Category: Tennis

• World No 8 defeates Mikael Ymer 7-5, 6-1 in qualifier
• Aleksandar Vukic beat Leo Borg 6-4, 6-4 for 2-0 lead

Trusty Davis Cup old hand Alex de Minaur and late-blooming new boy Aleksandar Vukic have put Australia well on the road to victory in their first-round qualifying tie against Sweden in Stockholm.

World No 8 de Minaur, in his first outing since his Australian Open quarter-final drubbing by Jannik Sinner, had to subdue comeback man Mikael Ymer before running away to a 7-5, 6-1 victory on Friday (Saturday AEDT).

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• Kyrgios withdraws from Sweden tie due to more injury concerns
• Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis also ruled out

Captain Lleyton Hewitt has not given up on a potential return to Davis Cup action for Nick Kyrgios despite the former Wimbledon finalist having predictably pulled out of Australia’s first-round qualifying tie with Sweden because of more injury concerns.

In the meantime, Hewitt is happy to rely on Alex de Minaur, a hungry newcomer Aleksandar Vukic and the veteran Olympic champion doubles pairing of Matt Ebden and John Peers to steer his side to victory in Stockholm.

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• Spain’s Cristina Bucsa beats Raducanu 5-7, 7-5, 7-5
• Briton’s first match since split with coach Nick Cavaday

Emma Raducanu came up short in a three-hour marathon to crash out in the first round of the Singapore Open. The British No 2 lost 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in a match featuring 17 breaks of serve.

Raducanu, the world No 56, was playing in her first match since splitting with coach Nick Cavaday, who stepped down last week because of health issues. Instead, the 22-year-old had her mother Renee for company in the stands, as well as new fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura. But Raducanu still flagged as the finish line approached at the end of a brutal encounter.

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Jannik Sinner beat Alexander Zverev with plenty to spare, winning the Australian Open for the second year in a row

Sinner is 94% on hard courts since winning in Australia in 2024, beating Zverev in their only meeting this year. Alcaraz gives him grief because of how quickly he plays, but he moves so well and hits so consistently, even a unique genius must play lights out to put one over on him.

So how will our match today go? Sinner is favourite partly because he knows he can do it, 2-0 in finals relative to Zverev’s 0-2. But he also hits more consistently and, tough both shots have improved, Zverev can struggle on forehand and volley with Sinner good enough to target both. I expect the champ to sit on the baseline, plant feet if he can, and look to keep Zverev moving and guessing; Zverev will, I think, hope to draw him in, in order to hit passes.

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The American tennis player Madison Keys said that 'lots of therapy' helped her secure her Australian Open title, after she beat the world No 1, Aryna Sabalenka, in the final on Saturday. 'Actually getting help, talking to someone, not just about tennis but how I felt about myself,' she added. 'If I hadn't done that, I don't think I would be sitting here.'

At 29, Keys is the oldest first-time women's Australian Open champion in the Open era. 'I’m just really proud of myself,' Keys told a reporter. 'I didn’t always believe that I could get back to this point.'

• Madison Keys stuns Aryna Sabalenka to win thrilling Australian Open final

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• Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara win men’s doubles
• Alfie Hewett claims title in men’s wheelchair final

Britain’s Henry Patten claimed his second grand slam doubles title alongside his Finnish partner, Harri Heliövaara, in a late-night epic in Melbourne.

The pair did not walk out on Rod Laver Arena until 10.30pm after a lengthy women’s singles final between Madison Keys Aryna Sabalenka. It took until past midnight for the first set against the Italian third seeds, Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, to conclude.

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It feels politically radical at this stage, a break from the phoney wars, to say can we just appreciate Djokovic for what he is?

Who knows, maybe one day Novak Djokovic and the people of Australia will stop mid-argument, bottom lips quivering, and just kiss it all out, right there in front of the cameras, while in the background the studio audience gasps and whoops and we cut tantalisingly to the break with a jaunty bass solo.

Perhaps not yet though. Judging by the scattered boos and jeers from the crowd as news filtered through that Djokovic was retiring with injury after the first set of his Australian Open semi-final on Friday , it seems there is still some way to go in that narrative arc.

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• Player been criticised for chopping and changing coaches
• British No 2 heading from Australian Open to Singapore

Emma Raducanu is searching for another coach after Nick Cavaday ended their partnership because of health issues. Raducanu first worked with Cavaday as a child and they resumed the relationship ahead of last season, where the 22-year-old returned to the top 100 following operations on both wrists and one ankle.

Raducanu spoke frequently about how positive the partnership had been and that she hoped it would be a long-term arrangement but it has now come to an end after 14 months. Their last tournament together was at the Australian Open, where Raducanu reached the third round, and the British No 2 said: “I’d like to thank Nick for a great partnership over the last year and a bit. Especially being post-surgeries, he helped get me back inside the world’s top 60. I wish him all the best in his next chapter and no doubt we’ll stay in touch.”

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Novak Djokovic said he did 'everything I possibly can' to manage his injury before and during his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev. The 10-time champion retired hurt after losing the first set, and was booed off the court by some sections of the Rod Laver Arena. Djokovic suffered an injury to his groin area in his quarter-final against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday.

The Serb took to the court on Friday with both dark tape and a white bandage enveloping his upper thigh. He revealed afterwards he had not hit a ball since his previous match, and the pain proved too much for him to play on after losing the first set on a tie-break. 'I want to keep going,' the 37-year-old added, but also admitted 'there is a chance' this could be his final appearance at Melbourne Park.

• Novak Djokovic retires hurt to send Zverev into Australian Open final

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Clashes between players and spectators at Australian Open are just another example of the shouty polarities of our age

Eva Asderaki-Moore probably loves her job. But there were times, during Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open win over Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday, when the chair umpire clearly had it with the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, please,” she pleaded. And then “That’s e-nough!” – which she enunciated like a schoolteacher marshalling her charges on a very long, very noisy coach trip.

You had to feel for her. What is tennis thinking after all? It throws 15,000 people into an arena, whips them up into a state of delirium with some of the greatest feats of athleticism seen in a grand slam quarter-final, then expects pin-drop silence between points. At 1am? When some of these people have been drinking since lunchtime?

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Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, was too strong for Paula Badosa, while Madison Keys outlasted Iga Swiatek in an epic to set up an enticing final

Sabalenka 0-1 Badosa* (denotes server) A big service-winner down the T makes 15-all, but Sabalenka takes control of the next point with a booming forehand return, cleaning up with with another down the line Then, facing a second serve, she steps in a little and starts thwacking … but just when15-40 seems a matter of time, a backhand on the stretch and on to the line hauls Badosa back into the point and eventually the error comes; 30-all. But a double presents break point; another service-winner confiscates it, and so far, the underdog is coping with the pressure well, as I type spanking an ace down the T for advantage. And though she oughtn’t win the next rally, Sabalenka in at the net and unable to finish, she makes her opponent play enough balls such that the error comes. Badosa is into this!

Badosa to serve and ready … play.

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Commenting after his final answer at his post-match news conference, US tennis star Ben Shelton said he was 'shocked' with 'how players have been treated' at this year's grand slam in Melbourne. Shelton was earlier interviewed on court by the Australian former Davis Cup player John Fitzgerald, who suggested no one would be cheering the American in his semi-final, with his opponent - either the defending champion Jannik Sinner or local hope Alex De Minaur - yet to be confirmed

• Shelton reaches Australian Open semi-final and blasts ‘disrespectful’ broadcasters

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Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek set up a semi-final meeting in the women’s competition, while Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner did likewise in the men’s

Wild celebrations from Shelton, as you might expect, and here he is…

A body-serve sets up the point, finished by Shelton with two colossal inside-out forehands. He meets Sinner or De Minaur in the semi.

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• Atlanta native defeats Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
• No 21 seed praises Lorenzo Sonego’s ‘ridiculous’ tennis

Ben Shelton, a 22-year-old from Atlanta, is through to his first Australian Open semi-final after defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday in Melbourne. Shelton has competed in only one previous grand slam semi-final, when he lost to the eventual champion, Novak Djokovic, at the 2023 US Open.

On Wednesday, Shelton prevailed by playing a steadier ground game than his opponent. Sonego finished with a slight edge in winners, 63-54, but he committed far more unforced errors, 55-33.

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