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Ashleigh Barty leads Australia to win over Spain in the Hopman Cup in Perth

Published

5 years ago

02/01/2019

Australia beat Spain 2-1 in the Hopman Cup in Perth and are one win away from finishing on top of Group A.

Ashleigh Barty beat twice Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 14 minutes in the women’s match. Spanish veteran David Ferrer drew level by winning the men’s singles match against local favourite Matthew Ebden 7-6 (7-1) 7-5. Australia needs to beat German players Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev on Friday.

Barty did not drop one service game and hit six aces to win the first set against Muguruza. The Australian player saved a break point in the first game of the match. Both players held their serve in the first seven games before Barty got a break in the eighth game, when Muguruza made a backhand error. Barty hit an ace to close out the first set 6-3 after 35 minutes. Muguruza dropped her serve in the seventh game, when she hit her forehand long. Barty closed out the second set with a hold of serve in the 10th game.

“Garbine returns extrahordinarily well and I knew I would have to look after my service games. I didn’t really give myself a chance in a lot of her service games, but when I did, I made it count”, said Barty.

In the men’s match David Ferrer converted five of his eleven break points against Matthew Ebden to score his first Hopman Cup win.

Both players traded three breaks in the middle of the first set. Ferrer got two breaks to open up a 5-3 lead and served for the set in the 10th game. Ebden broke back after a forehand error from Ferrer. Both players traded breaks in the 11th and 12th games setting up a tie-break. Ferrer cruised through to winning the tie-break 7-1 after Ebden made a forehand error.

Ebden broke serve in the fifth game with a forehand cross court winner to build up a 4-2 lead. Ferrer broke back at 3-4 when Barty netted a backhand. Ebden saved two match points, as he was serving to stay in the match at 4-5 before earning a break point in the next game. Ferrer fended it off and hit a forehand down the line winner to earn match points. The Spaniard converted his first chance after an error from Ebden.

Ferrer confirmed his plan to end his career in Madrid next May.

“I am 100 percent I will finish my career in Madrid. I am not playing bad. The problem is that I can’t play more than two matches”,said Ferrer.

Barty and Ebden came back from one set down to win the mixed doubles match against Muguruza and Ferrer in three sets by the scoreline of 3-4 (3-5) 4-3 4-3 (5-3). Both teams traded breaks in the early stages of the first set. Ferrer and Muguruza claimed the tie-break 5-3. Barty and Ebden won the tie-break of the second set 5-0 forcing the match to the third set. There were four breaks in the first six games. The home players won the final two points from 3-3 to win the tie-break.

Zverev and Kerber lead Germany to win over France

Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber came back from one set down to beat Alizé Cornet 5-7 6-2 6-4 in two hours and three minutes in the opening match of the tie between Germany and France.

Kerber saved seven of the ten break points she faced and converted five of her eleven break points. The German player drew the first blood breaking serve in the first game after Cornet made a double fault. She was solid on her serve, but she was broken in the 10th game, as she was serving to win the first set. Cornet sealed the first set on her third set point with a deep return at 6-5 after 45 minutes.

Kerber converted her third break point in the first game of the second set. Cornet broke back in the second game, when Kerber sent her forehand long. Kerber earned her second break in the third game. Kerber saved two break points in the sixth game before breaking serve with a backhand cross court winner in the seventh game. Kerber saved two break points at 5-2 and sealed with a forehand error from Cornet. Kerber broke serve at love in the third game of the decider and fought off a break point with a backhand down the line winner in the next game. Kerber hit a service winner with a service winner in the 10th game.

Alexander Zverev needed three sets to edge Lucas Pouille 6-3 6-7 6-2 in two hours and nine minutes. The 21-year-old German player fought off seven of the eight break points he faced and broke serve four times.

Zverev fended off three break points in the first game. Zverev broke serve at 15 in the eighth game after a backhand error from Pouille. The German held serve at love in the ninth game and closed out the opening set with a service winner. Zverev fought off the only break point at 4-5 after a forehand error from Pouille. Pouille wasted three set points at 6-3 in the tie-break and faced the match point. Zverev made a backhand error to lose the tie-break 10-8.

Both players exchanged breaks in the second and third games of the decisive set. Zverev broke in the sixth game after a double fault from Pouille. Zverev broke again in the eighth game to win the third set 6-2 to give Germany a 2-0 lead over France.

“Lucas fought well and played well in the important moments. He is a very tough opponent and I think he is going to do well in the Australian Open. You want to play tough opponents, you want to play the best players before a Grand Slam. I have played two very good players, and I am very happy to get some matches under the belt”,said Zverev.

Pouille and Cornet recovered from 1-3 down in the opening set to win the mixed doubles 4-3 4-3 after 52 minutes to close the gap to 2-1.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Sebastian Ofner in Barcelona to extend his winning streak

Published

6 hours ago

17/04/2024

sampaolo

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Sebastian Ofner 6-4 7-5 at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to extend his winning streak to seven consecutive matches after claiming his third title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters last week.

Tsitsipas earned an immediate break in the first game. Ofner broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Tsitsipas earned his second break in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead and served out the first set 6-4 with a hold at 15.

Tsitsipas broke in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Ofner won three consecutive games with two breaks of serve to take a 5-3 lead. Tsitsipas came back by winning four consecutive games with two breaks of serve to seal the second set 7-5.

Tsitsipas has a record of 17 wins to 5 defeats in Barcelona. The Greek player reached three finals at this tournament in 2018, 2021 and 2023.

“I feel pretty good, but it is still early in the tournament. The conditions here are very different to Monte-Carlo and I felt it today when I was playing. My job is to adapt and to ensure I can bring my A game again in Barcelona this week. Today was a great test to see where I stand. I am hoping to keep on improving and getting good wins like this under my belt”, said Tsitsipas.

Tsitssipas set up a third round match against Roberto Carballes Baena, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Musetti saved three break points in the first game of the opening set. The Italian player earned two break points with a backhand down the line. Musetti saved two break points in the seventh game. Both players went on serve un the 12^th game when Carballes Baena saved a set point. Carballes Baena went up a 5-1 lead with two mini-breaks in the tie-break. Musetti won three consecutive points to reduce to 4-5. Carballes Baena won the final two points to take the tie-break 7-4.

Carballes Baena converted his fourth break point in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Musetti broke back in the fifth game. Carballes Baena saved a break point in the sixth game. The Spanish player sealed the win with a break on his second match.

Last week’s Monte-Carlo finalist Casper Ruud beat Alexandre Muller 6-3 6-4 to claim his 25^th tour-level win of the season. Ruud has drawn level with Jannik Sinner for the most wins in 2024 on the ATP Tour.

Ruud set up a third round match against Jordan Thompson, who beat Jaume Munar 6-4 2-4 6-4. Roberto Bautista Agut beat Andrea Vavassori 4-6 6-4 6-1 to claim his milestone 400th match win on the ATP Tour. Bautista Agut set up a third round match against Cameron Norrie.

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Roberto Bautista Agut wins his milestone 400th match on the ATP Tour

Published

9 hours ago

17/04/2024

sampaolo

Roberto Bautista Agut came back from one set down to beat Australian Open doubles finalist Andrea Vavassori 4-6 6-3 6-1 after 2 hours and 1 minute at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Vavassori earned an early break in the first game. The Italian player earned three break points in the seventh game, but Bautista Agut saved them. The Spanish player broke straight back in the eighth game. Vavassori broke again in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and saved two break points before closing out the first set 6-4 on his second set point.

Both players went on serve in the first four games of the second set. Vavassori earned a break point in the fifth game, but he did not convert it. Bautista Agut broke serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead and did not face any break points to win the second set 6-3.

Bautista Agut broke three times to cruise through to a 6-1.

Bautista Agut reached the 400^th milestone win on the ATP Tour. The Spanish player has become the 13^th active player with at least 400 ATP Tour wins. He achieved 20 wins against members of the top 10, ten wins against top 5 players and four against world number 1s. Bautista Agut is one of the nine players, who have beaten Novak Djokovic as World number 1 more than twice.

“For me it’s just a number. The important thing is that I have done great work over these years, that I have a very consistent career, a career that I can feel proud of “, said Bautista Agut.

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Martina Trevisan beats Naomi Osaka to reach the second round in Rouen

Published

9 hours ago

17/04/2024

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Martina Trevisan upset former world number 1 Naomi Osaka 6-4 6-2 in the opening round of the Open Capfinances Rouen Metropole.

Osaka has played her first clay-court match since Roland Garros 2022, where she lost to Amanda Anisimova. The Japanese player has not won a match on clay since beating Anastasia Potapova in the first round of the Madrid Mutua Open in 2022. She helped Japan beat Kazakhstan in the Billie Jean King Cup.

Trevisan reached the quarter final in 2020 and the semifinal in 2022 at Roland Garros. The former world number 18 won her only title in Rabat in 2022. She reached the quarter finals of the Zaragoza ITF 100 tournament.

Both players traded breaks in the first two games. Osaka earned two break points at 3-2 and three more chances at 4-3, but she was not able to convert them. Trevisan broke serve in the ninth game following a series of forehand errors.

Trevisan broke twice in the third and seventh games and served out the win on her first match point.

Sixteen-year-old Mirra Andreeva beat Elina Avanesyan 7-5 6-4 in 1 hour and 41 minutes to reach her second quarter final of 2024.

Andreeva went up a break in the seventh game, but Avanesyan pulled back on serve to draw level to 4-4. Andreeva broke for the second time in the 11^th game to win the second set 7-5. Andreeva broke in the first game to open up a 2-0 lead. Avanesyan converted her third break-back point in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Andreeva broke serve at love in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Avanesyan broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Andreeva broke for the third time in the ninth game and served out the win on her second match point after saving two break points.