlucky from Baez with the loss where he fired off well with the narrow 1st set lead via the tiebreaker, although he never gave up continuing that fight having won some games back along the way but just couldn’t hold back an elite opponent from the Top 5 like Tsitsipas in the end. He will leave Melbourne Park with room for improvement whenever Baez plats next time, but at least he just pocketed over $100,000 prize money after his 1st career Grand Slam win from the previous round v Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

And how good is Tsitsipas, who terrifically completed this match-up, as he came out from the 1st set loss & tied Baez 1-1 through another tiebreak through the wire before the Greek managed to renew his momentum through the 2nd half run in Sets 3 & 4 that became his turning point towards the homestretch.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Tennis News, Alex De Minaur continues his winning start on R2 of the 2022 Australian Open campaign in straight sets v Kamil Majchrzak at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

Alex De Minaur continues his winning start to the 2022 Australian Open campaign with a comfortable win against Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in straight sets (4-6, 4-6, 2-6) at Rod Laver Arena, he wrapped this 2nd Round tie in 1 hour and 39 minutes.

De Minaur always got his build-up base up and running that helped stay ahead over Majchrzak, it gave the Aussie ample time to get the job done during the first two sets while the Pole began to catch up before he shut his opponent out towards the finish line with a nice & easy third set spell.

His best result here was Round 3 twice in 2019 & 2021 where De Minaur hopes to get past the Spaniard in Pablo Andujar before Round 4, and as long as he keeps that winning form then a Finals eight spot will come to him having made it once two years ago at the US Open.

And Majchrzak didn’t have a great day out, who did his best to hold back De Minaur, having won some games & closed in along the way towards the end of these first two sets. However, he just couldn’t hijack his opponent’s stella momentum & finish it off his way before Majchrzak became eliminated so quick in the 3rd & final set.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

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.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Tennis News, Chris O’Connell advances to Round 3 of the 2022 Australian Open after he nailed down 13th seed Diego Schwartzman from Argentina in straight sets

by Sports Benches

Outstanding performance from Chris O’Connell on Round 2 of the 2022 Australian Open as he just knocked down Diego Schwartzman from Argentina in straight sets (6-4 via 6-8 tiebreaker, 4-6 & 4-6), even though it was a really close battle throughout the entire three-hour tie at Court No.3.

Schwartzman was gutted to be eliminated on Day 4 after he came here as the 13th seed in this draw, he showed some fight a couple of times where he did his best to close in on O’Connell & didn’t take his opponent lightly. However, he couldn’t hold the Australian back every time his opponent won set after set, plus he was also hesitant about the lack of conversions which is something Schwartzman couldn’t back up on the tennis court today.

And congratulations to Chris O’Connell with a huge & breakthrough win, it wasn’t the easiest of challenges when he came up against someone, who is closer to the Top 10 seeds, in this year’s Australian Open. Well, he managed to overcome plenty of these competitive battles against Schwartzman before O’Connell nailed it all through every checkpoint and later the finish line after three sets done early out of five.

Let’s see if he can go all the way having entered the men’s singles draw as the wildcard.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Tennis News, Naomi Osaka advances to Round 3 & will face another American in Amanda Anisimova after an easy win v Madison Brengle tonight at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

It was an easy night for the defending Australian Open women’s champion in Naomi Osaka as she took down American Madison Brengle through straight sets 0-4, 4-6 at Rod Laver Arena, her next opponent for Round 3 on Friday will be another American in Amanda Anisimova.

For Brengle, it’s on the contrary who is disappointed with the early Australian Open exit having gone past Round 1 via walkover v Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska. She showed some fight after being beaten so easily from the first set and was so close towards securing a 3rd set decider, but Brengle left it too late where a poor start & some fightback later on made it harder to hold back Osaka.

And Osaka played outstanding as always for the whole time that secured a quick and easy win, she smashed it 6-0 in the first set before Brengle began to catch up after the break while Osaka took time to escape Brengle & eventually made it past the finish line unscathed with the win.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Tennis News, Denis Shapovalov overcame a four-hour battle against Korean Kwon Soon-Woo as the Canadian advances to Round 3 of the 2022 Australian Open

by Sports Benches

Wow! It’s been so long for this 2nd round match-up to settle, but it’s Denis Shapovalov, who rescued himself from the 2nd & 3rd set loss against Korean Kwon Soon-woo, and worked his way back to the top spot where he held on until the end with the win at Margaret Court Arena. He will now advance to Round 3 of 2022 Australian Open and face American Reilly Opelka on Friday.

Final Score: 6-7 via 6-8 tiebreaker, 7-6 via 7-3 tiebreaker, 7-6 via 8-6 tiebreaker, 5-7 & 2-6.

Shapovalov off to a great 1st set even though it wasn’t easy to come up against a decent opponent like Soon-woo, now he kinda felt gutted at times when the Canadian was narrowly fallen short twice which almost put him at risk of elimination. However, he made up lost time that led to a 5th and final set decider before Shapovalov had an easy run towards the homestretch and won after a grueling over four-hour task on the tennis court.

And Soon-woo also fought hard for the majority with Shapovalov having gone from the opening set down to a 2nd & 3rd set win which puts him one set away towards pulling an upset, but the Korean just couldn’t find the finishing touches with the inconsistency when a poor start plus not making his opponent harder to catch up by closing the gap between a lead and victory ultimately saw him being crashed out that quick during the final set decider.

He’ll be sure to learn that experience Soon-woo battled throughout the four-hour tie with Shapovalov and bounce back stronger next time, his best result was the Round 3 last year in the French Open so maybe that could inspire him to break even better records through Round 4 & even the Final 8.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Tennis News, Emma Raducanu off on a flyer with the opening round win v Sloane Stephens at Margaret Court Arena

by Sports Benches

And great to see Emma Raducanu open her 2022 Australian Open journey with the opening round win against American Sloane Stephens at Margaret Court Arena (0-6, 6-2, 1-6) as she will now meet Danka Kovinic from Montenegro in Round 2 tomorrow.

The reigning US Open champion is back on form after her heavy defeat last week in the Sydney warm-up tournament v Elena Ryabakina, she was too good at the start and although her 2nd set run may be need some fine tuning where Stephens tied 1-1 but she wrapped this up quick and easy in the end that can go all the way on potentially winning another Grand Slam here.

And Stephens gutted to be out of the running this early where she kept herself in contention thanks to a brilliant response in the 2nd set, but she was ultimately outclassed by Emma Raducanu & just couldn’t keep up to her standards with such heavy losses in the 1st and 3rd sets for the majority.

#Tennis #MargaretCourtArena #AustralianOpen #GrandSlam #WTATour #EmmaRaducanu #SloaneStephens

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail