Page 18 - Tennis

Davis Cup: Indian team frets over visa denial to reserve player Prajwal Dev

Captain Rohit Rajpal worked on Saketh Myneni's volleys while N Sriram Balaji was getting used to not hitting in the alleys as the Indian Davis Cup team continued its preparations for the upcoming tie against Pakistan here Friday. Coach Zeeshan Ali threw more balls on Myneni's body and Rajpal advised him to keep his head a bit down and still. "Do not go up on your toes, keep your feet grounded when you make contact," said Rajpal. Myneni applied and immediately felt the difference. This was because it is a bit difficult for taller players to move sideways, and rivals feed a lot of ball on the body. Myneni has been peppered with such balls on the Tour and Rajpal wanted his player to be ready for the challenge. Ramkumar Ramanathan's grunts echoed around Delhi Gymkhana. He first played sets with Balaji and then also practiced with Niki Poonacha, who is also being prepared for the singles matches. BALAJI TO PLAY SINGLES ================= Most likely it will be Balaji who will do the s

Australian Open 2024: Medvedev wins five-setter to meet Sinner in final

Jannik Sinner ended one of Novak Djokovic's perfect streaks in an Australian Open upset and then got to relax while Daniil Medvedev rallied from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev after midnight to secure the other place in the final. For a self-described tennis fan, just everything went Sinner's way in the semifinals Friday. The 22-year-old Italian broke Djokovic's serve twice in each of the first two sets in a surprisingly lopsided 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory that ended the 10-time champion's unbeaten streak in semifinals at Rod Laver Arena. Almost an hour after missing a match point in the tiebreaker, Sinner converted his second to complete his third win in four head-to-heads since losing to Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon semifinals. I learned a lot from that, he said of that Wimbledon loss and his subsequent wins. "It gives you a better feeling when you know that you can beat one player. "The confidence from the end of last year has for sure kept the belief. Third-s

Rohan Bopanna and Joshna Chinappa among people shortlisted for Padma Shri

Tennis star Rohan Bopanna, who is set to be crowned world number one in the doubles format, was on Thursday selected for the prestigious Padma Shri honour by the government along with six other athletes including veteran squash player Joshna Chinappa. Padma Shri is fourth highest civilian honour after Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan which is conferred to achievers for their distinguished service in any field. Bopanna has been a consistent performer and will be oldest world number one when new rankings will be issued on Monday. Bopanna has the opportunity to win his first ever men's doubles major title on Saturday when he takes court with partner Matthew Ebden to compete in the Australian Open final. Bopanna, 43, is only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam trophy, a mixed doubles title he won with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski at the French Open in 2017. The 37-year-old Joshna has won multiple medals at Asian Games and two-time CWG medallist. She has also wo

Australian Open 2024: One semi-final loss not beginning of end for Djokovic

A solitary loss in 11 semi-finals at the Australian Open was nowhere near enough for Novak Djokovic to contemplate a generational change in tennis. Djokovic didn't get a look at a breakpoint during a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 loss to Jannik Sinner on Friday that ended the 10-time Australian Open champion's unbeaten streak after making the final four at Melbourne Park. He commended the 22-year-old Italian for playing flawless tennis it was Sinner's third win over Djokovic in their last four matches but rated his performance as the worst he could remember at a major. This tournament hasn't been up to my standard or criteria or the level that I would normally play or expect myself to play, Djokovic said, "but doesn't necessarily mean that it's beginning of the end, you know, as some people like to call it. Let's see what happens in the rest of the season. The 36-year-old Djokovic has been dealing with illness and a sore right wrist this month in Australia and wasn't at his peak, by hi

Jannik Sinner denies Novak Djokovic 25th Major at Australian Open 2024

Italy's Jannik Sinner won the first semifinal of the year's first Grand Slam 6- 1, 6- 2, 6-7, 6-4.

Tennis star Bopanna, squash player Chinappa shortlisted for Padma Shri

Padma Shri is fourth highest civilian honour after Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan which is conferred to achievers for their distinguished service in any field

Australian Open 2024: Defending champ Sabalenka beats Gauff to reach final

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka avenged a US Open final loss to Coco Gauff and became the first woman since Serena Williams to reach back-to-back finals at the Australian Open on Thursday. Sabalenka attacked Gauff's serve throughout a 7-6 (2), 6-4 semi-final win. She will meet Zheng Qinwen or Dayana Yastremska in Saturday's championship decider. Zheng and No. 93-ranked Yastremska were playing their first-ever Grand Slam semi-final. Sabalenka is on a 13-match roll at Melbourne Park, where she made her Grand Slam breakthrough last year. Williams reached consecutive finals here in 2015, '16 and '17. Gauff went into the semifinals unbeaten in 2024 after winning a title in Auckland, New Zealand. The 19-year-old American was on a 12-match winning streak in majors and attempting to be the first player since Naomi Osaka in 2020-21 to win the US Open and Australian Open titles back to back. She'd worked out how to beat Sabalenka in New York last September to win her first major title b

Australian Open 2024: Rohan Bopanna just one win away from Grand Slam title

Rohan Bopanna earned himself one more opportunity to win a Grand Slam title by reaching the Australian Open men's doubles final with Australian partner Matthew Ebden after prevailing in a tense semifinal against Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen here Thursday. The second seeded Indo-Australian pair faced some stiff resistance from their rivals in the third set but eventually the experience of playing Super Tie Breakers helped them nail the finish with a 6-3 3-6 7-6 (10-7) scoreline after two hours and two minutes. A day after he was assured of becoming the world number one player, Bopanna as usual served well on big points and also manage to pull out the strokes and tricks when they needed the most. Bopanna has reached the US Open final twice (2013, 2023) but a Major trophy has eluded him in his career. Now at the fag end of his career at the age of 43, he will have the chance to tick that box on Saturday.

Zverev ousts Alcaraz to move into Australian Open semis against Medvedev

Alexander Zverev made no mistake with his second chance to close out a win over No. 2-ranked Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday night and moved into an Australian Open semifinal against two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev. The sixth-seeded Zverev was a up a break in the third set and missed a chance to serve it out but the Olympic champion didn't blink when he got another chance in the fourth, finishing off a 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4 victory. Alcaraz won Wimbledon last year and was the only player to beat 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic in a Grand Slam match in 2023. The 20-year-old Spaniard won't get the chance in Australia this time. It was Zverev's first win over a top-5 player at a Grand Slam, and the reward was a spot in the semis for the seventh time at a major. Medvedev, a two-time finalist in Australia, outlasted ninth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to make it to the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the third time in four years. Djokovic will play Jann

Don't think anyone will ever come close to Djokovic: Former world no. 17

With the Australian Open currently on, defending champion Novak Djokovic has once again been dubbed as a favourite to retain the title, and former world No. 17 Bernard Tomic of Australia firmly believes there will be no one to challenge the great Serbian. Djokovic is the leading Grand Slam winner in the Open Era of tennis. He also has the chance of winning the most Grand Slam titles across eras, as another win would allow him to surpass the all-time record of Margaret Court. Djokovic is eying his 25th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Tomic, who has lost to Djokovic on all six instances in the ATP circuit, dubbed him a "freak" and also the "G.O.A.T", besides adding that to beat him, one has to play at the highest level at all times. "I was lucky enough to beat Djokovic at the Hopman Cup 11 years ago (chuckles). He is a freak. "You have no choice but to play at the highest level to beat him. And, if you lower your level even the slightest against him, you will lose," he told

Australian Open 2024: Alcaraz sets up quarterfinal clash against Zverev

Carlos Alcaraz completed a Grand Slam set by reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time, setting up a showdown against Olympic champion Alexander Zverev. The 20-year-old Wimbledon champion missed the season-opening major in 2023 because of injury but is more than making up for lost time. The No. 2-seeded Alcaraz beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 in less than two hours Monday to open the night session on Rod Laver Arena. He has dropped just one set en route to the last eight. Zverev is there for the third time but is coming off some long five-set wins, including a four-hour, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) fourth-round victory over No. 19 Cameron Norrie. It was the 32nd five-set match so far at Melbourne Park, a tournament record in the Open era. Their match on Margaret Court Arena was prolonged after being delayed briefly when a protester threw anti-war pamphlets onto the back of the court in the third set. The protester was escorted out by security. No. 3 Danii

Davis Cup: Team India begin preparations for arch-rivals Pakistan tie

Braving cold conditions, the Indian Davis Cup team began its preparatory camp for the upcoming grass court tie against Pakistan, keen to find a second singles player in the absence of top-ranked Indian Sumit Nagal. Country's top singles players -- Nagal (ranked 137) and Sasikumar Mukund (ranked 463) -- have pulled out of the tie February 3-4 tie in Islamabad. Their absence means that Ramkumar Ramanathan is the only singles specialist player in the team. Captain Rohit Rajpal has to choose between Yuki Bhambri and N Sriram Balaji to play the second singles. Bhambri, at 61 in the ATP doubles list, is the team's highest ranked player and will certainly play the doubles rubber as well. Veteran Rohan Bopanna, who is India's best doubles player, has retired from Davis Cup. Niki Poonacha is also an option but he is ranked as low as 783 and the team may not field him in singles. Both Bhambri and Balaji took a day off since they travelled straight from Melbourne after competing in the ...

Medvedev, Noskova, Yastremska advance to Australian Open quarterfinals

Daniil Medvedev is through to the Australian Open quarterfinals along with Dayana Yastremska and Linda Noskova, the latter two players for the first time at a Grand Slam singles tournament. Medvedev beat Nuno Borges 6-3 7-6(4) 5-7 6-1 on Monday to reach the last eight. He'll play either No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz or French wild-card entry Arthur Cazaux. Yastremska beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 7-6(6) 6-4 while 18th-ranked Elina Svitolina was trailing Noskova 3-0 when Svitolina retired with a back injury. Azarenka served for the first set twice and had two set points at 6-5 but couldn't take them and Yastremska won the opening set on her second chance after 74 minutes. The Ukrainian then led 3-0 in the second set but Yastremska won six of the next seven games to clinch victory, ending with 37 winners. "I think I need to take a thousand breaths because my heart I think is going to jump out of my body," Yastremska said. "During the match, I was imagining how I lost already like

Australian Open 2024: Bopanna-Ebden enter quarter-final with 7-6, 7-6 win

India's Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden entered the men's doubles quarterfinal of the Australian Open with an impressive 7-6 7-6 victory over Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Croatia's Nikola Mektic here on Monday. The 43-year-old Bopanna and his Aussie partner, who are seeded second in the draw, were broken early in both sets but showed themselves to be up to the task with some great returns against the 14th seeds. The Indo-Australian pair will now meet the sixth-seeded Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.

After divorce with Sania Mirza, Shoaib Malik ties knot with Sana Javed

Pakistan's former captain Shoaib Malik announced on Saturday that he has married a second time to the country's popular actor Sana Javed in Karachi after getting divorced from Sania Mirza. The cricketer who was previously married to Indian tennis star, Sania, with whom he has a son, released a photograph on a social media platform with his new wife, with the words "And We created you in pairs". Their five-year-old son Izaan lives with Sania. Sania's father Imran Mirza told PTI that "it was a 'khula'", which refers to the right of a Muslim woman to unilaterally divorce her husband. There have been strong rumours since 2022 about differences between Shoaib and Sania leading to a split, and they have rarely been seen together in the last couple of years. Just a few days back Malik also unfollowed the Indian star on Instagram. Shoaib and Sania had got married in Hyderabad in the Indian player's hometown Hyderabad in April 2010 and they use to live in Dubai. Sana Javed who has starre

Australian Open 2024: Sabalenka crushes Tsurenko, reaches 4th round

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka reached the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday with a 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Lesia Tsurenko. The second-seeded Belarusian, who won her first Grand Slam title here 12 months ago, needed just 52 minutes for victory at the Rod Laver Arena. She has dropped just six games in three rounds so far. Last year, Iga (Swiatek) won so many sets 6-0 and this is one of the goals, to try to get closer to her, Sabalenka joked. I'm just super-happy with the level I'm playing so far. Hopefully, I can just keep going like that or even better." The pair did not shake hands as is the convention for Ukrainian players against opponents from Russia or Belarus but Tsurenko congratulated Sabalenka verbally. Sabalenka will play Amanda Anisimova, who continued her comeback with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Paula Badosa. Anisimova, who took seven months out of the game last year for mental health reasons, hit 40 winners on her way to the fourth round. It's quite unbelieva

Australian Open: Blinkova upsets Rybakina in a record-long tiebreaker

Her hand and her legs were shaking, she'd missed nine match points but also saved six, and Anna Blinkova was 41 points into a wild tiebreaker that was the longest ever in a women's Grand Slam event. Elena Rybakina, last year's Australian Open runner-up, was just as anxious on the other side of the net. When Blinkova lunged to retrieve a backhand, aiming just to keep the rally alive, and Rybakina's next backhand sailed wide, it finished off a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20) second-round victory Thursday that she'll never, ever forget. It took me courage, she said. It took me some certain calmness to stay in the present moment and to play point by point no matter what happens. Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who was runner-up here last year to Aryna Sabalenka, saved two match points in a third set that contained six service breaks. Blinkova twice served for the match but couldn't finish off, and a double-fault in the 12th game sent it to a 10-point tiebreaker. Once there, 13 minutes after

Australian Open 2024: Swiatek escapes with a narrow win over Collins

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek rallied from 4-1 down in the third set to escape with a narrow 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over 2022 runner-up Collins on Thursday and advance to the third round of the Australian Open. Swiatek held the momentum to start after recovering an early break, leading by a set and a break before the American player rallied to take the second set and race to a 4-1 lead in the third. Swiatek absorbed the sustained pressure from Collins' powerful groundstrokes until she regained momentum and went on a match-winning five-game roll. Oh my God. I don't even know, Swiatek said of how she managed to come back. "Honestly, I was on the airport already. But I wanted to fight to the end. "I'm really proud of myself, because it wasn't easy." Both players beat past Australian Open champions in the first round. Swiatek defeated 2020 champion Sofia Kenin and Collins had a three-set win over 2016 winner Angelique Kerber. Swiatek had two match points at 15-40 in the last game but against Col

Australian Open 2024: 16-year-old Andreeva beats Wimbledon finalist Jabeur

When their paths crossed after first-round wins, 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva saw Ons Jabeur make a light-hearted gesture that signaled she could see her. The three-time Grand Slam runner-up probably didn't really see what was coming her way at the Australian Open. The first set was over in 20 minutes. The match was over in 54 minutes Wednesday, with Andreeva advancing to the third round 6-0, 6-2. In the first set, I showed amazing tennis, she said. "I honestly didn't expect that from myself. I'm super happy with the level that I showed." Andreeva went into the tournament knowing that a first main draw win at the Australian Open completing a Grand Slam set could pay off with a second-round encounter against one of her childhood tennis inspirations. Sixth-seeded Jabeur reached back-to-back finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2022 and was runner-up at Wimbledon against last year. Andreeva admired the Tunisian star and observed how she approached the sport, on and off the ...

History created at Australian Open: All you need to know about Sumit Nagal

Sumit Nagal, the man from Jhajjar, will next play China's 18-year-old wild card entrant Juncheng Shang on Thursday (January 18). Shang is ranked 140th in the ATP rankings.