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Dayana Yastremska has made history as the first female qualifier to make the semi finals in 46 years after beating the giant-slaying Linda Noskova.
Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev aims to make the final four for the third time in Melbourne when he faces No. 9 seed Hubert Hurkacz. Follow live below!
‘STRUGGLING’ MEDVEDEV HAS WORDS FOR CHAIR UMPIRE
Has Daniil Medvedev’s lengthy court time throughout this tournament finally caught up to him?
The No. 3 seed has been forced into a fifth set against Hubert Hurkacz, marking the second time at this Australian Open that Medvedev has gone the distance.
In fact, Medvedev’s quickest game in Melbourne was two hours and nine minutes: a third round victory over No. 27 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Having racked up several hours of court time at this Australian Open — with his five-set tussle against Hurkacz adding more — tennis great John McEnroe felt it was taking its toll on the Russian.
“He’s had a tough time, Medvedev,” McEnroe said on Nine’s broadcast.
“He’s played until 4am in the morning. The other day was super hot.
“Now again you can see he’s leaning over. He is struggling to get through this. Understandably so.”
Medvedev also appeared to have words with the chair umpire after the fifth set, although the courtside microphones were turned down so there was no way to tell what was said.
McEnroe was baffled as to why the microphones were seemingly switched off or reduced.
“Why did the microphones get turned down now,” McEnroe asked.
“Why weren’t they turned down before?
Although we couldn’t hear why Medvedev was agitated, Nine commentator Brenton Speed speculated it was to do with a particular moment that led to the Russian being broken in a crucial game in the fourth set.
“But I feel like it might have been a delay between the first and second serve at a key moment when Medvedev was serving to stay in that set and force the tie-breaker and just maybe knocked him out of his rhythm,” Speed said.
Medvedev had taken the first set 7-6 (7-4) before Hurkacz answered back in the second, 6-2.
It was then Medvedev’s turn to win the third set 6-3 and move to within one set away from the semi finals but Hurkacz hit back to win it 7-5 and force a deciding set.
‘A LOT MORE DISTRACTING’: LEGEND BAFFLED AS NEW RULE UNDER SPOTLIGHT AGAIN
Tennis legend Jim Courier was the latest to criticise the decision to allow fans into the venue after even games as the quarter final between Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz was slightly delayed.
After Medvedev held serve to consolidate a 2-0 lead in the first set, fans poured into Rod Laver Arena as per the new rules at the Australian Open, allowing patrons to enter the venue after an even game.
However, Hurkacz was forced to wait and the umpire needed to instruct fans to get a wriggle on.
“As quick as you can, please, ladies and gentlemen,” the umpire said.
Although Courier didn’t exactly denounce the decision to let fans in after even games, he felt there was a better way to do so that wouldn’t have a major impact on the players.
“I could see where they would let them in on the sides,” Courier said on Nine.
“I don’t get why they’re letting them in from behind. Because that is a lot more distracting.”
QUALIFIER’S MIRACLE RUN CONTINUES AS $990K PAYDAY SEALED
Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska’s fairytale run at Melbourne Park continues as she beat Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter finals of the women’s singles.
Yastremska, who had not made it past the second round of a grand slam since 2020, never appeared overawed from the magnitude of the occasion.
The 23-year-old was simply too powerful for the giant-slaying Noskova, clubbing a whopping 19 winners to the Czech’s six as she became the first female qualifier to make the semi finals since Australia’s Christine Matison in 1978.
Yastremska’s victory now means she will take home at least $AUD990,000 in prize money as a semi finalist and awaits the winner of the other semi final between Anna Kalinskaya or No. 12 seed Qinwen Zheng.
TEEN STAR’S CHEEKY RESPONSE TO RIVAL PARTNER’S OUTFIT
American star Coco Gauff had a cheeky response to a hat worn by the husband of her quarter final rival Marta Kostyuk.
Gauff overcame the Ukrainian 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 in a scrappy encounter on Tuesday afternoon to secure a spot in the semi finals of the Australian open for the first time.
During the match, the cameras often panned to Kostyuk’s husband who wore a hat with the rather odd wording “shake your cocos”.
However, Gauff ultimately had the last laugh.
The American posted an Instagram story featuring a clip of match point along with the caption: “shakey shake.”
AUSSIE STAR’S QUARTER FINAL MOVED OVER BIZARRE BUBBLING ISSUE
A men’s doubles quarter final involving Aussie star Matt Ebden was forced onto a different venue after play was halted due to bubbling on the court.
No. 2 seeds Ebden and Rohan Bopanna were up against Argentinian duo Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni on Court 3, but the match was suspended when Ebden and Bopanna alerted the umpire to bubbles on the court.
The match was then moved to Margaret Court Arena as Australian Open officials continue to assess the bubbling issue on Court Three.
Despite the hindrance to the match, it didn’t seem to slow down Ebden and Boapanna as they eliminated the No. 6 seeds 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) to progress into the semi finals.
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TEEN STAR UNDER INVESTIGATION OVER ‘UNPLEASANT’ AUS OPEN ACT
A Ukranian junior tennis star has come under fire from her own country over a handshake with a Russian opponent.
Yelyzaveta Kotliar, 16, defied the unwritten rule when she made the gesture to Russia’s Vlada Mincheva after losing their Australian Open junior match 6-2 6-4.
It came as a big surprise given the stance of Ukranian players to not shake hands with opponents from Russia and Belarus due to the ongoing conflict between their countries
The Ukrainian Tennis Federation described it as an “unpleasant incident” and said it had been a mistake on the teen’s part.
Her father, Konstantin Kotliar, spoke on behalf of his daughter to explain the situation.
“The atmosphere here is extraordinary, which in itself puts a lot of pressure on the athletes,” he said in a statement released by the UTF.
“At the beginning of your career, it’s hard to cope with this and not be nervous. “Unfortunately, my daughter didn’t feel calm, her emotions were running high, so she wasn’t completely in control of her behaviour.
“She automatically performed the post-match ritual, not realising that behind the net there was a representative of the country who launched the attack on our homeland.
“It was definitely a mistake that Liza regrets and assures us that she will never allow anything like that to happen again.”
BIG WINNER IN SCHEDULE CHAOS
One player is set to be given an advantage thanks to the Australian Open’s schedule changes, made in attempt to avoid delays.
In the very surprising top half of the women’s draw, unseeded pair Linda Noskova and Dayana Yastremska are facing off in one quarter-final to begin Wednesday’s play at 12pm AEDT.
But the other quarter-final in their half, 12th seed Qinwen Zheng against unseeded Anna Kalinskaya, won’t be played until the night session.
This is because the tournament now only schedules two matches in the day session, down from three, and has to play two men’s and two women’s quarter-finals on centre court on one day.
Two men’s matches cannot be played in the night session, since they could both run five sets, and organisers would not schedule both men’s matches in the day session because the TV broadcaster would be left fuming over the likely lower ratings.
But it leaves the Noskova-Yastremska winner likely to have an extra six to eight hours of recovery on the Kalinskaya-Zheng winner – which actually matters because their semi-final will be played tomorrow (Thursday).
In previous years both women’s quarter-finals in the same half of the draw were played in the same session to minimise the recovery gap.
On the men’s side – with their semi-final to be played on Friday – Daniil Medvedev faces Hubert Hurkacz, before in the second match of the night session, Carlos Alcaraz battles Alex Zverev.
Zverev has been accused by multiple ex-partners of domestic abuse and is facing trial in Germany this May.
DAY 11 ORDER OF PLAY (Quarter-finals – all times AEDT)
Rod Laver Arena
Not before 12pm: Linda Noskova (CZE) def by Dayana Yastremska (UKR) 6-3, 6-4
Not before 1:30pm: No.9 Hubert Hurkacz (POL) vs No.3 Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
From 7:15pm: Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) vs No.12 Qinwen Zheng (CHN)
Followed by: No.6 Alexander Zverev (GER) vs No.2 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
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