Red-hot Rinky tames Thanasi
NO MATTER the result, an Australian was going to be the winner as wildcard Rinky Hijikata took on Thanasi Kokkinakis on Show Court 1 at the Brisbane International. In a match that lasted an hour and 37 minutes, it was Hijikata who emerged victorious, shaking off an early Kokkinakis challenge to win 7-6 6-2. Hijikata […]
Teen wildcard causes Hong Kong upset
IT WAS a dream start to 2024 for Chinese teenager Juncheng Shang, who upset seventh seed Laslo Djere in the opening round of Hong Kong Tennis Open yesterday. Shang, ranked 183rd in the world was able to mastermind the victory over the world number 33, some 10 years his senior, 6-7 6-3 7-6. That included […]
Popyrin ends year with three-hour epic against mate
IT was quite the tiring finish for Alexei Popyrin in Brisbane, as the talented 24-year-old overcame compatriot Christopher O’Connell in an epic three set match that lasted more than three hours at Brisbane International. Having only played one match against each other previously – where Popyrin won in straight sets at the Rome Masters last […]
Blinkova back to best, repeats shock upset
FRANCE’S best hope of a Roland Garros title was eliminated overnight, with fifth seed Caroline Garcia suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Russian Anna Blinkova. In a case of history repeating itself, Blinkova came back from a set down to win in three and advance through to the third round of the French […]
Stan The Marathon Man survives Paris epic
LOOKING strong early, Swiss Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka had a tougher than expected path to the second round needing all five sets to advance through at Roland Garros overnight. The 2015 French Open championship had won all seven previous matches against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and at two sets to love looked set to do it […]
Déjà vu as Muchova downs Maria in Paris opener
FOR the second successive year, Czech Karolina Muchova has knocked off Greek talent Maria Sakkari at the French Open, grinding out a 7-6 7-5 victory on Court Suzanne Lenglen to advance to the Round of 64. After defeating Sakkari in the second round last year at Roland Garros, Muchova double down on her efforts against […]
Aussie duo charge into men’s doubles final
AUSTRALIA has a knack of producing the most exciting and oddly successful one-off doubles partnerships at Melbourne Park, and the latest pairing is just one win away from keeping the men’s doubles title in Australia. After the success of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis last year, the home nation has produced another incredible doubles partnership, […]
2023 Australian Open ICYMI: Day 4
CHAOS reigned supreme on day four of the Australian Open, with the men’s draw in particular producing a number of unbelievable upsets. With the drawn blown wide open, it offered plenty of chances for lesser known players to step up and potentially go deep in this year’s Australian Open. THE GOOD: He will make it […]
2023 Australian Open ICYMI: Day 3
RAIN effectively put a massive line through progress at the Australian Open yesterday, with non-covered courts unable to begin play until 5pm, forcing a backlog of players waiting for either their first or second round matches. Luckily the tournament got through all the games to be back on schedule, but plenty of players will need […]
2023 Australian Open ICYMI: Day 2
WEATHER at both ends of the spectrum gave players a taste of the ‘four seasons in one day’ for Melbourne, with scorching heat, followed by rain forced delays and suspended contests. Here is a quick look at what did go down on day two. THE GOOD: Epic tennis. There were some absolute thrillers on both […]
