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2024 Copa America, Panama one step closer towards the last eight ahead of their next match v Bolivia on Monday after their 2-1 win Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta v the USA

by Sports Benches

USA’s chances of going into the Quarter-Finals of the 2024 Copa America are beginning to crumble now in Group C ahead of their next match v Uruguay (Tuesday morning at 10am AEST) after their 2-1 loss to Panama. That first attempted free-kick goal was unlucky when it went offside, although they did find the net first thanks to centre-forward Florian Balogin which was so far, so good.  However, Panama controlled the pitch for the majority where they went into half-time at 1-1 before they eventually found the winner in the 83rd minute off the back of a huge arm wrestle past the US defense towards the final attacking third. Now all Panama has to do is beat Bolivia this Sunday (also Tuesday morning 11am AEST here) if USA can’t win v Uruguay and they will be through in 2nd expecting to go up against either Colombia or Brazil from the top ranked Group D.

Unlucky from the US as a draw would at least be acceptable if it wasn’t for the VAR rejection for that early offside free-kick or another win would be nice, but shame they just couldn’t find a way to stop Panama from conceding into the net. The defense looked so poor including the keeper who should’ve saved the first Panama goal while they just couldn’t get more ball with limited opportunities to get the job done on target at the other end. Meanwhile, wonderful moment from Panama to take home with the win other than that nasty late tackle where one of them was given a straight red card. While that might be a huge blow ahead of their next game v Bolivia, they have won a few times against them before including their last meeting via a friendly match 2-1 in August last year. All in all, they showed excellent fight while dominating the opposition US territory for most of the match. They know where to find the net up close inside the box not once but twice and Panama were right on the money in order off the back of two clean powerful strikes before they closed out for the win. We all know how close they are last year in the CONCACAF Gold Cup through to the Final v Mexico 0-1, as long as USA lose to Uruguay, Panama is ready to go all the way by proving they are not afraid of going up against the best of South Americas after being the best of the North.

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2023-24 FIH Pro League, Hockeyroos turn from 0-3 to 3-0 clean sweep with the win v the USA

by Sports Benches

Good to see the Hockeyroos women’s team turn around yesterday from a 3-0 loss the other day v China to a 3-0 win v the USA. It was a brilliant team effort all around where they scored the first two goals by Tatum Stewart & Stephanie Akers has in the lead up towards half-time before they added one more goal thanks to a brilliant tap-in finish right into the net from Grace Stewart to make it 3-0. So what a relief that is as they are 4th in the standings right now ahead of their next match v India at midnight tomorrow morning. For the Americans, it’s been a tough start for them having been beaten so hard by the Netherlands 7-0 followed by another loss against the Hockeyroos. They will haven’t scored any goals yet ahead of another tough series of challenges going forward with China at the same time tomorrow as well as India on Friday.

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2024 AO Tennis, women’s singles semi-final night review being done in straight sets with Sabalanka v Zheng now set for tomorrow night’s main event match at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

Time flies so fast but the Australian Open women’s semi finals night was all done as tomorrow’s last two challengers line-up is now set for the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy at Rod Laver Arena. Coco Gauff fell short both ways earlier on but defending champion Aryna Sabalanka didn’t lose her game at all by booking herself in another Final by in straight sets (6-7 with 2-7 tiebreak & 4-6). Then it was a battle for the first timers and same thing happened to Dayana Yastremska with the early pace form as that 2nd semi match was dominated by China’s Quinwen Zheng also in straight sets (4-6 & 4-6). Now the men’s semi-finals will roll out throughout today with Novak Djokovic v Jannik Sinner in the afternoon followed by Daniil Medvedev v Alexander Zverev at night.

Looks like Gauff has almost got it after a poor start she closed herself in towards the opening set. But not so fast when she just could not hold stop a patient Sabalenka in her tracks before Gauff was unable to bring a 3rd set decider also after falling short again in the 2nd set. She will get better with experience as this is her 2nd grand slam knockout finals match & the first outside USA. Sabalanka on the other hand will get another chance to hopefully take home the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy for the second time tomorrow night on what has been a tremendous win last night the opponent she lost at the US Open Final a few months ago. She was outstanding all along where Sabalanka fired off comfortably before she eventually found her opponent’s weaknesses while Gauff caught up as the game goes on & then tricks her during each and every stage, which is exactly she wants to do to set the benchmark for AO title win No.2 v Zheng.

Speaking of Zheng, the 21-year-old Chinese player will now be playing in first grand slam final as Li Na has last done so here back in 2014 with the big win v Lucie Safarova. She simply found a way to get the ball rolling to win the other half form that Yastremska couldn’t do after a slow start before Zheng didn’t hesitate to lose her game where she found the finish line first for the win. And Yastremska’s time is now over after a great fairytale run from the bottom up prior to this at Melbourne Park, having got a strong build up base to get off the mark including an improved 2nd set performance. But unfortunately, she wasn’t quite close as she hoped for when it comes to the execution, which is a key area she has struggled v Zheng. Let’s hope she can continue to inspire more with a consistent last 16/8 run from here.

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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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AO Open 2024, Coco Gauff escapes a gruelling Marta Kostyuk challenger after a three hour, three set win this afternoon 

by Sports Benches

What a way to start the Quarter-Finals with the three hour, three set thriller between Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk & Coco Gauff from the USA where both players fought so hard with back-to-back tiebreaks as Gauff led the first set while Kostyuk activated the 3rd set tiebreaker at 1-1 apiece. But at the end of the day, the match belongs to Gauff who was too good to pull it off towards the finish line for both the win & the semi-final spot, despite 1-2 late consolation games from her opponent. The final score was 6-7 with 6-8 tie, 7-6 with 7-3 tie & 2-6 as Gauff will be tuning into tonight’s 2nd women’s singles quarter-finals match where Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) or reigning AO champ Aryna Sabalanka (Belarus) will meet her next on Thursday.

It’s been a great journey from the show courts to playing at the main event stage but her time has now came to an end where Kostyuk showed lots of fight to give Gauff a hard time along the way. She narrowly lost the first set and narrowly won back in the hope of continuing her fairlytale run into Thursday’s semi-finals night. But unfortunately, she was outrun so fast before being eliminated from this tournament despite picking it up some games towards the end there. She did Ukraine proud as Kostyuk has age by her side at 21 with lots of potential to hopefully fulfill throughout this year’s tennis season. And Gauff is not done yet following a long afternoon out with the win on her first AO knockout finals campaign. She had some tough challenges here & there where Kostyuk does not give her a free run despite picking up some good points. But her fightback and patience has paid off where she finally found a way out to steer away & into the homestretch from her opponent after sharing the lead with Kostyuk at 1-1. Looks like she’s ready for more where winning another grand slam away from home would be great. She has defeated Sabalenka before en route towards her first grand slam title on home soil (US Open) back in September 2023 & Gauff is ready to do it again in order for this to happen if Krejcikova is out tonight.

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Aus Open 2024, Coco Gauff too good for Magdalena Frech en route to her first Quarter-Final here at Rod Laver Arena

by Sports Benches

The 2nd week of the 2024 Aussie Open has just been started with an easy, hour long 4th round match of the day in the women’s singles draw between Poland’s Magdalena Frech & American Coco Gauff at Rod Laver Arena. Both players may have started side-by-side including the 2nd stage but Gauff was so quick to get the job done in straight sets, 1-2 & 2-6.

Frech had a great run beforehand in her  best grand slam career result yet at Melbourne Park that began with a brilliant straight sets upset at the tie against 16th seed Caroline Garcia in the opening round before she went from a set down to overcome Anastasia Zakharova two days ago. But unfortunately, it wasn’t her day today she just couldn’t handle such a top player like Gauff for most of the time. She has unfinished business ahead throughout the year to kick on from there for her country like compatriot Iga Swiatek. And the current US Open champion is on her way towards her first quarter-final here following a quickfire win against Frech. She was simply too good to pull off right away where Gauff just wasn’t too bothered about giving her opponent a bit of time to catch up thanks to a big lead as this match is truly her court. So far it’s been an easy campaign for the 19-year-old where her next opponent will be a first time knockout grand slam players bound match in either Maria Timofeeva or Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine.

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Miomir Kecmanović sets up a huge challenge v Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz for the last 16 on Monday after cancelling Tommy Paul’s 2-1 lead with the five-set win

by Sports Benches

Also an hour or two ago this afternoon over at Margaret Court Arena, we witnessed another five set stunner between 14th seed American Tommy Paul & Miomir Kecmanović from Serbia. The Serbian got a close opening set lead while Tommy Paul went from a set down to being closer towards the finish line after the third set at 2-1. However, Kecmanovic never gave up when not only he won another set back at the tiebreak but he managed to finish the match by punching his ticket into the last 16 so fast at the 5th & final set decider. The final score was 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 with 7-9 tiebreaker & 0-6.

Bugger for Tommy Paul with the 3rd round exit after his huge breakthrough here 12 months ago where he lost to Novak Djokovic but what an effort thought to fight back nonetheless. He was so close earlier on and he knew what he had to do to rebound before Paul took over top spot over his opponent for the first time. Sadly, he just couldn’t find his way back after he lost both the 4th tie, being blown away fast at final set & the match itself. Paul hasn’t kicked on for most of last year, even though he did okay through to the 4th round on home soil at the US Open. Plus, hats off to Kecmanovic who put in an absolute show where he’s now off to the fourth round for the first time in his grand slam career. Although, he will be tested against one of the world’s best right now in Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. It will be interesting to see if his courageous resistance in long spells would be the key towards an outside chance of a win. But for now, he will need to work on his inconsistency where he struggled midway through the afternoon until he managed to regroup himself during the fourth set before he sprinted his way past Paul again & there goes his huge day on-court. He has gone through a tough 2023 after not being able to advance after the 1R & the Serbian is sure to win back more this year despite a difficult next round match-up.

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Dayana Yastremska fires off and then rebounds fast after losing the 2nd set to eliminate 27th seed Emma Navarro for the 4R earlier this afternoon at John Cain Arena

by Sports Benches

Here’s one of the highlight matches to look back earlier in the 2nd half of 3rd Round women’s singles matches this afternoon when Dayana Yastremska knocked down 27th seed American Emma Navarro after a quick three-set showdown (2-6, 6-2 & 1-6) at John Cain Arena. Dayana’s next opponent on Monday for the fourth round will either be Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko who eliminated Australia’s Ajla Tomjlanovic in the 2nd round or 2012-13 winner Victoria Azarenka from Belarus.

That was really quick for both players who fought back and fourth at every turn but one of them has to advance while another will need to leave and it’s one of the Top 30 seeders in Navarro. She was so good to respond by bringing it into a 3rd set decider after a poor start before the American lost her way once again and that was the writing on the wall towards the end there. This is her best grand slam result so far, having won some ITF tournaments last year as well as Navarro’s first WTA title a few weeks ago at Hobart International. So plenty of time to kick on and have a better impact from there at age 22. Meanwhile, it’s been a long time coming even though the Ukrainian is 23 as this is the second time that Yastremska will be playing in the fourth round since Wimbledon back in 2019. She was on the move that fast to get the ball rolling & although she would have loved to get the job done in straight sets, but still, Yastremska took her time to regroup herself with another quickfire winning set during the decider to bring this game to a close. After languishing between the Qualifers & 1st round last year, she is playing her best tennis at the moment where a last 8 breakthrough would mean a lot to her by flying the flag for Ukraine.

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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

by Sports Benches

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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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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