Key events
Good work from Rublev, his forehand carrying two decent rallies that give him 30-all. Sinner, though, is unfazed, quickly winning the next point, but again Rublev sticks about for long enough to make deuce when his opponent errs. He’s not been to the bog, no, but perhaps his coaches are checking in with us because he’s now following our advice, staying patient before sticking a forehand on to the line; an ace and Sinner has deuce. So far, he’s sort of doing to Rublev what Rublev did to D-Min on Sunday, winning enough of the big points to always stay in front, but a double means he’s faced with another break point, Rublev again biding his time before ulnoading the suitcase on a pair of forehands, the second dropping fractionally wide. This is a much better match now and this is the longest game of it – we’re up at around eight minutes when a wrong-footing backhand gives Sinner advantage – and a service winner takes him to 6-4 2-2. Rublev is now 0/4 on break points.
Sinner attacks a second serve, landing a backhand return on to the line, then Rublev shanks a forehand wide – a dreadful shot in the circumstances. But he hangs in the next rally well, not going for too much, making 15-30 when his opponent nets. Problem being he then does the same and Sinner, without doing all that much, has two break points; a service-winner saves the first … then another the second, which makes deuce. Excellent from Rublev then, after a cunning drop, the ball is there for Sinner who, with a big gap down the line, directs ball into net, then again with his next return, and that is a colossal hold for the Russian, who might’ve detonated had the game gone against him. His knees and racket are grateful and he leads 2-1 trailing 1-0.
Up 30-0, Sinner, who’s looked close to impregnable on serve since saving break points in game two, nets, then clouts wide with the rally seemingly won. Naturally, an ace follows, making 40-30, then high-kicking second-serve expletive secures the hold and 1-1 in the second. Rublev isn’t that angry, but an explosion could be imminent.
Rublev will be relieved to know I’ve a plan for him, so all he needs to do is take a slash and check the GBG. Anyway, rather than go for lines, he needs to bring his sight in just a little, aiming to take the ball early and keep Sinner moving so he can’t plant feet and thrash away. Real talk, to win the first set he didn’t have to, he just had to be solid, knowing that Rublev is the better shot-maker without being a good enough shot-maker to override the misses. Still, he holds to 15 in the first game of set two, and is playing better now than at the start. Sinner 6-4 0-1 Rublev
Jannik Sinner takes the first set against Andrey Rublev 6-4
Sinner has been really consistent here; perhaps he knows that Rublev will go for loads, so if he’s solid, he should win unless his opponent has a worldie. He makes 15-0 when a return loops long – Rublev has to do better with that – then dominates a rally for 30-0 and raises three set points when a return hits the net. Another big serve does the rest, and Rublev needs to rethink, because unless he hits a Stanimal in a major final kind of seam, he can’t win playing as he is.
Up 30-0, Rublev unleashes an inside-out monster, follows it with a service winner, and he’s playing a little better now. But is he too late to rescue this set? Sinner will shortly serve for it at 5-4.
A long rally and Rublev nets, so attacks his knees with his racket, which should teach them. That’s not the first time he’s done that and again, as in Turin, he draws blood … then makes his way to 30-all which, in the context, represents a chance. But a body-serve forces him to float a return long, then again on the second delivery – that’s excellent from Sinner, who’s a game away from set one at 5-3 and generally looks the more together human.
Down 0-15, Rublev monsters a forehand winner, but a double puts him under pressure; a service-winner alleviates it, and from there he closes out to trail 3-4.
Rublev has dipped, his forehand not finding its range, and that’s the thing with him: he goes for so much, that when it doesn’t work, games can disappear quickly. So he’s soon down 30-0, before a Sinner drop drifts wide, giving him a sniff and his first point in 12. But when another error gives him 40-30, an ace down the T secures the hold and a 4-2 lead. Neither man is playing that well yet, so the one who makes fewer erros leads.
Now then. Four points on the spin is soon six on the spin, Sinner making 0-30, then Rublev slaps a forehand into the net and must now save three break points. He cannot, netting another, and Sinner did not have work hard for that, eight points in a row giving him control of set one at 3-2.
Sinner nets a forehand for 15-all, then a backhand following what I think is the longest rally of the match so far; if he can keep wining those, he’s a good chance of progressing. And when he clouts a backhand close to the sideline, the wide riposte raises two break-points, and already this is a big moment because there probably won’t be many of them. But a long forehand burns the first and a colossal serve extinguishes the second, then an ace down the T secures the game from advantage; decent statement from Sinner. We’re 2-2 in the first.
Service winner, ace, big serve and clean-up forehand; Rublev quickly makes 40-0, but two errors then invite Sinner into the game. And when Sinner forces him to play a volley to win a point he’s dominated, he nets and out of nowhere, we’re at deuce. No matter, he closes out with another barrage of serves and forehands, so leads 2-1.
My file is lagging because of how many posts are in it, so please bear with me, but Sinner rushes through a love-hold secured with an ace down the T.
Rublev’s first serve is a helluva stroke; the problem comes when he misses, because his second is far less so. But he holds to 15 for a 1-0 lead.
Right, away we go.
Rublev has made the quarters of every Slam, but is 0-9 from those matches – a weight he carries on to court with him. He’ll be desperate to win this.
Here come Sinner and Rublev. These two are pretty similar players, both of them powerful hitters from the back. But Sinner just does it all a little bit better, is in better form having played less, and has a more equanimous demeanour. Rublev’s serve and forehand can take any match away from anyone, but he’s never reached the semis of a Slam and the reason is an inability to beat players ranked above him when he really needs to.
Back to Sabalenka, what stood out was her power because it always does, but otherwise it was her touch – at least in the first set. I’m sure that’s partly because she didn’t think Krejcikova could hurt her and that won’t be as much the case against Gauff, who can return power with power and perhaps keep her moving more. But it also reflects the work she’s done, her growing confidence on it, and how comfy she feels on Laver. If her level stays roughly the same, she’s going to retain her title and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. But playing at her peak when under pressure is something with which she’s struggled previously, so let’s see.
Coming up next: Jannik Sinner (4) v Andrey Rublev (5)
Sabalenka thanks the crowd, saying it reminded her of last year’s final, and asked why she’s playing so well here – she’s yet to lose more than three games in a set, never mind lose a set – says she’s lots of Aussies in her team and also name-checks the crowd. Explaining her recent consistency – she’s 8 and 0 in Slam quarters, and has made at least the semis in the last five – she says she’s worked hard, then off she goes. Good luck, Coco old mate.
Aryna Sabalenka (2) beats Barbora Krejcikova (9) 6-2 6-3
A booming return is too good, giving Sabalenka 0-15, then she asks a ball kid to remove an insect from the court. Another weapons-grade return follows, Krejcikova unable to respond, and when a backhand loops wide, ending another rally dominated by the champ, she has three match points. Ands she only needs one, a brutal backhand return seizing control of a rally eventually finished with a difficult volley made to look easy. A stunningly, terrifyingly good performance from the champ, making a fellow major winner look like a child, and if she maintains that level – one I’ve never seen in the women’s game – she’s near enough unbeatable.
Krejcikova gets Sabalenka on her bike, making 15-30 with a decent forehand to the corner. So Sabalenka dematerialises a forehand down the line, a service winner down the T … and another out wide. At 6-2 5-3, she’s game away from the semis.
As Iron Mike said later on…
And here we are again at 0-30, whereupon Sabalenka goes long on the forehand then nets a backhand return … and another backhand. An ace out wide follows, Krejcikova’s second of the match, and the shriek of celebration tells us she’s still fighting and still believes. Sabalenka leads 6-2 4-3, with a break.
Krejcikova, racing in as soon as she can, picks out Sabalenka with two overheads but makes 0-15 nonetheless, then a netted backhand gives her a sniff of taking back one break; a netted forehand and she’s two points to keep the match alive. An ace follows, then Krejcikova stretches desperately to get something on a mahoosive serve down the T … and Sabalenka nets the overhead putaway! When this happened in set one, she remonstrated by winning the next two games, and no one would be surprised to see that happen again. Sabalenka leads 6-2 4-2.
Sabalenka is relentless and she makes 0-30 when she stays in the point with fine defence and Krejcikova wilts under the abuse, netting the kind of forehand putaway she dispatches as a matter of routine. A humungous forehand-overhand winner follows, raising two points for the double-break, the first saved via cunning drop … but the second taken when a swiped backhand falls wide. Sabalenka leads 6-2 4-1 and Krejcikova is powerless against an onslaught of this ferocity. It must be frustrating – and painful and embarrassing – because she’s a top player and tactician, but as Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan till they get hit in the face.”
Down 0-15, Sabalenka devastates an overhead from on top of the net that bounces right close to it on the other side, flying off into the crowd; she apologises, but clearly knew what she was doing. An ace follows, but when she slices into the foot of the net, Krejcikova has a sniff at 30-all … but not for long, Sabalenka extinguishing hope in short, violent order. She leads 6-2 3-1.
My system crashes, returning in time for me to see that Sabalenka has broken for 6-2 2-1, and Krejcikova is not long for this match.
With Sabalenka, the battle has always felt like a mental one and I guess she feels comfy on Laver having finally won her major on it last year. She’s yet to drop a set this tournament, having won one match 0 and 1 and another 0 and 0, holding to 15 here and securing the game with a barely believable inside-out forehand that lasers flat over the net for a winner. She leads 6-2 1-1.
This is a huge game in the context of the match and Krejcikova serves it out well enough, sealing a hold to 15 with a service-winner out wide. Still no word, by the way, on what’s going on with Rublev v Sinner but presumably they’re assuming Sabalenka wins this in two and they’re on within 45 minutes.
Aryna Sabalenka (2) takes the first set against Barbora Krejcikova (9) 6-2
I’m afraid this isn’t close or even close to close, Sabalenka just hitting it too well and too consistently; she looks unbeatable, though of course she can always beat herself and Coco Gauff, who faces the winner, will ask some sterner questions. But a love-hold seals a 6-2 set in 33 minutes, and this is stupefying, petrifying stuff.
Krejcikova hasn’t held since the first game and at 15-all another unexpected slice incites an error, then good defence – and grunting – sees her stick in a rally until her opponent goes for too much. Krejcikova, though, benefiting from a net-cord that brings Sabalenka to the net, saves the first break point by passing her … only to direct a moon-ball just long, and she’s broken for the third successive time. Krejcikova 2-5 Sabalenka
Is it just me who thinks of Sheffield United every time someone says “Laver”? No I am not well, but back on court, a double gives Krejcikova 0-30 and a soupçon of hope, then Sabalenka swats wide on the backhand, meaning she must now defend three break points. Naturally she saves the first with a service winner, but when a backhand clips the top of the net and sits up, Krejcikova gives it the treatment, punishing a winner cross-court to make 2-4.
Another winner gives Sabalenka 0-15 – her forehand is a terrifying weapon – then, out of nowhere, she ends a long rally with a backhand slice that lands on the sideline, in the service-box! She is feeling herself because touch-shots are absolutely, resolutely not her thing, but Krejcikova quickly makes 30-all; can she hang on? Er, perhaps not, a ball that sits up allowing Sabalenka to drill it back, eliciting the floaty riposte which drops long to raise a point for a double break. And again, the champ attacks the second serve with another murderous forehand, and that’s 4-1. If the men are waiting to see whether this one is a blowout before deciding where to play, chances are they opt to wait till Laver is free.
Ominous: Sabalenka opens her consolidation game with an ace, then clatters a backhand winner down the line for 30-0. She holds to 15, another winner sealing the deal, and this is not currently close. However, Krejcikova has come from a set down to win three of her four matches in this tournament and, a grand slam champ herself, won’t panic. Still, she trails 1-3.
At 15-all, Sabalenka punishes a forehand winner down the line then, when Krejcikova comes in, the ball is directed towards her with such velocity that even a doubles player of her renown can’t control the volley. And the number two seed only needs one break point, finding a fantastic angle to disburst a weapons-grade flat forehand cross-court for a winner. She leads 2-1 in the first.
Sabalenka, of course, was in the news after her second-round win over Brenda Fruhvirtova, saying this about playing in Saudi when asked about the WTA tour finals moving there:
“It was an amazing experience. I expected something different. They treated us really well. It was really amazing atmosphere in the stadium. People really like sports there. They really like tennis. The atmosphere was incredible. The level of hospitality was definitely way, way, way better than it was in Cancun. Yeah, I’m happy to go there.”
Er, well, um. She holds for 1-1.
I’m looking forward to this one, a proper clash of styles. Krejcikova has proper court-craft and variety, whereas Sabalenka, though she’s improved her hands is, says coach Calv Betton, “the most one-dimensional player in the top 20.” Anyroad, Krejcikova holds comfortably enough, to 30 – though the punishment meted out to her second serve at 40-15 is worth noting.
Righto, off we go – Krejcikova to serve with the crowd still coming in.
I’m not sure why the men aren’t just getting on with it on Court. I guess the organisers want them on Laver if possible, but even if the women’s match is done in an hour, by the time they come it’s late enough for a five-setter to extend way beyond what makes sense for athletes, one of whom will have to compete again on Friday.
Ah, we were misinformed: Krejcikova and Sabalenka are coming out now.
Krejcikova and Sabalenka, says Eurosport, were asked if they’d move to Court and they said no; good for them. Apparently, they’ll then see how the first set goes before deciding what to do with Sinner v Rublev, but whether they shift it or postpone it, no way they have that starting late doors, because were it to finish in the early hours, its winner would be at a massive disadvantage for their semi. Ultimately, the system needs sorting, because we should not be having this conversation – we might start earlier, only play one match at night, or use faster courts and balls to speed up the game. But something needs doing.
I think we’re an hour or so away from starting Krejcikova (9) v Sabalenka (2), and it should be a jazzer. I’ll be back with you for that, but in the meantime, to recap our day sesh, Coco Gauff overcame her nerves to beat Marta Kostyuk in three – she faces the winner of our next match in the last four – then Novak Djokovic beat Taylor Fritz in four.
Djokovic tells Babsy that he doesn’t want to get too close to her because he’s smelly and sweaty, then explains that he started feeling better in the third set, taking Fritz’s legs – though he says Fritz also took his. Asked about blowing kisses to Kyrgios in the booth, he reckons his mate is great for the game, liking the way he speaks his mind, and then advised that every time he’s reached the semis in Melbourne, he’s gone on to win the title. “Let’s be a bit humble,” says Djokovic when Babsy raises his arm, “but the confidence is there.” Who knew?
Nick Kyrgios walks on to court to interview Djokovic, the two kindred spirits in some ways. “Looking good in that booth but better over here, hopefully with a racket soon,” he’s advised, then asks the crowd to show their man some love.
“I suffered a lot first two sets,” Djokovic says, explaining that Fritz served well and was hitting close to the lines, “kind of suffocating me”. He felt it hard to find his timing, especially given the heat, asking the crowd to show appreciation for his opponent, then says it felt like playing Kyrgios, with his serve. Djokovic knew, having seen Fritz play Tsitsipas, that he was playing someone in nick, but he upped his game, served really well, and thinks he managed more aces – he did.
On the semis, he says Sinner and Rublev present different challenges but both are great players in great form. He watched Rublev beat De Minaur, noting some of the nailsest rallies he’s ever seen on Laver, also saying that Sinner was great at the end of last season, giving him all he could handle in the Tour Finals – though, of course, Djokovic still won.
Finally, Kyrgios asks to be shown Djokovic’s favourite tree as he needs some of its luck to get back playing; Djokovic says he’ll show him if he keeps it secret, and then he must climb to its highest point and hang upside down for 33 minutes and 33 seconds.
Fritz played well today and is a much-improved player. I guess he might’ve fancied himself, in that form, to have beaten anyone else in the draw, but his ill luck, for the second major on the spin he was draw to play the freakiest freak of nature we’ve ever seen. What can you do?
Novak Djokovic (1) beats Taylor Fritz (12) 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 6-3
Up 15-0, Djokovic delivers yet another ace, but an error invites Fritz into the game only for him to stray fractionally long and cede two match points. And of course the bionic man needs just one, an inside-out forehand picking out the corner, and that’s Djokovic’s 33rd straight win on Laver. He’s now made 48 Grand Slam semis and it’s just absolutely abominable how amazing he is. He meets Sinner or Rublev next; good luck, lads.
Er, um, yeah. Down 0-30, Fritz swipes a forehand into the sideline, his despair visible, then a tame double means that Djokovic will now serve for the match at 5-3 in the fourth. The American will be thinking about that game for a while.
It must be so demoralising to get into the best possible shape, then face a man 10 years your senior apparently 10 times as fit. But what’s this?! Fritz punishes a backhand down the line for 0-30, the first time he’s scaled such heady heights since breaking the start of set two. And have a look! Djokovic goes long on the backhand meaning he faces three break-back points, and though he saves the first, a net-cord coverts a forehand into a drop, and we’re back on serve in set four at 4-3 Djokovic!
I guess the likelihood is that Djokovic wins in four, which should mean we’re OK for Krejcikova v Sabalenka – and what a match that should be – but I’m not certain we’re getting Sinner v Rublev, given the hour at which it’d necessarily start; it’s currently 8.18pm in Melbourne. I hope not because I’m buzzing for it, so let’s get back to the present moment, and consecutive errors from Fritz that leave him down 15-30. Ach, and there’s another a forehand sent long at the end of another sapping rally, meaning Djokovic – who makes so many balls it’s silly – now has two break points. And he only needs one, a backhand into the net making it 3/5 when previously it was 0/16, and I’m afraid this is only going one way. Djokovic leads 4-2 in the fourth and is just two games from victory.
I should say, because this is an afternoon sesh-match that started late, we’ll need an hour or so once it’s done to get the crowd in and out. And, should it go five, we might not be able to start at all – if’s past 11, I think the players have to accede – but let’s see. Djokovic holds easily for 3-2.
Fritz makes 15-0 but then nets a tame, tired backhand. A backhand winner follows, Djokovic howling frustration at himself, then an ace, but two punishing groundstrokes make deuce, and this feels ominous. Fritz, though, plays a fantastic point, coming in to foil fine defensive work, then closes out the game, again at the net. He’s not a natural there but he’s much improved, and this looks like his only potential route to victory. We’re 2-2 in set two, Djokovic by two sets to one.
Fritz is playing just a little better now and he finishes a long rally with a big inside-out forehand to the corner. But Djokovic still holds easily for 2-1 2-1 and him being broken looks extremely unlikely, though if the American can hang in there for a tiebreak, he’ll have a shot.
Excellent point from Fritz to make 30-15, but when we reach deuce, Djokovic finds a lovely forehand from mid-point to corner; this feels like curtains, but Fritz delivers a service winner to save yet another break point. Then, facing another – his 19th, and when was the last time that happened to him? – a backhand cross-court catches the outside of the line, but he’s having to empty everything just to stick in this game and that isn’t sustainable. Still, though, he eventually seals his hold with his first ace in quite some time, and we’re level at 1-1 in the fourth, Djokovic by two sets to one.
I hate to say it, but I’ve not a clue what Fritz can do here. He’s exhausted and he’s playing the greatest ever, in a major, on a court on which that aforementioned greatest almost never loses. Djokovic holds to love, and I guess all the American can do it try shortening the points, whether by coming to the net or trying to hit winners from the back. Thing is, I don’t think he served an ace in the third set and now trails 17-14 in that area, which tells you all you need to know about the difficulty of his task.
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