“I immediately contacted Djokovic’s team to apologize (…) for any lack of respect felt by Novak and which I caused. Today (Monday), I cannot “just reiterate this apology to Novak,” presenter Tony Jones said during a program on Channel 9, three days after parodying the chants of Serbian fans in a way Djokovic considered offensive.
Svitolina vs Kudermetova
First duel scheduled for Monday on the court of the Rod Laver Arena, the match between Elina Svitolina and Veronika Kudermetova turned to the advantage of the Ukrainian in two sets (6-4, 6-1), after she still led 4-1 in the first set.
“I just tried to fight, it’s the only thing you can do when things aren’t going your way,” Svitolina responded.
As usual since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, the two players did not pose together for the official photo at the start of the game and did not shake hands at the end. of the match.
During the two previous confrontations between Svitolina and Kudermetova, already on hard, the Russian had won each time.
Iga Swiatek leaves only crumbs for lucky loser Eva Lys in the eighth
World No.2 Iga Swiatek continued her journey without incident at the Australian Open tennis tournament. The Pole won 6-0, 6-1 in 59 minutes against lucky qualifying loser the German Eva Lys (WTA 128) on Monday in the round of 16.
The protégé of Wim Fissette returns to the quarterfinals in Melbourne for the first time since 2022 the quarterfinals in Melbourne, where she will face on Wednesday the winner of the meeting between the American Emma Navarro (WTA 8) and the Russian Daria Kasatkina (WTA 10 /N.9).
On the Rod Laver Arena, Lys only scored one game against Swiatek, expeditious since the start of the tournament having conceded no set and only 11 games in total, 7 against Siniakova in the 1st round and barely 4 over the last three matches, to reach the quarter-finals.
With world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, they are the only two players who have not lost a round since the start of the tournament.
Swiatek never reached the final of this first Grand Slam tournament and lost her only semi-final, in 2022, against the American Danielle Collins.
Australian Open: Sander Gillé eliminated in the doubles round of 16
In the next round, Svitolina will face the Kazakh Elena Rybakina (7th) or the American Madison Keys (14th), who has the most victories (10) on the WTA circuit since the start of the season.
Sinner dominates Rune in the furnace and rises to quarters
World No.1 Jannik Sinner beat Dane Holger Rune (13th) in four sets at the Australian Open on Monday, qualifying for his tenth Grand Slam quarter-final at age 23.
-The Italian won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and joined his compatriot Nicola Pietrangeli in the history books, the only Italian player to have reached the quarter-finals of a tournament ten times. Grand Slam.
Sinner, however, seemed to suffer from the heat (over 30 degrees) and the two players took turns taking a medical timeout in the 3rd set.
The fourth set was then interrupted for around twenty minutes at 1-0 for Rune, time to repair the net after a service from Sinner had torn off the hoop fixing it to the ground.
Australian Open: big names meet in the quarters
The defending champion will face in the next round the last Australian in the men’s draw Alex De Minaur (8th) or the American Alex Michelsen (42nd), whose round of 16 is scheduled for the evening in Melbourne.
Double winner in Grand Slams (Australian Open and US Open 2024), Sinner would become the most successful Italian in major tournaments if he wins in Melbourne. He currently shares his record with Pietrangeli, winner of Roland-Garros in 1959 and 1960.
The world No.1, who now leads 3-2 in his confrontations with Rune, joined his rivals Alexander Zverev (2nd), Carlos Alcaraz (3rd) and Novak Djokovic (7th) in the quarter-finals on Monday.
American Learner Tien loses in round of 16 to Lorenzo Sonego
The young 19-year-old American Learner Tien, 121st in the world, winner of world No.5 and double finalist Daniil Medvedev in the 2nd round of the Australian Open tennis tournament, lost Monday in the round of 16 in Melbourne against Lorenzo Sonego (ATP 55) in four sets 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. The match ended after 2h25 of play.
The 29-year-old Italian will thus play his first quarter-final in a Grand Slam tournament. With Jannik Sinner, also qualified, Italy will have two representatives among the top 8 of the Australian Open for the second time in its history after 2022 when Sinner was accompanied by Matteo Berrettini (ex-6th in the world, today today 34th).
Tien, eliminated three years in a row in the 1st round of the US Open (2022-2024) by players in the top 40, escaped from qualifying and participated for the first time in the Australian Open. The finalist of the last Masters Next Gen won the first three matches of his Grand Slam career in Melbourne. He is expected to rise to 80th in the world in the next ATP rankings.
Gaël Monfils retires against Ben Shelton in the round of 16
The Frenchman Gaël Monfils, 41st in the world at 38, gave up at the very start of the fourth set of his round of 16 at the Australian Open against the American Ben Shelton (20th) who led 7-6 (7/3) , 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/2), 1-0, Monday in Melbourne.
While the first three sets ended in a tie-break in heat above 30 degrees, the veteran tricolor headed towards the net smiling at 1-0 for Shelton, telling him that he was stopping the fight at after almost three hours of battle and eight victories in a row.
