‘Peak tennis mess’: Australian Open slammed over roof debacle, rain delay

The world No. 2 will face fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the decider, while American 27th seed Danielle Collins and Polish seventh seed Iga Swiatek locked in a women’s semi-final.

It comes after world No. 1 Ash Barty cruised through to the semi-finals by thumping American Jessica Pegula in straight sets. She will face Madison Keys in her semi, while Matteo Berrettini and Rafael Nadal will play in the other men’s semi-final.

‘Peak tennis mess’: Roof debacle slammed

Daniil Medvedev enhanced his reputation as the villain of the Australian Open by trolling the crowd with a reference to Novak Djokovic after his incredible comeback win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in a match that featured plenty of drama.

Tournament organsisers came in for criticism because, with rain approaching, the roof on Rod Laver Arena was left open. Medvedev had a mini-break up 2-1 in the third-set tiebreak, with Auger-Aliassime trying to close out the match, before play was halted to close the roof.

Players had to sit down for more than six minutes, waiting for the roof to close.

News Corp tennis reporter Marc McGowan tweeted: “How does a situation like this happen, where there’s a roof being constantly opened and shut and now there’s rain falling on the court mid-tiebreak?

“Hard to know whether the players requested it stay open wherever possible or if there’s been a misjudgment/error here.”

Journalist Ben Rothenberg tweeted: “Truly. If you have a roof, and it’s going to rain, close the roof.”

Tennis writer Gaspar Ribeiro Lanca called it a “peak tennis mess” while Graeme Powell wrote on Twitter: “They knew the rain was coming and left the roof open. Just their latest blunder in a long list of blunders.”

During the rain delay, Medvedev took the opportunity to complain to the chair umpire about whoever was controlling the big screen at Rod Laver.

“Tell the operator, stop being really stupid … How stupid can he be, huh? Idiot. You need to be really no-brained to do that,” Medvedev said.

The sight of a stack of ballkids drying the court didn’t sit well with everyone either. Nine reporter Corey Norris tweeted: “The winner of #AusOpen will take home $2.875 million. But the court is dried by 15 ball kids with towels.”

Medvedev came back out to win the tiebreak and the set, then went on to secure a thrilling 6-7 3-6 7-6 7-5 6-4 win.

Day 10 results

Rod Laver Arena

Danielle Collins [27] defeated Alize Cornet 7-5 6-1

Iga Swiatek [7] vs Kaia Kanepi 4-6 7-6 6-3

Stefanos Tsitsipas [4] defeated Jannik Sinner [11] 6-3 6-4 6-2

Daniil Medvedev [2] defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime [9] 6-7 3-6 7-6 7-5 6-4

‘Best I’ve seen’: Tennis thrashing is bonkers

Stefanos Tsitsipas booked his place in the Australian Open semi-finals with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over Italian world No. 10 Jannik Sinner.

The Greek star was on fire from the outset but a rain delay at 6-3 2-1 with a break in the second set sparked questions among commentators it could be to Sinner’s benefit.

But Tsitsipas was not about to slow down, romping to a straight sets victory.

And when the Greek superstar went to celebrate, he wanted to make sure the moment was immortalised, as a Twitter user caught him turning to the Netflix cameras before acknowledging his own team.

According to reports before the Open, semi-finalists Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini as well as the likes of Dominic Thiem, Elina Svitolina, Maria Sakkari, Ons Jabeur, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Karen Khachanov, Garbine Muguruza, Cristian Garin, Cameron Norrie, Zizou Bergs, and Alex de Minaur will feature in a Drive to Survive style documentary on Netflix.

Tsitsipas opened up on his comeback from an elbow injury after the match, as he didn’t think he’d even be able to play at the Open.

“I’m pretty sure my doctor is watching right now, he has been sending me texts after every single game, Frank, we both didn’t expect for me to participate at the Australian Open, it was not part of our plan,” he said. “He certainly told me ‘I don’t see you playing in Australia’ but I proved him wrong.”

Tsitsipas will play Daniil Medvedev in the semi finals.

Aussie legend Todd Woodbridge said he believed the match has played Tsitsipas into top form.

“Everything was in order,” Woodbridge said on Nine’s coverage.

“Jannik Sinner will look back and say, ‘What could I have done better? Not too much today’. The match was taken out of his hands at the very beginning on his opening service game. Stefanos Tsitsipas never let him play at all.

“That was a real statement to the guys that are left that he has found his form.”

Sam Groth agreed: “He bullied him around the court in this one, that’s for sure. That’s as good as I’ve seen Tsitsipas in quite a long time. He went to another level tonight.”

Aus Open boilover sets up 37-year first

Australian doubles pair Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden have secured a thrilling three-set victory in their quarter-final against No. 10 seeded duo Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski.

After losing the opening set on Show Court Arena, the Aussies held their nerve to force a decisive third set, which went to super tie-break.

In stunning scenes at Melbourne Park, Ebden and Purcell won the tie-break 10-6 to qualify for the semi-finals.

They will face No. 2 seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the semi-final on Thursday afternoon.

Ebden and Purcell will be joined by popular Australian duo Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the top four — it’s the first time since 1985 that there will be two Aussie pairings in the Australian Open men’s doubles semi-finals.

Swiatek wins three hour thriller

The women’s semi-finals are locked in as seventh seed Iga Swiatek claimed a three-hour thriller against Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi.

Swiatek screamed in delight after claiming the victory in a major come from behind win.

The loss denies Kanepi her first ever grand slam semi-final, having made the quarters for the seventh time, as she made it this deep at the Australian Open for the first time.

Kanepi needed seven set points to get the job done, but she finally claimed the first set.

In warm conditions on Rod Laver Arena, 36-year-old Kanepi raced ahead of her opponent in the opening set, quickly securing a double break.

But Swiatek saved six set points before Kanepi landed the decisive blow to win the first set 6-4.

Kanepi’s dominance continued in the second set, with the Estonian immediately breaking serve — but in a stunning shift of momentum, Swiatek claimed a double break to go ahead 3-1.

However, in yet another twist in the topsy-turvy second set, Kanepi broke serve once again to force a tie-break — Swiatek held her nerve to win the decider and set up a mouth-watering third set.

But after three hours in the hot sun, Swiatek completed the comeback, taking the third set 6-3 to book a semi-finals date with 27th seed Danielle Collins.

Aussie world No. 1 Ash Barty will play American Madison Keys in the other semi-final.

Fine print exposes Kyrgios doubles truth

Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley has confirmed the Australian duo of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis will play their men’s doubles semi-final on Rod Laver Arena.

After defeating world No. 1 seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in straight sets, the “Special Ks” have made Kia Arena their fortress this week.

Melbourne Park spectators can’t get enough of Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, with their antics becoming one of the highlights of the grand slam.

Speaking on Channel 9’s Today, Tiley revealed the Aussie stars will get a chance to strut their stuff in front of a larger audience on centre court when they come up against Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos and Spain’s Marcel Granollers on Thursday.

Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott will also play his final professional tennis match on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday, immediately after Kyrgios and Kokkinakis.

“We’ve got some surprise things happening tomorrow,” Tiley said on Wednesday morning.

“One of the announcements — we haven’t told anyone yet, so first time here — is we are actually going to move the Special Ks from Kia Arena onto Rod Laver Arena. Yeah, big call.

“Anyone coming on site tomorrow with a ground pass can get into Rod Laver Arena and watch them play and not before 2.30pm, followed by Dylan, so stay and watch Dylan. We want to make Dylan’s match the most watched wheelchair tennis match in the history of the game tomorrow afternoon.”

However, despite Tiley claiming TA had “moved” the fixture, a press release from December last year suggested the men’s doubles semi-finals was already scheduled to take place in Rod Laver Arena.

A Tennis Australia spokesperson confirmed to news.com.au that there had not been a schedule change, and Tiley’s remarks were in response to Kokkinakis’ plea the previous day.

“Hopefully Craig is watching and keeps us on this court,” he said after the Aussie duo’s quarter-final victory on Kia Arena. “The rowdier the better from everyone honestly.”

‘Absolute knob’: Kyrgios blasted on live TV

Kiwi doubles tennis star Michael Venus has lashed out at Nick Kyrgios after being ousted by the polarising Aussie on Tuesday.

Venus and German playing partner Tim Puetz were beaten in three sets by Kyrgios and fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the quarter-final of the men’s doubles draw in front of a raucous crowd that the Aussie pair whipped into a frenzy.

Speaking to TVNZ, Venus was critical of Kyrgios, calling him “an absolute knob”.

“You see why he’s never fulfilled his potential and probably never will,” Venus said.

“His maturity level, it’s probably being generous to about a 10-year-old, it’s at about that level.”

— NZ Herald

Collins storms into semi-finals

Danielle Collins blasted past Alize Cornet in the second set of their clash to book a spot in the semi-finals with a 7-5 6-1 win.

Cornet was in the quarter-finals of a major for the first time in her career — ending a run of 62 straight grand slams without cracking the last eight — but that’s where her dream run ended.

Collins’ ultra aggressive returning in the second set blindsided Cornet and the veteran Frenchwoman had no answers to her opponent’s ruthless killer instinct.

Collins will face the winner of this afternoon’s Iga Swiatek vs Kaia Kanepi match in the semi-finals, while the other semi will see Aussie Ash Barty face big-hitting American Madison Keys.

Melbourne Park crowd capacity lifted

The Victorian Government has increased the crowd capacity at Melbourne Park up to 65 per cent for the remainder of the Australian Open.

Martin Pakula, the Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, confirmed the decision on Twitter on Wednesday morning,

Tennis Australia has lost millions due to the 50 per cent crowd capacity on Rod Laver Arena, a rule that was introduced less than a week before the grand slam tournament got underway.

Nadal’s crazy 4kg weight loss

Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal has booked his spot in the Australian Open semi-finals with a thrilling five-set victory over Canada’s Denis Shapovalov on Rod Laver Arena.

Nadal claimed the opening two sets on Tuesday evening before Shapovalov threatened to pull off a massive upset by forcing a fifth set — but the 20-time grand slam champion prevailed to claim a 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3 victory.

However, according to reports, Nadal lost four kilograms during the four-hour quarter-final clash in humid conditions.

Day 10 preview

Title favourite Daniil Medvedev will need to keep his cool on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open after a mini-meltdown in the previous round.

Should the Russian second seed get past young Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the night match on Rod Laver Arena, then the prize could be a last-four showdown with fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The women’s quarter-finals will wrap up with American Danielle Collins targeting a second Melbourne Park semi-final against giant-killing Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, and Polish seventh seed Iga Swiatek taking on veteran Estonian Kaia Kanepi.

The men’s US Open champion Medvedev knows he needs to keep a lid on his temper, which was pushed to the limit in the last round under severe examination by serve-and-volley specialist Maxime Cressy.

“It was long and it was not easy, they were all tough sets,” said Medvedev after a tetchy performance where he clashed with the umpire, complained of bad luck and screamed “It’s boring!” at Cressy’s relentless tactics behind his big serve.

The US Open champion admitted he was relieved to come through the most severe examination of his title credentials so far.

“If I didn’t win the fourth set I would have been in a tough mental shape,” said Medvedev, the de facto top seed after the deportation of defending champion Novak Djokovic on the eve of the tournament.

He faces ninth seed Auger-Aliassime who took a confidence-boosting win against the 2018 Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic in four sets in the last 16.

“It’s amazing. It puts my belief even higher, I lost three times to Marin in the past, this is my first win against him,” the 21-year-old said.

— with AFP

Originally published as ‘Peak tennis mess’: Australian Open slammed over roof debacle, rain delay