Billie Jean Cup: Finals of revamped Fed Cup competition again postposed because of Covid
The finals of the Billie Jean Cup in April have been postponed for a second time because of the coronavirus.
The finals of the Billie Jean Cup in April have been postponed for a second time because of the coronavirus.
Watch the best shots as Naomi Osaka beat Serena Williams in straight sets to advance to the final of the Australian Open.
Aslan Karatsev left Melbourne Park with his head held high on Thursday after a semi-final exit to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
“It was a great two weeks for me, starting with the qualifying,” said Karatsev, after a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 loss to nine-time champion Djokovic. “It’s a good experience. To play against Novak, helps me to get experience.
“It felt unbelievable [to play in front of a big crowd]. There was a lot of people here, and the support was really warm. It was [a] good atmosphere to play [in].”
Karatsev, who qualified for his first Grand Slam championship and beat eighth seed Diego Schwartzman, No. 18 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 20 seed Grigor Dimitrov en route to the Australian Open semi-finals, admitted that the difference between him and Djokovic on Rod Laver Arena was “huge”.
“The difference is really big,” said Karatsev, who was contesting just the 19th tour-level match of his career. “He doesn’t give you free points. On my serve, you have to play a rally every point. [My] serve didn’t work well today, and on my service games there [were] always rallies. He served well all the match, [so] you’re under pressure.”
The 27-year-old Russian, who started the tournament at No. 114 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, will rise into the Top 50 on Monday and looks forward to playing in ATP Tour events.
“It give me more experience, more confidence,” said Karatsev. “Now I will be playing all [the] big tournaments without [having to play in] the qualifying. I’ll [use] this confidence and just keep playing, keep practising.
“[I feel] that I can play with everyone. I think it’s helped me a lot [for] my career. I improved my ranking, Top 50 [too].”
Karatsev joined Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev as a part of Russia’s ATP Cup title-winning team prior to the Australian Open. Medvedev plays Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second Australian Open semi-final on Friday.
Eight-time champion Novak Djokovic says knowing that he has never lost an Australian Open final gives him more confidence ahead of Sunday’s test against Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The World No. 1, who was speaking after a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 semi-final victory over Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev on Thursday, said, “Of course, it contributes to [having] more confidence. Coming into the final, knowing that I [have] never lost in the final or semi-finals [at the Australian Open] just makes me feel more comfortable on the court.
“But each year is different, although it does have a mental effect on me [and] maybe on my opponents. It does definitely have a positive effect on me. It’s not a decisive factor in the way the match is going to go… Regardless of my great record, I think both Tsitsipas and Medvedev will want to get their first Grand Slam title.”
Djokovic, who injured his abdominal region in a third-round victory over Taylor Fritz last week, went on to discuss his route to a 28th major championship final (17-10 record) and how he played pain-free against Karatsev on Rod Laver Arena.
“I’ve never experienced the kind of a injury that I experienced in third round here, and had to deal with in the past five days,” said Djokovic. “I also had tough match-ups. I had big hitters: Fritz, [Milos] Raonic, [Frances] Tiafoe, [Alexander] Zverev. I just had to deliver my best [level].
“I see every experience that I have at the Grand Slams as something that I can actually draw a lot of lessons from, learn from and grow. [I] definitely had to stretch myself to the limit in the past five days in every sense, but I’m really pleased that in terms of [the] injury, it’s going in the right direction.
“I am surprised [by] the way I felt tonight. I think it surpassed, in a way, my greatest wishes and the way I wanted to feel… I didn’t think that I’d play without pain tonight. And I did play without pain.
“Each day [the injury] is progressing and getting better, and so today is [the] best [I’ve] felt. Hopefully, [the injury] will stay the same until the final.”
The Serbian, who has compiled an 81-8 match record at Melbourne Park, admitted he has always aimed to begin each season in good form.
“I think, as any other tennis player at the beginning of the season, I really want to get off the blocks and start the season in the best possible way. So I’m fresh, I’m motivated, I’m inspired to play my best tennis. Then, of course, the surface, the conditions, especially night matches are very suitable to my style of play.
“I just somehow always manage to find the best game when it matters the most. The more I win, the better I feel coming back each year…. The love affair keeps [on] going.”
After Rafael Nadal’s loss to Tsitsipas in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, Djokovic is guaranteed to remain as World No. 1 through at least 8 March, when he will overtake Roger Federer to set a new record of 311 total weeks at No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.
Top seed Novak Djokovic overcomes stern resistance from Aslan Karatsev to reach the Australian Open final and end the Russian qualifier’s remarkable run.
Serena Williams leaves her Australian Open news conference in tears after her semi-final defeat by Naomi Osaka.
World No. 1 and eight-time champion Novak Djokovic leads Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev 6-3 on Thursday night in their Australian Open semi-final. Djokovic is on course to reach his 28th Grand Slam championship final, where the Serbian will meet fourth-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev or fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
Karatsev didn’t appear to be fazed by the biggest occasion of his career, striking powerful groundstrokes to keep Djokovic behind the baseline in the first set. The Russian won four straight points from 0/30 to overcome his first challenge at 2-3, but Djokovic broke to love for a 5-3 advantage after Karatsev made three consecutive errors. Djokovic won eight straight points to clinch the 35-minute opener, which saw Karatsev commit 13 unforced errors.
The 27-year-old Karatsev is bidding to become the first player to reach the final on his Grand Slam debut. At No. 114 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Karatsev is also attempting to become the lowest-ranked man to reach a major single final since World No. 125 Goran Ivanisevic at 2001 Wimbledon.
After Rafael Nadal’s loss to Tsitsipas in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, Novak Djokovic is guaranteed to remain as World No. 1 through at least 8 March, when he will overtake Roger Federer to set a new record of 311 total weeks at No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.
Naomi Osaka will face Jennifer Brady in the Australian Open final after beating Serena Williams and ending the American’s quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
Joe Salisbury, alongside American Desirae Krawczyk, beat fellow Briton Neal Skupski to reach the Australian Open mixed doubles semi-finals.
Confidence is king, and Daniil Medvedev has plenty of it.
The fourth seed is into the semi-finals of the Australian Open, where he will play fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot in the championship match. Nobody on Tour has more momentum than the inimitable Russian, whose tricky game has stymied all opponents across the net in recent months.
Entering last year’s Rolex Paris Masters, Medvedev held an 18-10 record on the 2020 season. Since then, he has won 19 consecutive matches, and is now two victories away from lifting his first Grand Slam trophy. Former World No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov is not surprised.
“I always said he’s the kind of player where the more matches he plays, the better he gets. What‘s happening right now, it’s a logical thing because he played a lot of matches in the fall last year and luckily he’s won a few tournaments,” Kafelnikov said. “That gives him a lot of confidence and we all know how confidence can play a huge factor for any top-level player.”
What’s been most impressive about Medvedev’s run is that he has consistently faced some of the toughest opponents on the ATP Tour. Eleven of his 19 wins have come against Top 10 opponents. The 25-year-old captured the biggest trophy of his career at the Nitto ATP Finals — where he beat the top three players in the FedEx ATP Rankings — and led Russia to glory in the ATP Cup, where he faced the No. 1 player from opposing countries.
“Confidence is an important factor, especially at the level where a few points can make the difference,” Kafelnikov said. “That’s where the difference is for Medvedev at the moment against the top players.”
It’s not just been that Medvedev has been winning, it’s how he’s been doing so. During this stretch, the Russian has won seven of his 11 matches against Top 10 players in straight sets.
“The best feeling is when you win matches, so the more you win, the more you win in a row, the more it’s better as a feeling,” Medvedev said. “Some matches I could say, ‘I could do this better, this better.’ But for me the momentum, the confidence means a big part.
“I think you can see that once I lose it, I start to make more unforced errors and that’s where my game can be a little weaker.”
The million-dollar question: How has Medvedev found such success against the best players in the world so consistently?
“Every player at every level has at least one opponent whose style gives them fits,” former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert wrote in his book Winning Ugly.
Medvedev has been that player for all his opponents lately. The Russian blends impenetrable defence with opportunistic offence to thrive regardless of the circumstances. Players are forced to pick their poison: Attack too aggressively against someone who gets nearly ever ball back, and risk going for too much, or settle into rallies and allow the Russian to hit through the court with his flat, penetrating groundstrokes. Neither option is enticing.
Andrey Rublev led the ATP Tour with five titles last season and was 8-0 this year entering his quarter-final against Medvedev Wednesday, and yet the seventh seed was left throwing his hands up in frustration as he struggled to find solutions against his ATP Cup teammate. Rublev, like many others, was unable to solve the Medvedev puzzle.
“You need to be focussed 100 per cent every point, because as soon as you relax, then he will use this opportunity,” Rublev said. “It’s always important… to still try to bring all the balls back, because then for him, it’s also not easy. I’m not the only one who’s suffering, he’s also suffering, because in the end for him it’s tough to be always the one who needs to attack and then suddenly again to defend.”
It’s much harder than it looks, but Medvedev manages to transition seamlessly, which frustrates players even more. His next opponent, Tsitsipas, said after losing against Medvedev at the 2019 Rolex Shanghai Masters that “it’s boring” to play the Russian.
“He has a huge serve, and if you manage to get it back, it’s just countless balls inside the court,” Tsitsipas said at the time. “[All] you can do is hit as hard as you can side to side, be accurate, and make him move. Otherwise you can just play it back to him and play it again and play it again. It just keeps coming back, keeps coming back.”
Over time, however, the Greek star has come to appreciate Medvedev’s unorthodox game style.
“[I] might have said in the past that he plays boring, but I don’t really think he plays boring,” Tsitsipas said. “He just plays extremely smart and outplays you. He’s somebody I really need to be careful with and just take my chances and press. That will be very important.”
Medvedev is as confident as ever. Will anyone be able to stop him at Melbourne Park, or will he ride his tidal wave of momentum to his maiden Grand Slam trophy?
“I’m really happy that I managed to keep this momentum going so far, and it feels great,” Medvedev said. “Hopefully I can continue it for at least two matches.”