Novak Djokovic is confident he can recover from a wrist injury in time for his Australian Open title defence.
The world number one struggled with a problem with his right wrist and was not at his best in a straight-sets defeat to Alex de Minuar in the United Cup in Perth.
Djokovic, bidding for a record-extending 11th men’s Australian Open singles title, lost 6-4 6-4 to world number 12 De Minaur as Australia beat Serbia 2-0 in their quarter-final in the mixed team event.
“Congrats to De Minaur, he was very solid from the beginning, just played a great match and deserved to win,” Djokovic said in a post-match interview.
“I was not at my level, but it was just one of these days where you didn’t feel your best on the court and your opponent played very well, that’s all I can say.
“I have enough time to get myself in the right shape for the Australian Open and that’s what matters the most at this point.
“I think I’ll be OK, to be honest, but it did have quite an impact, particularly on the forehand and serve.
“But, again, I don’t want to be too much time talking about it and taking away credit for the victory from De Minaur, he was just very solid as he always is.
“Congrats to him and to the Australian team. It is what it is for us I guess and I move on with my thoughts in Melbourne.”
Djokovic will find out his first-round opponent at Melbourne Park when the singles draw for the first grand slam of the year takes place on Sunday.
The 36-year-old needed a medical time-out for his wrist problem in his previous United Cup match against the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka, which he won in three sets on Tuesday.
Against De Minaur he twice needed treatment, first after holding serve to lead 4-3 in the opening set and again after he had been broken to trail 5-4.
“I knew I was probably not going to be at 100 per cent physically, emotionally, mentally game-wise in the opening week of the season,” Djokovic added.
“Neither did I expect that or want that to be honest. It’s all a part of the build-up for the Australian Open.”
Despite Djokovic’s fitness concerns, De Minaur produced an impressive performance to seal one of the biggest wins of his career in just over an hour-and-a-half.
Ajla Tomljanovic followed De Minaur’s win by beating Serbia’s Natalija Stevanovic 6-1 6-1 to clinch Australia’s semi-final place.
Swiatek confirms split with coach Wiktorowski and Wuhan Open withdrawal
Iga Swiatek has announced the end of her three-year partnership with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, saying the split was a mutual agreement.
Wiktorowski, who joined Swiatek's team in 2022, helped her become the first Polish player to reach world number one and she has since spent 123 weeks at the top of the rankings.
Swiatek also won 19 of her 22 career titles and an Olympic bronze medal in Paris earlier this year with Wiktorowski, along with four grand slam victories.
"After three years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski we decided to part ways," Swiatek wrote on Instagram.
"I want to start with a big thank you and appreciating our work together."
Swiatek has not competed since losing to Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals of the US Open, choosing to withdraw from the China Open due to personal reasons.
The 23-year-old has also pulled out of the recent Korea Open in Seoul, citing fatigue, and next week's Wuhan Open.
Swiatek won the French Open and US Open during her opening season with Wiktorowski, before embarking on a 37-match winning run in 2022 - the longest streak by a woman this century.
The Pole won a fifth grand slam, which was her fourth with Wiktorowski, at Roland Garros in June, making it three consecutive wins at the tournament in Paris.
"Coach Wiktorowski joined my team for three seasons, when I strongly needed changes and a fresh approach to my game," Swiatek continued.
"His experience, analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I've never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together."
But Swiatek was disappointed with her hard-court performances this season, exiting the Australian Open in the third round and the US Open in the last eight.
The Pole said she has held "first talks" with prospective new coaches and will take a "couple of weeks" to start work with her next appointment.
"Our main goal was to become number one player in the world and coach Wiktorowski was the one who said it first," Swiatek concluded.
"Due to this important change on my team, I give myself a couple of weeks to start cooperation with a new coach.
"I'm in the middle of first talks with coaches from abroad (non-Polish) because I'm ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision."
Medvedev rallies to straight-sets win in Shanghai opener
Daniil Medvedev held off a stern test from Thiago Seyboth Wild to edge through his Shanghai Masters opener on Friday.
The Russian won the tight contest in straight sets, prevailing 7-5 7-5 in just under two hours.
Seyboth Wild started brightly, superbly defending five break points in the opening game before breaking Medvedev to take a 3-1 lead.
A three-game winning run at the end of the first set was enough for the world number five to edge in front.
The Brazilian made another strong start in the second but was his own worst enemy as he racked up 47 unforced errors throughout the match to Medvedev's 28.
Despite going down a break again, Medvedev rallied, staying patient to mount another comeback and book his place in the next round against Matteo Arnaldi.
Data Debrief: Patience pays off
Last year, Seyboth Wild stunned Medvedev in the opening round at Roland Garros, as his high-risk, high-reward method paid off and he earned the win with 69 winners and 77 unforced errors.
Despite pushing the 28-year-old all the way, it did not garner the same reward this time around, despite getting 29 winners to Medvedev's 17.
Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing quarter-finals
Karolina Muchova secured an upset at the China Open, snapping Aryna Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak to reach the semi-finals.
The Czech prevailed in two hours and 48 minutes with a 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-4 win over the number one seed on Friday.
Muchova started strong, forcing Sabalenka to defend three break points in the opening game, but they were evenly matched throughout.
Sabalenka almost took the first set, but Muchova held her nerve, successfully fighting back against two set points before taking the tie-break.
The Belarusian looked back to her free-flowing best in the second though, earning two breaks as she forced the decider in comfortable fashion.
Sabalenka took an early lead in the final set, but from 4-2 down, Muchova clawed her way back, going on a four-game winning streak at the end to book a meeting with Qinwen Zheng or Mirra Andreeva in the final four.
Data Debrief: Czech mate
Given Sabalenka's recent hot streak, this does look like an upset, but it is actually pretty run-of-the-mill for Muchova.
She has now won her last three matches against Sabalenka in WTA events, defeating her at Cincinnati, Roland Garros 2023 and China Open 2024.
Excluding the BJK Cup, only Iga Swiatek (85.3%) has a higher winning percentage than Muchova on hard-court in WTA events during 2024 (84.6%, 11-2), surpassing Sabalenka (82.5%, 33-7).
The 28-year-old has reached just her second career semi-final and is the player with the fewest WTA-1000 wins during the season before the start of the China Open (one) to reach this stage of the tournament.
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