Welcome to the Australian Half Open. Or if you prefer, the Australian Wide Open. When play started at Melbourne Park on Monday, there were six people in Garden Square. Two were workers. In Rod Laver Arena, there were maybe 1000. It wasn’t so much a crowd as a batch. In the first game of the first match of the tournament, […]

Along with Angelique Kerber in the women’s draw, French star Gael Monfils became the highest-profile casualty on Day 1 of the Australian Open, shocked by Emil Ruusuvouri. The World No. 10 fell in five gruelling sets to his unseeded Finnish rival 3-6 6-4 7-5 3-6 6-3 in a devastating new low to his concerning form slump. Monfils is yet to […]

Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka made roaring starts to their Australian Open campaigns but fellow former champion Angelique Kerber was the biggest early casualty in the women’s singles draw. Wiilliams and Osaka dropped just five games between them in their opening matches at Melbourne Park, despite testing draws on paper. Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion from the USA, thrashed […]

Summary ‘Cat and mouse’ What’s it like to play Ash Barty and Rafael Nadal? Calling off the Open would have been ‘catastrophic’, Tiley says ‘I don’t have much respect for him’: Djokovic takes aim at Kyrgios ‘I’ve eaten my brussels sprouts’: Barty ready to break 43-year Open drought Changing ends Damien Ractliffe signing on here, taking over from Anthony Colangelo […]

Former champion Angelique Kerber is out of the Australian Open, defeated in straight sets by American Bernarda Pera. The 23rd seed, one of the players forced into hard lockdown prior to the tournament, limped through the first set and was beaten 6-0, 6-4. Angelique Kerber lost in the first round.Credit:Getty Images Kerber’s early exit came after Naomi Osaka and the […]

Australian Open: Five things to watch The Australian Open begins in Melbourne on February 8 and runs until February 21. Upon arrival in Australia, players had to complete a mandatory 14-day isolation period. Novak Djokovic returns to defend his men’s title, with Sofia Kenin defending her crown in the women’s tournament. Rafael Nadal will also be in action as he […]

Australian Open contender Ashleigh Barty warms up for her home Grand Slam with victory in the Yarra Valley Classic after overcoming Garbine Muguruza in the final  Ashleigh Barty prevailed at the Yarra Valley classic beating Garbine Muguruza The Australian enters her home grand slam ranked as the world’s number one She aims to be the first home champion at the […]

Novak Djokovic defeats Zverev to reach ATP finals last four Novak Djokovic has claimed he hasn’t got much respect for Nick Kyrgios and his outspokenness ahead of the Australian Open. The Serb was recently called a ‘tool’ by the outspoken tennis star. And he’s now issued a brutal response. Kyrgios recently slammed Djokovic over his Australian Open demands, labelling the […]

World No. 1 Ash Barty has added a ninth title to her resume after defeating Spain’s Garbine Muguruza in the Yarra Valley Classic final on Sunday. But some tennis fans were most interested in the Queenslander’s “unusual” prize, the trophy featuring a wood carving of a wombat. Following Barty’s acceptance speech, Channel 9 presenter Nick McArdle said: “I’m not quite […]

Dan Evans claimed a first ATP title on the eve of the Australian Open, beating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets. Evans, the British No. 1 from Birmingham, was too strong for the 20-year-old from Canada and strolled to a 6-2 6-3 win. There is little time to celebrate for Evans, 30. He has to gear up for his first […]