AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Rybakina and Sabalenka set up Australian Open final showdown
- Rybakina beats Azarenka to reach first Australian Open final
- Kazakh will face Belarusian Sabalenka who downed Linette
Elena Rybakina won a duel of Grand Slam champions to reach her first Australian Open final and will battle Aryna Sabalenka for the title after the Belarusian shrugged off her semi-final hoodoo at the majors.
Rybakina claimed a 7-6(4) 6-3 victory over twice champion Victoria Azarenka in the first semi-final on Thursday, ending the chance of an awkward all-Belarusian decider for organisers, who banned the nation’s flags early in the event.
Fifth seed Sabalenka beat Magda Linette 7-6(1) 6-2 in the late match at Rod Laver Arena, reaching her first Grand Slam final after falling at the semi-final hurdle three times before.
The title match will pair two big-serving, baseline pounders with contrasting personalities.
Russian-born Rybakina is the quiet achiever who switched allegiance to Kazakhstan as a 19-year-old and won the central Asian nation its first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last year.
The animated Sabalenka has long been seen as a Grand Slam contender but has been a slave to her emotions on the biggest stages.
Rybakina’s “non-celebration” on court after beating Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final was repeated on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday as she walked calmly to the net without so much as a fist-pump to shake hands with the vanquished Azarenka.
“For me this time I would say it was a bit easier also compared to Wimbledon when I was playing for the first time quarters, semis, final,” the 23-year-old told reporters.
“Everything was new at Wimbledon. Now I more or less understand what to expect.”
It was Rybakina’s third victory in succession over a Grand Slam champion, having knocked out world number one Iga Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko in the previous rounds.
It was far from easy, though.
MESSY TIEBREAK
Rybakina had to come back from a break down in the first set against the feisty 24th seed Azarenka, who was chasing her third title after winning back-to-back in 2012-13.
The Kazakh, seeded 22nd, held her nerve as Azarenka foundered in a messy first set tiebreak, then roared on to a 5-2 lead over the Belarusian in the second set.
Though suffering a wobble as she served for the set, Rybakina was gifted three match points when Azarenka double-faulted in the next game.
Azarenka saved one match point but her bid for a third title at Melbourne Park ended flatly, with a backhand hammered into the net, one of 27 unforced errors.
“It’s kind of hard to digest, obviously,” a gloomy Azarenka told reporters, wearing sunglasses at her post-match media conference.
“Obviously I had quite a few chances that I gave myself.
“I cannot really say I’m really proud of how I played.”
COLD START
Sabalenka joined Rybakina in the final after a cold start on a chilly evening, notching her 10th win in succession, including the warm-up Adelaide title.
Sabalenka said she had stopped using a psychologist in the off-season and decided to take her head-game into her own hands. read more
“I was trying to scream less after some bad points or some errors. I was just trying to hold myself, stay calm, just think about the next point,” she said of the semi-final.
“Actually, I’m not that boring, I think. I’m still screaming ‘come on’ and all that stuff. I don’t think it’s that boring to watch me. I hope so.”
Broken in the first game, Sabalenka pressured Linette’s serve to take the tiebreak before racing away in the second set.
Unseeded 30-year-old Pole Linette would have been far from pre-tournament predictions of who would reach the semi-finals and was happy with her run.
“It’s really been so rewarding for … all the sacrifices, all these years on tour, so many Grand Slams. It was my 30th attempt,” she said.
POLITICAL ISSUES
Geopolitics has been ever-present at the year’s first Grand Slam, with organisers making the unprecedented decision to ban Russian and Belarusian flags from the event after a complaint from the Ukraine embassy in Australia.
Police questioned four fans with “inappropriate flags and symbols” at Melbourne Park following Wednesday’s quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Russian Andrey Rublev.
Australian Open organisers on Thursday issued a reminder to players and their entourages about the policy after a video showing Novak Djokovic’s father posing for pictures with fans holding Russian flags was widely shared on social media.
Serbian Djokovic, who plays American Tommy Paul in the men’s semi-finals on Friday, did not comment on the video.
Asked by reporters whether it was difficult to focus on tennis with the politics rumbling in the background, Azarenka lost patience.
“I don’t know what you guys want us to do about it,” she snapped.
“These incidents that in my opinion have nothing to do with players, but somehow you keep dragging players into it.”
-Reuters
Jannik Sinner retained his Australian Open title with an emphatic 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev on Sunday, breaking new ground for Italian tennis and leaving his German rival smarting after a third Grand Slam final defeat.
The world number one became Italy’s first player to win three Grand Slam crowns, moving past Nicola Pietrangeli who won back-to-back men’s titles at Roland Garros in 1959-60.
A year after mowing down Daniil Medvedev in five sets for his first major trophy, Sinner sapped his second Melbourne Park final of all drama as he wore down Zverev with suffocating pressure and claimed the match with clinical execution.
The one-sided win in the floodlit Rod Laver Arena underlined the 23-year-old’s status as the game’s pre-eminent hardcourt player , if robbing fans of a proper contest.
“It was an amazing performance from my side,” he said. “I want to enjoy this one. This one has a different feeling (and) means so much to me.”
For all Sinner’s joy, a long-standing doping case continues to hang over his head.
Though cleared to play by tennis authorities, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is seeking a ban which could derail his French Open plans. A hearing is set for April.
A ban may be the only way to stop Sinner, given how impervious he has been to the distractions.
Sunday’s win extended the U.S. Open champion’s winning streak to 21 matches.
“Many, many things happen off the court, what you maybe don’t know,” he said.
“When I go on the court, even if sometimes it’s very difficult to block these kind of things, I have the team and people who are close to me who trust me.”
For Zverev, the result was another bitter blow , his third defeat in three Grand Slam finals leaving him in tears.
His miserable night was compounded by a heckler in the crowd who made reference to domestic violence allegations he faced in recent years.
“First of all, it sucks standing here next to this thing and not being able to touch it,” the red-eyed German said of the winner’s Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
“Congrats to Jannik, you’re the best player in the world by far. I was hoping that I could be more of a competitor today but you’re too good.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to lift the trophy but I’ll keep coming back, I’ll keep trying.”
ZVEREV SMASHES RACKET
The match was all but over when Zverev dropped serve in the sixth game of the third set.
Arguably, the German’s spirit was broken before that by an unlucky net cord that turned the second-set tiebreak in Sinner’s favour.
It was 4-4 in the tiebreak when Sinner fired into the net cord and saw the ball dribble over.
Sinner thumped down a huge serve to raise two set points and converted the first, going for broke from the baseline with a furious forehand that kissed the line.
A gutted Zverev smashed his racket as he returned to his chair with the match slipping away.
There would be no last stand from him, nor any wobble from Sinner who did not cough up a single break point in the match.
Sinner sealed the win with a backhand passing shot on the first match point and celebrated by clambering into the terraces to embrace his entourage.
For Zverev, the wait for a maiden Grand Slam title will go on after he finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at last year’s French Open and gave up a two-set lead in defeat to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 U.S. Open decider.
There was more sourness as he went to the microphone to congratulate Sinner, with a person in the crowd yelling repeatedly: ‘Australia believes Olga and Brenda’.
In June last year, Zverev’s lawyers said he had agreed a settlement after the mother of his child, Brenda Patea, accused him of physical abuse and a German court closed the case.
Zverev repeatedly rejected the allegations by Patea.
In January 2023, the ATP, citing insufficient evidence, closed an investigation that had been launched after another ex-girlfriend, tennis player Olga Sharypova, accused Zverev of domestic abuse.
Asked about the heckler, Zverev said: “I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now.
“I think I’ve done everything I can and I’m not about to open that subject again.”
-Reuters
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Top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend claimed the women’s doubles crown at the Australian Open on Sunday after beating Jelena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3 in a gruelling final.
The victory at Rod Laver Arena gave Siniakova and Townsend their second Grand Slam title after their Wimbledon triumph last year while it was the 10th major title for Czech Siniakova, the doubles world number one.
“Big thanks goes to Taylor, we are having fun and that’s the most important, so thank you for playing with me. I’m really enjoying it,” Siniakova said after lifting the trophy with her American partner.
For Townsend, the win was a full-circle moment in her career after she won the title as a junior in Melbourne in 2012.
“This is super special to me, the last time I played on this court I was 15,” she said.
“This tournament was the start of me being able to live out my dream. I honestly didn’t think that it was possible for me to be playing on this stage.”
Siniakova and Townsend had several opportunities to break early on and finally converted a break point to go 2-1 up as Hsieh and Ostapenko struggled with their serve.
The third seeds quickly found themselves 5-1 down as Siniakova and Townsend consolidated a double break before the American sealed the set with an emphatic volley at the net.
After they traded early breaks in the second set, Townsend was once again effective at the net with an overhead smash that gave them a 4-3 lead before Siniakova held her serve to put them one game away from the title.
But Ostapenko and Hsieh, playing in just their second tournament as a pairing, broke back in the 10th game when Townsend served for the title.
A frustrated Siniakova threw her racket on the ground before the third seeds won the tiebreak and forced a decider. The Czech then lost her composure and was broken in the first game of the third set with three double faults.
But they quickly regrouped to break back and Siniakova converted a crucial break point to go 5-3 up.
This time, Siniakova served for the title, and despite another double fault with three championship points, they sealed victory when Townsend fired a volley at the net down the middle to win in two hours and 27 minutes.
“I think for our second tournament, playing a Grand Slam final is not bad,” Ostapenko said.
“Together, I hope there are many more trophies for us.”
-Reuters
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Novak Djokovic retired injured after losing the first set 7-6(5) against Alexander Zverev on Friday to put the German through to his first Australian Open final and extend his wait for a record 25th Grand Slam title.
Zverev will meet either Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton in Sunday’s decider as he bids for his first Grand Slam title, but Djokovic will remain locked with Margaret Court on 24 major trophies until at least the French Open.
There were doubts about Djokovic’s left thigh following his taxing quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz when he took a lengthy medical timeout after the first set against the Spaniard.
The 37-year-old Serb skipped a training session on the eve of the semi-final and entered Rod Laver Arena for the afternoon match with the thigh strapped.
But there was little indication he was struggling until late in the set when he began trudging slowly between points and muttering in frustration at his players’ box.
He gave up the set by hammering a regulation forehand volley into the net and promptly walked to Zverev’s side to shake hands and embrace the German, leaving the crowd gasping.
With a rueful expression, Djokovic held two thumbs up and clapped at the terraces but there was a round of boos as the 10-times champion made his exit.
Djokovic later said he had been trying to nurse a torn muscle and he was in increasing pain as the set wore on.
“I knew even if I won the first set, that it’s going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies, you know, for another God knows what, two, three, four hours,” the Serb told reporters.
“I don’t think I had that, unfortunately, today in the tank.”
‘SHOW SOME RESPECT’
Zverev said he was also surprised by Djokovic’s retirement but noted the Serb’s movement had fallen away in the tiebreak.
“I thought it was a high level first set,” he added.
“Of course there are some difficulties … in the tiebreak he was not moving. I did see him struggle a bit more.”
Zverev also admonished sections of the crowd for jeering Djokovic, who has dominated the year’s opening Grand Slam since winning his first trophy at Melbourne Park in 2008.
“The very first thing I want to say is, please guys, don’t boo a player when he goes out with injury,” Zverev said.
“I know everyone paid for tickets and everyone wants to see hopefully a great five-set match.
“But … Novak Djokovic is someone who has given this sport for the past 20 years absolutely everything of his life.
“He has won this tournament with an abdominal tear, won this tournament with a hamstring injury.
“So please show some respect.”
The truncated semi-final win is a huge boost for Zverev’s hopes of finally winning a Grand Slam, having missed out to Alcaraz in last year’s French Open final and surrendering a two-set lead before losing to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 U.S. Open decider.
The rangy 27-year-old has been tipped for Grand Slam success since his teen years but was often thwarted by the likes of Djokovic and the now-retired Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.
Zverev was strong on serve on Friday and appeared content to wage attritional rallies with the Serb while biding his time for chances.
Though failing to convert all five break points he had over Djokovic, Zverev was rock-solid in the tiebreak.
He thrashed a forehand down the line to bring up set point with a 24th winner before Djokovic made his stunning exit, a year after being shocked by Sinner in the semi-finals.
-Reuters
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