Australian Open day 12: Aryna Sabalenka remains on course for title defence

By Sports Desk January 25, 2024

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will take on first-time grand slam finalist Zheng Qinwen for the Australian Open crown on Saturday.

Sabalenka reversed the result of the US Open final, beating Coco Gauff 7-6 (2) 6-4, while 12th seed Zheng ended the run of qualifier Dayana Yastremska with a 6-4 6-4 victory.

Britain’s Alfie Hewett is one win away from defending his wheelchair title and will again face Japanese teenager Tokito Oda for the trophy.

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The men take centre stage on Friday, with Novak Djokovic putting his 33-match unbeaten run at Melbourne Park on the line in a semi-final clash against fourth seed Jannik Sinner.

In the night session, familiar foes Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev will do battle for a place in the final.

Britain’s Neal Skupski goes for a fourth grand slam title alongside American Desirae Krawczyk in the mixed doubles final, with the pair taking on Hsieh Su-wei and Jan Zielinski.

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    Coca Gauff showed no signs of slowing down after easing into the French Open quarter-finals for a fourth consecutive year with a straight-sets victory over Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

    Iga Swiatek blitzed past Anastasia Potapova in just over 40 minutes earlier on Sunday, and a wind-swept Court Philippe-Chatrier watched a similar demolition shortly after.

    Gauff dropped just five points on service in a dominant first set, brushing the world number 51 to one side in a routine 25-minute opener.

    Italy's Cocciaretto responded by holding her serve in the second set but had no match for the athletic Gauff, who secured another break early on to go 2-1 up.

    The world number three resumed her usual domination from there on, with Cocciaretto struggling to thwart Gauff's resounding power and eventually falling to a 6-1 6-2 defeat in just over an hour.

    Gauff, the US Open champion in 2023, is still yet to lose a set in Paris this year as she prepares for a last-eight meeting with Clara Tauson or Ons Jabuer.

    Data Debrief: In-form Gauff on song

    Cocciaretto had defeated 2023 French Open semi-finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia and big-hitting 17th-seed Liudmila Samsonova to reach this stage, with the 23-year-old impressing in the French capital.

    Yet Gauff, three years younger than the Italian, could not be stopped on Philliper-Chatrier. She now has 19 wins at Roland-Garros, two more than Chris Evert managed before turning 21.

     
  • Swiatek searching for French Open adaptation despite quarter-final progression Swiatek searching for French Open adaptation despite quarter-final progression

    Iga Swiatek continues to dominate at the French Open, but the world number one is still learning to adapt to testing Roland-Garros conditions.

    The four-time major winner coasted into the quarter-finals in Paris, hammering Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-0 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

    Swiatek is only the third player in the Open Era to claim 6-0 6-0 victories at Roland-Garros in consecutive years, after Gabriela Sabatini (1992-93) and Mary Pierce (1993-94)

    The triumph against world number 41 Potapova lasted just over 40 minutes, with Swiatek completely "in the zone" but perplexed by challenging conditions in the French capital.

    "It felt the same but I was really focused and in the zone," she said on court. "I wasn't looking at the score so I continued working on my game.

    "It was pretty weird, because of the fact we played really early, we felt the temperature would be similar.

    "It doesn't feel like summer in Europe. We'll see what the weather is going to be like. The forecast is not precise. We'll see and we're good at adjusting."

    Swiatek remains on course for her third consecutive French Open title and fourth in five years.

    She won 48 of 58 points on Sunday, and is the first woman to record victory in 18 straight matches at a major since Serena Williams won the 2014 US Open.

    After taking the titles in Madrid and Rome, Swiatek also has 16 consecutive wins overall – yet she is still seeking improvements.

    "I'll use my coach's experience," she added. "He's more confident than me with my strings.

    "The wind bounces, I have got used to it. I have a person who was a sailor in my team so we're good with that."

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    Iga Swiatek cruised into the French Open quarter-finals after thrashing Anastasia Potapova in a straight-sets victory on Sunday.

    The world number one survived a third-round scare in a three-set thriller with Naomi Osaka, but had little trouble in making the last eight at Roland-Garros.

    Swiatek did not drop a game en route to her fourth-round demolition of world number 41 Potapova on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

    An expectant Paris crowd was treated to one-way traffic as Swiatek claimed the first set in 20 minutes, condemning Potapova to the dreaded bagel.

    Further pain followed for Potapova as Swiatek wrapped up a 6-0 6-0 victory in just 41 minutes after a clay-court hammering.

    Swiatek's victory sets up a quarter-final meeting with either Olga Danilovic or Marketa Vondrousova, the latter the fifth seed in the French capital.

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    Swiatek is now only the third player in the Open Era to claim 6-0 6-0 victories at Roland-Garros in consecutive years, after Gabriela Sabatini (1992-93) and Mary Pierce (1993-94).

    The Pole has also claimed 13.6 per cent of her total sets played on clay at WTA level by a score of 6-0. Among players with 10+ 6-0 sets on the surface since 2000, that is the highest rate of any player in completed matches.

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