Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 16-29 January |
Protection: Commentary every single day from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 Sports activities Additional ‘Tennis Breakfast’ dwell from Melbourne, with chosen dwell textual content commentaries and match experiences on the BBC Sport web site & app |
Prime seed Iga Swiatek is out of the Australian Open after dropping to Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina within the fourth spherical.
Rybakina, seeded twenty second, had struggled to copy the shows which noticed her win on the All England Membership in July.
However towards Swiatek the Kazakh confirmed once more how she thrives on the large stage, enjoying confidently and powerfully in a 6-4 6-4 win at Melbourne Park.
Lower than half an hour later, Coco Gauff misplaced 7-5 6-3 to Jelena Ostapenko.
American seventh seed Gauff, 18, was among the many favourites for the title however was overpowered by the seventeenth seed from Latvia.
Rybakina, 23, will play former French Open champion Ostapenko within the quarter-finals as a substitute of the match-up between Swiatek and Gauff that many predicted.
“I’m nervous each time I’m on court docket however I attempt to present calm. It’s a huge win and I am glad to be in one other spherical,” Rybakina stated.
Third seed Jessica Pegula, the highest-ranked participant left within the ladies’s draw, got here by way of 7-5 6-2 towards Czech Barbora Krejcikova.
The American might face two-time Melbourne champion Victoria Azarenkawithin the quarter-finals ought to Azarenka beat Zhu Lin afterward Sunday.
Swiatek ‘needed it an excessive amount of’
Poland’s Swiatek rose to the highest of the world rankings final 12 months following the retirement of Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, occurring to win the French Open and US Open titles as she dominated the WTA Tour.
She reached the Melbourne semi-finals final 12 months and, after a outstanding 2022, returned aiming to be the primary ladies since Serena Williams in 2015 to carry three of the 4 main titles.
“I felt like I took a step again when it comes to how I strategy these tournaments and I perhaps needed it a little bit bit too onerous,” she stated.
“So I will attempt to relax a little bit bit extra.”
Rybakina’s success has been extra sporadic. Between claiming essentially the most prestigious title in tennis and the beginning of this 12 months’s Australian Open, she received simply 14 of her 24 matches and has spoken out in regards to the lack of recognition she feels she has been given.
She has additionally struggled with robust attracts, together with her world rating decrease than anticipated after receiving no factors for her Wimbledon victory.
However she made one other spectacular assertion at Melbourne Park, reaching the final eight for the primary time with a dominant win over Swiatek.
The pair exchanged breaks early within the opening set earlier than a double fault from Swiatek at 3-3 gave Rybakina one other likelihood, which she took with a whopping cross-court backhand winner.
A assured maintain to like sealed the one-set benefit, however Swiatek improved at the beginning of the second set and moved right into a 3-0 lead.
Rybakina rapidly fought again and levelled for 3-3 as Swiatek struggled to take care of her hefty serve.
She dropped simply six factors on her first serve within the match and registered a formidable held to like to safe victory after breaking for 5-4.
Rybakina says she is now not “bothered” about not having earned rating factors at Wimbledon however enhancing her world standing is a supply of motivation in Melbourne.
“For positive it is a motivation, however as I stated earlier than, each match I come I need to win and irrespective of factors, no factors,” she stated.
“I like to compete, irrespective of the place I play. For now I’d say that I do not actually have a look at this stuff.”
Ostapenko has ‘by no means doubted’ she will win one other main
Ostapenko grew to become a teenage champion at French Open nearly six years in the past however an absence of deep runs since has seen many write her off as a one-hit marvel.
Nevertheless, towards Gauff she displayed the powerful-hitting and aggression that led her to the Roland Garros title in 2017.
Ostapenko hit 30 winners as she broke Gauff’s serve 3 times and in addition saved seven of eight break alternatives for the American.
Regardless of it being the primary time since Wimbledon in 2018 that Ostapenko has reached a significant quarter-final, the 25-year-old says she “truthfully hasn’t actually doubted” she might win one other.
“My life modified so much, so I wanted a number of years to essentially get used to what occurred as a result of I used to be actually younger,” stated Ostapenko, who had by no means beforehand gone past the third spherical at Melbourne Park.
“I all the time knew and believed in my recreation. If I play effectively, I can beat nearly anybody.
“I used to be attempting to work extra on my consistency, particularly within the pre-season, simply to step on the court docket and play my recreation.”
Gauff had not dropped a set in her earlier three matches, together with a second-round win over British primary Emma Raducanu.
The teenage prodigy, who misplaced to Swiatek in final 12 months’s French Open remaining, grew to become emotional throughout her information convention as her wait to land a significant continues.
“I believe each loss is considerably in my management as a result of I do really feel like I am participant, however right now she simply performed higher,” stated Gauff.
“There have been moments within the match the place I used to be getting pissed off as a result of I usually can problem-solve, however I really feel like I did not have a lot solutions to what she was doing.
“There was a few issues I might have improved on, however total I believe she deserved to win.”