Aryna Sabalenka is the Australian Open champion once again. Sabalenka beat Zheng Qinwen in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to claim her second consecutive title in Melbourne.

Sabalenka has been on a tear during the 2024 Australian Open, making her way to the finals without losing a single set. Qinwen put up a great effort to stop Sabalenka’s dominant run, but even she proved powerless against the Belarusian’s powerful serve.

Sabalenka is the first woman to win back-to-back Australian Open titles since her compatriot Victoria Azarenka did it in 2012 and 2013.

Speaking after the match, Sabalenka praised Qinwen while saying that she is happy to add another Grand Slam title to her collection. 

“[Zheng is] a great player and very tough opponent. I’m super happy that I was able to get this win today,” Sabalenka said. “I wanted to show that I’m able to be consistently there and I’m able to win another [Grand Slam]. I really hope that [I can win] more than two right now, but for me was really important.

Sabalenka has further solidified her status as one of the best tennis players in the world. It came after a strong run in 2023, which saw her win the Australian Open, play in the US Open finals, and reach the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon. The 25-year-old player will remain the world’s No. 2 player, but if she continues to play like this, it is only a matter of time before she replaces Iga Swiatek at the top.

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ATP world number one Novak Djokovic defeated 20th seed Adrian Mannarino 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 to progress to the last eight of the Australian Open quarterfinals. He matches Roger Federer’s record of progressing to 58 Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Djokovic’s victory came in a swift hour and 44 minutes, with the Serb hitting 31 winners and serving 17 aces. “The first two sets were some of the best sets I’ve played in a while,” Djokovic remarked, not dropping a single game. “I played great from the first to the last point.”

Should the number one seed emerge victorious in his 14th quarterfinal clash, he could be on course to win a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title. He next faces 12th seed Taylor Fritz, who defeated the seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

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Seeded stars Taylor Frits, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Jannik Sinner all won their matches to progress to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner swept aside Sebastian Baez 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 on Friday morning to secure his spot in the fourth round. “I loved the conditions today because there was no wind and no sun,” Sinner commented. “I felt great on the ball. I made the right decisions, and I used every chance I had.” The Italian finished with six aces and 34 winners.

Number seven seed Stefanos Tsitsipas signaled his intention as well, soundly defeating Luca Van Assche 6-3, 6-0, 6-4. He’ll face a tough challenger in the next round in the form of 12th seed Taylor Fritz, who defeated Fabian Marozsan 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. The previous day saw second seed Carlos Alcaraz secure a 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-3 7-6 (3) victory over Lorenzo Sonego. The reigning Wimbledon champion will be looking to unseat Australian Open title holder Novak Djokovic as he looks to become the number one ATP men’s singles player this season.

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ATP world number two Carlos Alcaraz got his Australian Open title challenge off to a fiery start as he saw off veteran Richard Gasquet in a 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-2 straight sets victory. While the 20-year-old Spaniard took an hour and 12 minutes to clinch the first set in a tiebreaker, he brushed his 37-year-old opponent aside in the next two sets, taking just another hour to wrap up the win.

“Every set, I played better and better,” Alcaraz remarked following the match. “In the end, I played at quite a good level.” Gasquet put up a strong fight in the final game of the match, taking Alcaraz to deuce five times as he served for the match.

Last year’s Wimbledon champion, Alcaraz is seeking his first Australian Open triumph, looking to unseat reigning champion Novak Djokovic, who won his first-round match against Dino Prižmić 6-2 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4. Alcaraz next faces Lorenzo Sonego on Thursday.

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Naomi Osaka, the former No. 1 tennis player in the world, had a disappointing return to the Grand Slams. Osaka was eliminated in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open by 16th-seeded Caroline Garcia.

Osaka, playing just her third match after a 15-month break, delivered a solid performance, but Garcia ultimately proved too much of a strong opponent, securing a win in straight sets (6-4, 7-6 (2)). Osaka failed to get a single break point while uncharacteristically committing double faults and misplacing key shots.

Osaka took a lengthy break from tennis in late 2022 to focus on her “wellbeing.” During that time, she also gave birth to her daughter Shai. The 26-year-old made a comeback at this year’s Brisbane International, where she reached the Round of 32.

Osaka’s elimination in the first round is her earliest exit from the Australian Open in eight appearances. She won the tournament twice, in 2019 and 2021.

“I felt like I did the best that I could possibly do. It was just really nice to be on Rod Laver again, hear the audience, how much they interacted with the match,” Osaka told ESPN after the match. “I have to tell myself, ‘Hey, like six months ago you were pregnant,’ stuff like that. Of course, there’s a voice in my head that is, ‘Who are you to think you can come back and immediately start winning matches?’”

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22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has revealed that he could return to the court at next year’s Australian Open after being ruled out of the current season through injury. The Spanish veteran hinted at his return with a post on social media platform X.

This update comes days after Nadal uploaded a picture of himself on the practice court. Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley later announced that the 37-year-old player would make his return to tennis at the first Grand Slam of the year, however, this statement has not yet been confirmed by Nadal himself. Aside from the two-time Australian Open champion, Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka are also rumored to be returning to tennis at the Melbourne-based Grand Slam.

The Australian Open is the last tournament that Nadal played in. He withdrew from the tournament at the start of this year after suffering a hip injury which he went on to get surgery to remedy.

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We won’t get to enjoy Nick Kyrgios’ antics and jaw-dropping tennis moves at the 2023 Australian Open. The Australia native announced on Monday that he is forced to miss the tournament due to a knee injury.

According to Kyrgios, he will be forced to undergo an arthroscopic procedure after a small tear and a cyst in his lateral meniscus was discovered during a routine MRI scan. The news came less than 24 hours before the 27-year-old player was set to take the court against Roman Safiullin in the first round.

“I’m devastated. It’s brutal,” said Kyrgios. “This is my home tournament, and obviously winning the tournament in doubles [last year] and playing the best tennis of my life. All I can do is my best to come back.”

Nick Kyrgios was considered Australia’s best chance to have a home Australian Open winner in a while. The last time an Australian won the tournament was in 1976, when Mark Edmondson did it, while the country’s most recent Grand Slam win came in 2002 when Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbledon.

Kyrgios was coming off a year in which he played some of his best tennis. He made his first Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon in 2022 while also reaching the quarterfinals at US Open for his best result at the tournament. He is currently the No. 21 ranked tennis player in the world.

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The ultra-long tennis matches at Grand Slam tournaments are becoming a thing of the past. Instead, the four Grand Slams— Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open, and US Open—they adopted a new final set rule that will help determine a winner in tie situations much faster.

According to the Grand Slam Board, in the situation that the tennis match is tied at 6-6 in the final set, the players will play a 10-point tiebreak. The player that reaches 10 points first will be crowned a winner. However, the requirement of a two-point lead will still be in place.

The 10-point tiebreak will first be tested at the 2022 French Open and will be used for all the rest Grand Slams this year. If the trial proves to be successful, the rule will become permanent.

“The decision is based on a strong desire to create greater consistency in the rules of the game at the Grand Slams, and thus enhance the experience for the players and fans alike,” the Grand Slam Board said in a statement. “The Grand Slam Board plan to review the trial during the course of a full Grand Slam year, in consultation with the WTA, ATP, and ITF, before applying for any permanent rule change.”

All four Grand Slams previously had different ways of determining a winner when the match was tied in the final set. For example, the Australian Open used the 10-point tiebreak rule, and US Open had the standard seven-point tiebreak.

Wimbledon would extend the final set until one player would get a two-game lead. However, if the set would get to 12-12 at any point, the match would then proceed in a seven-point tiebreak.

Finally, French Open had no tiebreaks and would have the match go on until one player managed to get a two-game lead.

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Rafael Nadal won the 2022 Australian Open on Sunday by edging out the world’s No.2 Daniil Medvedev in one of the most memorable tennis matches in recent history. The win gave Nadal a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam and allowed him to break the tie with rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who each have 20 major trophies.

Medvedev was considered the favorite entering the match on the back of a dominant run at the tournament and the U.S. Open win in 2021. On the other hand, Nadal has been out of tennis for six months and battled a foot injury that limited him to just two matches last year.

Medvedev easily took the first set, dismantling Nadal with 6-2. The 25-year-old Russian then claimed the second set in the tiebreak (6-7 (5)) and was in an excellent position to take care of business in the third, holding a 4-3 lead at one point. However, Nadal refused to go away and won the next three games to steal the third set and get back into the match.

From that point on, the momentum was on Nadal’s side while he also got some help from the crowd that cheered for him the whole time. At the same time, Medvedev became increasingly frustrated and started losing confidence in his shot. This allowed Nadal to win the fourth set with 6-4 and set the stage for a thrilling finale.

In the fifth set, Nadal stormed to a 5-3 lead, but it was Medvedev who rallied this time. He successfully served to stay in the match before breaking Nadal’s serve to tie it at 5-5. Still, this proved to be his final act as Nadal comfortably took the next two games and emerged as a winner after five hours and 24 minutes of tennis.

“At the end, history is about the victory, but the way that you win the match in terms of personal feelings is different,” Nadal said after the match. “The way that I achieved this trophy tonight was just unforgettable, one of the most emotional matches of my tennis career, without a doubt. [It] means a lot to me.”

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2021 U.S. Open women’s singles finalist Leylah Fernandez faced an early exit from the Australian Open on Tuesday, losing 6-2, 6-4 to wildcard Maddison Inglis in the first round. This is the first competitive match that Fernandez has played since finishing as runner up in the U.S. Open grand slam event.

“Today was just not a good day. Too many mistakes,” the 19-year-old Canadian stated following her loss.

Emma Raducanu, who defeated Fernandez to lift the U.S. Open trophy, beat former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 in what was a turbulent encounter. The British number 17th seed is scheduled to face number 98th ranked Danka Kovinic in the second round.

Third-seeded Garbine Muguruza will join the reigning US Open champion in the second round, having defeated the number 77th ranked Clara Burel 6-3 6-4. “Very happy the way I played and, of course, controlling the nerves,” Muguruza commented, referring to the importance of remaining cautious in the early stages of the tournament so as to avoid elimination.

Fernandez was not the only big name to face early elimination. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also suffered a first-round defeat, losing 6-2 6-2 against Sorana Cirstea.

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Aryna Sabalenka is the Australian Open champion once again. Sabalenka beat Zheng Qinwen in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to claim her second consecutive title in Melbourne.

Sabalenka has been on a tear during the 2024 Australian Open, making her way to the finals without losing a single set. Qinwen put up a great effort to stop Sabalenka’s dominant run, but even she proved powerless against the Belarusian’s powerful serve.

Sabalenka is the first woman to win back-to-back Australian Open titles since her compatriot Victoria Azarenka did it in 2012 and 2013.

Speaking after the match, Sabalenka praised Qinwen while saying that she is happy to add another Grand Slam title to her collection. 

“[Zheng is] a great player and very tough opponent. I’m super happy that I was able to get this win today,” Sabalenka said. “I wanted to show that I’m able to be consistently there and I’m able to win another [Grand Slam]. I really hope that [I can win] more than two right now, but for me was really important.

Sabalenka has further solidified her status as one of the best tennis players in the world. It came after a strong run in 2023, which saw her win the Australian Open, play in the US Open finals, and reach the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon. The 25-year-old player will remain the world’s No. 2 player, but if she continues to play like this, it is only a matter of time before she replaces Iga Swiatek at the top.

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ATP world number one Novak Djokovic defeated 20th seed Adrian Mannarino 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 to progress to the last eight of the Australian Open quarterfinals. He matches Roger Federer’s record of progressing to 58 Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Djokovic’s victory came in a swift hour and 44 minutes, with the Serb hitting 31 winners and serving 17 aces. “The first two sets were some of the best sets I’ve played in a while,” Djokovic remarked, not dropping a single game. “I played great from the first to the last point.”

Should the number one seed emerge victorious in his 14th quarterfinal clash, he could be on course to win a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title. He next faces 12th seed Taylor Fritz, who defeated the seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

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Seeded stars Taylor Frits, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Jannik Sinner all won their matches to progress to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner swept aside Sebastian Baez 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 on Friday morning to secure his spot in the fourth round. “I loved the conditions today because there was no wind and no sun,” Sinner commented. “I felt great on the ball. I made the right decisions, and I used every chance I had.” The Italian finished with six aces and 34 winners.

Number seven seed Stefanos Tsitsipas signaled his intention as well, soundly defeating Luca Van Assche 6-3, 6-0, 6-4. He’ll face a tough challenger in the next round in the form of 12th seed Taylor Fritz, who defeated Fabian Marozsan 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. The previous day saw second seed Carlos Alcaraz secure a 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-3 7-6 (3) victory over Lorenzo Sonego. The reigning Wimbledon champion will be looking to unseat Australian Open title holder Novak Djokovic as he looks to become the number one ATP men’s singles player this season.

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ATP world number two Carlos Alcaraz got his Australian Open title challenge off to a fiery start as he saw off veteran Richard Gasquet in a 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-2 straight sets victory. While the 20-year-old Spaniard took an hour and 12 minutes to clinch the first set in a tiebreaker, he brushed his 37-year-old opponent aside in the next two sets, taking just another hour to wrap up the win.

“Every set, I played better and better,” Alcaraz remarked following the match. “In the end, I played at quite a good level.” Gasquet put up a strong fight in the final game of the match, taking Alcaraz to deuce five times as he served for the match.

Last year’s Wimbledon champion, Alcaraz is seeking his first Australian Open triumph, looking to unseat reigning champion Novak Djokovic, who won his first-round match against Dino Prižmić 6-2 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4. Alcaraz next faces Lorenzo Sonego on Thursday.

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Naomi Osaka, the former No. 1 tennis player in the world, had a disappointing return to the Grand Slams. Osaka was eliminated in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open by 16th-seeded Caroline Garcia.

Osaka, playing just her third match after a 15-month break, delivered a solid performance, but Garcia ultimately proved too much of a strong opponent, securing a win in straight sets (6-4, 7-6 (2)). Osaka failed to get a single break point while uncharacteristically committing double faults and misplacing key shots.

Osaka took a lengthy break from tennis in late 2022 to focus on her “wellbeing.” During that time, she also gave birth to her daughter Shai. The 26-year-old made a comeback at this year’s Brisbane International, where she reached the Round of 32.

Osaka’s elimination in the first round is her earliest exit from the Australian Open in eight appearances. She won the tournament twice, in 2019 and 2021.

“I felt like I did the best that I could possibly do. It was just really nice to be on Rod Laver again, hear the audience, how much they interacted with the match,” Osaka told ESPN after the match. “I have to tell myself, ‘Hey, like six months ago you were pregnant,’ stuff like that. Of course, there’s a voice in my head that is, ‘Who are you to think you can come back and immediately start winning matches?’”

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22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has revealed that he could return to the court at next year’s Australian Open after being ruled out of the current season through injury. The Spanish veteran hinted at his return with a post on social media platform X.

This update comes days after Nadal uploaded a picture of himself on the practice court. Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley later announced that the 37-year-old player would make his return to tennis at the first Grand Slam of the year, however, this statement has not yet been confirmed by Nadal himself. Aside from the two-time Australian Open champion, Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka are also rumored to be returning to tennis at the Melbourne-based Grand Slam.

The Australian Open is the last tournament that Nadal played in. He withdrew from the tournament at the start of this year after suffering a hip injury which he went on to get surgery to remedy.

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We won’t get to enjoy Nick Kyrgios’ antics and jaw-dropping tennis moves at the 2023 Australian Open. The Australia native announced on Monday that he is forced to miss the tournament due to a knee injury.

According to Kyrgios, he will be forced to undergo an arthroscopic procedure after a small tear and a cyst in his lateral meniscus was discovered during a routine MRI scan. The news came less than 24 hours before the 27-year-old player was set to take the court against Roman Safiullin in the first round.

“I’m devastated. It’s brutal,” said Kyrgios. “This is my home tournament, and obviously winning the tournament in doubles [last year] and playing the best tennis of my life. All I can do is my best to come back.”

Nick Kyrgios was considered Australia’s best chance to have a home Australian Open winner in a while. The last time an Australian won the tournament was in 1976, when Mark Edmondson did it, while the country’s most recent Grand Slam win came in 2002 when Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbledon.

Kyrgios was coming off a year in which he played some of his best tennis. He made his first Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon in 2022 while also reaching the quarterfinals at US Open for his best result at the tournament. He is currently the No. 21 ranked tennis player in the world.

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The ultra-long tennis matches at Grand Slam tournaments are becoming a thing of the past. Instead, the four Grand Slams— Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open, and US Open—they adopted a new final set rule that will help determine a winner in tie situations much faster.

According to the Grand Slam Board, in the situation that the tennis match is tied at 6-6 in the final set, the players will play a 10-point tiebreak. The player that reaches 10 points first will be crowned a winner. However, the requirement of a two-point lead will still be in place.

The 10-point tiebreak will first be tested at the 2022 French Open and will be used for all the rest Grand Slams this year. If the trial proves to be successful, the rule will become permanent.

“The decision is based on a strong desire to create greater consistency in the rules of the game at the Grand Slams, and thus enhance the experience for the players and fans alike,” the Grand Slam Board said in a statement. “The Grand Slam Board plan to review the trial during the course of a full Grand Slam year, in consultation with the WTA, ATP, and ITF, before applying for any permanent rule change.”

All four Grand Slams previously had different ways of determining a winner when the match was tied in the final set. For example, the Australian Open used the 10-point tiebreak rule, and US Open had the standard seven-point tiebreak.

Wimbledon would extend the final set until one player would get a two-game lead. However, if the set would get to 12-12 at any point, the match would then proceed in a seven-point tiebreak.

Finally, French Open had no tiebreaks and would have the match go on until one player managed to get a two-game lead.

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Rafael Nadal won the 2022 Australian Open on Sunday by edging out the world’s No.2 Daniil Medvedev in one of the most memorable tennis matches in recent history. The win gave Nadal a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam and allowed him to break the tie with rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who each have 20 major trophies.

Medvedev was considered the favorite entering the match on the back of a dominant run at the tournament and the U.S. Open win in 2021. On the other hand, Nadal has been out of tennis for six months and battled a foot injury that limited him to just two matches last year.

Medvedev easily took the first set, dismantling Nadal with 6-2. The 25-year-old Russian then claimed the second set in the tiebreak (6-7 (5)) and was in an excellent position to take care of business in the third, holding a 4-3 lead at one point. However, Nadal refused to go away and won the next three games to steal the third set and get back into the match.

From that point on, the momentum was on Nadal’s side while he also got some help from the crowd that cheered for him the whole time. At the same time, Medvedev became increasingly frustrated and started losing confidence in his shot. This allowed Nadal to win the fourth set with 6-4 and set the stage for a thrilling finale.

In the fifth set, Nadal stormed to a 5-3 lead, but it was Medvedev who rallied this time. He successfully served to stay in the match before breaking Nadal’s serve to tie it at 5-5. Still, this proved to be his final act as Nadal comfortably took the next two games and emerged as a winner after five hours and 24 minutes of tennis.

“At the end, history is about the victory, but the way that you win the match in terms of personal feelings is different,” Nadal said after the match. “The way that I achieved this trophy tonight was just unforgettable, one of the most emotional matches of my tennis career, without a doubt. [It] means a lot to me.”

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2021 U.S. Open women’s singles finalist Leylah Fernandez faced an early exit from the Australian Open on Tuesday, losing 6-2, 6-4 to wildcard Maddison Inglis in the first round. This is the first competitive match that Fernandez has played since finishing as runner up in the U.S. Open grand slam event.

“Today was just not a good day. Too many mistakes,” the 19-year-old Canadian stated following her loss.

Emma Raducanu, who defeated Fernandez to lift the U.S. Open trophy, beat former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 in what was a turbulent encounter. The British number 17th seed is scheduled to face number 98th ranked Danka Kovinic in the second round.

Third-seeded Garbine Muguruza will join the reigning US Open champion in the second round, having defeated the number 77th ranked Clara Burel 6-3 6-4. “Very happy the way I played and, of course, controlling the nerves,” Muguruza commented, referring to the importance of remaining cautious in the early stages of the tournament so as to avoid elimination.

Fernandez was not the only big name to face early elimination. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also suffered a first-round defeat, losing 6-2 6-2 against Sorana Cirstea.

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