Monday, February 08, 2021

Weekend Tennis Diary

 

Nice wins for Jannik Sinner, Dan Evans, Ash Barty and Elise Mertens plus a draw for Anett Kontaveit and Ann Li going into the Australian Open, which is already under way Down Under. Keep reading HERE.




Jannik Sinner extended his winning streak to 10 matches on Sunday to capture his second ATP Tour title at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne. The fourth seed battled past fellow Italian Stefano Travaglia 7-6(4), 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes. The 19-year-old is the youngest player to win two ATP Tour titles since Novak Djokovic, 19, at 2006 Amersfoort and the Moselle Open in Metz. Sinner is also the youngest player to win back-to-back titles since Rafael Nadal, 19, at the 2005 China Open in Beijing and the Mutua Madrid Open.


Britain's Dan Evans defeated #NextGenATP Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-3 to capture the Murray River Open, his first tour-level crown. Auger-Aliassime is now 0-7 in tour-level finals without winning a set in any of them.


After two runner-up finishes in 2020, Elise Mertens is back in the winner’s circle Down Under. The No.7-seeded Belgian defeated Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi, 6-4, 6-1, to collect her sixth career WTA singles title at the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne.


Australia's Ash Barty claimed the Yarra Valley Classic with an impressive, straight sets (7-6 6-4) win over Garbine Muguruza. The victory marks the first WTA tour title for Barty in 2021, who hadn't played since the 2020 Aussie Open. 


Anett Kontaveit and Ann Li shared the podium at the Grampians Trophy in Melbourne on Sunday after reaching the final, which was called off because of lack of time. 


Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic continued their dream start to the 2021 ATP Tour season on Sunday, as they defeated Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 7-6(2), 6-3 to clinch the Murray River Open title. Last month, the Croatian pair claimed the Antalya Open trophy in the team debut event.


Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares did not play together for the past year and a half, but you wouldn’t have known based on their performance this week in Melbourne. The British-Brazilian duo defeated top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-3, 7-6(7) on Sunday to win the Great Ocean Road Open. This was their first tournament as a team since 2019 Roland Garros.


The Spaniard Carlos Taberner lifts his second ATP Challenger 🏆 in Antalya, upsetting No. 2 seed Jaume Munar, 6-4, 6-1, to whom he had lost in last week's final.  Enhorabuena, Carlos!

Elsewhere around the net ...


Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios


After a surprise run to the semis in the Melbourne tuneup, Corentin Moutet stunned local favorite John Millman in the first round of the Aussie Open last night.


Daddy life agrees with Andreas Seppi, who takes on Pablo Cuevas in the AO first round


Marton Fucsovics looks lonely


Vasek Pospisil is going to need more than his good looks when he faces Daniil Medvedev in the AO first round


Karen was looking good in Adelaide, even if he came up short against Sinner


Mikael Torpegaard is seriously channeling his inner Bjorn for his AO debut


While buddy J.J. Wolf doesn't have a care in the world ...


Alex Rybakov and Nuno Borges took the ITF doubles title in Turkey


Leave it to a shorty Argentine to get a fourway going


Novak shows off his new ASICS


Matt Ebden is making some noise!


SoonWoo Kwon and Denis Shapovalov hit the practice court


Holger Rune breaks one in


And then takes a dip


Mackenzie McDonald and Marcos Giron in John "Cena" Arena!


Rub-a-dub-dub: Four doubles finalists in a tub


Beard does wonder for the big bro


Those Colombian eyes 


Hot Couple Alert: Marko Andrejic and Marko Topo


Let's just say I'm not surprised Borna Coric went out of his way to train with Luka Rozajac


Rafael Nadal shares practice court with 17-year-old rising star Carlos Alcaraz ahead of the Australian Open




Borna looks like a million bucks in his new Asics getup. Mixed results in Melbourne -- defeating Kyrios but losing to Evans


Damir Dzumhur was stretched to the limit in the final round of quallies Down Under ... 


but came up short against local stud James Duckworth


At least the Bosnian had a friend to comfort him afterward 


Fabio Fognini was lucky to have Matteo backing him up 


Jonny O'Mara and Cameron Norrie made a cute team in Melbourne


Michael Venus has found another winner in Marcus Daniell


This photo is pandering to my hubby's height fetish


At 42, Tommy Haas continues to have and flaunt it

1 comment:

David K said...

watching Osaka play, they are saying she was one of "the lucky ones" who was able to practice with her full team in Adelaide leading up to the tourney. that's a little unfair, but I guess all sports are a little unfair...