The quarter-finals are underway at the Australian Open with Coco Gauff becoming the first player to book her spot in the last four. The No. 4 seed was made to work for it, needing three hours and eight minutes to defeat Marta Kostyuk 7-6(6) 6-7(3) 6-2 in a rollercoaster match.
Gauff went 1-5 down in the opening set before storming back to take it in a tiebreak. After dropping the second set it was her turn to race into the lead at 5-0 in the decider. She was broken while serving for the match but hung in there to get the job done and reach the semi-finals.
It meant that Novak Djokovic was made to wait for his own quarter-final against Taylor Fritz. The world No. 1 took to Rod Laver Arena more than two hours after he was scheduled, meaning he could drag into the night session. It’s the second successive round that Djokovic has played in the day session. Previously, his last day session match was in 2021.
Aryna Sabalenka will face Barbora Krejcikova in the second women’s quarter-final while Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev may be waiting around for their chance to finally get on the court.
Djokovic not happy with his camp Novak Djokovic wasn’t pleased when he couldn’t get the attention of his own team towards the end of the second set. The world No. 1 rooted through his bag during the change of ends at 5-6 and didn’t look happy with the snacks he had in his bag.
He tried to wave over to his box, likely to request something else, but grew frustrated when they wouldn’t look at him and shouted over to them. “It would appear that there is something that is missing right now from Novak’s bag,” Mark Petchey said on commentary for Australian TV.
“Novak desperate to get the attention of his team for whatever is not in his bag at that particular changeover.” Djokovic went on to save two set points to force a tiebreak, taking the first set 7-6(3) after an hour and 24 minutes.
Djokovic blows kisses at Kyrgios in the commentary box
Novak Djokovic celebrated winning a marathon 84-minute set by turning to Nick Kyrgios and blowing him kisses. The pair have a strong “bromance” and Kyrgios is calling the match for ESPN.
The world No. 1 realised that his good friend was sitting in one of the commentary boxes behind where he was standing at the baseline. He pointed to Kyrgios and touched his ear, laughing as he approached and blew some kisses.
Alcaraz’s love life questioned after Spaniard put on the spot
Carlos Alcaraz found himself in an awkward position on Monday when Jim Courier asked him to name any WTA player he liked watching. “I’m going to put you on the spot though, what about WTA?” Courier asked. But Alcaraz became coy as he stuttered: “I watch WTA as well. I mean, when I can obviously. When I turn the TV on if it’s WTA, ATP, whatever. I like to watch it obviously.”
And former pro Mardy Fish now has a theory as to why Alcaraz was so flustered and unable to name a female tennis player. “My man has gotta be dating someone on WTA Tour…??” the former world No. 7 tweeted on Tuesday.
Gauff survives three-hour battle Hello and welcome to Express Sport’s live updates from day 10 of the Australian Open.
Only one singles match has been completed so far. It saw Coco Gauff battle for more than three hours to reach the semi-final. The 19-year-old defeated Marta Kostyuk 7-6(6) 6-7(3) 6-2.
Kostyuk raced to a 5-1 lead at the beginning of the match but Gauff reeled off five games in a row and had a chance to serve for the set. It went to a tiebreak, won by Gauff. Both women continued to break each other in the second set, which was won by the world No. 37.
Gauff charged ahead in the third and final set, serving for the match at 5-0. Kostyuk kept herself in it when she broke but the American closed it out at the next opportunity. She will now face either Aryna Sabalenka or Barbora Krejcikova, who meet in the night session.
But that match could be heavily delayed after Gauff’s marathon, as Novak Djokovic must still complete his quarter-final match against Taylor Fritz. The first men’s quarter-final got underway more than two hours later than scheduled.
