Novak Djokovic won his 9th Australian Open Title in straight sets vs. Daniil Medvedev, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 today!
Medvedev lost his cool as he became more frustrated throughout the match, failing to produce his usual high quality of play and more of a challenge to Djokovic who was playing great tennis. Djokovic too had this issue in the past, resulting in a few losses, but as his tennis game matured, so did he. Looking to see more of Medvedev in the near future.
This Championship win now gives Djokovic 18 Grand Slam Titles as he moves closer to his other 2 rivals in the Big 3 of Men’s Tennis, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 Grand Slam Titles each. Congrats Novak!
Congratulations to Naomi OSAKA for winning her 4th Major title on Saturday!
Naomi Osaka overpowered Jennifer Brady as expected in the Australian Open Final, 6-4, 6-3.
She is starting to pull away from the pack! She now has 2 Australian Open Titles and 2 US Open Titles.
Osaka is now known as the Queen of the Hard Courts. A humble reaction to her win. Calm and composed. Congrats Naomi!
Until next year!
By: Gabrielle Burgess (Founder/Owner, Suga Lifestyle)
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Naomi Osaka is now Japan’s first World no. 1 after her Australian Open win in Melbourne on Saturday night. She defeated Petra Kvitova in an epic 3-setter. She fought hard for it and won, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4. Congrats Naomi!
Photo: Sky Sports
World no. 1 Novak Djokovic steam rolled World no. 2 Rafael Nadal in straight sets yesterday and stunned everyone with how easy he made it look to defeat his rival and 2nd all time great, Nadal, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Nadal had an extra day of rest compared to Djokovic, which could have worked against him in the final. He had a lot of unforced errors, but Djokovic was just spectacular. His game was at a new level. We all expected a memorable marathon 5-setter, but this defeat will be just as memorable.
This win, makes a record 7th Australian Open win for Djokovic and he now passes Pete Sampras with 15 Grand Slam title wins. He now eyes Rafael Nadal at 17 and Roger Federer at 20. Congrats Djoko!
Upcoming
Photo: www.pjobriens.com.au
Super Bowl LIII (53), featuring the NFC champion, Los Angeles Rams vs. the AFC champion, New England Patriots, will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia this Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 6:30pm on CBS.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Roger Federer’s Australian Open 2018 winning moment after he had to wait on Cilic’s challenge, and Federer’s ball was in!
Roger Federer has defended and won his 6th Australian Open Title and 20th Grand Slam Title! The G.O.A.T beat Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
1st set
The 1st set was all about Roger Federer, who took the 1st set 6-2.
2nd set
Cilic fought back to win the 2nd set by tiebreak, 7-6.
3rd set
In the 3rd set Cilic was distracted and angered by the fact that it took over an hour and a half for him to get back racquets that he sent to be restrung. He got them back in the middle of the 3rd set, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. Federer’s serve was on point and Federer cruised to win the 3rd set 6-3.
4th set
Federer went up quickly to 2-0 in the 4th set and looked like he was on cruise control to win the title, then Sparta came out. Sparta meaning the ‘warface’ of Marin Cilic. He has one of the meanest ‘warfaces’ in Men’s Tennis.
Federer’s serve fell apart to as low as 36% for his 1st serve percentage. Federer also started to lose rallies to Cilic’s strong forehand and showed his age with slow movement.
5th set
Federer had a shaky start to the 1st set to fight off break point, but held serve. The crowd really started to get into it and showed clear support for veteran, Roger Federer.
Cilic was moving better and Roger then knew he had to fight if he was going to win this title.
Federer then broke Cilic shortly after a bad call by the Umpire on Cilic’s serve to make it a double-fault, giving Federer the advantage that he converted. He went on to hold serve to go up 3-0 and Cilic served to get on the board to make it 1-3. Federer got back his 1st serve rhythm in the nick of time to go up 4-1 with an easy game and fought hard to break Cilic to get to 5-1. Federer then broke Cilic and it was all over.
Great Final! Well played Cilic and Congrats to Roger Federer! He has now joined the Ladies in the 20+ Major Grand Slam Titles Club. They finally got a Gentleman in there.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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The match had an extremely tense start. 1st serve percentages were low for both sisters and Serena had to change her racquet after what she did to it in frustration.
Photo: www.theguardian.com
After numerous double faults on both sides, break for break and repeat at 2-2 with Serena being very tight, Serena found a way to eventually break Venus once more and serve out the set, taking the 1st set 6-4.
Venus missed a lot of chances that she couldn’t afford, because to beat Serena she had to be perfect. Serena does not get beaten at her best and her best is better than Venus’ best. So you can see where it got mental and emotional for Venus as she knew she had to elevate her game and it was not happening.
2nd Set Highlights
Venus held serve to start off the 2nd set. Serena followed. Venus was then in trouble down love-40 and saved 3 break points to hold serve and go up 2-1 in the 2nd.
Venus then had a game of many missed opportunities, mainly failure to return weak 2nd serves by Serena resulting in Serena holding to even the set at 2-2.
Photo: www.theguardian.com
At 3-3 there was negative body language from Venus. Serena capitalised on sharp angled 2nd serve returns and finally broke Venus to go up 4-3. Serena then served a perfect game to go up 5-3.
Venus held her serve to move to 4-5, followed by Serena serving for the Championship. Venus won the longest rally of the match in that game but Serena kept fighting and converted her Championship point!
Photo: www.theguardian.com
Serena won 6-4, 6-4 falling to the floor in joy. Venus walked over to her side of the court and they shared a warm embrace.
Serena now has the Open era record of 23 Grand Slam titles and will return to the #1 ranking in the world next week.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Serena Williams booked her spot to the Australian Open finals for the ladies in style.
Photo: www.theguardian.com
Serena played an absolutely clean and dangerously good first set, winning it 6-0 versus Radwanska who moved well and didn’t play badly but didn’t play well either. She failed to capitalize on chances she had. Serena was also just too good and on top of her game.
Radwanska finally got on the board holding serve at the beginning of the 2nd set. Serena broke her then Radwanska got herself back in the match breaking back Serena at 3-3, then held at 4-3. Serena failed to convert break point for the first time in the match. Serena then came back, held her serve and stepped back up the level of her game to break Radwanska and serve 3 aces in a row, then won the next short rally in the final game to win the 2nd set and the match, 6-0, 6-4.
The 4-month break Serena took after the US Open loss and so much physical and psychological pressure seems to be working in her favour. Best of luck to her in the Finals.
Other semi-finalists left in the Australian Open included Johanna Konta and Andy Murray who both made history by being the first pair of Brits to make the semi-finals of the Australian Open since 1977, which was 39 years ago!
Johanna Konta – Photo: sports.yahoo.com
Konta was the first British woman to reach a Semi-final since Jo Durie in the US Open in 1983.
Konta, ranked 47th, had impressive wins throughout the Open, sending home Venus Williams in the 1st round and beat #21 Makarova in 3 sets. In the Quarters, she beat Zhang Shuai in 2 sets, who previously defeated Simona Halep and Madison Keys. Konta faced #7 Angelique Kerber last night.
Photo: sports.yahoo.com
Previously, Kerber defeated favourite, #14 Azarenka in 2 sets, who is thought to be more of a challenge to or fear for Serena Williams. It was the first time Kerber was reaching the semis of the Australian Open, but her overall Grand slam experience helped her to overcome Konta and she beat her in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2.
On the men’s side, #1 Djokovic vs #3 Federer was at 3:30am! It was their 45th and decisive meeting, as they were 22 a piece. However, Djokovic had the edge as he has won the majority of the most recent meetings, including the last 3 Grand slam face offs.
www.telegraph co.uk
They were both ready and on form. Previously, Djokovic defeated Kei Nishikori in straight sets and Federer defeated Tomas Berdych in straight sets as well, even though the first set went to a tiebreak.
Last night, Djokovic came out blazing in the 1st 2 sets, probably the best 2 sets he has ever played versus Federer in his career. It was quite a display. Federer dug deep and got himself back in the match, winning the 3rd set. In the 4th set there was a delay with the overhead roof that affected both players, more so Federer, the 34 year old, as play was scratchy for the first few games but Djokovic came out on top with 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and now is ahead of Federer in meetings with 23.
Note though, Djokovic may have won the match but Federer won the point of the Australian Open!
Watch it here:
In the last Semi-final to be played today, Andy Murray will face Milos Raonic, who beat Gael Monfils in 4 sets. Murray defeated #8 David Ferrer in 4 sets as well.
Spectacular night in tennis. The repeats will be worth the watch if you missed it.
Since one of the biggest upsets in tennis history at the last US Open when Vinci stopped Serena from achieving a Calendar slam, Serena has been plagued with injuries. But so have the other top 5 seeds for the women at the beginning of this year. Serena did knee surgery and ended up pulling out of the Hopman Cup recently so there were concerns of how well she could do this year.
Well, Serena steamed pass Sharapova in the Quarterfinals and she is looking like she is in good shape to not only face #4 Radwanska in the Semifinal tonight at 9:30pm on ESPN 2, but the whole Championship!
Suga thinks Serena is all business this year and will take all 4 Major Tournaments. History in the making. Go Serena!
1st Set Highlights
