{"id":999,"date":"2023-01-24T15:59:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T13:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/?p=999"},"modified":"2023-01-24T15:59:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T13:59:57","slug":"aussie-open-day-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/2023\/01\/24\/aussie-open-day-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie Open – Day 9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Day 9…the first day of quarter-final action. The day started with a ladies quarter-final between 22nd seed, Rybakina, and 17th seed, Ostapenko. Both players heading into the quarter-finals had only dropped 1 set each. Ostapenko dropped her only set in round 2 while Rybakina dropped her only set in the 3rd round so both players were playing some great tennis. Both players have also won a grand slam before so both know how to handle the pressure so on paper this was always going to be a good encounter. Ostapenko was the first to serve in this first ladies quarter-final and Rybakina broke that 1st game so she was off to the best possible start. Rybakina then led 3-1 when she broke the Ostapenko serve for a 2nd time and the 1st set was basically hers. 3 games later and Rybakina had the 1st set in the bag 6-2. She was just continuing where she left off against number 1 in the world Swiatek. The 2nd set started the complete opposite with Ostapenko holding serve and then breaking Rybakina for the 1st time to lead 2-0. Unfortunately for the Latvian, she lost her next service game and we were back on serve 2-1. Ostapenko then had chances to break again but somehow Rybakina got through that service game and then used that momentum to break Ostapenko and lead 3-2. The rest of the match was service holds which meant that Rybakina took the set 6-4 and with it the match and a spot in the semi-finals. Could she possibly back up her Wimbledon title of last year with a Australian title at the start of this year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2nd match of the day was a mens quarter-final between 18th seed Khachanov and 29th seed Korda. Khachanov had, had a relatively straight forward run so far at this year’s Australian Open. He had just dropped 2 sets which is pretty impressive. Korda started off relatively unscathed but his last match was a lung buster as he was taken to a 5th set super-tiebreak by 10th seed, Hurkacz. Khachanov was the player to get us going and he held to love to get the quarter final encounter off to a good start. He then found himself quickly 0-40 up and at 30-40 he managed to get the break and he was off to the perfect start. Korda was finally on the board as he took his 2nd service game but he was already 3-1 down in the match. Khacahnov then led 5-2 after multiple holds of serve and was a game away from the 1st set. Korda then held serve and forced the 18th seed to serve out the opening set. Out of nowhere Khachanov played a weak service game and he was broken at 15-40 and Korda was still alive in the set. He then held and he was back level at 5-5. The set ended up going to a tiebreak. The tiebreak was very close as they swapped for the first time at 3-3 but then Khachanov took the tiebreak by the scruff of the neck as he won the next 3 points to lead 6-3. The first set point he had on his own serve he took and finally Khachanov had the 1st set under his belt. Both players then won their first 3 service games in the 2nd set before Khachanov managed to break the Korda serve for the 2nd time in the match and lead 4-3 2nd set. Khachanov then backed up the break in a tight 8th game to lead 5-3 before breaking again to take the set 6-3 and be 1 set away from a semi-final. At 3-0 to Khachanov 3rd set, Sebi Korda had to retire due to a wrist injury. We wish him all the best and hope he recovers soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first match of the night session was a match between 3rd seed and new favourite after Swiatek lost in the previous round and 24th seed, Azarenka who had found her mojo again after a few years of not much to talk about. Azarenka was the player to start off the better as she led 3-0 with a break. She was nearly 4-0 but Pegula managed to hold onto her serve after a 11min service game where she fended off 5 or 6 break points. The set continued in that fashion where Azarenka continued to hold serve well compared to Pegula until 5-2. At 5-2, Azarenka had not only 2 break points but also 2 set points but Pegula came up with some incredible serves and shots to force Azarenka to serve it out. Azarenka once again had to set points and once again she ended up losing the game and all of a sudden it looked like momentum was shifting the Americans way. But the experienced Azarenka didn’t seem fazed and went on to break Pegula and take the 1st set 6-4. Azarenka then started the set well once again as she broke to lead 2-0 before Pegula broke straight back and it was 2-1. Azarenka then one the next 4 games and with it the match. An incredible performance from Azarenka. Will she add to her Australian Open collection and win it for the 3rd time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last match of the day was an intriguing one between 3rd seed and highest seed left in the tournament Tsitsipas and unseeded Next Gen Finals winner Lehecka. Tsitsipas had, had only 1 5 set match which was the last round against Sinner, otherwise he had one all his other matches in straight sets. Lehecka on the other hand had, had only 1 straight sets win in the tournament. Tsitsipas started the match, the better of the 2 players as he has had experience playing in grand slam semi-finals. He broke and led 3-0 opening set. The rest of the set went on serve and Tsitsipas took the set 6-3. The 2nd set was going to be an important one for Lehecka who you felt needed the 2nd set if he was to stand any chance of winning this match. And it was the young Czech player who had the first opportunities to break in the 4th game of the 2nd set. He found himself 15-40 up. Those 2 break points were saved and another 3 break points after that were saved and miraculously Tsitsipas took his first game point of that game to level the score at 2-2. The game turned out to be very important as the set went to a tiebreak and Tsitsipas played a flawless tiebreak to take it 7-2 and with it establish a 2 sets to love lead. The 3rd set went on serve before Tsitsipas broke Lehecka at 5-4 to take the match 6-4 in the 3rd set. The 3rd seed marches on and will face a tough opponent in 18th seed, Khachanov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onto the fantasy leaderboard and ‘Down Under’ sit alone at the top. The have a 2 point lead over ‘Live once Serve Twice’ and ‘Groundstroke’ who are still locked together in 2nd place. Moving up 1 spot into 4th is ‘Sinner’s Injuries’. They have been lurking for the majority of the tournament and now find themselves just 7 points off the leader. In 5th, moving up 2 places is ‘Drop Shots’. ‘Lynda’s Team’ is just 1 point off the top 5 and will be hoping like the rest of the top 10 that they can find a way into the top 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did once again lose some teams on day 9 with Pegula and Ostapenko and Korda being the picks who lost. ‘BEEP BEEP THE ROAD RUNNER’ who sits in the top half of the leaderboard has been eliminated and the other team eliminated is ‘Granny Poo x3 girltribe’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Top Half<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bottom Half<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Results on Day 9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Rybakina(22) beat Ostapenko(17) – 6-2; 6-4<\/li>
  • Khachanov(18) beat Korda(29) – 7-6(3); 6-3; 3-0(ret)<\/li>
  • Azarenka(24) beat Pegula(3) – 6-4; 6-1<\/li>
  • Tsitsipas(3) vs Lehecka – 6-3; 7-6(2); 6-4<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Quarter-finals to watch tomorrow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • Pliskova(30) vs Linette (02:00)<\/li>
    • Sabalenka(5) vs Vekic (04:00)<\/li>
    • Shelton vs Paul (05:00)<\/li>
    • Rublev(5) vs Djokovic(4) (10:30)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Day 9…the first day of quarter-final action. The day started with a ladies quarter-final between 22nd seed, Rybakina, and 17th seed, Ostapenko. Both players heading into the quarter-finals had only dropped 1 set each. Ostapenko dropped her only set in round 2 while Rybakina dropped her only set in the 3rd round so both players […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australian-open-2023"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1003,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions\/1003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}