PARIS: Japan’s Miyu Kato became a French Open champion on Thursday, four days after she was controversially disqualified from the women’s doubles for accidentally hitting a ball girl.
Kato and her German partner Tim Puetz defeated Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 in the mixed doubles final at Roland Garros.
“It has been challenging mentally in the last few days after my unjust disqualification from the women’s doubles,” Kato told the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd, reading from a prepared statement.
“Thanks to all the players for their heartfelt messages of support. I used that positive energy on court here today.
“I am now looking for a positive result to my appeal so I can reclaim my prize money, points and my reputation.”
Puetz said he hoped the title would help Kato after the drama of the default.
“I hope this is redemption for you after what happened. The support you received was well deserved.”
The 28-year-old Kato and her Indonesian teammate Aldila Sutjiadi were defaulted on Sunday after a gentle lob from the Japanese player left a ballgirl in tears and shaking.
Initially, the pair were handed only a warning by the chair umpire but their opponents Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo protested and urged the tournament supervisor to look again at the incident.
Kato and Sutjiadi were then disqualified. Kato also had to forfeit her prize money.
“I hope the ballgirl is OK and I hope we get to play Marie and Sara again,” said Kato.
Disqualified Japanese player Kato becomes French Open champion
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Disqualified Japanese player Kato becomes French Open champion
- Kato and her German partner Tim Puetz defeated Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 in the mixed doubles final at Roland Garros
- "It has been challenging mentally in the last few days after my unjust disqualification from the women's doubles," Kato told the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd
Sabalenka, Keys wind up for big-hitting Australian Open final
- Keys and Sabalenka have met five times previously, with the Belarusian winning four, most recently on Beijing’s hard courts last year
- Both players are on 11-match win streaks after Sabalenka clinched the title in Brisbane and Keys followed suit in Adelaide
MELBOURNE: The irresistible force of Aryna Sabalenka meets the unbreakable spirit of Madison Keys on Saturday in an Australian Open women’s singles final that promises to be a thunderous slugfest.
Defending champion Sabalenka was hailed by beaten semifinalist Paula Badosa as being so good it was “like she’s playing a PlayStation” after dishing out a merciless straight-sets bludgeoning to her good friend.
The never-say-die American Keys, who will turn 30 next month, saved eight break points and a match point in a nerve-shredding final set against Iga Swiatek that went all the way to a 10-point tiebreak.
“Definitely some big-hitting. I think that is going to happen,” the powerful 19th seed Keys predicted of the final between two similar power players.
“Not a lot of long points.”
The final on Rod Laver Arena begins at 7:30pm (0830 GMT).
Keys and Sabalenka have met five times previously, with the Belarusian winning four, most recently on Beijing’s hard courts last year. Keys’s sole win came on grass in Berlin in 2021.
“She’s playing incredible tennis,” said Sabalenka.
“She’s a very aggressive player, serving well, moving well. She’s in great shape.
“It’s going to be a great battle.”
Sabalenka is guaranteed to remain at world No. 1 because of Swiatek’s defeat, while Keys will break back into the top 10 for the first time since 2019.
A victory in the final will see Keys equal the career-high ranking of seven she reached in 2016.
Both players are on 11-match win streaks after Sabalenka clinched the title in Brisbane and Keys followed suit in Adelaide.
Sabalenka, the modern-day queen of Melbourne Park, has won 20 straight matches on the famous blue hard courts. A 21st will complete a treble not witnessed this century.
The last three-peat in Melbourne was achieved by Martina Hingis in 1999 and only four other women have done it — Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.
Three in a row is a rare achievement at any Slam and has only been done this century on three occasions.
At Roland Garros Justine Henin completed the treble in 2007 and Iga Swiatek emulated it last year.
Serena Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles but only managed a hat trick once, at the US Open from 2012-14.
Sabalenka will be in her fifth Slam final, Keys in only her second, having lost the 2017 US Open final 6-3, 6-0 to Sloane Stephens.
“I’ve obviously thought of that match endlessly for the past eight years,” said Keys, who broke down in tears after beating Swiatek in a see-sawing contest that lasted 2hr 35min.
“I was so consumed with being nervous and the moment that I never really gave myself a chance to actually play.
“You can also play tennis through that... is one of the biggest lessons that I take from that US Open final.”
The men’s doubles title will also be decided on the penultimate day of action at Melbourne Park.
Italian third seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori will face sixth seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Britain’s Henry Patten in the final.
Bolelli and Vavassori are contesting their second consecutive Melbourne final after losing to Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden a year ago.
The men’s singles and women’s doubles titles will be decided on Sunday, the 15th and final day of the tournament.
Sinner to meet Zverev in Australian Open final after Djokovic exit
- Top-ranked Italian will face the German second seed, who went through to Sunday’s final when Novak Djokovic retired injured
- 37-year-old Serbian Novak Djokovic hinted that he may have played his last Australian Open
MELBOURNE: Defending champion Jannik Sinner blew past Ben Shelton 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-2 in the Australian Open semifinals on Friday to set up a showdown with Alexander Zverev for the title.
The top-ranked Italian will face the German second seed, who went through to Sunday’s final when Novak Djokovic retired injured from their last-four clash.
Sinner had to save two set points in a tight opening act, but once he took it on a tiebreak he raced past the 22-year-old in 2hr 36min on Rod Laver Arena, despite cramping late in the match.
The center court crowd had been disappointed earlier when Djokovic called it a day after losing a grueling first set against Zverev, leaving his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam crown in tatters.
The 37-year-old Serbian great’s upper left leg was heavily taped and, after he shook hands, he departed to some boos after going down 7-6 (7/5).
Djokovic hinted that he may have played his last Australian Open.
“There is a chance. Who knows?” Djokovic said when asked if he may have graced the Melbourne Park courts for a last time.
“I normally like to come to Australia to play. I’ve had the biggest success in my career here. So if I’m fit, healthy, motivated, I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t come,” he added.
Djokovic has now gone five Grand Slams without winning the title he needs to surpass Margaret Court’s 24 and become the all-time leader.
“I actually thought I played really well, as well as I played the last 12 months,” he said of his Melbourne run.
“I liked my chances if I was physically fit and ready to battle.”
Sinner is on the cusp of a first successful Grand Slam title defense after winning his maiden major crown in Melbourne last year.
He had won the last four of his five career meetings with the explosive young American.
The Italian was not at his best in the opening set, dropping his serve twice and having to dig deep to save two set points with Shelton serving at 6-5.
But the 23-year-old easily took control of the tiebreak to move a set ahead after 71 minutes.
He broke Shelton right at the start of the second and ran away with it in 42 minutes.
The all-action Shelton raised himself for one last effort in the third, lashing running forehand winners in an attempt to turn the tide.
Sinner was not moving freely, seemingly troubled by either cramp or his groin, but he saved two break points and when Shelton then dropped his serve to go 3-2 down, the Italian sprinted to the finish line.
The final will be a battle of the top two seeds with Zverev in his first Australian Open final.
The German has been a Grand Slam runner-up twice before, at last year’s French Open and the 2020 US Open, but has never lifted one of the big four majors.
Australian Open: Keys upsets Swiatek and will face Sabalenka in the final
- Keys: I’m still trying to catch up to everything that’s happening
- Sabalenka beat good friend Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 earlier Thursday
MELBOURNE: When Madison Keys finally finished off her 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) upset of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in a high-intensity, high-quality Australian Open semifinal on Thursday night, saving a match point along the way, the 29-year-old American crouched on the court and placed a hand on her white hat.
She had a hard time believing it all. The comeback. What Keys called an “extra dramatic finish.” The victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who’d been on the most dominant run at Melbourne Park in a dozen years. And now a chance for Keys to play in her second Grand Slam final, a long wait after being the 2017 US Open runner-up.
“I’m still trying to catch up to everything that’s happening,” said the 19th-seeded Keys, who will face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, for the trophy Saturday. “I felt like I was just fighting to stay in it. ... It was so up and down and so many big points.”
Just to be sure, Keys asked whether Swiatek was, indeed, one point from victory, acknowledging she really had no idea. Yes, Madison, Swiatek was that close to ending things while serving at 6-5, 40-30, but missed a backhand into the net, then eventually getting broken by double-faulting, sending the contest to a first-to-10, win-by-two tiebreaker.
“I felt like I blacked out there at some point,” Keys said, “and was out there running around.”
Whatever she was doing, it worked. Keys claimed more games in the semifinal than the 14 total that Swiatek dropped in her five previous matches over the past two weeks.
“It was a matter of one or two balls,” said Swiatek, who lost in the Australian Open semifinals two years ago, too. “Madison was kind of brave.”
Sabalenka beat good friend Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 earlier Thursday. Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, can become the first woman since 1999 to complete a threepeat.
“If she plays like this,” the 11th-seeded Badosa said, “I mean, we can already give her the trophy.”
Keys might have something to say about that.
Still, Sabalenka won her first major championship at Melbourne Park in 2023, and she since has added two more — in Australia a year ago and at the US Open last September.
The last woman to reach three finals in a row at the year’s first Grand Slam tournament was Serena Williams, who won two from 2015-17. Martina Hingis was the most recent woman to win three titles in a row in Melbourne, doing it from 1997-99.
“I have goosebumps. I’m so proud of myself,” said Sabalenka, whose 4-1 head-to-head record against Keys includes a win in the 2023 US Open semifinals.
Swiatek had not lost a single service game since the first round, but was broken three times by Keys in the first set alone and eight times in all.
That included each of Swiatek’s first two times serving, making clear right from the get-go this would not be her usual sort of day. And while Swiatek did eke out the opening set, she was overwhelmed in the second, trailing 5-0 before getting a game.
This was the big-hitting Keys at her very best. She turns 30 next month and, at the suggestion of her coach, former player Bjorn Fratangelo — who also happens to be her husband — decided to try a new racket this season, an effort both to help her with generating easy power but also to relieve some strain on her right shoulder.
It’s certainly paid immediate dividends. Keys is now on an 11-match winning streak, including taking the title at a tuneup event in Adelaide.
She was good enough to get through this one, which was as tight as can be down the stretch.
“At the end, I feel like we were both kind of battling some nerves. ... It just became who can get that final point and who can be a little bit better than the other one,” Keys said. “And I’m happy it was me.”
Sabalenka trailed 2-0, 40-love at the start but quickly figured things out, especially once Rod Laver Arena’s retractable roof was shut in the first set because of a drizzle. She straightened her strokes and overpowered Badosa, who eliminated No. 3 Coco Gauff to reach her first major semifinal.
“She started to be very, very aggressive,” said Badosa, who thought about retiring last year while dealing with a stress fracture in her back. “Everything was working.”
Sabalenka and Badosa did their best to avoid any eye contact for much of the evening, whether up at the net for the coin toss or when they crossed paths at changeovers.
When their match was over, they met for a lengthy hug.
During Sabalenka’s on-court interview, she joked about taking Badosa — who by then was sitting in a hallway, her head bowed — on a shopping spree to make things up to her, paying for whatever the Spaniard wants.
Told what Sabalenka said, Badosa noted: “It’s going to be something really expensive.”
Sabalenka, Swiatek eye final showdown at Australian Open
- The men’s finalists at Melbourne Park will be decided on Friday, leaving the women in the spotlight in a night-time double-header at Rod Laver Arena
- Should Swiatek and Sabalenka meet in the final, the winner would leave Australia with the No. 1 ranking
MELBOURNE: Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are clear favorites to win their respective semifinals on Thursday and set up a blockbuster Australian Open title decider.
The men’s finalists at Melbourne Park will be decided on Friday, leaving the women in the spotlight in a night-time double-header at Rod Laver Arena.
First up at 7:30 p.m. (0830 GMT) will be the world No. 1 and defending champion Sabalenka against Spain’s 11th seed Paula Badosa, followed on to the center court by five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek against Madison Keys.
Sabalenka can become the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1999 to win the Australian Open three years in a row.
If she does, she will join a select group of five women who have completed the Melbourne three-peat. The others are Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.
“I’m really happy that I put myself in this situation where I have the opportunity to become one of them,” said the 26-year-old Belarusian.
“To be next to those names, wow, that’s just a dream.”
Badosa stunned world No. 3 Coco Gauff in straight sets to reach her maiden Grand Slam semifinal at the age of 27.
“She’s a great player and she has been through a lot. Now she’s back on her best game. I’m really happy to see that,” said Sabalenka.
The Spaniard almost quit tennis last year because of a chronic back condition and she plunged outside the top 100.
“A year ago I didn’t know if I had to retire from this sport,” said Badosa, who reached a career-high two in the world in 2022.
She is projected to get back in the top 10 after Melbourne.
Poland’s Swiatek has been the dominant force in the women’s draw so far, matching her previous best Australian Open run from 2022, when she lost to Danielle Collins in the last four.
The world No. 2 has dropped only 14 games so far in her five matches — seven of those in her first-round clash.
She has exuded an air of calmness and confidence as she aims not only to win a maiden Australian Open title but also retake the number one ranking from Sabalenka.
If the Belarusian fails to make the final, Swiatek will again rise to the top.
Should Swiatek and Sabalenka meet in the final, the winner would leave Australia with the No. 1 ranking.
Swiatek must first get past 19th seed Keys.
The American is into the Melbourne semifinals for the third time, 10 years after her first, and on a career-best 10-match win streak after clinching the Adelaide title this month.
“Madison is a great player and experienced so you never know,” Swiatek said.
“It will be tricky, I will just be focused on myself. She has already played a good tournament here and we are well aware of how she can play.”
The 29-year-old Keys says she is a “smarter” player than the one who lost the semifinal in 2015 to eventual champion Serena Williams.
She added: “Probably a little bit less fearless though, but to be here 10 years later in the semifinals again, I’m really proud of myself.”
Australian Open: Ben Shelton will face defending champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals
- “I’m relieved,” said Shelton, who will meet No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy on Friday
- Sinner looked and played much better than he did — hand trembling, head dizzy — during a four-set struggle against Holger Rune in the fourth round
MELBOURNE: Ben Shelton’s Australian Open quarterfinal foe, Lorenzo Sonego, produced the shot of the tournament — diving to his left for a volley with so much spin that the ball bounced on one side of the net, then floated back over to the other — but it was the American who ended up with the victory Wednesday.
The left-handed Shelton did some entertaining of his own, including earning cheers by doing a couple of push-ups after tumbling in the concluding tiebreaker, and he reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at age 22 by beating the unseeded Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
“I’m relieved,” said Shelton, who will meet No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy on Friday for a spot in the final. “Shout out Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis.”
Sinner, the defending champion at Melbourne Park, completely overwhelmed the last Australian in the men’s bracket, No. 8 Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 at night.
“It’s been too many times playing him and seeing the same thing. So I’m not even surprised anymore when I face him,” said de Minaur, who is now 0-10 against Sinner over their careers. “Matches like these happen.”
Sinner looked and played much better than he did — hand trembling, head dizzy — during a four-set struggle against Holger Rune in the fourth round. After giving himself a bit of a break on Tuesday, sleeping in and only hitting on court for about 30 or 40 minutes, Sinner said his body was much better.
“For sure, was (my) best match of the tournament so far,” said Sinner, who stretched his unbeaten winning streak to 19 matches dating back to last season.
Shelton, who is seeded 21st, closed the first set against Sonego with a 144 mph (232 kph) ace, tied for the fastest serve over the past 1 1/2 weeks, and flexed his left arm after smacking a powerful forehand to close a 22-stroke point and earn a break in the second. His father Bryan, a former tour pro who is Ben’s coach, grinned, too, while patting his own right biceps.
A few points from the end, Shelton sprinted to get his racket on a seemingly unreachable ball, and fell into a courtside advertising board as Sonego hit an easy winner to take the point.
Shelton stayed on the ground for a bit, then earned applause for his effort — and post-fall calisthenics.
When Shelton closed things with a 26th forehand winner — he had zero via backhands — he flexed again and sneered until his expression morphed into a smile.
At his news conference, Shelton offered some unprompted comments critical of some of the people handling on-court post-match interviews.
As good as Shelton is with his serves and forehands, his improving return game is a significant part of what carried him to the final four at the Australian Open for the first time.
He did just enough in that department, accumulating 11 break points and converting three, against Sonego, an Italian ranked 55th. Shelton entered the match coming through on 52 percent of his break chances, the highest rate among the eight men’s quarterfinalists.
Shelton lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 US Open semifinals.
The other semifinal will be Djokovic vs. No. 2 Alexander Zverev. Djokovic continued his pursuit of an 11th Australian Open title, and unprecedented 25th major trophy, by overcoming a leg injury and Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a quarterfinal that began Tuesday night and ended at nearly 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
The women’s semifinals Thursday night are No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the tournament winner in each of the last two years, against No. 11 Paula Badosa, and No. 2 Iga Swiatek against No. 19 Madison Keys.
The crowd-pleasing factor was high for Shelton vs. Sonego, who never before had made it this far at a major.
Sonego went 67-for-90 on trips to the net, and his highlight-reel volley came at the outset of the second set. It was so remarkable that Shelton acknowledged the effort by offering a congratulatory handshake.
There was another terrific shot by Sonego in the fourth set, when he raced with his back to the net and spun to hit a hook shot of sorts that resulted in a winner.
It’s Shelton, though, who will get to keep playing in Melbourne this year.
