Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic Edge Past Russian Duo To Claim Australian Open Title - UBITENNIS
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Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic Edge Past Russian Duo To Claim Australian Open Title

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Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic (zimbio)

Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic claimed the Australian Open Women’s Doubles title after they edged past Russian duo, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-3.

 

Heading into the final, Makarova and Vesnina were the clear favourites as they had won the other three grand slam titles. The Russians backed up their favourite status by sealing an early break in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead.

However Babos and Mladenovic looked impressive during their Australian Open run and some good returning gave them the break back for 4-4. The fifth seeds continued their momentum as the Russian struggled on serve as they broke in the tenth game to grab the opening set in 37 minutes.

In the second set there were four breaks of serve in the opening five games as weak second serves cost both teams. However the French-Hungarian duo grabbed the crucial blow in the eighth game as they took a 5-3 lead and had the opportunity to serve for the title. After a long game and three break points saved, Babos and Mladenovic sealed their first grand slam as a team on their first match point.

After the match Mladenovic was proud of their win especially since she has been on a 15 match losing streak in singles, “How can I describe this? It’s a Grand Slam title that I add to my career. It’s something you cannot describe in a way. It’s so emotional. It’s great. When you live moment like this, there is no reason why it couldn’t work in singles. Obviously it’s a lot of confidence, yeah, just positivity for me.” Said Mladenovic.

Babos, who has won her first grand slam after two previous Women’s Doubles losses in finals, explained her delight as well, “Of course it’s an incredible feeling to share this moment together on court. We really enjoy playing together. We improved overall I think every single match.”

Babos and Mladenovic’s win means it is their first grand slam victory while Russian duo, Makarova and Vesnina will have to wait to complete their grand slam collection.

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Iga Swiatek cruises past Magda Linette to reach the quarter final at the China Open in Beijing

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Iga Swiatek cruised past this year’s Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette 6-1 6-1 to reach the quarter final at the China Open in Beijing. Swiatek has won her 60th match in 2023. 

 

Swiatek set up a match against Caroline Garcia or Anhelina Kalinina. 

Swiatek did not face any break points and dropped just eight points on her serve and hit 16 winners to Linette’s three. She broke twice in the first set and three times in the second set. 

Swiatek has won her 18th match this year for the loss of three or fewer games. 

Swiatek has improved to 3-1 in her head-to-head matches against her compatriots. She lost her only match via retirement against Joanna Zawadswa in the first round of the Warsaw ITF W25 tournament in 2018. 

Swiatek has reached her 14th quarter final in 2023 and her ninth at WTA 1000 level. The Polish player has become the fourth player since 2009 to reach seven or more WTA 1000 quarter final in the same season after Agnieszka Radwanska, Li Na and Serena Williams. 

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Dusan Lajovic beats Stan Wawrinka to reach the second round in Shanghai

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Dusan Lajovic beat Stan Wawrinka 6-4 7-6 (9-7) on Stadium  Court at the Masters 1000 tournment in Shanghai in their first head-to-head match since Roland Garros 2015. 

 

Lajovic, who won the ATP 250 title in Banja Luka last April completed the set of winning a main-draw match at each of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments. 

Lajovic broke Wawrinka’s serve in the first game of the opening set. The Serbian player earned a double break in the seventh game to open up a 5-2. Wawrinka pulled one break back in the eighth game for 3-5, but Lajovic served out the first set to love. 

Lajovic earned went up a break twice in the third and seventh games of the second set, but Wawrinka broke back both times. Lajovic saved a set point at 6-7 in the tie-break and won the final three points to close out the match in 1 hour and 53 minutes. 

Lajovic hit 16 winners to just 7 unforced errors. The Serbian player moved to 1-2 in his three head-to-head matches against his Swiss opponent. 

Lajovic set up a second round match against Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor. 

Brandon Nakashima beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-1 7-6 (7-3) to set up a second round match against Holger Rune. Nakashima won his first Masters 1000 match since last March in Miami. Nakashima broke twice in the second and fourth games and held his final service game at love to seal the first set 6-1. Both players went on serve with no break points en route to the tie-break. Zapata Miralles earned an early mini-break at the start of the tie-break to take a 2-0 lead. Nakashima won seven of the next eight points including three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-3. 

Thanasi Kokkinakis beat Fabio Fognini 6-2 6-4 in 1 hour and 20 minutes. Kokkinakis earned an early break in the first game of the opening set. Fognini did not convert two break-back points in the second game. Fognini saved a break point in the fifth game, but Kokkinakis broke for the second time in the seventh game and held his serve in the next game to seal the first set 6-2. Fognini made three unforced errors at 4-4 in the second set and Kokkinakis earned the break after Fognini made his third double fault of the match. 

Kokkinakis leads 4-0 in his head-to-head matches against Fognini. The Australian player will face Hubert Hurkacz in the second round. 

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Jannik Sinner beats Carlos Alcaraz to reach the final in Beijing

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Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to set up a final against Danil Medvedev at the China Open in Beijing. 

 

Sinner has improved to 4-3 in his head-to-head series against Alcaraz. The Italian beat his Spanish rival for the second time this year following his win at the Miami Open. 

Sinner will become the second Italian player in the history of the ATP Rankings to reach the top 4 in the ATP Ranking after 1976 Roland Garros champion Adriano Panatta. 

Sinner will be aiming to win his third ATP singles title in 2023 and the ninth overall in his career. Medvedev leads 6-0 in his head-to-head matches against Sinner. 

Alcaraz earned an early break in the first game and held on his next service game to open up to 2-0 lead. 

Sinner saved two break points in the third game in the third game before breaking back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Alcaraz broke for the second time in the 5th game to take a 3-2 lead. Sinner broke straight back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Both players held on their next service games to set up a tie-break. Sinner raced out to a 4-1 lead before converting his first ste point to close out the tie-break 7-4. 

Sinner opened the second set by breaking serve in the first game of the second set. Alcaraz earned two break points and three more chances in the fourth game, but he missed out on all of his five break points. Sinner earned two straight in the fifth and seventh games to seal the win. 

“I would say every match against Alcaraz is very tough. We always show great respect, we both play great. When we play against each other, we try to stay on our limits. Today I played better in the important moments. In the second set It was 6-1 but he had a lot of chances and I just tried to stay focused. Obviously the first set was a little more of a roller coaster and I tried to stay there mentally and obviously I am very happy with the performance”, said Sinner. 

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