MELBOURNE: Grand Slam tournament winners Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams withdrew from their tuneup tournaments, their focus already on the Australian Open, well before Alexander Zverev tweaked his back in the second set of his must-win ATP Cup match against Daniil Medvedev.
He left the court for treatment on Saturday and returned, taking the match to three sets before Medvedev finally converted to secure Russia’s win over Germany and a spot in the final.
No. 4-ranked Medvedev lifted when Zverev started to struggle but he got tight in the end, twice double-faulting on match point before serving out for 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Andrey Rublev had earlier beaten Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Russia will meet Italy in the final after Fabio Fognini beat Pablo Carreno 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 and Matteo Berrettini swept Roberto Bautista 6-3, 7-5 to account for 2020 runners-up Spain.
Rafael Nadal didn’t play for Spain during the week because of lower back soreness but did practise and is expected to be OK for the Australian Open, where he’s aiming for a men’s record 21st Grand Slam title.
Zverev had helped Germany to a 2-1 quarter-final win over defending champions Serbia, rebounding from a narrow loss to top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the singles with a victory in the deciding doubles.
But in the semis, his movement and serve slowed after getting a medical timeout for treatment in the second set.
Medvedev rallied and set up victory with a service break in the penultimate game, and Zverev shattered a racket in frustration.
OTHER ATP FINAL
Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada and Britain’s Daniel Evans will both be aiming to win their first titles on the elite men’s tour when they meet in the Murray River Open final. Third-seeded Auger-Aliassime had a 6-1, 6-2 win over French Corentin Moutet and eight-seeded Evans beat Jeremy Chardy of France 6-2, 6-2.
MUGURUZA INTO FINAL
A day after beating 2020 champion Sofia Kenin in a rematch of last year’s Australian Open final, Garbine Muguruza beat eighth-seeded Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-0 to set up a final against top-ranked Ash Barty at the Yarra River Classic.Barty had the day off after Serena Williams withdrew Friday night from their match, citing a sore shoulder.
Serena attended a news conference instead on Saturday, and said she was feeling good for her shot at a record 24th Grand Slam title.
“I’ve gotten a lot of treatment already on my shoulder but I’m super confident its going to be great,” Serena said. “It’s definitely something that I’m going to have to deal with, and knowing that going into the tournament definitely helped.”
OSAKA OUT
No. 3-ranked Osaka pulled out of her Gippsland Trophy semi-final against Elise Mertens because of shoulder soreness.
Osaka won the US Open in 2018 and last year and claimed the Australian title in between, in 2019. She said she’s had a slight shoulder thing since like 2018 and needed to rest ahead of the Grand Slam. Mertens got a walkover into a final against Kaia Kanepi, who had a 6-3, 7-6 (6) semi-final win over Ekaterina Alexandrova.
GRAMPIANS TROPHY
After the four semi-finalists were determined, the WTA announced Sundays two semifinal showdowns will be the last matches of the Grampians Trophy. Due to the delayed schedule, the final will not be played.
There were no immediate details regarding points or prize money.
Fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari beat three-time major winner Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Grampians Trophy semi-finals against No. 6 Anett Kontaveit, who got a walkover in the quarter-final when two-time Australian Open winner Azarenka withdrew because of a lower back problem. Seventh-seeded Jennifer Brady beat Barbora Krejcikova and will next play 20-year-old Anna Li, who qualified for her first semi-final on the WTA Tour with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Sorana Cirstea.
SINNER IN DECIDER
Italian teenager Jannik Sinner saved a match point before battling past Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4) in a three-hour tussle to reach the final of the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne.
The 19-year-old Sinner looked set for a straightforward win after leading by a set and a break, but second seed Khachanov hit back with successive breaks to force a decider.
The Italian failed to close out the match at 5-3 in the final set and found himself on the brink when he faced a match point at 5-6.
But Sinner rallied to hold serve before clinching the decisive tie break to extend his winning streak to nine matches.
Sinner faces compatriot Stefano Travaglia in the final of the Australian Open warm-up event on Sunday after he downed Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro in straight sets.
Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2021