Breakthrough

Prior to the Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Roberto Bautista-Agut were not on the list of favorites of the tournament. Not only were both sown outside the top ten, they had never shown decent results in major before. And if for the Greek the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2018 became the ultimate dream, the Spaniard did not even reach the second week of the competition before.

At this tournament, both have already celebrated loud victories. So, Bautista-Agut beat Andy Murray and Karen Khachanov, and Tsitsipas became the main sensation of the Australian Open, stopping the current reigning champion Roger Federer. The Greek did not stop there and in a duel with the Spaniard almost repeated the script of his previous match.

As in the match with Federer Tsitsipas, at times he acted great in his pitch, leveling the low percentage of hitting balls from the first ball with the actively scored balls (at 57% accuracy, the Greek took 84% of the draws). So, already in the first set he performed seven aces, and following the results of four games he brought their number to 22. True, this did not help him much in the opening, as he immediately gave his pitch. Fortunately, in the eighth and 12th rival gave him his.

Bautista-Agut bravely resisted, but was able to take only the second set. In the third, he also managed to win an opponent's serve, but Tsitsipas responded with four games won in a row in the end. The final batch ended in a tiebreaker with a clear Greek advantage. Stefanos won his fifth “shortened game” at the tournament and for the first time in his career he made his way to the top four in the major.

By the way, Tsitsipas made history, becoming the youngest semifinalist of Grand Slam tournaments in the last 12 years. The last time Novak Djokovic managed to do this at the US Open - 2007.

What a moment 🙏 # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / IOL9wRYiHb

- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2019

Defeat

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had never before played in the semifinals of the most prestigious tennis competitions, and had every chance to correct this misunderstanding. True, for this she had to deal with the main sensation in the women's singles, Daniel Collins. Earlier, the American did not win a single match at TBSH, but in Melbourne somehow managed to overcome four laps, having dealt with three seeded tennis players and smashed the second racket of the world, Angelica Kerber.

The beginning of the meeting turned out to be extremely positive for Pavlyuchenkova. Anastasia on the move took two filing rival and led 3-0. After this intense struggle in the set was not observed - in the remaining time the athletes exchanged breaks, after which the Russian woman confidently finished the game in their favor.

Check out this @NastiaPav backhand down the line.

Can she keep it firing vs. #Collins? # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / synHZIzRN3

- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2019

In the second set Collins strongly added and again took delivery Pavlyuchenkova. With the score 2-5, Anastasia’s position seemed hopeless, but she heroically equalized the score by making a reverse break. With the score 5: 6 on her serve, she led 40:30 and had “more”, but her opponent turned out to be more successful and left the game behind.

This failure discouraged the Russian tennis player. In the third installment, Pavlyuchenkova and lost five games in a row. On this segment, the American looked just unbelievable: she did not make any unforced errors, and also won 20 draws from 23. After the match, Collins would say that in this segment she played tennis more than ever during her career.

Anastasia was able to avoid dry defeat, but this was her only achievement. Collins got the upper hand and for the first time in her career she made her way to the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournament, and Russia lost her last representative in the Australian Open.

Danielle #Collins keeps the dream alive!

The world no. 35 becomes the first woman into #AusOpen by defeating #Pavlyuchenkova 2-6 7-5 6-1. # GameSetMatch # AOFiredUppic.twitter.com / NArH3cgKla

- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2019

Favorite

Rafael Nadal was also confronted by a rival who had already become a thunderstorm of seeded tennis players at the Australian Open. In previous matches, Francis Tiafoe managed to deal with the fifth number of sowing by Kevin Anderson, and after that he crushed Grigor Dimitrov. However, the Spaniard kept his promise and thoroughly studied the game of his future opponent, turning a potentially difficult match into an ordinary victory.

Nadal made a break in the first game on the pitch Tiafo, then confidently brought the set to win. Subsequently, he repeated a similar trick in the two remaining games, finally discouraging his rival. Rafael was utterly stronger than Francis and left the court only after 109 minutes after the start of the meeting - 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 2.

This success allowed Nadal to enter the elite tennis club, who managed to reach the semifinal of Grand Slam tournaments 30 or more times. In addition to it, there are only three athletes: Jimmy Connors (31), Novak Djokovic (33) and Roger Federer (43).

. @ RafaelNadal's return game 💯 # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / zcUoWk0CDR

- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2019

Return

Petra Kvitova’s bout with Ashley Barty was also without surprises. Czech came to this meeting in the status of a favorite and confirmed it with a solid margin.

The first batch lasted only 28 minutes. Already at the start Kvitova made a break and led with the score 3: 0. In this case, Barty tried to catch on the opponent's supply, but Petra played three break points and easily brought the set to victory.

The second was more equal. The hostess of the court tried with all her might to win the Czech pitch, but that time she turned out to be a little more precise. In the course of the game, Kvitova played two break points, while she herself took the first chance. With the score 4: 4, she made a break, and in the next game from the first attempt, she issued a ticket to the next stage.

Thus, Czech for the sixth time in his career made it to the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournament. The last time she went so far in 2014, when she won her second victory at Wimbledon. In Melbourne, she reached this stage for the second time, and for the first time after an armed attack, because of which she was forced to miss the Australian Open - 2017.

"I didn’t really imagine it."

Petra Kvitova earned an emotional 6-1 6-4 win over Ash Barty to advance to the semifinals: https://t.co/okTHXZPU0z#AusOpen#SleepIsForTheWeakpic.twitter.com/s2B9pbhvjB

- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2019

First line

The victory over Barty brought Kvitovoy not only a ticket to the semifinals, but also a chance to fight for the title of the first racket of the world. Given the defeat in the fourth round, Simon Halep is guaranteed to leave the top of the table, and Petra has good chances to take her place.

In addition to Petra, three more athletes are applying for the honorary title. According to the results of the Australian Open, the Japanese Naomi Osaka, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, and the compatriot Kvitova Karolina Plishkova keep a chance to be on the first line.

See ya Thursday, @Petra_Kvitova! # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / X9JNQ94q3I

- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2019

Forecast

Meanwhile, Patrick Muratoglu, trainer of the future rival Seven Williams Kvitova, said that an American could win the Australian Open.

“The birth of a child is a great event, and many leading sports stars need time to return fully. Serena was not easy from the point of view of emotions - she plunged into a completely new life. However, I feel that she has become herself again, both physically and psychologically. I think she's good. She needed a big match, and she played it. The victory over Khalep should have a great impact on its future results. I believe that Williams will be able to win, ”the official WTA website cites Muratогlu’s words.

Dominant. @ Serenawilliams is 21-1 in her last 22 Grand Slam matches against top five opponents. # AusOpen (h / t @jon_wertheim) pic.twitter.com/ljt4Y7DqKO

- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2019

Failure

Compatriots Kvitova Barbora Kreychikova and Katerina Sinyakova, who perform in doubles, were forced to cover their rackets. Tennis players, sown under the first number, left the tournament at the quarter-final stage, twice losing in a tie-break. Their offenders were the Australian Samantha Stosur and the Chinese Zhang Shuai.

In their absence, the status of the main favorites of the tournament passed to the Hungarian-French duet - Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic. The winners of last year’s tournament were not without problems being sorted out with American Raquel Atavo and Slovenian Katharina Srebotnik.

Juniors

In the men's singles tournament, Russia was left without its representatives. At the stage of the second round, Alexander Binda left the tournament. The Russian tennis player was unable to impose the fight against the sixth seeded Nicholas Varone, losing in two games - 4: 6, 6: 7 (1: 7).

The number of Russian athletes in the women's net has decreased. Daria Freiman won the 11th seeded Adrienne Nagy. Tennis players took on the set with a score of 6-2, and the fate of the match was decided on a super tie-break. Luck was on the side of the Hungarian - 10: 7.

Now Framan remains to focus on performing in doubles. In the second round, they, along with the Italian Federica Rossi, defeated the first seeded competition - Chinese Wong Hong and tennis player from South Korea Pak Siyun. In the next round they will face the owners of Wild Card Olivia Gadetski and Megan Smith. In their match, the hosts of the tournament beat the Russian pair Elina Avanesyan - Anastasia Tikhonova.

Melonne Veronika Pepeliaeva and Avelina Sayfetdinova left. By lot, they won the tournament favorites - Spaniard Marta Kustich and Malta representative Elena Pellikano. The meeting ended in two sets - 2: 6, 4: 6.

Maria Krupenina could not extend her stay at the tournament either. The Russian woman, who appeared in a pair with the Ukrainian Darya Snigur, was beaten seventh seeded in the face of the Frenchwoman Lyudmila Bensheikh and another athlete from Malta Francesca Kurmi.

Joke

Serb Novak Djokovic opened the veil of secrecy and said that he whispered Daniel Medvedev in his ear after defeat in the quarter-finals.

“In fact, we treat each other with great respect. We often train together, because we both live and train in Monaco. During the handshake, Daniel asked about my condition. He asked: "Did you at least sweat?" It made me laugh, because the answer was obvious. At times, Medvedev played very well, ”Djokovic quotes the official competition website

Even after a loss, @DaniilMedwed 😂 # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / MRBN5jVRU8

- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2019

Statement

The well-known German tennis player Boris Becker, in his turn, gave advice to Briton Andy Murray who announced his retirement.

“I really like Andy. I know him well, and I hope he will not rush to end his career because of injury. This is the worst case scenario. If there is an opportunity to recover and end a career otherwise, it is vital for Murray. I have seen enough other athletes leaving the sport due to injury. I know that Andy struggled for a long time with the injury and tried everything, but we live in 2019, there are new methods of treatment for each type of illness. He just needs to find the right doctors, ”Becker Sky Sports quotes.