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Jannik Sinner may have felt lucky to survive the Australian Open third round but he rebounded quickly in a straight-sets win Monday over fellow Italian Luciano Darderi to reach the quarterfinals for a ninth consecutive Grand Slam event. The two-time defending champion struggled with the extreme heat and cramping in his Saturday afternoon win over No. 85-ranked Eliot Spizzirri, and only took control after the roof was closed in the third set. Sinner later admitted he got a bit lucky with the timing of the extreme heat policy being invoked, leading to an eight-minute break to close the roof. He was also able to refresh in a 10-minute extra cooling break between the third and fourth sets. In an evening match in cooler conditions, he was cruising until Darderi lifted his tempo in the third set. Second-ranked Sinner missed match points in the 10th game on his opponent's serve but then clinched victory 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). Darderi, who saved two match points on his serve, took the first
Taylor Fritz's Australian Open ended in a grueling physical struggle on Monday as he was beaten 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 by fifth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti. While it marked a milestone for Musetti, for the No. 9-seeded Fritz, the fourth-round match signalled that his body may have reached its limit. The 2024 U.S. Open runner-up revealed in a post-match news conference that he had arrived in Melbourne in two minds about his fitness, and had nearly withdrawn because of knee and abdominal issues. "I was fully ready to shut it down for a couple of months to get it better," Fritz said, adding that he'd told his team: "If it stays how it is, we are just going to have to stop. I can't play through this." His physiotherapist had different ideas. "My physio, who is great and I trust him, he said that he thinks there's a pretty solid chance that we can do all the rehab protocol and do everything we need to do while I'm still playing," Fritz said. After feeling discomfort in his third-round win over ...
Defending champion Madison Keys has been knocked out of the Australian Open by fellow American, and podcast pal, Jessica Pegula. Pegula, seeded sixth, defeated the ninth-seeded Keys 6-3, 6-4 on Monday at Rod Laver Arena to reach the quarterfinals. Pegula, who has never claimed a Grand Slam, won the first set in only 32 minutes. Pegula raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set, and Pegula also broke to open the second set and again surged to a 4-1 lead as Keys struggled with her serve. The match ended when Keys hit a forehand into the net. "I've been playing really well, seeing the ball, hitting the ball really well this whole tournament, and I wanted to stay true to that," said 31-year-old Pegula. "Then just lean into a couple things that I felt like she would do, and I felt like I came out doing it pretty well "When I had the lead I tried to stick with that as much as I could. "Even when she got a little rhythm back, I just really tried to focus on what I needed to do and patterns to
Limping and desperately trying to stretch out cramps in his arms and legs, Jannik Sinner had just gone down a break in the third set when the extreme heat rules saved him. Play was suspended for several minutes and the roof was closed on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday afternoon, and the two-time defending Australian Open champion returned a revitalized man. After seemingly being on the verge of an unlikely exit - one his coaches, Darren Cahill, was urging the 24-year-old Italian just to stick it out for a few more games - Sinner won five of the next six games to take the set against No. 85-ranked Eliot Spizzirri. A 10-minute "cooling break" between the third and fourth sets followed - another allowance under the extreme heat policy - and Sinner returned for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory that highlighted a dramatic contrast of intense light and shade. "I struggled physically today. I got lucky with the heat rule," Sinner said, agreeing that the cooler indoor conditions suited him much m
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka defeated Karolina Muchov 6-3, 6-4 Saturday to advance to the Brisbane International final. Sabalenka, the defending Brisbane champion, clinched the semifinal at Pat Rafter Arena on her fourth match point to advance to Sunday's final against the winner of a later semifinal between fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula and Marta Kostyuk. On Friday, in a rematch of last year's Australian Open final, Sabalenka broke Madison Keys' in five straight service games on the way to a 6-3, 6-3 win. Last year at Melbourne Park, Keys beat Sabalenka for her first Grand Slam singles title. The Brisbane International is a tuneup event for this year's Australian Open, which begins Jan. 18. In the men's tournament at Brisbane, top-seeded Daniil Medvedev will play Alex Michelsen of the United States in a later semifinal. Two Americans feature in the other semi, with Aleksandar Kovacevic playing Brandon Nakashima.
Jannik Sinner got broken for the first time in Week 1 of the U.S. Open. Dropped the opening set, even. Fell way behind in the third set, too. I'm not a machine, you know, he said with the hint of a smile Saturday. I also struggle, sometimes. Hmmm. Sure, Jannik, maybe so. Still, Sinner is the No. 1-ranked player in men's tennis and has won the past three Grand Slam tournaments played on hard courts, so no one was surprised when he set aside some lapses and emerged to beat No. 27 Denis Shapovalov 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 Saturday to take his title defense at Flushing Meadows to the fourth round. That I have pressure and tension is normal. I've had that for a year, and you need to handle it, the Italian said. Either you handle it or you don't. ... It's better to have to deal with that than not. On Monday, Sinner will face No. 23 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan for a place in the quarterfinals. Bublik beat No. 14 Tommy Paul of the United States 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in a 3 ...