Australian Open live: Magda Linette chasing historic unseeded title as Djokovic and Rublev headline day 10

Storm brewing in women’s doubles 3m agoWed 25 Jan 2023 at 3:32am

By Paul Johnson

Australia’s Storm Hunter and her Belgian partner Elise Mertens were the favourites going into their women’s doubles quarterfinal but are now staring down the barrel of defeat.

The pair led 5-2 in the opening set tiebreak before their unseeded opponents Marta Kostyuk and Elena Gabriela Ruse came roaring back to take the opening set.

Sabalenka takes opening set 21m agoWed 25 Jan 2023 at 3:14am

By Paul Johnson

Key Event

The Sabalenka show is rolling once again on Rod Laver Arena.

The Belarusian is yet to lose a set this year, in this her 10th match.

She’s taken the opener against Donna Vekic 6-3 in an hour of heavy-hitting.

Loading Twitter content

But don’t let the scoreline fool you, this match has been tight.

Both players have been under siege on serve, trading three breaks in the set, but ultimately it was the Vekic serve that wilted under pressure.

A whopping 9 double faults cruelling the Croatian’s chances.

The stat would be sweet relief for Sabalenka, who’s own serve has been a struggle over the last few years with double faults routinely creeping into her game at key moments.

Unseeded players to have won a grand slam 44m agoWed 25 Jan 2023 at 2:51am

By Paul Johnson

Want to know how rare it is for an unseeded player to win a grand slam in the Open era?

Emma Raducanu is the last unseeded player to win a grand slam singles title.(Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports)

Well here we go with the full list:

Linette’s ‘dream’ run continues to semis 1h agoWed 25 Jan 2023 at 2:30am

By Paul Johnson

Key Event

Could Magda Linette become the first unseeded woman to win the Australian Open women’s singles title since Serena Williams in 2007?

Well, she only needs two more victories and has just stunned two-time grand slam finalist Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-5 to book her place in the final four.

Loading Twitter content

Linette, 30, made the crucial break in the 11th game of the second set and held her nerve to serve out the match.

In her previous 29 grand slam appearances, Linette had never advanced further than the third round.

“It’s so emotional; I can’t really believe it,” she said.

“Dreams come true.

“I don’t want to get too excited because we’re still in the tournament but I’m super grateful and happy.”

All five of Linette’s scalps at Melbourne Park this year have been ranked inside the top 50 and included in-form Frenchwoman Carolina Garcia.

And as an unseeded player she has a real chance of doing something that has only been done twice before in the Open era, win the tournament as an unseeded woman.

Serena did it in 2007 when coming back from injury and a sabbatical from the sport.

Chris O’Neil and Serena Williams in2007 as the only two women to win the Australian Open title unseeded.(Reuters: Tim Wimborne)

Before that Australia’s Chris O’Neil achieved the feat in 1978 and was much more of an upset winner than Williams was.

The loss means Pliskova’s long wait for a maiden grand slam title continues.

The 30-year-old Czech has lost both of her major finals – at the 2016 US Open to Angelique Kerber and at Wimbledon two years ago to Ash Barty.

With AAP

Welcome to Australian Open day 10 1h agoWed 25 Jan 2023 at 2:03am

By Paul Johnson

Afternoon tennis fans.

Yesterday brought the drama with Novak Djokovic complaining about an injury reporting double standard before American young gun Sebastian Korda retired with his own injury.

Today begs other questions such as:

Can Aryna Sabalenka continue to dominate in the women’s singles and…

Will Djokovic’s hamstring continue to be no problem for the nine-times champion when he faces Andrey Rublev?

As always send through any questions and comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.