Australian Open: Raducanu defeats Stephens in battle of US Open champions

By Sports Desk January 18, 2022

Emma Raducanu triumphed in a battle of US Open champions as she started her Australian Open campaign with victory over Sloane Stephens.

The 19-year-old stunned the tennis world when she claimed the title at Flushing Meadows last year after progressing all the way through the qualifying rounds and main draw without dropping a set.

The Briton struggled to build on those famous two weeks in New York, losing four of her next six matches including a 0-6 1-6 thrashing by Elena Rybakina at this month's Sydney Tennis Classic.

However, she put that result firmly behind her with an impressive 6-0 2-6 6-1 defeat of Stephens in her first match in the main draw of the Melbourne grand slam.

The first set was in keeping with Raducanu's US Open performance as she clinched it in just 17 minutes while dropping only four points.

But American Stephens, champion in her home slam in 2017, fought back in the second set and set up a decider with a forehand winner.

Yet the 17th seed responded well, marching into a 5-0 lead before serving out the match to set up a second-round clash with Danka Kovinic.

"I think both me and Sloane really put everything out there and gave it everything we had," she said.

"I think it was a really high-quality match, with some very long rallies. I'm very happy to come through against a great champion like her."

 

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    Coco Gauff triumphed over Qinwen Zheng after three sets to become the youngest WTA Finals champion in 20 years.

    Having fallen behind in Saturday's final in Riyadh, Gauff bounced back to prevail 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

    Gauff had squandered two match points when 6-5, 40-15 up in the decider, with Zheng clawing back to force a tie-break.

    Yet, the American rediscovered her composure to cruise into a 5-0 lead, and though she saw another two match points fall by the wayside, Gauff got the job done at the fifth time of asking.

    A short Zheng return clipped the top of the net, with Gauff scrambling from the baseline to meet it before flicking a forehand to the left of her opponent, with this year's Olympic champion unable to get there.

    Gauff, who beat Iga Swiatek in the group stage and downed world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, collapsed to the court in celebration, after winning what was the second-longest WTA Tour-level final of 2024.

    Data Debrief: It's a marathon, not a sprint

    Zheng made a blistering start, but despite going a break up in the second set, she could not maintain the momentum.

    Gauff's wobble in the decider meant the WTA Finals championship match had to be decided by a third-set tie-break for the first time since the tournament's introduction in 1972.

    At 20, Gauff is the youngest player to win the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2004, and the youngest American champion of the event since Serena Williams in 2001.

    Only Nancy Richey and Anna Smashnova (10 each) have won more titles after their first 10 WTA Tour-level finals than Gauff (nine) in the Open Era.

    Meanwhile, she is the first player since Williams (12, between the 2013 US Open and 2015 Cincinnati Open) to win at least eight consecutive hard-court finals, and the youngest to do so since Martina Hingis in 1998.

  • Alcaraz aiming to turn 'motivation' into maiden ATP Finals crown Alcaraz aiming to turn 'motivation' into maiden ATP Finals crown

    Carlos Alcaraz said he arrives at the ATP Finals with "a lot of motivation" and is looking to make his mark in Turin next week. 

    Alcaraz, who claimed two grand slam titles at the French Open and Wimbledon this year, missed the event in 2022 after picking up an internal oblique muscle tear. 

    The Spaniard was then beaten in straight sets by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, though the Olympic champion has since withdrawn from this year's tournament with an ongoing injury issue. 

    Alcaraz, however, enters the year-end competition with a win-loss record of 52-11, with only Jannik Sinner (12) claiming more top 10 wins in 2024 than the 21-year-old (11). 

    “Last year was a difficult end of the year for me,” Alcaraz said. “I could not play at my best.

    "The last two matches here were pretty good matches for me, but the previous two, three tournaments I didn’t play at my best, so I realised I had to change a little bit at this time of the year, which I did this year.

    “I come here a little bit different. I approach this tournament a little differently, knowing there are things I have to change if I am to have a good result here and go far.

    "Last year I didn’t start well from the first matches. I will try to play at the same level and will try to play good tennis. I am coming here with a lot of motivation.”

    Alcaraz was drawn in the John Newcombe Group at the ATP Finals alongside Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev.

    He will start against Ruud on Monday, but might face the strongest competition in the group from Zverev, who claimed his seventh Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters. 

    Among the qualifiers for this year's event, Zverev (14) and Daniil Medvedev (11) are the only two to have recorded 10 or more match wins at the ATP Finals.

    Alcaraz and Zverev have faced each other 10 times, winning five apiece, though Alcaraz has won the last two, including at Roland-Garros in the French Open showpiece.

    “He is one of the toughest players in the world for sure,” Alcaraz said about Zverev.

    “I think I return pretty well but he has a really big serve and plays unbelievable from the baseline, which makes him a really tough opponent to face.

    “He has won more than 20 ATP Tour titles, lots of Masters titles. He wants a Grand Slam and I told him he is going to get it for sure.

    "At the end of his career he will get at least one, let's see if more.

    "He deserves it. He is a really hard worker. He has lifted the big trophies. I don’t like to face him because of his serves and shots, but I am trying to find the beauty of playing him.”

  • WTA Finals: Gauff sees off Sabalenka to set up Zheng meeting in showpiece WTA Finals: Gauff sees off Sabalenka to set up Zheng meeting in showpiece

    Coco Gauff saw off world number one Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets and is now just one win away from taking the WTA Finals crown.

    The American, who also beat Iga Swiatek on her run to the final, handed the Belarusian a second consecutive loss in Riyadh as she triumphed 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in one hour and 49 minutes on Friday.

    The pair traded blows in the opening set, with Sabalenka getting the first break in the third game, only for Gauff to follow her lead in the next.

    The world number three forced the tie-break, and she had to hold her nerve to take the first set as Sabalenka had fought back from 6-1 down.

    Gauff's momentum carried her into a 4-1 lead in the second set but that run was halted despite valiantly defending six break points in the next as Sabalenka attempted to start a comeback.

    They traded more breaks, but Gauff had already done enough, avenging her defeats to Sabalenka in the Australian Open and Wuhan Open semi-finals to reach the championship match, where she will face Zheng Qinwen for the prize. 

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    It has been an impressive WTA Finals for Gauff so far, and this victory means she has become the youngest player to defeat the world number one and number two at the tournament since Kim Clijsters in 2002 (Serena and Venus Williams).

    She is also the youngest WTA Finals finalist since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

    In fact, Gauff and Zheng will have the youngest combined age for the two finalists at the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams in 2004, at just 42 years and 271 days. 

    Sabalenka already knew she would be the year-end number one before entering these Finals, but she finishes the year on a slightly dour note, having lost consecutive matches for the first time since 2022 (against Donna Vekic in San Diego and Liudmila Samsonova in Guadalajara).

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