Former world number one Novak Djokovic's Australian Open preparations suffered a blow Friday as he was bundled out of the Brisbane International by towering American Reilly Opelka.
Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner powered to his first Rotterdam Open title on Sunday, breaking down a determined defensive effort from Australia's Alex De Minaur to win 7-5, 6-4 in a high-quality battle.
Patience is a virtue that Sinner does possess, and eventually that paid off.
"I'm the same boy I was before I won the title," he insisted on his return to Rome.
Ever since bursting on the scene as a 17-year-old in 2019, the Italian has been touted as one of tennis' future greats.
Jannik Sinner stormed back from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in a gruelling five-set Australian Open final on Sunday and win his first Grand Slam.
Since Stan Wawrinka won his only title in Melbourne in 2014, Novak Djokovic has picked up six trophies, Roger Federer has won two and Rafael Nadal has won one.
The Belarusian world number two has yet to drop a set in Melbourne this year
Former US Open champion Medvedev will hope to get third time lucky when he meets Italian youngster Jannik Sinner on Sunday
Novak Djokovic has opened up on how he riled Roger Federer when he broke onto the scene as a cocky upstart but said it only fired up his quest to become the best player in the world.
World number two Carlos Alcaraz dropped a set Thursday before rediscovering his mojo to battle into the Australian Open third round, coming good when it mattered.
Iga Swiatek came back from the brink to beat unseeded American Danielle Collins in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday, extending her winning run to 18 matches.
Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva put her school work to one side Wednesday and instead underlined her huge potential by crushing sixth seed Ons Jabeur in under an hour at the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic survived a huge scare to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, beating home favourite Alexei Popyrin to stay on track for a historic 25th Grand Slam title.
In her fourth Grand Slam main draw appearance since making her debut at last year's French Open, Andreeva showed maturity beyond her years as Jabeur desperately sought answers from her coaching team after the early jolt.
The second seed, gunning to unseat 10-time champion Novak Djokovic from the world number one spot, was tested in a tight first set but then moved through the gears.
Sumit Nagal, India's top-ranked singles player, was left with less than a thousand dollars in his bank account at one point last year so it was no surprise he was beaming on Tuesday after ensuring a bumper payday at the Australian Open.
A single break proved enough for the French 16th seed to win the opening set against her rusty opponent and she dominated the second set tie-break to progress in Melbourne.
The 36-year-old put up stiff resistance in a 61-minute first set against Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry, but the 30th seed slowly ground him down to win 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
