 |
|
 |
||
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|||
| Prairie View MFA Agri Services - CLICK - MFA CONNECT |
|
Printable Page
01/20 04:16 CST Sinner's bid for Australian Open three-peat begins with
anti-climactic win
Sinner's bid for Australian Open three-peat begins with anti-climactic win
By JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) --- Jannik Sinner dropped just three games and spent
little over an hour on Rod Laver Arena to get his bid for an Australian Open
three-peat started.
The No. 2-ranked Sinner was leading 6-2, 6-1 when Hugo Gaston suddenly retired
from their match Tuesday night with an undisclosed injury.
"I saw that he was not serving with a very high pace in the second set," Sinner
said, but "it's not the way you want to win the match."
It was an anti-climatic way to finish his first competitive match on the center
court at Melbourne Park since his victory 12 months ago over Alexander Zverev
to clinch back-to-back Australian titles.
He's aiming to become the fourth player to win three consecutive men's titles
at the Australian Open.
Madison Keys had a tougher start to her title defense, struggling early against
the offbeat style of Oleksandra Oliynykova before advancing 7-6 (6), 6-1.
Ninth-seeded Keys, playing in her 50th Grand Slam tournament, trailed 4-0
before she rallied to force a tiebreaker against the Ukrainian.
"Obviously I was very nervous at the start," Keys said. "As nervous as I was .
. . I'm really glad to be back, and that I got through that match."
Different strokes Oliynykova kept her opponent off-stride with her unorthodox shot-making and strong defense. "A little bit more of like an unconventional style," Keys said. "I feel like that made things a little extra tricky at the start. I felt like at the end of the tiebreaker I really kind of found my game and then was able to carry that into the second set." Oliynykova gained a lot of attention with her unique body art and ink, and a printed message for Ukraine on a T-shirt she wore in her post-match news conference. Two seeded women's players were ousted in straight sets early on Day 3, with Janice Tjen upsetting No. 22 Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up, and Tereza Valentova beating Australia's Maya Joint. Former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens was beaten in the first round by Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7), 6-2. Stephens, who had to qualify this year, won the U.S. Open in 2017.
Shelton advances In a match between left-handers, Ben Shelton, a semifinalist a year ago in Australia, overcame Ugo Humbert 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) to reach the second round. The No. 8 seed said it was one of the toughest first-round matches he could have faced, with Humbert ranked No. 33. Humbert had the highest ranking of the unseeded players. "I thought I stayed really calm today," Shelton said. "On a court like this, playing Ugo in the first round is a tough draw. I felt I found some of my better tennis late in the match." He'll next face Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny, who ended the 20th and final Australian Open campaign for 39-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils. Fifth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti advanced when Raphael Collignon retired in the fourth set. The score was 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 3-2 when the Belgian player quit because of cramping and dizziness. Also advancing were Eliot Spizzirri, who beat rising star Joao Fonseca, the 19-year-old Brazilian, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, No. 15 Karen Khachanov and Sebastian Baez, who outlasted Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3. ___ More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Different strokes Oliynykova kept her opponent off-stride with her unorthodox shot-making and strong defense. "A little bit more of like an unconventional style," Keys said. "I feel like that made things a little extra tricky at the start. I felt like at the end of the tiebreaker I really kind of found my game and then was able to carry that into the second set." Oliynykova gained a lot of attention with her unique body art and ink, and a printed message for Ukraine on a T-shirt she wore in her post-match news conference. Two seeded women's players were ousted in straight sets early on Day 3, with Janice Tjen upsetting No. 22 Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up, and Tereza Valentova beating Australia's Maya Joint. Former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens was beaten in the first round by Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7), 6-2. Stephens, who had to qualify this year, won the U.S. Open in 2017.
Shelton advances In a match between left-handers, Ben Shelton, a semifinalist a year ago in Australia, overcame Ugo Humbert 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) to reach the second round. The No. 8 seed said it was one of the toughest first-round matches he could have faced, with Humbert ranked No. 33. Humbert had the highest ranking of the unseeded players. "I thought I stayed really calm today," Shelton said. "On a court like this, playing Ugo in the first round is a tough draw. I felt I found some of my better tennis late in the match." He'll next face Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny, who ended the 20th and final Australian Open campaign for 39-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils. Fifth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti advanced when Raphael Collignon retired in the fourth set. The score was 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 3-2 when the Belgian player quit because of cramping and dizziness. Also advancing were Eliot Spizzirri, who beat rising star Joao Fonseca, the 19-year-old Brazilian, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, No. 15 Karen Khachanov and Sebastian Baez, who outlasted Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3. ___ More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
