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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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Barbora Krejcikova escapes Mai Hontama’s excellent start following a comeback win in the AO 1st Round at Margaret Court Arena

by Sports Benches

And here’s another brilliant game to start the Day 1 of the 2024 Australian Open between 9th seed Barbora Krejcikova from Czech Republic & Japan’s Mai Hontama at Margaret Court Arena. Hontama fired off really well with an easy opening set lead by surprise before Krejcikova turned herself around when not only she won the 2nd set but made good use of medical time out break in the decider en route towards a two-set victory in the end there after two & 1/2 hours – 6-2, 6-4 & 6-3.

Oh so close from Hontama where it’s not been easy facing a Top 10 seeded player like Krejcikova & she has done great under pressure to stay ahead, having got away with the early lead after the opening set’s play. She just couldn’t find the finish line unfortunately off the back from the Czech’s fight back that went on & on until Hontama was eliminated early from the tournament. Let’s hope she can kick on throughout the year as this is her first grand slam here other than Wimbledon whose best finish there was 2R in 2022. Looking at Krejcikova now & what a comeback from 1-0 down as well as on the brink of being unexpected kicked out to an opening set win under pressure v Hontama. She would be disappointed regarding the opening set performance to begin with but the Czech has shown lots of fightback that shows her credibility on the court as an established grand slam player in both singles and doubles formats, having won the French Open a few years ago back in 2021. Krejcikova has plenty of catch up to do in a bid to get back in the Finals picture since the 2022 Quarter-Finals here ahead of her next round opponent v Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch after she too got away with a brilliant comeback herself, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.

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Matteo Arnaldi off to a great start after he defeated wildcard Adam Walton on Day 1 of the 2024 Australian Open Tennis at Kia Arena

by Sports Benches

Great start to the 2024 Australian Open campaign by Matteo Arnaldi from Italy with the straight sets win in Round 1 v Adam Walton at Kia arena. It was a tight opening stage battle for a start between the two players that went all the way through the tiebreak before one player went on to get the job done at his own pace that bundled up with the big lead for the win 7-6 (7-5 tiebreak), 6-2 & 6-4. 

Arnaldi is doing so well as he’s currently ranked just 40 in the ATP rankings at the age of 22, having reached his best finish in the 4th Round late last year where he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open. Keep an eye out though as his next round opponent will either be another Aussie Alex De Minaur or Canada’s Milos Raonic, which will take place 7pm tomorrow night at Rod Laver Arena.

Meanwhile, Walton’s time was short-lived at Melbourne Park today when he entered this tournament as the wildcard player. He did give the Italian a hard time at times, especially from the beginning where he tried to stop him from taking the opening set lead. But an unfortunate 2nd set saw Walton try to hang in there under pressure at 0-2 before it was too late in the end. He will keep on churning every week in the hope of getting better & better on the ATP circuit once this tournament is over.

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Tennis: Australia’s 2024 United Cup campaign has come to a close as their semi opponents Germany have eventually swooped the trophy v Poland in Sydney

by Sports Benches

Oh so close but what a run though by the Aussies after they were unfortunately eliminated from the United Cup semi-finals in the early hours of Sunday morning by Germany, having lost the mixed deciding doubles match 1-2.

Ajla Tomjlanovic fired off really well in the first set, but couldn’t find a way to kick on and hold Angelique Kerber back who was amazing from the set down to bring home a two-set win at the tiebreak (6-4, 2-6 & 6-7 – 7-9 tie). Meanwhile, Alex De Minaur gave the home fans so much hope to keep that run alive. He too bounced back from that close opening set loss with the win v Alexander Zverev (5-7, 6-3, 6-4) to level the semi-final series at 1-1 for Australia where his individual brilliance on the court will see him being ranked World No.10 in the ATP ladder next week. Let’s hope he can have the best Australian Open campaign yet starting next Sunday.

The tables have then turned on Storm Hunter & Matt Ebden to bring it home against Zverev again & Laura Siegemund for a spot to face Poland in the Final who defeated France the other day in a 3-0 whitewash. Now this was such an unreal deciding mixed doubles tie to watch, even though it did go past midnight. They all won each set in the first two (Germany in Stage 1 & Australia in Stage 2) before it went all the way through the best of 10 as Zverev’s decision to stay on has paid off for Germany that broke the hearts of the Aussie team & their fans itself on home turf at Ken Rosewall Arena. The final score was 6-2 – 2-7 tie, 7-6 – 7-2 tie & 13-15.

And speaking on Team Germany, they too have went on to become this year’s United Cup Champions after USA. Yes, these series of finals ties v Poland did end up going just past midnight but gotta say that Zverev has saved the day once again. 

Now He almost lost the match and even the final at one stage by Hubert Hurkacz after Iga Swiatek was too for Kerber (6-3, 6-0) earlier in the evening before he kept his country’s hopes alive going into the championship-winning doubles decider after three hours of play (7-6 with 7-3 tie, 6-7 with 6-8 tie & 4-6). Not only he and Siegmund has played really well right through the every end v Swiatek and Hurkacz again, but they too found both the finish line & the United Cup trophy via the final set tiebreak (4-6, 7-5 & 4-10).

All that’s left to come this week is the Adelaide International, Kooyong Classic, Women’s Hobart International & Men’s Auckland ASB Classic in New Zealand before the main event arrives for the Australian Open at Melbourne Park that will take 15 days beginning on Sunday.

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Tennis: 2024 Australia United Cup team performance in Perth review ahead of the 2nd semi-final this Saturday in Sydney 

by Sports Benches

Well, Australia has done extremely well so far despite the opening tie loss v Great Britain last week (29th December). But we got our strong doubles pair of Storm Hunter & Matt Ebden who continued to give us hope all along. Speaking of hope/luck, things ended up our way after USA defeated Great Britain on the 31st December before the Aussies got away on top of Group C a few days back also with the help of Hunter/Ebden thanks to a deciding doubles match win also v USA.

There’s one more match to settle though before the chance to fly into Sydney for the remaining knockout rounds (semi-final & final) this weekend when it comes to the Quarter-Final & that was a tough one to look out beforehand last night v Serbia.

Fortunately, Alex De Minaur reigned supreme in the best of challenges v Novak Djokovic in straight sets while Ajla Tomjlanovic has secured their early bird flight ticket before Hunter & Ebden secured a 3-0 whitewash that sums up a brilliant way to wrap up their performances at the heart of WA in Perth. Now the Australian United Cup team is on their way to Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney now ahead of the 2nd semi-final tomorrow v Greece or Germany. They are both strong contenders alongside Poland now that the defending champs USA have been eliminated after they were unable to finish off as the best 2nd placed teams in the Perth group. Let’s hope our strong team performances (Davis Cup & Billie Jean Cup not last year’s run) off the back of 2023 will help them go one better towards winning that United Cup trophy on home soil by the end of this weekend.

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Matteo Arnaldi’s excellent 3rd set response v Alexei Popyrin & Jannik Sinner being too good for Alex De Minaur has secured Italy’s Davis Cup title since 1976

by Sports Benches

It’s not the day the Aussie Davis Cup Team wanted to bow out with another runner-up finish this time to Italy, but it was still a great run again nonetheless where they showed some fight by staying on right through the very end during Finals week in Malaga, Spain. We didn’t have a great start v Czech Republic but Alex De Minaur and the strong doubles pair of Matt Ebden & Max Purcell has turned things around from 0-1 to 2-1 that saw them live another day onto the semi-finals v Finland after they shockingly knocked last year’s champs Canada out of the tournament.

Yes, that semis performance was easily good enough without the need of a doubles match following a 2-0 whitewash win v Finland as the Aussies go through to the final for the second straight year. They needed that prestigious trophy so bad having last won it back in 2003 on home soil v Spain at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. But coming back again this time v the Italians after their big win in the other semi-final from Saturday v Serbia, we unfortunately fell short once again fair & square with a 2-0 loss where Italy set the benchmark higher ahead of everyone & they too deserve to win the Davis Cup Trophy for the second time since 1976.

Oh so close when Alexei Popyrin fought back from the opening set down but fair play to Matteo Arnaldi who responded really well to nail him down during the 3rd set drag race. And Jannik Sinner has unleashed his A-game in the 2nd singles tie after he blew Novak Djokovic away where Alex De Minaur just couldn’t grasp any of his weaknesses all along. If De Minaur or Popyrin won their own games, we could’ve seen our strong Doubles team back in the final tie decider to maybe outmuscle them towards the end there.

Italy has some excellent talent as they hope to see Sinner and/or Arnaldi go all the way in the next few grand slams starting with the annual Australian Open at Melbourne Park in January. Meanwhile, as said, Australia should keep on working that saw them work their way through to the big Davis Cup Final over the last two years. You never know as the Aussies can continue to be at their best when it comes to the World Cup of team Tennis & surely they will finally win back the Davis Cup next time around sooner rather than later.

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Australia fell short on their return to the Davis Cup Final by first-time Champions Canada but proud of fighting spirit & hard work does after a great 2022 of Tennis

by Sports Benches

It wasn’t Australia’s day today when they returned to the Davis Cup Final scene for the first time in 19 years that went way back to 2003 – where Australia last won their title for the 28th time on home soil v Spain. They came here with fighting spirit orchestrated by Lleyton Hewitt as Team Captain, having never gave up along the way after their wins beforehand v Netherlands (QF) & Croatia (Semis). 

However, we have to credit Canada with the breakthrough moment they deserve – especially when they have a bright & an elite young line-up. But we all have to move on as Australia has to keep building on the good work they’ve got right now, so they can come back again hopefully next year & go one better this time.

We’ll start with the first singles tie between Thanasi Kokkinakis v Denis Shapovalov where neither of them have yet to register a win so far in this year’s Davis Cup Finals, but one of them will do so in the end. It turns out to be Shapovalov who was too good for Kokkinakis in straight sets – 6-2, 6-4. For Kokkinakis, his first set spell was a lot to be desired. Although he did show some fight after break in a bid to stay in contention, but it still wasn’t enough to hold off towards a 3rd set decider.

Then we turn our attention to Alex De Minaur v Felix-Auger Alliasime in the next singles match – as the moment of truth has arrived if Australia will bring out a doubles rubber & go one better to retrieve the Davis Cup trophy – or will be Canada as first time winners 2-0? Let’s find out as this time it was a very competitive opening half spell in the 1st set by both players before Auger-Aliassime pulled off the other half easily, while De Minaur did the best he can to keep Australia in the race and lead into a 3rd set lifeline after the break. 

In the end though, Auger-Aliassime escaped a late threat from De Minaur that not only sealed another singles win in straight sets but also gifted Canada the Davis Cup trophy for the first time. The final score was 6-3, 6-4 – with no doubles match required following Canada’s 2-0 whitewash in the series final v Australia.

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Alex De Minaur & the doubles pair of Max Purcell & Jordan Thompson turned out to be Australia’s saviour in the semis v Croatia as they advanced into Sunday’s Davis Cup Final

by Sports Benches

Australia has done it as they have now punched their ticket for Sunday’s Davis Cup Final following their win in the Doubles decider v Croatia where they wrapped up 2-1 in this series. Their next opponent will either be Italy or Canada as these sides will battle it out in the other Semi-Final later tonight.

We’ll start off with Borna Coric & Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first singles match where both players battled so hard from the very start. However, it was Coric who narrowly escaped Kokkinakis with the opening set lead before he shut him completely in straight sets that gave Croatia a 1-0 headstart. The final score was 4-6, 3-6.

Then we turn our attention to Alex De Minaur v Marin Cilic in the second singles tie that will determine if it’s a Croatia 2-0 whitewash or a lifeline for Australia going into the 3rd & final doubles match. It’s safe to say that De Minaur have saved Australia from the brink of elimination at 1-1 apiece – where he was just too good for Cilic from start to finish – 6-2, 6-2.

And alright here’s the doubles deciding tie now where one of them will advance into Sunday’s Final v the winner of Semi-Final No.1 between Italy or Canada; It’s Max Purcell & Jordan Thompson v Nikola Metkic & Mate Pavic. Like we saw with the opening singles tie earlier on, this opening stage was really competitive by both teams before Croatia narrowly got away unscathed in the first set via tiebreaker. 

But not all hope is lost though from Australia when they never gave up with the rebound after the break that sets up a one-set shootout. In the end, it’s Australia who pulled off comfortably following a tight first half distance, as they have came from behind to close off a stunning 2-1 series win v Croatia. The final score was 6-7 (3-7 tiebreaker), 7-5, 6-4.

We loved the leadership Lleyton Hewitt orchestrated as Team Captain, as well as Purcell & Thompson’s celebration & De Minaur’s roar both on-court & from the crowd. Let’s see if they can go all the way & lift this historic trophy for the first time in 19 years, as Australia want to be an elite challenger again for many years to come.

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Australia ready to go one better in the Davis Cup semi-finals v Croatia after they wrapped a 2-0 clean sweep yesterday v Netherlands

by Sports Benches

It’s been a great start to Australia’s run so far in the 2022 Davis Cup Finals after they completed a 2-0 clean sweep yesterday v Netherlands in the Quarter-Finals at the Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga, Spain.

Australia have now moved onto the semi finals for the first time since 2017 when they fell short to Belgium by 3-2, as they will take on Croatia on Saturday AM Australian time in a bid to secure a spot for Sunday’s big Final v winner of Semi-Final No.1 which could be either Italy, USA, Germany or Canada. 

In the first match, Jordan Thompson and Tallon Griekspoor always battled side-by-side each other to stay in this fight, with Griekspoor taking out the opening set lead before Thompson fought back at 1-1 apiece following the 2nd set that leads into a 3rd set tiebreaker. And Thompson executed it beautifully towards a comfortable end to this tie, especially in this last half run from 3-2. The final score was 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, with Australia leading the Netherlands 1-0.

Then we move onto the next singles game between Alex De Minaur v Botic Van De Zandschulp. Once again, it was another competitive fire off between the two players when the Dutchman narrowly held off De Minaur in the opening set. But then De Minaur made up some lost time immediately after the break with an easy 2nd set spell where the Australian have set up another 3rd set decider that could see them go one step closer towards the Semi-Finals. 

Although De Minaur didn’t find it easy at first when battling against a tough competitor like Van De Zandschulp, but he got away unscathed in such a close finish to this 2nd tie with another win for Australia. The final score was 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, as Australia have advanced into the semi-finals with no doubles match required after a 2-0 series Quarter-Final win.

Let’s see if they can go from strength to strength & hopefully book their first Main Event appearance for the first time in nearly two decades when Australia last won the 2003 Davis Cup on home soil at Rod Laver Arena.

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Nick Kyrgios’ unreal Wimbledon journey this year fell short as 2nd best to Novak Djokovic in the Gentlemen’s Singles Final

by Sports Benches

Well, it’s been a fairytale run from our Aussie Nick Kyrgios but it all has to come to an end when you can’t underestimate the champion of grass right now from Novak Djokovic with the win. Nick fired off well when he narrowly shut down Novak for the opening set lead. However, he just couldn’t find a way kick on ever since, even though he was so close to take out the 3rd or 4th set in order to stay in this fight. In the end, it’s Novak who now won his fourth straight title here apart from the 2020 cancellation due to COVID – 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 via 7-3 tiebreaker.

He may not have taken home that precious gentlemen’s singles trophy but what an unreal journey nonetheless for Nick Kyrgios. It was a great start with the opening set lead to hold off Novak Djokovic all along before he was tied at 1-1 apiece. He never gave up as this final goes on where he was so close from converting a set that would’ve seen him re-gain the lead while edging closer towards C’ship Point himself, but he just couldn’t find the finishing touches needed to get ahead of Novak. As said earlier, he will have to settle 2nd best after his first ever grand slam singles final appearance at 27. However, let’s hope he continues to build on his fairytale Wimbledon campaign & be a regular Top 8 performer in future grand slams.

And congrats to Novak on his 21st grand slam title as he continues to conquer on the grass with title No.7 at SW19. He was on the same page as Kyrgios at the beginning where Novak fell short in the opening set run. He did turn around however, when Novak responded easily at 1-1 before he overcame his opponent through the very end, in which was enough to deny Kyrgios a 5th set decider & wrap it up in three sets as the champ once again. It’s been a while when Novak was runner-up last year to Daniil Medvedev at the US Open, before he was unable to play earlier this year in Melbourne & also being taken out in the Quarter-Finals last month at the French Open by Rafa Nadal. While he can go & celebrate Wimbledon right now, it remains to be seen if his exemption will allow him to play at the next Australian Open in January since he won’t be able to play at the US Open next month.

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