This was published 4 years ago
Thanks to you all for following tonight.
Just giving you an update on one more game still going. Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner leads over Steve Johnson, 6-2, 6-4, 3-2.
That came continues on Margaret Court Arena. You can find that match on Channel Nine.
Signing off, Damien Ractliffe here. Good night.
Jelena Dokic interviewed Simona Halep following her terrific win.
JD: Simona, congratulations. This is your...you’re on a winning streak. This is your seventh win here in Melbourne. You won the opening tournament, the lead-up. You have only lost one set, so what’s the secret? What are you having for breakfast? Tell us?
SH: I have the same food since I came here. In four weeks I have only eaten ham and cheese and some eggs. I don’t mix much. It is working.
Very tough conditions to wait all day and get ready for the match, and you’ve got to stay relaxed but focused when you come out here. I know you’re very experienced but, still, was that hard to manage today?
Yes, it has been a bit difficult to stay all day and wait. It was good match before me. Yeah, I enjoyed it a lot and motivated me actually to be focused and play some good tennis which I think I did, and it was a great match. She didn’t play that bad, but I was very aggressive, and I did what I had to do.
Well, that was a procession.
Simona Halep def Beatriz Haddad Maia, 6-2, 6-0.
We’ve barely ticked over an hour on court, but Simona Halep is already in a 6-2, 5-0 position, on the verge of entering the third round at Melbourne Park.
The Romanian star is a two-time grand slam winner, and reached the final here at the Australian Open in 2018. Since then, she has exited fourth round, semi-finals and quarter-finals in Australia.
Halep is currently ranked 15th in the world, having reached No.1 in October, 2017.
Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner has moved to a 6-2, 6-4 lead over Steve Johnson.
Johnson saved one match point, but couldn’t save the second, failing to return Sinner’s regulation serve.
Sinner has hit nine aces to two tonight, and is going at an incredibly efficient 86 per cent from his first serves.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d Sam Stosur 6-2, 6-2
If Australian tennis hasn’t always treated Sam Stosur fairly over the years – and it would be hard to argue otherwise – there was some deserved respite on Thursday afternoon as the 37-year-old bowed out of her professional singles career.
A standing ovation from the Kia Arena crowd at the Australian Open was followed by a floral bouquet from Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley and a stream of video tributes from the likes of Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, Ajla Tomljanovic, Jim Courier and others.
Stosur – who broke a 30-year grand slam singles title drought for Australian women by beating Serena Williams to win the 2011 US Open – has arguably been underappreciated throughout her career, particularly after several round-one exits at her home slam.
Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner boasts a 6-2, 3-4 lead on American Steve Johnson.
That game is being played on Margaret Court Arena.
Sinner has won 21 receiving points to just five, while also going at a very efficient 86 per cent on first serves.
After a short stay in Belgrade following his deportation from Australia, world no. 1 Novak Djokovic has been spotted in Tivat, Montenegro, on the way to the elite seaside Porto Montenegro resort, where he reportedly owns an apartment.
Radio Tivat published a short video of the tennis star walking in Tivat.