Australian Open: Ashleigh Barty makes history with win over Danielle Collins to claim first Melbourne title
Watch highlights as Ashleigh Barty wins her first Melbourne title, beating Danielle Collins 6-3 7-6 (7-2) in the Australian Open final.
Watch highlights as Ashleigh Barty wins her first Melbourne title, beating Danielle Collins 6-3 7-6 (7-2) in the Australian Open final.
Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis beat fellow Australians Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell in the Australian Open men’s doubles final to secure a maiden Grand Slam title.
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios completed their dream Australian Open run late Saturday evening when they defeated fellow Aussies Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell 7-5, 6-4 to lift the trophy.
The crowd favourites, who thrilled fans throughout the tournament with their entertaining play, are the first wild cards to win the event in the Open Era and the first wild cards to triumph at any major since Wimbledon in 2012, when Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen were victorious.
“This week has been a dream come true for me. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” Kyrgios said during the trophy ceremony. “Max has been to the final twice, so he’s a hell of a doubles player. Matty’s had a hell of a career, so I’m just super happy.”
Photo Credit: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
This was the pair’s fourth appearance at a major together. But in their three previous Grand Slam appearances, they won just one match. At this year’s Australian Open, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios defeated four seeded opponents — top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, 15th seeds Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar, sixth seeds Tim Puetz and Michael Venus and third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos — en route to the trophy.
“Nick, I love you brother. I can honestly say we did not expect to even come close to this, but with the help of you guys all week, [it has] been unbelievable,” Kokkinakis said. “The coverage it got and the support for us, we couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Heavy hitting from Kokkinakis and Kyrgios off the ground proved too much in the big moments in their one-hour, 35-minute victory. Purcell saved the first championship point at 3-5 in the second set with a big serve out wide. But in the next game, Kyrgios held to love.
The champions completed their victory when Kokkinakis punched a backhand volley through the middle of the court for a winner. Kokkinakis and Kyrgios dropped their racquets and immediately sprinted into a chest bump before embracing to celebrate their big win.
Photo Credit: Damian Traynor/Getty Images
In the first set, Kokkinakis hit big off the ground to claim the match’s first break, on his team’s fourth break point chance of the game, for 6-5. Their break in the second set, at 3-3, also came off big hitting from Kokkinakis, who struck a forehand that drew a volley error from Ebden.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios are the first all-Australian men’s doubles champions at the Australian Open since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde triumphed in 1997. Both men are known for their singles play, but despite Adelaide champion Kokkinakis (first round) and Kyrgios (second round) losing in the singles draw by the second round, they bounced back to create a memorable run in the doubles.
“It’s been a rough couple years for me personally… but what a month we’ve had. I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Kokkinakis said. “Coming into the Aussie Open, I was already happy, and this is a crazy cherry on top.”
This was Ebden and Purcell’s second tournament together after reaching last year’s Australian Open quarter-finals. In 2020, Purcell made the Australian Open final with Luke Saville.
“They adapted really well. Gotta give them credit. We didn’t do too much wrong. They were roping balls, front and centre lobs at our toes, smoking huge serves,” Ebden said. “We sort of did everything we could, but just wasn’t our day.”
Did You Know?
This was the first all-Australian men’s doubles final at the Australian Open since Mark Edmondson and Kim Warwick defeated Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee in the 1980 championship match.
Ashleigh Barty ends the home nation’s 44-year wait for a Grand Slam women’s singles champion by beating Danielle Collins to win the Australian Open title.
It should be a great day for the home fans on Saturday with one guaranteed men’s doubles title and Ashleigh Barty looking…
Novak Djokovic will compete in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Rafael Nadal will play in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in the week of 21 February.
Djokovic is a five-time titlist in Dubai. The Serbian owns a 41-6 record at the ATP 500 event, where he triumphed on his most recent appearance in 2020.
Other players who will be competing in Dubai include defending champion Aslan Karatsev, Top 10 stars Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jannik Sinner, and Denis Shapovalov.
Nadal will be among the stars playing in Acapulco. The ATP 500 will also include Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini.
Nadal is a three-time champion at the Mexican tournament, at which Zverev emerged victorious in 2021. Former World No. 3 and 2014 titlist Grigor Dimitrov and 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion Carlos Alcaraz will also be in the field.
Watch the best shots as Rafael Nadal moves one win away from a record 21st Grand Slam men’s title after beating Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the Australian Open semi-finals.
Alexander Zverev has accepted a wild card into the Open Sud de France, an ATP 250 held in Montpellier, the tournament announced on social media. The event will be played from 31 January-6 February.
The German will compete in the tournament for the first time since 2017, when he lifted the title in Montpellier. That was the second ATP Tour trophy of his career.
Zverev first played in the Open Sud de France as a 17-year-old in 2015, when he lost in the third round of qualifying. He also made the semi-finals in 2016, and has a 7-1 main-draw record at the event.
The 24-year-old is 5-2 on the season after reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open. Third seed Zverev lost against 14th seed Denis Shapovalov in straight sets.
Daniil Medvedev complaining Stefanos Tsitsipas was receiving on-court coaching in their Australian Open semi-final may have been a “tactic”, says Tsitsipas.
Daniil Medvedev revealed he is not feeling the pressure and believes he can win the title on Sunday at the Australian Open after he moved past fourth-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to set up a clash against Rafael Nadal in Melbourne.
The Russian is aiming to become the first man to follow his maiden major crown with his second at the next Grand Slam event, after beating Novak Djokovic in the US Open final. His triumph over the World No. 1 in New York gave Medvedev a renewed sense of confidence, which he has used in Australia.
“I really don’t have much pressure. I know what I’m capable of when I’m playing well. I know that I can beat anybody,” Medvedev said in his post-match press conference on Friday. “The second round against Nick [Kyrgios] was a tight one. But it gave me a lot of confidence in my own power, in my own tennis.
“I know [after the US Open] that I’m capable of winning seven matches in a row and the last one against Novak was epic. So, I knew before this tournament that it is possible. That is what I’m trying to prove.”
This fortnight the 13-time tour-level titlist has edged Kyrgios, Maxime Cressy and Tsitsipas in four sets, while he saved a match point en route to his five-set victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals. His two other wins at Melbourne Park came against Henri Laaksonen and Botic van de Zandschulp
It is a run the 25-year-old has thoroughly enjoyed as he aims to go one step further this year in Melbourne compared to 12 months ago, when he lost to Djokovic in the championship match.
“It’s been great,” Medvedev said while smiling. “It’s definitely been emotional. It started with the match against Nick, which was just emotional in all aspects. I think it started there and this energy kept on going with different ones in every match. Some matches were mad. The Felix match was just crazy in terms of tennis and the score. My matches with Stefanos are always emotional. It’s been a great run and I’m happy that I have the chance to win the title on Sunday.”
An epic battle between champions sits on the horizon ?#AusOpenWithInfosys · @Infosys pic.twitter.com/Jms2S0yqJM
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2022
The second seed will compete in his fourth major final when he plays Nadal on Rod Laver Arena on Sunday. It will be the second time the World No. 2 has faced the Spaniard in the championship match of a Grand Slam, after losing to him in a five-set thriller at the US Open in 2019. Medvedev’s other two meetings at this stage of a major came against Djokovic.
“They are really strong,” Medvedev said when asked about the Big 3. “It’s really tough to get into the final, and I always have them there waiting for me. But it’s fun. When I was eight or 10 years old I was playing against the wall and I was imagining that it was Rafa on the other side, or Roger [Federer]. Novak was still not yet there.
“Now I have the chance to play a second time [against Nadal]. [The] first one was close, an epic one. I’m going to try to prepare well, and [I] need to show my best, because that’s what I took of the three finals that I played before, that you have to do better than 100 per cent in order to win.”
Nadal leads Medvedev 3-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, with the Russian’s only victory coming on hard at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2020.
On the challenge of facing the sixth seed, Medvedev added: “[It will probably be a] physical match. Rafa likes to drag people into long rallies. I like it too. I think it is going to be a great battle. But again, I remember last year’s final in Australia, even if it was against a different opponent. I’m going to try to be more ready, more focused, fighting more, and give it everything I have in terms of tennis, both physically and mentally.”
