Weekly SA Mirror
Zheng Qinwen of China is all geared up for the Australian Open title where she will meet Aryna Sabalenka the first black woman to reach back-to[1] back finals in Melbourne since Serena Williams in 2016-17 after she beat Coco Gauff 7-6(2) 6-4 in a Thursday night contest of the highest quality

ARYNA TO DEFEND AO TITLE

CRACKER: Sabalenka meets with Chinese  Zheng Qinwen who is edging closer to earning her first Grand Slam crown

By Sports Reporter

After two weeks of jostling, we now know who the women’s singles final will be between at Australian Open 2024. And it promises to be a cracker, with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka taking on Zheng Qinwen of China for the title after the semifinals on Day 12.

Sabalenka became the first woman to reach back-to-back finals in Melbourne since Serena Williams in 2016-17 after she beat Coco Gauff 7-6(2) 6-4 in a Thursday night contest of the highest quality.

“It was an incredible match,” said Sabalenka, after gaining revenge on Gauff for her defeat in the US Open final last September. “She’s a great player, always tough battles against her. I think the key was that I was able to stay focused, no matter what, no matter what the score was, I just keep trying my best, keep fighting for it.”

Gauff came from 5-2 down in the first set and served for the opener at 6-5, but couldn’t close it out. One break sealed her fate in the second set.

“I had chances in both sets, but she played better tonight,” Gauff said. “I felt like I did my best with the game plan that I had. I think it just came down to a couple of points.”

Ten years after Li Na won the title in Australia, China has another finalist with Zheng showing incredible poise on the biggest occasion of her life to beat another first-time semifinalist, Dayana Yastremska, 6-4 6-4.

“It feels unbelievable,” she said. “It’s tough to explain my feelings right now.”

“It was an incredible match,” said Sabalenka, after gaining revenge on Gauff for her defeat in the US Open final last September. “She’s a great player, always tough battles against her. I think the key was that I was able to stay focused, no matter what, no matter what the score was, I just keep trying my best, keep fighting for it.”

Gauff came from 5-2 down in the first set and served for the opener at 6-5, but couldn’t close it out. One break sealed her fate in the second set.

“I had chances in both sets, but she played better tonight,” Gauff said. “I felt like I did my best with the game plan that I had. I think it just came down to a couple of points.”

Ten years after Li Na won the title in Australia, China has another finalist with Zheng showing incredible poise on the biggest occasion of her life to beat another first-time semifinalist, Dayana Yastremska, 6-4 6-4.

“It feels unbelievable,” she said. “It’s tough to explain my feelings right now.” Four players will battle to reach the men’s final of the Australian Open on Friday in two scintillating semi-final matches.

Novak Djokovic’s quest for his 11th Australian Open crown will continue against Jannik Sinner. The Serb eased his way past Taylor Fritz in four sets in the quarter-finals and it will take a special effort from one of the remaining three players to prevent him lifting the title.

Sinner will be hopeful of halting Djokovic’s dominant run in Melbourne. The Italian booked his place in the last four for only the second time in a Grand Slam with a straight-sets win over Andrey Rublev. In the other side of the draw, Daniil Medvedev emerged from his duel with Hubert Hurkacz.

The match went the distance, but the Russian was on point in the decider to secure his place in semi-finals in Melbourne for the third time.

Alexander Zverev put in the performance of the quarter-finals with a brilliant display to dispatch Carlos Alcaraz. The German surged into a two-set lead, and although Alcaraz sent the match into a fourth set, Zverev found his form to advance to the last four.

We’re poised for two exciting matches.

  

SINNER STUNNER SPOILS DJOKOVIC PARTY

YOUTHFULL:  Italian Jannik paid no attention to precedent and after three hours and 23 minutes bundled Novak out of the Australian Open

 By Sports Reporter
WELL DONE; Novak Djokovic giving Jannik Sinner a congratulatory hug after their semi-final match which the latter won to reach the final of the Australian Open scheduled for Sunday
WELL DONE; Novak Djokovic giving Jannik Sinner a congratulatory hug after their semi-final match which the latter won to reach the final of the Australian Open scheduled for Sunday

Jannik Sinner will contest his first Grand Slam final after scuttling Novak Djokovic’s bid for a record-extending 11th Australian Open in the semifinals at Rod Laver Arena on Friday.

The youngest man to reach a final at Melbourne Park since 2008, when his opponent claimed his first major, the 22-year-old regrouped after a third-set tie-break match point slipped his grasp for a 6-1 6-2 6-7(6) 6-3 triumph.

“Awesome. I don’t know what to say really. I came here after a couple of exhibition matches at Kooyong and came here as prepared as possible,” Sinner said. “The confidence from end of last year has for sure kept the belief that I can play against the best players in the world and I’m really happy that I can play Sunday my first [Grand Slam] final.”

Only six months ago, world No.1 Djokovic had few difficulties keeping the Italian contained in the Wimbledon semifinals, but a pair of confidence-boosting wins from three subsequent encounters had invigorated Sinner’s belief.

Sinner claimed two of the pair’s three meetings since then, including a match-points saving effort in the Davis Cup semifinals, but facing the might of the 24-time major champion in a best-of-five-set showdown was an entirely different prospect.

In just his second Grand Slam semifinal, Sinner paid no attention to precedent and after three hours and 23 minutes handed Djokovic his first loss against a top-five opponent at Melbourne Park since he fell to Roger Federer in the fourth round in 2007.

“It was a very, very tough match,” Sinner said. “I started off really well. He missed for two sets. I felt like he wasn’t feeling that great on court, so I just tried to keep pushing and then in the third set I had match point and I missed the forehand, but you know, this is tennis.

“I just tried to be ready for the next set and obviously the atmosphere was so great.”

In just his second major semifinal, Sinner was quicker out of the blocks, and while it did not sound alarm bells immediately for Djokovic, he was well below his best and struggling to stem the onslaught.

Sinner could not have played a better set. After securing a double break he served it out after just 35 minutes when his opponent floated an uncharacteristically meek sliced forehand long.

Yet to be tested all tournament, Sinner had just registered his 16th straight set and showed no signs of a let-up as he broke early in the second set and jumped to 4-2 as the match ticked over an hour.

Off balance and out of sorts, Djokovic’s errors off the ground were mounting, such was the relentless offence from the far end.

“In the third set I had match point and I missed the forehand, but you know, this is tennis.”

Sinner could not put a foot wrong and in just 73 minutes had opened an unlikely two-set lead.

This was not unprecedented territory. In the Wimbledon 2022 quarterfinals, just shy of his 20th birthday, the Italian took the opening two sets only for Djokovic to meticulously turn the screws and reel him in.

It was going to be a far more difficult feat for the world No.1 to deny this vastly improved version of Sinner. In typical Djokovic fashion though, somehow he found a way to prolong his stay.

He saved a match point at 5-6 in the tiebreak and forced a fourth set, but the momentum shift was only fleeting. Conceding serve from 40-0 up at 1-2 was the final straw and Sinner never looked back.

“I think we play really similar, and you have to try to return as many balls as possible,” Sinner said. “He’s such an incredible server, so I tried to guess sometimes a little bit also, trying to push, trying to move him around a little bit… It’s always nice to have this kind of player that you can learn from.

“I lost last year in the semis at Wimbledon. I think I learnt a lot from that and it’s all part of the process.”

Published on the 132nd Edition

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