A nail-biting night is on the cards at Melbourne Park as a rising US star goes up against one of tennis most seasoned contenders.
Korda’s Professional Goals Supercede Those of Medvedev
In an exciting turn of events, the up-and-coming American “son of a gun,” Sebastian Korda, played against Daniil Medvedev. In what could only be called an epic battle between two champions, Korda won in the end with 2 sets to 1. The first set alone took almost 85 minutes.
It wasn’t easy, especially since they had met once, at the Paris Masters in 1921, where things went in a different direction. Even though there were a lot of deuces early on, Korda was able to hold his own. Ultimately, he broke through one last time to get into the fourth round of this year’s Australian Open.
The 22-year-old held his serve and was about to go up a double break before Medvedev saved the game. In Medvedev’s next service game, Korda got another break point and forced an error from the Russian to go up 4-1.
He did this by being very athletic and making great shots. But the seventh seed quickly returned and tied the score at 4-4 by breaking twice. In the next challenging game, Medvedev wasted one game point, defended a breakpoint from Korda, and then double-faulted to give the American a 5-4 lead and a chance to serve for the set. But Medvedev returned when Korda’s serve went terribly, and the match ended in a tiebreak.
Norrie Shocks by Falling to World No. 71
Jiri Lehecka ranked No. 71 in the world, beat Cameron Norrie, who was ranked No. 11, in five sets on Kia Arena. Norrie went into the Australian Open in the best shape of his life, but he was knocked out even though he was up by a set twice.
The Czech held him back twice before the 21-year-old finished the match with a service to win 6-7(8), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in three hours and twelve minutes. Lehecka will play Felix Auger-Aliassime, the sixth seed, for a spot in the quarterfinals. Lehecka had already made a lot of progress at the Australian Open. It was the first time in his young career that he had made it past the first round of a major tournament.
In a Heated Confrontation, Shapovalov Erupts in Flames
Denis Shapovalov, a Canadian, has yelled at his player’s box during a tough five-set match with Hubert Hurkacz, the 10th seed. Shapovalov, the 20th seed, lost the first set to the Pole in a tiebreak. The 23-year-erratic old’s shots carried over to his behavior during the breaks, where he yelled at his team.
“I don’t like getting into fights with your team. Wally Masur, a commentator, said, “It’s not a good look.” Hurkacz beat Shapovalov early in the second set, but he had several chances to lose while serving at 3-2. Shapovalov made a deft volley, followed by a clean shot to convert one of the breakpoints. The Canadian cheered loudly, and Masur commented on his “extreme” mood changes.
He was doing well at first, but then he started losing. Hurkacz only needed one break point to go ahead 4-3 and send Shapovalov into another tailspin. Hurkacz served out the set to win it 6-4, but Shapovalov came back to win the third set by breaking Hurkacz’s serve and then holding it right away to go up 3-0. Hurkacz only won one game in the third set, the second-to-last one.
This was important because it allowed him to serve first in the fourth set, even though he had lost the third set 1-6. Shapovalov broke Hurkacz early in the fourth set and held on even though he had break points in the next game. He went up 3-1 and won the set 6-4, sending the match to a fifth set.
Shock Exit Meltdown: Tiafoe’s All-Time Tiebreak
18th place Francis Tiafoe, an American tennis star, was shocked by Karen Khachanov after a shocking 11-9 tiebreak in the fourth set. Khachanov won 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(9), but the tiebreak was the most exciting. Tiafoe jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreak, but he missed all his chances to force a third set.
Khachanov had one match point on Tiafoe’s serve, and Tiafoe had a set point on his opponent’s serve at 8-7, but his forehand went long. At 9-8, the Russian got another match point because of a terrible drop shot, and the world’s number 20 didn’t make a mistake.
Khachanov had to deal with a rowdy crowd mostly in Tiafoe’s favor, which wasn’t surprising since it was his 25th birthday. “I know it’s his birthday; I’m sorry, what can I do?” said the Russian. But he aimed the crowd’s constant negativity by saying, “To be honest, I like the energy and vibe here.
I ask that you treat each other with some respect. It’s not very nice to cheer for a double fault. But he added, “That’s up to you guys. If you want to applaud my mistakes, do it.” It was shocking how quickly the Russian changed his mind about John Cain Arena. He saved five break points in his first service game, but Tiafoe quickly broke him after he held. He served the first set with a score of 6-3, hoping to keep his record of 2-0 against the world’s No. 17 player.
Khachanov got another break of serve early in the second set thanks to a great backhand. He now leads 2-1. Tiafoe immediately asked the crowd to help, but Khachanov would break him again. Khachanov kept his cool when he was pushed to deuce while serving at 5-4.
He won the game and the second set, 6-4. Tiafoe started to get into the match. He won the third set, 6-3, and excited the crowd at John Cain Arena. Keeping the momentum going, Tiafoe broke Khachanov’s serve in the first game of the fourth set. However, he gave up his winning run in the next round, letting Khachanov even the set at one game each. Even though both players had plenty of chances to break, they didn’t. This led to a tie-break, which led to Tiafoe’s all-time meltdown.
Azarenka Switches Roles on The Keys
After a decade-long absence, Victoria Azarenka made an unbelievable comeback at the Australian Open. Despite being initially outmatched by 10th seed Madison Keys in the first set (1-6), she fought back to win with remarkable speed and agility – sweeping both of the following sets 6-2 and 6-1.
Alison Mitchell on the radio remarked: “It’s amazing how well this two-time champion has returned!” Last year, Keys made it to the semifinals, and Azarenka made it to the fourth round at Melbourne Park. After beating Sofia Kenin in the first round in straight sets, the two-time champion is the only former winner still in the women’s draw.
And as she left the court, she gave a subtle flex by finding her picture on the Walk of Champions and giving it a big pat. Now, for the first time since 2016, she is looking for a place in the quarters.
Explosion of American Anger Over Confronted Call
This tournament has had many blowups at the umpire, and an angry American, Alison Riske-Amritraj, added another one this afternoon. They were playing with Linda Fruhvitova, a 17-year-old breakout star. After losing the first set 7-6(4), they were behind 1-3 in the second set and trying to get a break back in the fourth game.
At their fifth break point, Riske Amritraj hit the ball into an opponent and said “Sorry” very loudly. The ball came back on her side of the court, but chair umpire Nico Helwerth assumed that the point was still in play.
So he penalized Riske Amritraj for obstructing them because he thought she had hit her opponent on purpose. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is quite painful for me to say this,” Helwerth said. “The point is over.”
Riske-Amritraj got so angry that he asked for the match supervisor and then yelled at both officials. Riske-Amritraj said, “When it hit her, I apologized. I wouldn’t have said I’m sorry if I hadn’t hit her. It hit her leg but not her arm or her racquet.” Helwerh said, “I can’t judge that if I can’t see it.”
The match supervisor said, “The umpire has to decide,” but Riske-Amritraj cut him off and asked, “Then what the hell is he doing up there?” “That is f***ing stupid. No, no, don’t be silly. Is he in bed? Dude. I wouldn’t apologize (unless the point was already made)!
“I said sorry because it hit her. So that’s what I mean.” The boss said, “He has a different view, and it’s up to the umpire to see it.” Riske-Amritaj was angry and said, “That doesn’t make any sense.” Dude. Oh, what do you think? I’m sure that’s how you see it. That’s not right. That is completely crazy. Look around. Man, that’s essential tennis.”
Riske-Amritraj and Fruhvitova got over the drama and won the game on their sixth try. They went on to win the match 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5. In the first two rounds of the Aus Open, 17-year-old Fruhvitova beat Australians Jaimee Fourlis and Kimberly Birrell. She will next play Marketa Vondrousova for a spot in the fourth round.
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