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      Farewell, Serena? Not So Fast

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenOsaka vs. BradyWomen’s Final PreviewDjokovic’s RideWilliams’s Future?AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySports of the TimesFarewell, Serena? Not So FastWilliams’s wan wave after losing to Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open semifinal stirred retirement speculation. GOATs don’t go out that way.At the Australian Open, Serena Williams was in the best shape she had been in since returning from maternity leave, and she pummeled the No. 2-ranked Simona Halep ahead of her defeat in the semifinals.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesFeb. 19, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ETSerena Williams will be back.Count on it.After her humbling semifinal loss to Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open, the questions came hard and fast. Had Osaka’s slashing forehands shouldered Williams to the edge of retirement?Was this the last time Williams would grace the sea-blue courts of the Australian Open, a tournament she has won seven times?At one level, those questions made sense.What more, after all, does she have to prove?There has never been, nor is there likely to be, another champion like Serena, who rose from Compton, Calif., to transcend her sport and become recognizable by the mention of merely her first name. How many more times can an athlete with Williams’s pride endure the sting of coming oh-so-very-close to winning the 24th Grand Slam singles title that would tie Margaret Court for the record?The loss to Osaka — a much-hyped rematch of the pair’s infamous 2018 United States Open final — had a familiar feel. In her prime, Williams possessed an unrivaled ability to summon genius whenever it was needed most. But since her return to tennis after maternity leave that year, she has not won a major. Twice she has lost in a Grand Slam semifinal, and four times in a final.Given the combination of her sterling past and murky present, there is a tendency among the commentariat to parse her every gesture and utterance for signs that she might soon quit. When she walked off the court after losing to Osaka on Thursday, she paused briefly, put a hand on her chest, smiled and waved at fans as they showered her with an ovation. It wasn’t all that different from the thankful gesture she has made after matches for decades. But in the rubble of another disappointment — and considering she is now 39 and a veteran of nearly a quarter-century on the tennis tour — it was a display many onlookers took to have a deeper meaning.“I think with that little move we saw from Serena just now, that might be the last time we see her here on Rod Laver Arena,” said a television announcer, watching it all unfold.But was that wave a final goodbye?“I don’t know,” Williams said in her post-match news conference. “If I ever say farewell, I wouldn’t tell anyone.” A few moments later, struggling to stay composed, she abruptly left the dais.Serena fans, I don’t think you should worry. She is not about to give up the chase just yet. I wouldn’t read too much into a post-match wave or despondent answers to the news media. She has never been one to hide her emotions. She wears victory with high-wattage smiles and prancing giddiness. She wears defeat with slope-shouldered, bone-weary disdain.Had she suffered through a loss like this and then dispassionately discussed two sets of misery, then I’d wonder about her playing much longer. But that’s not what happened here.If the past is a reliable guide — as it has been since her first professional match, a dismal loss in a low-level event when she was only 14 — she will come up with a way to bounce back. She will rationalize defeat, and tell herself she could have beaten Osaka if only she had avoided easy mistakes. She will summon energy from anyone now questioning her ability to win on the biggest stage.She will focus, too, on how well she played in Melbourne up until that loss. The coronavirus pandemic allowed extra time for Williams to heal, clear her mind and renew her spirit. She came into the tournament in her best shape since returning from maternity leave. In the quarterfinals, she pummeled Simona Halep, who had defeated Williams handily in the 2019 Wimbledon final.Williams played Halep on Tuesday with a vengeful clarity not seen in years. Watching the match unfold, I couldn’t help but think of the Australian Open final in 2009, when she destroyed Dinara Safina, 6-0, 6-3, in just under an hour. Williams was 27 then. She won her 10th Grand Slam singles title.A few days after the tournament, I went to her Los Angeles condominium for an interview. I won’t forget the moment when I remarked that the win over Safina was one of the quickest in Grand Slam finals history — and she cut me off immediately. “Fastest in two years,” she said, a glint in her eyes, before reminding me she had beaten Maria Sharapova in a similar fashion at the Australian Open in 2007.The greatest champions remember everything. They are keenly aware of what they have done and what’s still out there to prove. They grow so used to overcoming opponents that motivation comes mostly from chasing history. That’s why a 43-year-old Tom Brady won’t stop after winning yet another Super Bowl title. It’s why LeBron James won’t stop at age 36 — while he is two N.B.A. championship rings behind Michael Jordan. And why Roger Federer will soon return to tennis after recovering from a knee injury at 39.Williams is made of the same stuff. The long-ago past is her only real opponent. Court’s record, 24 singles Slams won in the 1960s and ’70s, is still out there, waiting to be tied and perhaps surpassed. And Williams, to her credit, keeps putting herself in contention, keeps putting herself on the line, even if it means sucking up searing defeats.The road will only get rockier, what with all those miles on the legs and years on tour. Hungry young opponents now sit in every corner of every Grand Slam draw. They seem more confident all the time and less in awe of the woman most of them grew up idolizing. Osaka, for one, has forged herself into a carbon copy of a young Serena: same power, same moxie.When Osaka found herself struggling toward the end of the second set of the semifinal, she responded with a burst of domination that recalled Williams at her peak: Eight straight points, and it was over.Game, set, match.If you think Williams wants to go out like that, think again.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Naomi Osaka and Jennifer Brady Head to Australian Open Final

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenOsaka Ousts WilliamsNadal Is UpsetMedvedev-Tsitsipas PreviewWilliams’s CatsuitAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyOsaka and Brady, With Powerful Strokes and Zero Pretense, in Australian Open FinalThese are not athletic stars who pretend to be impervious to the pressures of their sport.Naomi Osaka said she was now “expressing the nerves that I feel instead of bottling it all up and trying to deal with it by myself.”Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 18, 2021Updated 4:58 p.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — One Australian Open finalist spoke about how intimidating it was to serve against Serena Williams and also volunteered that she was guilty of mindless eating during her mandatory 14-day quarantine. That would be Naomi Osaka, who is 3 for 3 in Grand Slam finals.The other acknowledged envisioning her post-match celebration before her semifinal was won, causing her to lose focus, and also offered that she didn’t binge-watch any shows on her 14-day lockdown, because she knew that would lead to lazing around in bed all day.That would be Jennifer Brady, a former U.C.L.A. standout who became the first woman to come through the college ranks to advance to a Grand Slam final since Kathy Jordan at this tournament in 1983.The women’s singles final at the Australian Open will feature the most relatable high-octane servers with hammering groundstrokes that you would ever want to meet (just not on the court).Osaka, 23, and Brady, 25, have displayed ruthless power in their matches and disarming vulnerability in their news conferences. Their egos don’t appear to be Faberge eggs in need of careful handling, constant caressing and everyone’s adoring gaze.They don’t pretend that they’re impervious to pressure or act like they are all-knowing. They don’t seem to act at all.Osaka has admitted to nerves on the court.Credit…Rob Prezioso/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesOsaka staved off two match points in a fourth-round three-setter against Garbiñe Muguruza and didn’t panic when she faced a break point while trailing Williams by 0-2 in the first set of their semifinal. She has improved her mental toughness, she said, by talking to her coach, Wim Fissette, and “expressing the nerves that I feel instead of bottling it all up and trying to deal with it by myself.”Brady squandered four match points on Thursday before dispatching Karolina Muchova in three sets. “I was just so nervous,” she said. “I couldn’t feel my legs. My arms were shaking. I was just hoping she would miss, and she didn’t.”Brady also owned up to the cardinal sin of getting ahead of herself. “I was just thinking about the occasion and the end result,” said Brady, who served out the match in an 18-point game that included three break points and five match points.She appeared to have won on her second match point when she hit a backhand that Muchova dumped into the net. Brady dropped to her knees in relief and disbelief only to discover that the electronic technology system showed her shot had landed a thumbnail outside the line.If the live electronic line calling system, delivered through remote tracking cameras positioned around the Melbourne Park courts and introduced at this tournament, had been instituted at last year’s United States Open, one of the best matches of the season, involving Brady and Osaka, might have unfolded differently.Jennifer Brady enjoyed her Grand Slam semifinal win, but said she had been guilty of thinking ahead. Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesIt was Brady’s Grand Slam semifinal debut, and she and Osaka wielded their rackets like torches, sending fireballs back and forth from the baseline. Osaka won the first set in a tiebreaker, and Brady evened the match in the second.Osaka didn’t break Brady’s serve until the third set when, leading by 2-1, she jumped out to a 15-40 lead, then secured the break when Brady hit a shot that was called out. Brady didn’t challenge the call. It turned out the ball was in. Brady went on to lose, 6-3, and Osaka went on to defeat Victoria Azarenka for the championship.“My coach was trying to tell me, ‘Challenge the ball!’ and I was like, ‘I’m not going to challenge the ball,’” Brady said with a shrug. “You never know. It could have been a turning point or maybe I still would have lost the match.”Osaka described the match as “super high quality throughout” and said, “It’s easily one of my most memorable matches.”Brady agreed and said: “During the match I felt like, wow, this is a great match. It got to the point where I was feeling like I didn’t want it to end. I was just having so much fun.”Saturday’s final will be only their second professional meeting, but they have known each other since they were youngsters competing in USTA-sanctioned tournaments in Florida, where they both grew up.“I remember playing her, and I was like, wow, she hits the ball huge,” Brady said. “She’s going to be good.”Brady said she once played tennis “because I had to, because I had nothing else to do.”Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesBrady didn’t like tennis much in those days.“I was just doing it because I had to, because I had nothing else to do, because I didn’t know what else to do except for going and practicing five hours a day and just waking up and doing it all over again,” Brady said.She wasn’t winning many matches, she said, which didn’t help.“I thought, OK, maybe I’m not meant for this sport, maybe I’m not good enough,” Brady said. “I’ll go to college for four years and then I’ll find a real job.”Brady spent two years at U.C.L.A., where she helped the tennis team to a national title as a freshman in 2014 and matured on and off the court. After bumping around on tennis’s minor-league circuit, Brady won her first WTA event last August in Lexington, Ky.She celebrated by spending the end of 2020 in Germany, the homeland of her coach, Michael Geserer, training like she never has before.“Once you become too comfortable, I think that’s when you’re in trouble,” said Brady, who got homesick but stuck it out, telling herself, “I have to do what I have to do to become the best tennis player right now and then afterward I can live my life.”In their only previous professional meeting, in last year’s U.S. Open semifinals, Naomi Osaka beat Jennifer Brady in three sets.Credit…Robert Deutsch/USA Today Sports, via ReutersOsaka said her motivation to become the best tennis player she can be came from the people with whom she has surrounded herself.“I just want to do really well as a vessel for everyone’s hard work,” she said, adding, “I used to weigh my entire existence on if I won or lost a tennis match. That’s just not how I feel anymore.”Osaka gave voice to not being a nerveless machine and embarked on a winning streak that has reached 20 matches. Brady embraced the discomfort of being stuck in a hotel room for 24 hours a day for 14 days after people on her flight to Australia tested positive for the coronavirus and has never looked more comfortable on the court.By managing the best they can under stressful circumstances, they have managed to be the last two women standing. Who these days can’t relate to that?AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      2021 Australian Open: Medvedev and Tsitsipas Chase a Grand Slam Final

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenOsaka Ousts WilliamsNadal Is UpsetMedvedev-Tsitsipas PreviewWilliams’s CatsuitAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Australian Open: Medvedev and Tsitsipas Chase a Grand Slam FinalMedvedev has been on a hot streak and has a 5-1 record against Tsitsipas, but he dealt with cramping at the end of his previous match.Daniil Medvedev has a 5-1 record against Stefanos Tsitsipas.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 18, 2021Updated 9:56 a.m. ETHow to watch: The match is at 3:30 a.m. Eastern time on Friday on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam event that splits its semifinals from the same singles draw, putting its second men’s singles semifinal alone on the Friday night session each year. It is the only time that a match other than a final gets such a showcase in the Grand Slam calendar, and this time the spotlight will be on two young stars: the fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, a 25-year-old Russian, and the fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, a 22-year-old Greek.Here’s what to look for in the highest-stakes match yet between two men of their generation as each vies for a spot in his first Australian Open final against Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1 ranking who has won the last two titles in Melbourne. Djokovic moved into the final on Thursday night by defeating Aslan Karatsev in their semifinal, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.Medvedev is on a hot streak.There is no men’s player in better form than Daniil Medvedev. He won titles at the Paris Indoors Masters and ATP finals last November and the ATP Cup earlier this month in Melbourne. He has won 19 consecutive matches on that run, 11 of which were against top-10 opponents.Medvedev looked especially formidable against Andrey Rublev of Russia in the quarterfinals. Rublev, 23, the seventh seed, is an unrelentingly aggressive player who won a tour-leading five titles last year, but he struggled to find any openings in Medvedev’s resolute defenses, and wilted in the heat in a straight-sets loss.Medvedev’s 19-match winning streak includes 11 victories against top-10 opponents.Credit…James Ross/EPA, via ShutterstockMedvedev also will be comfortable in the matchup against Tsitsipas, having won five of their six matches. He lost their most recent meeting, however, with Tsitsipas prevailing in the round-robin stages of the 2019 ATP finals en route to his most prestigious title to date.“He just plays extremely smart and outplays you,” Tsitsipas said of Medvedev on Thursday. “He’s somebody I really need to be careful with and just take my chances and press.”The end of their first match ‘felt like an M.M.A. fight.’The rivalry between Medvedev and Tsitsipas started before either had even cracked the top 40 of the ATP rankings. Their first match against each other, in the first round of the 2018 Miami Open, ended with Medvedev antagonizing Tsitsipas and challenging him to a fight after winning in three sets.In an interview last month, Tsitsipas discussed the altercation.“That felt very wrong, the overall ambience,” Tsitsipas said. “It didn’t belong to tennis, for sure, I tell you that. It felt like an M.M.A. fight. We’re out there playing tennis; we’re not there to fight each other. He was provoking me back then — that’s how I felt, maybe I’m wrong — but I didn’t want to continue from there. He was trying to approach me; I was not into it. I wasn’t there to fight, I was there to play tennis. That’s the last thing that I want when I enter the court.”Tsitsipas said that he had not discussed the incident with Medvedev, but that the tension between the two had recently thawed.“I saw him waving at me the other day, which was nice,” Tsitsipas said with a small laugh. “It kind of breaks the ice.”Tsitsipas’s walkover doesn’t necessarily mean he is well rested.Tsitsipas has played two five-set matches in the tournament. He has been on the court for an hour and 32 minutes longer than Medvedev.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDespite advancing via a walkover in the fourth round, Tsitsipas has been on the court an hour and 32 minutes longer than Medvedev has en route to the semifinals after playing five-set matches in the second round against Thanasi Kokkinakis and in the quarterfinals against Rafael Nadal.“I got the opportunity to play longer, feel the court, understand the environment that I’m in, so that could probably be seen as something positive,” Tsitsipas said after his win over Nadal. “On the other hand, yeah, OK, I might have spent a bit more time on the court, put my body in more stress and difficult tasks to complete.”Tsitsipas added that over all he felt he was in pretty good condition.“I think with experience I have realized how to preserve my energy and when I really have to put in the hard work in the match,” he said.Medvedev has been more efficient, but was cramping at the end of his straight-sets win over Rublev on Wednesday. He asked for the trainer to come massage his quadriceps after match point.How would either match up against Djokovic in the final?While both players would be underdogs against Djokovic, who is 8-0 in Australian Open finals, Medvedev and Tsitsipas have reason to believe they could be competitive.Medvedev, who pushed Nadal to five sets in his lone Grand Slam final appearance at the 2019 United States Open, has won three of his last four matches against Djokovic, including their most recent meeting at the ATP finals in November.Tsitsipas, who would be playing in his first Grand Slam final, is 2-4 against Djokovic but nearly leveled his record against him at last October’s French Open: Tsitsipas came from two sets down to force a fifth set in their semifinal before ultimately losing that set 6-1 after suffering a leg injury.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Rafael Nadal Is Out of the Australian Open

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TonightWilliams-Osaka ShowdownThe Fast CourtsFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyRafael Nadal Is Out of the Australian OpenStefanos Tsitsipas upset Nadal in five sets in Melbourne, ending his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam men’s singles championship.Rafael Nadal’s Australian Open run ended in a five-set loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas.Credit…William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 17, 2021Updated 10:05 a.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal’s bid for a record 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title ended Wednesday night when he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.Tsitsipas dropped the first two sets but came back to defeat Nadal, the second-ranked player in the world, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-5, in a grueling, four-hour duel for the biggest Grand Slam win of his career.Nadal, of Spain, played a near flawless first three sets, not allowing a break of his serve or even a break point, and he appeared in full control of the match. But in the third-set tiebreaker, he missed two overheads and sent a backhand wide to give Tsitsipas the tiebreaker and a lifeline.Then what had been a rout turned into a street fight. Playing on fresh legs after winning his fourth-round match in a walkover, Tsitsipas became increasingly stingy on his serve, refusing to give Nadal a chance to seize an advantage and forcing him into sloppy errors as he grew more fatigued.Tsitsipas dropped the first two sets against Nadal but seemed to gain energy as the match wore on.Credit…Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockTsitsipas, who at 22 years old is 12 years younger than Nadal, seemed to gain energy and a bounce in his step as the warm evening wore on, getting to balls that had been out of his reach earlier and forcing Nadal to hit extra shots and battle to hold his serve in nearly every game.In the fifth set, Nadal and Tsitsipas traded service games, with Tsitsipas’s serve becoming increasingly untouchable — he served four consecutive aces to knot the set at 3-3 — and Nadal fighting for nearly every point to stay level. Serving at 5-5 in the fifth set, Nadal made two errors to lose the first two points of the game, then missed wide on the forehand to give Tsitsipas his chance to serve out the match.With only his friends and support team in the stands because of a snap lockdown amid a small coronavirus outbreak, Tsitsipas dropped his racket when it was over, made a cross on his chest and look toward the sky.The final game was a microcosm of the match. An early lead for Nadal, followed by Tsitsipas storming back, Nadal fighting off two match points to give himself a chance to survive, before netting a forehand volley and watching Tsitsipas blast a backhand down the line to clinch the match.“Moments like this haven’t happened a lot in my career,” said Tsitsipas, who also won the ATP Tour finals in 2019 and knocked off Roger Federer on this same court two years ago. “The fact that I came back the way I did, the way I fought against Rafa, that was something extra.”Nadal controlled the match through the first three sets but missed a chance to finish off Tsitsipas in the third-set tie-breaker.Credit…William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFor Nadal, the loss prevented him from pushing ahead of Roger Federer of Switzerland in their duel to collect the most Grand Slam singles championships.Federer has been sidelined with a knee injury since last year’s Australian Open and has missed all three Grand Slams since tennis returned in August just before the United States Open. He plans to return to competition in the coming weeks.Nadal skipped the United States Open as well, but he returned for the French Open weeks later and won it to tie Federer with 20 singles titles.Nadal was not the favorite in this tournament, which he has won just once, in 2009, though he has come close on other occasions, most notably in 2012, when he lost in five sets to Novak Djokovic in a match that last a record five hours, 53 minutes. The tournament is contested on fast hardcourts, which challenge Nadal far more than the slow red clay in Paris or the softer grass at Wimbledon, which inflicts less wear and tear on his body.Nadal complained of lower back pain earlier in the tournament, but said Wednesday night it was not an issue against Tsitsipas.“Another story in my tennis career, another match I lost in Australia,” a frustrated Nadal said shortly after the loss. “I have to go home and practice to be better. That’s it.”Nadal’s loss is likely to make Djokovic’s bid for a record ninth Australian Open singles title far easier. Djokovic plays Aslan Karatsev, ranked 114th in the world, in the semifinals on Thursday. If he wins that, he will face either Tsitsipas or Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the finals.Nadal strained muscles in his lower back while training in Adelaide before this tournament. The injury prevented him from following his usual practice routine for nearly three weeks, but after his third round win here over Cameron Norrie of Britain he said the problem had largely been resolved. He dominated Fabio Fognini of Italy in the fourth round and had not lost a set at the tournament before facing Tsitsipas.Tsitsipas had just one win in seven tries against Nadal coming into Wednesday night’s match. At first he tried to prevail by ending points quickly and avoiding the long rallies that Nadal uses to wear down his opponents. But Nadal kept hitting shots within inches of the lines that Tsitsipas struggled to get his racket on.With Nadal tiring though, Tsitsipas stayed back and pursued something like tennis rope-a-dope, keeping the ball in play until Nadal blasted an error or gave Tsitsipas an opportunity for a winner. He finally broke Nadal in the ninth game of the fourth set, and won it in the next one as Nadal hit into the net to turn the match into a one-set battle.It was only the third time Nadal had lost after winning the first two sets.“There are going to be matches you lose like today against one of the best players in the world,” Nadal said. “It is something that happens.”Tsitsipas now faces Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the semifinal. He said he woke up Wednesday in a state of serenity, with a sense that things would go his way.“Really, nothing was going through my head,” he said when asked what he was thinking as he began to turn the match his way. “I was in a kind of nirvana. Playing, and not thinking.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Ashleigh Barty Loses in Australian Open Quarterfinals

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAshleigh Barty Loses in Australian Open QuarterfinalsBarty, the No. 1 seed in the women’s singles draw, had won the first set comfortably but fell to the 25th-seeded Karolina Muchova.Ashleigh Barty waiting for Karolina Muchova to return to the court during a medical timeout. Barty played more inconsistently after the stoppage.Credit…Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockFeb. 16, 2021Updated 9:59 p.m. ETThe top-seeded Ashleigh Barty, who represented her country’s best chance for a homegrown Australian Open champion, lost in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, falling 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, to the 25th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.Barty began the match in dominant form, leading Muchova by a set and a break at 6-1, 2-0 at Rod Laver Arena.Muchova took an off-court medical timeout early in the second set, with doctors checking her vital signs and cooling her down with ice.“My head was spinning, so I took a break,” Muchova said in her on-court interview after the match.After Muchova returned to the court, Barty became inconsistent. At 2-1, she hit four unforced errors to drop her serve and level the second set. She finished with 19 unforced errors in the second set, after having only six in the first.As Barty faltered, Muchova played with increasing poise and patience, exemplified by one rally in the second set in which she hit five overhead smashes before Barty finally made an error.Barty’s focus continued to drift in the third set. She made many errors on shots that should have been simple, not adjusting well to Muchova’s changes of pace. Barty seemed to regain her concentration in the final game, earning three break points, but she could not convert any of them.Muchova closed out the victory with an ace on her first match point. Muchova, a rare player who can match Barty’s all-court play and versatility, was playing in her second Grand Slam quarterfinal after making it to that round at Wimbledon in 2019.Barty’s departure from a court that hosted no fans for a fifth consecutive day was a blow for the tournament. Fans had been kept from the grounds for five days after a so-called circuit breaker lockdown imposed by the government because of a small coronavirus outbreak, but they are set to be allowed to return Thursday for the semifinals.Barty did not travel internationally to rejoin the tour when it resumed last year from its pandemic pause, but she retained her No. 1 ranking because the WTA largely froze its ranking system and her points from winning the French Open and the WTA Finals in 2019 did not expire.Barty had won a tournament, the Yarra Valley Classic, held in Melbourne the week before the Australian Open began. She had struggled with a left leg injury early in the tournament that forced her to withdraw from the doubles draw to reduce her workload, but showed few ill effects from it in the second week of the tournament.Barty’s exit means that there will be a player ranked outside the Top 20 in the Australian Open final. Muchova will face an American, either the 22nd-seeded Jennifer Brady or unseeded Jessica Pegula, in the semifinals.No Australian woman has won the Australian Open singles title since Chris O’Neil in 1978. Barty had reached the semifinals of the Australian Open last year, losing to Sofia Kenin, who won the tournament.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Tuesday Night

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Tuesday NightTwo Americans, Jennifer Brady and Jessica Pegula, feature in a quarterfinal at the Australian Open.Jessica Pegula of the U.S. has dropped only one set on her way to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.Credit…Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/ReutersFeb. 16, 2021Updated 10:14 a.m. ETHow to watch: 6 to 9 p.m., Eastern time on the Tennis Channel and 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on ESPN2 in the United States; streaming on the ESPN+ and ESPN3 apps.The quarterfinals of the Australian Open continue on Tuesday night. As Ashleigh Barty and Rafael Nadal look to continue their dominance, young challengers will try to unseat them on the way to the final.Here are some matches to keep an eye on.The times for individual matchups are estimates and may fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.Rod Laver Arena | 7 p.m. TuesdayAshleigh Barty vs. Karolina MuchovaAshleigh Barty withdrew from the WTA tour in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, deciding to stay in Australia to keep herself and her team safe. Critics believed that it would be nearly impossible for Barty, the No. 1 seed, to meet expectations, but she has been in scintillating form. She has not lost a match in the past two weeks, winning the Yarra Valley Classic and not dropping a set on her way to the Australian Open quarterfinals.Karolina Muchova has reached the quarterfinals after two exceptional performances against Karolina Pliskova and Elise Mertens, the sixth and 18th seeds. The 24-year-old may have won both matches in straight sets, but she needed to win seven games in each to complete her upsets. Now, up against the consistent Barty, Muchova will need to temper high unforced error counts if she’s to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.Rafael Nadal of Spain is a clear favorite to make the final at the Australian Open.Credit…Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockRod Laver Arena | 9 p.m. TuesdayJennifer Brady vs. Jessica PegulaAfter Jessica Pegula upset the No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina, she turned to the camera and finished off her signed message with, “See you in the next round Jen B.” Jennifer Brady returned the love after her victory over Donna Vekic, writing, “Bring it Jess.” The two Americans are good friends and have been supportive of each other’s progress.Before this tournament, Pegula had never reached the round of 16 at a major event. With wins over two top-20 players her run to the quarterfinals has been impressive with only one set dropped. Her aggressive style is well suited to the faster courts at this year’s Australian Open.Brady, who reached the semifinals at the United States Open in September, was the only female player placed in a more restrictive quarantine after arriving in Melbourne to reach the second week. On average, Brady has lost fewer than five games per match on her way to the quarterfinals, and it’s hard to see how Pegula might be able to upset the 22nd seed.Rod Laver Arena | 11 p.m. TuesdayAndrey Rublev vs. Daniil MedvedevAndrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev secured the ATP Cup for Russia earlier this month, with neither player losing a singles match throughout. In their three meetings on the ATP Tour, Medvedev has come out on top each time, including in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in September.This may be Rublev’s chance to finally overcome his friendly rival. He has looked particularly dominant, not dropping a set throughout the tournament. His match against Casper Ruud ended after only two sets when the Norwegian withdrew with an injury. Going into the quarterfinals, Rublev has led the field in both percentage of first service points won and second service points won, a sign of how hard it has been for opponents to break his serve.Medvedev has also been playing well, aside from a chaotic, disorganized third round match against Filip Krajinovic. He has now won 18 matches in a row, with his last loss coming in October at a tournament in Vienna. Although the fast surface fits Medvedev’s flat baseline shots, Rublev’s open stance is well suited in defense, and we’re sure to see many dynamic, aggressive points.Rod Laver Arena | 3:30 a.m. WednesdayRafael Nadal vs. Stefanos TsitsipasRafael Nadal, the No. 2 seed, has moved smoothly through the first four rounds, no surprise for a player with 20 Grand Slam titles. Although Nadal won his only Australian Open title over a decade ago, he has reached the finals on four other occasions since, and is a clear favorite in his half of the draw to do so again. Nadal’s powerful topspin shots are well-suited to clay courts where he can drag opponents around with tightly angled shots. Nadal’s ability to exploit his opponent’s weaknesses with relentless pressure can break most players on their best days.Stefanos Tsitsipas, the ATP finals winner in 2019, is a study in unpredictability. The fifth seed has a capable all-court game, but lacks the consistency to execute match after match. The 22-year-old has worked to improve this aspect of his game, but needed five sets to push back unseeded Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round. After receiving a walkover in the round of 16, Tsitsipas will be well rested and hoping for an advantage against one of the most mentally tough players on tour.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Aslan Karatsev of Russia Continues an Unlikely Run at Australian Open

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAslan Karatsev of Russia Continues an Unlikely Run at Australian OpenThe unknown Russian became one of the few players to make the semifinal of a Grand Slam after surviving the qualifying tournament.Aslan Karatsev of Russia serving in his Men’s Singles Quarterfinals match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during Day 9 of the  Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.Credit…Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesFeb. 16, 2021Updated 9:26 a.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — He is the mystery man who few in the sport had heard of just days ago. But Aslan Karatsev of Russia has landed in the semifinals of the Australian Open.Karatsev on Tuesday became one of the few players to make the final four of a Grand Slam after surviving the qualifying tournament when he beat an ailing Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in four sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.He will face Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1, in the semifinals. Djokovic beat Alexander Zverev in four sets in their quarterfinal on Tuesday night.Karatsev, 27, was born in Russia and moved to Israel when he was 3. His maternal grandfather is Jewish. He then returned to Russia for his teenage years to pursue better tennis training. That began a meandering journey back and forth across Europe, with stops in Moscow, Germany, Spain and Belarus, where he has been training for three years.“I was moving around too much,” he said on Tuesday night following his victory.He has been playing in the tennis hinterlands for several years with little success and even considered quitting in 2017 when he was suffering from a knee injury. He had never qualified for a Grand Slam before this tournament. He won three straight matches at the Australian Open qualifying event in Doha to win a spot in the main event and came in ranked No. 114 in the world. He has never been ranked higher than No. 111.He has won $618,354 during his professional career. In this tournament, he has already secured a $662,000 paycheck. Another victory would boost it to $1.17 million.Dimitrov, the No. 18 seed, appeared to have the match under control after the first set but suffered back spasms beginning late in the second set. The pain and stiffness worsened in the third set, and he appeared to be on the edge of retiring for the rest of the match, but returned to the court for the fourth set after receiving medical treatment.He said his back initially spasmed on Monday and he struggled to put on his socks before the match. “We just couldn’t fix it in time,” Dimitrov said.Just four other players have made the semifinals of a Grand Slam after getting through the qualifying event.Ahead of the Australian Open, Karatsev played doubles for Team Russia in the ATP Cup, a team event in which players represent their countries. Russia won the competition, but not because of Karatsev, who lost all three matches in which he played, with two different partners.His teammates, however, noticed that he was playing as well as they had ever seen, and yet none of them would have predicted anything like this.“We felt like he could do something amazing,” Daniil Medvedev, Russia’s top player and the No. 4 seed in the Australian Open, said when Karatsev made it through the fourth round. “To be honest, being in your first Grand Slam main draw? Making quarters is something exceptional. He’s not over yet.”He certainly is not.After his win set up a meeting with Karatsev in the semifinals, Djokovic said he had not seen Karatsev play before this tournament but has been impressed the last 10 days.“Very strong guy physically, moves well, has a lot of firepower from the back of the court, great backhand,” Djokovic said. “The Russian school of tennis.”Karatsev was already the lowest-ranked player to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open since Patrick McEnroe in 1991. Karatsev was the first qualifier to make the final eight at a Grand Slam in 10 years.Karatsev’s magical run in Melbourne began with two victories over lesser players last week, though his second-round win over Egor Gerasimov of Belarus hinted at bigger things to come. Karatsev beat Gerasimov, ranked No. 79 in the world, 6-0, 6-1, 6-0. After that, he dispatched eighth-seeded Diego Schwartzman in three sets. It was an impressive win, but Schwartzman’s best results have come on clay rather than the slick, hard courts at Melbourne Park.In the fourth round, Karatsev stormed back from two sets down to defeat Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 20 seed, 3-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Auger-Aliassime is one of the world’s top young players and looked as if he would easily handle Karatsev after the first two sets.Then Karatsev took a bathroom break. He used the toilet and splashed some water on his face; and when he returned to the court, he found his comfort zone. He began firing aces and winners on his serve with abandon and pushed Auger-Aliassime farther and farther back into the court with his deep groundstrokes.Karatsev looked to be following a similar script on a warm, humid Tuesday afternoon.“I was a bit nervous at the start,” he said.The nerves were certainly justified, but the court he was playing on had an unlikely resemblance to the countless courts where he has competed for years in lower-tier events in front of rows of empty bleachers. On Friday night, health officials instituted a five-day lockdown after more than a dozen people tested positive for Covid-19. There were no spectators other than a few journalists, tournament employees and the players’ support teams.No one other than Dimitrov and the few people around him knew that he was taking the court at less than 100 percent. Dimitrov, one of the most talented and physically gifted players on the tour, had breezed through his first four matches, including his three-set dismantling of Dominic Thiem, the No. 3 seed.Karatsev’s nerves showed in the first set, when he made 19 unforced errors and double-faulted three times. In the second set, though, he started standing toe to toe with Dimitrov, playing longer points, sending balls deep into the court and forcing Dimitrov to exert himself and put stress on his back. By the end of the third set, Dimitrov could barely stand.Less than an hour later, Karatsev was in the semifinals.“I’m trying to enjoy the moment, not thinking about it too much, just playing from round to round,” he said.Can he win the tournament?“We will see,” he said. “How can I say?”As unlikely as it might seem, Dimitrov said he was not surprised to see Karatsev, who four months ago had a goal of making the Top 100, surging to the final four.“He’s a great player,” Dimitrov said of Karatsev. “To be here, clearly you’ve done something right. You’ve put in the work; you’ve gone through the qualifiers, went through tough and good matches, built up confidence. There’s so many positives, so why not for him to go further?”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Serena Williams Wins and Will Face Naomi Osaka in Australian Open Semifinals

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySerena Williams Wins, Setting Up Showdown With Naomi OsakaWilliams dispatched Simona Halep to avenge an embarrassing defeat in their previous meeting. Next up? Osaka in a star-studded semifinal.Serena Williams is now two wins from her 24th Grand Slam singles title.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 16, 2021, 8:45 a.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams was not about to let Simona Halep derail her run to a 24th Grand Slam singles championship. Not again.The summer of 2019 may seem like a lifetime ago in a world reeling from a pandemic that is taking a second lap of the calendar. But for Williams, the scab from her humbling loss to Halep in the Wimbledon final that July remains as fresh as the day Halep held her to four games on the All-England Club’s hallowed grass.Williams’s 6-3, 6-3 victory against Halep on Tuesday in the Australian Open quarterfinals was not as surgical as the dismemberment that Halep administered in their previous meeting, a performance that Billie Jean King described as “one of the most perfectly executed matches I’ve ever seen.”On Tuesday night, Williams put only 55 percent of her first serves in play, a much lower rate than she expects of herself. She finished with more unforced errors (33) than winners (24). But on the key points, Williams’s moxie and her motor won the day.Williams finished with more unforced errors (33) than winners (24) against Halep.Credit…Paul Crock/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWith Halep serving at 3-3 in the second set, Williams won a 20-stroke rally to earn a break point, then secured the break on a 12-stroke point. Two days after she was extended to three intense sets and more than two hours by Aryna Sabalenka, Williams, 39, was spry enough to outrun and outlast the second-ranked Halep, who is 10 years younger.“I feel pretty good with that performance,” Williams said. “I feel like I needed to have a good performance obviously today, especially after my last match against her.”The 2019 Wimbledon final was the third of four that Williams has played since she won the 2017 Australian Open to pull within one Grand Slam title of equaling the career record held by Margaret Court. She is one victory from earning another shot at it, but to get there she will have to defeat another player who derailed an earlier run.That would be the third-ranked Naomi Osaka, who handed Williams a 6-2, 6-4 defeat in the 2018 United States Open final — the first of Osaka’s three Grand Slam titles. Osaka, 23, who won the U.S. Open again last year, extended her winning streak to 19 matches earlier Tuesday with a straight-set victory against Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei.Williams was brimming with confidence after returning to the semifinals. She will face Naomi Osaka next.Credit…Loren Elliott/ReutersAfter her victory, Osaka said she planned to stay up to watch the battle between Halep and Williams, though not necessarily to find out who she would face next.“I always watch Serena play,” Osaka said.She was not alone. No fans were allowed inside Rod Laver Arena because of a five-day lockdown imposed after the Australian authorities detected a cluster of coronavirus infections in the area. But Williams and Halep had a crowd of roughly five dozen spectators anyway, as people associated with the tournament slipped into seats to watch.“I feel like everyone in the tournament watches her,” Osaka said, referring to Williams. “Like, whenever I go to the locker room or whatever, there’s always just people lounging around and stuff, watching her match.”Since Williams last won a Grand Slam title, a lot of the attention in women’s tennis has shifted to Osaka. In 2020, she supplanted Williams as the highest-earning woman in sports on the strength of more than $30 million in off-court endorsements. Her rise led a reporter on the eve of this tournament to ask how she was dealing with being seen as the face of women’s tennis.“As long as Serena’s here,” Osaka replied, “I think she’s the face of women’s tennis.”Naomi Osaka stormed into the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Hsieh Su-wei.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWho is Williams to argue? She has worn a diamond-encrusted “QUEEN” necklace during all her matches.Thursday’s meeting with Osaka will be Williams’s 40th Grand Slam semifinal. It will also be her first time squaring off against Osaka in a Grand Slam since their 2018 final in New York, a match that turned turbulent when Williams argued with the chair umpire, who called three code-of-conduct violations against her. The incident turned the crowd against him, and indirectly, Osaka, souring her moment of victory.In the afterglow of her quarterfinal victory, Williams’s smile didn’t waver when she was asked about her relationship with Osaka.“I think we both have had closure,” Williams said of the 2018 final. She added, “I think she’s a great competitor and a cool cat.”Williams and Osaka might have squared off in another U.S. Open final last year if not for the heel injury that hampered Williams in her semifinal loss to Victoria Azarenka. Unlike Osaka, who skipped last fall’s rescheduled French Open because of a strained hamstring, Williams played at Roland Garros less than three weeks after the Open. She won her first match before pulling out of the tournament, a decision that proved providential.When the start of the Australian Open was pushed back three weeks because of the pandemic, Williams was gifted with three open months on her calendar, a welcome block of time that she used to heal her injury and improve her conditioning.According to Patrick Mouratoglou, who has been Williams’s coach since 2012, she rededicated herself to the unglamorous work of improving her fitness, with an emphasis on footwork and speed.“It’s a lot of little details that make a big difference,” he said.“I feel like I needed to have a good performance obviously today,” Williams said of facing Halep, “especially after my last match against her.”Credit…Brandon Malone/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe daily conditioning grind she endured through November and December has allowed Williams to run down balls and extend rallies in February. Known for her attacking style, Williams’s best offense in her past two matches has been her defense.“She’s moving better,” conceded Halep, adding: “It’s much easier for her to hit the balls. It’s tougher for the opponents to finish the point.”Williams “has a really good game,” Halep said. Then she caught herself. Laughing, she said, “She always did.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More