Tennis Australia has announced a AO Rally for Relief exhibition match at Melbourne Park on Wednesday, 15th January and a AO Music for Relief concert at the Australian Open Live Stage on Sunday, 19th January. Both are to rise funds for the bushfire victims
Karolina Pliskova became the first person to win 3 Brisbane International Titles after beating USA Madison Keys 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Madison Keys had played an exceptional tennis, given that her ranking was Number 8.
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Weather looking very bad for Day 1 of the Aus Open tomorrow.
With the most amount of matches and one of the most popular days (apart from the first weekend and Day 2), it’s going to cause a lot of issues for organisers and Nine as well, with only 3 courts with roofs (and partially on Show Court 3 now too I think).
If the day is essentially a wash out, what happens? A much earlier start and finish to Day 2, to cram in as many matches as possible!? Hundreds.
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World No.1 Ashleigh Barty has made it to her first Australian Open semi-final after beating Petra Kvitova 7-6 6-2 in this afternoon’s quarter final. Barty is the first Australian female player since Wendy Turnbull in 1984 to reach the semi-final of her home Grand Slam.
Ash Barty into the SEmi Final! I cannot wait to see her get an AUs Open Grand Slam!
McEnroe’s antics will never be forgotten.
From: Out of the Shadows: A Biographical History of African American Athletes. Page 284.
He’s now acting like a shock jock because it seems he has never changed. It’s a pity he didn’t have a mature response to Court.
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Or he’s grown as a person and changed his views?
Number 1 Rafael Nadal Out of the Australian Open!
What an upset win by Austrian Dominic Thiem in an epic 4-set Quarter Final Match!
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Friday’s semi-final between Thiem and Zverev could be a ratings “flop” compared with matches from previous nights.
It’s a Grand Slam semi-final with two top players who’ve worked tremendously hard, it’ll still be massive, especially if the match goes the distance.
So sick of this “Federer, Nadal, Djokovic” mentality that only that draw interest and/or should always be there
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The Thiem - Zverev match may not be the big blockbuster Nine would be hoping for, but it will still rate relatively well. Both are actually ranked pretty highly in the world.
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World No.1 Ashleigh Barty is out of the Australian Open after losing her semi-final against American Sofie Kenin in straight sets this afternoon. After losing the first set tiebreak, Barty led 5-4 and had two set points, before Kenin levelled the set at 5-all before winning the next two games to seal the match.
21-year-old Kenin makes her first Grand Slam final and also becomes the youngest AO finalist since 2008.
Even though this was Barty’s first AO semi final, this was a golden opportunity for her. Did she lose because of the intense heat? Or the pressure from Kenin?
Anyway Barty’s exit will be a nightmare for tournament organisers because they were already struggling to sell tickets for today’s women’s singles semi finals. How many empty seats will there be for Saturday night’s final? It is also bad news for Nine because it could mean the match will struggle to get one million viewers, regardless of the result of the semi final between Halep and Muguruza.
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It the prices were not so outrageously expensive maybe they would sell more tickets. Both Saturday and Sunday night I would have thought would be sellouts before the tournament started but the price gouging by Tennis Australia obviously puts fans off.
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I feel that Saturday’s Women’s Final between Sofie Kenin and winner of Halep/Muguruza will be played with the roof closed due to forecast of heavy rain. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne was forecasted to have monsoonal conditions with heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms.
I predict that The ratings for the Women’s Semi Final will dip to under 1 million viewers.
Novak Djokovic has reached his 8th Australian Open final and 26th Grand Slam final overall, beating arch rival Roger Federer in straight sets in tonight’s Australian Open semi-final. It was the 50th meeting between the duo. Federer might have had a niggling injury but it didn’t prevent him firing early in the first set (leading 5-2 with two set points in one stage), before Djokovic gradually took control.
I’m not sure what you are on about regarding tickets. I just checked if it would let me buy tickets to the Women’s Final and the ticket website seems to be only allowing me to buy tickets to the afternoon session at Rod Laver on Saturday (which I assume are doubles matches)… so presumably the final is sold out. I also think it’s very unlikely that a Barty semi-final didn’t sell when other day sessions that feature women’s matches did. Yesterday was hot so if it didn’t look full a lot of people who had tickets might not have gone for the full duration due to the heat or probably took breaks from the arena. This is also typical of day sessions - I rarely stay in Rod Laver all day when I go to a day session. At some points I like to go out to the grounds and do some things out there too.
Hopefully he wins. I’m a big Djokovic fan and really hope that in the next couple of years he can overtake Federer and Nadal in Grand Slam wins.
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Also tonight, Dominic Thiem has reached his first Australian Open final after beating Alexander Zverev in four sets in tonight’s semi-final.
I’d like to see Dominic Thiem win the men’s GF and beat Novak as he hasn’t won a slam as yet.He’s one of the next generation of male players who might eventually win a Grand Slam if any of the Big 3’ Novak,Rafa and Roger ever retire .Roger is 39 this year
Disappointed that Ash Barty lost her semifinal match. There’s been no Aussie player,male or female in the Australian Open Grand Final since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005😕