Day 6 of the Australian Open 2023 and finally a day where not many upsets occurred.

Today I will start with the ladies draw. The day started off with straight set wins from Vekic, Pliskova, Zhang and Bencic. Fruhvirtova got the better of fellow Czech player Vondrousova in 3 sets. Fruhvirtova winning that match 7-5, 2-6; 6-3 much to the disappoint of the fantasy teams who picked Vondrousova. 5th seed Sabalenka continues to look good in the ladies draw. She dropped just 5 games in her win over 26th seed , Mertens. However the Australian Open is not done for Mertens as she is still alive and kicking in the ladies doubles draw. 4th seed, Garcia, had another scare as she beat Siegemund in 3 sets. The German taking the first set against one of the favourites Garcia, however Garcia managed to find her best tennis again as she took the next 2 sets 6-3. The last match to be played on day 6 was between unseeded but dangerous Linette and 19th seed, Alexandrova. The 19th seed being knocked out in what was the only upset in the ladies draw. Astonishing after what has happened on the last 2 days.

In the mens draw the day started off very well for 5th seed Rublev as he beat 25th seed Evans in straight sets – 6-4; 6-2; 6-3. 9th seed, Rune also continued his good run as he beat unseeded Humbert in straight sets -6-4; 6-2; 7-6(5). 22nd seed, Australian, Alex De Minaur impressed in front of his home crowd as he beat Bonzi in straight sets. He will face number 4 seed, Djokovic in the 4th round after the Serb won his match against 27th seed, Dimitrov in straight sets despite being apparently injured. Paul won the all American battle against Brooksby in straight sets. Paul will face Bautista-Agut who was finally the man to beat unseeded Murray at this year’s Australian Open. Bautista-Agut was taken to 4 sets by Murray but he managed to get through the challenge. JJ Wolf won the 2nd all American match against MMoh in straight sets. His opponent is another American, Shelton, who beat the crowd favourite Popyrin in straight sets.

Onto the fantasy leaderboard and ‘Live once Serve Twice’ fought back to top spot after temporarily losing it on day 5. ‘Groundstroke’ move up a place into 2nd while ‘Down Under’ lose 2 spots and drop down to 3rd place. ‘Wizards’ move up to 4th while ‘Jono’s AO23 Phenomenon’ moves up into the top 5. Just two points behind the prize positions sit ‘Drop Shots’ and ‘Sinners Injuries’. There is a fierce battle for the wooden spoon as 3 teams are currently last. ‘Baseline’, ‘Chalk Dust’ and ‘Underdogs’ all sit in a joint last position.

Matches to watch on Day 7

• Swiatek(1) vs Rybakina(22) (03:30)
• Ostapenko(17) vs Gauff(7) (04:00)
• Hurkacz(10) vs Korda(29) (04:45)
• Nishioka(31) vs Khachanov(18) (05:30)
• Lehecka vs Auger-Aliassime(6) (06:30)
• Pegula(3) vs Krejcikova(20) (08:00)
• Tsitsipas(3) vs Sinner(15) (10:00)
• Azarenka(24) vs Zhu (12:00)

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a tennis fantasy league organiser.http://Eishonline.co.za/jftl