Tennis Weekly

Elena Rybakina has won the Australian Open! It looked like it was heading for a repeat of the 2023 Final where Sabalenka came back to win in three sets but Rybakina had a comeback of her own from 3-0 down in the Final set, storming back to close out the match 6-4 4-6 6-4. It was a long wait for a second major for Rybakina who triumphed at Wimbledon in 2022 but has had ups and downs professionally and personally but managed to set all of that aside to win in Melbourne. She moves up to number three in the ranking and adds the trophy to her recently won WTA Finals title to establish herself as the form player on the WTA Tour.

Joel and Kim ask how high can Rybakina go and question why Sabalenka isn’t able to close out major finals despite being the dominant force on the tour. Sabalenka is now 4-4 in grand slam finals and has won just 1 of her last 4 since her 2024 US Open triumph. They also announce the winner of collect a set and who is taking home the official AO cap and they wrap-up the doubles where Zhang and Mertens and Harrison and Skupski came out on top.
They also make their last observations ahead of the Men’s Finals the day after the semi-final epics in Melbourne Park.

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What did we just witness?! Australian Open Day 13 delivered with aplomb so we had no choice but to all jump on the mics together at Tennis Weekly HQ and get our heads around the absolute treat that was the men’s semifinals action. Novak Djokovic rolled back the years in one of his all-time great Australian Open performances, outlasting Jannik Sinner in a five-set epic to move one win away from a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title. At 38 years old, Novak went full Houdini on Rod Laver Arena, saving break point after break point after break point. Is this one of the greatest wins of his career? And what does this say about the Alcaraz-Sinner era when a 38 year old can defeat them?

Carlos Alcaraz also survived a brutal 5 hour 27 minute marathon against Alexander Zverev to reach his first Australian Open final, in the longest men’s semi-final in tournament history (who remembers that match between Nadal vs Verdasco?). Cramp, controversy, medical timeouts, blown chances and unreal mentality. Did Zverev choke it or did Alcaraz win it? And should cramp ever equal an MTO? We also look ahead to a blockbuster Australian Open final: Djokovic vs Alcaraz. Slam 25 or a historic career Grand Slam at 22. Goosebumps already.

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We have our ladies finalists! Australian Open Day 12 did not come to play – and neither did we. In this episode, Joel and Chris break down all the drama from Melbourne as Aryna Sabalenka bulldozes her way into a fourth straight Australian Open final, doing it the scary way: without dropping a set and with plenty of spice along the way (yes, we’re talking that hindrance call). We also dive into Elena Rybakina’s ice-cold win over Jessica Pegula, saving set points, firing aces when it mattered, and booking a blockbuster AO final rematch with Sabalenka. Joel and Chris hope that maybe we will get a ladies match that goes the distance in the business end of the tournament which has been strangely lacking.

Elsewhere, we preview the men’s semi-finals with Djokovic, Sinner, Alcaraz and Zverev all lining up, ask whether anyone can actually stop Carlos, and look at how much Zverev’s serve decides his fate. Plus, all the latest from the doubles and mixed doubles finals and a quick detour across to America as the Serena Williams ‘will she, won’t she’ comeback takes on another development…

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Another day, another very eventful 24 hours at the Australian Open, and Joel and Chris are back at Tennis Weekly HQ to unpack it all as the semi-final line-ups are all locked in. We dive into Novak Djokovic’s latest Houdini act after Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire despite leading by two sets, handing Novak yet another date with destiny — and Jannik Sinner. The Italian barely broke a sweat against Ben Shelton, cruising into another Australian Open semi and extending a frankly brutal head-to-head. Is Shelton running out of answers against the very elite, and is this era already beginning to define him?

On the women’s side, Elena Rybakina laid down a serious marker by dismantling Iga Swiatek to set up a semi-final showdown with Jessica Pegula. We debate whether Iga has a genuine Rybakina problem, or if the rest of the field is simply catching up — and then get into Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Pegula speaking out about behind-the-scenes cameras and life “in the zoo” at Melbourne Park. Plus, we announce our Australian Open competition to win an official Australian Open towel and tennis ball, and look ahead to ladies’ semi-finals day with some fresh (and possibly questionable) predictions.

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It was a big day for Carlos Alcaraz and Elina Svitolina in Melbourne where both made their first ever Australian Open semifinals. Alcaraz produced a dominant display to defeat home hope Alex de Minaur in straight sets as Svitolina upset No.3 seed Coco Gauff in just 59 minutes. Alcaraz is still on track to become the youngest man to complete the career grand slam should he win on Sunday and based on his form his semifinal opponent Alexander Zverev will have to produce the performance of a lifetime to prevent the Spaniard from making another grand slam final. Zverev won his semifinal mainly thanks to his impeccable service display hitting 24 aces and 1 double fault to down next gen player Learner Tien in 4 sets. Svitolina will go on to face Sabalenka who dismantled 18 year old Iva Jovic in straight sets in sweltering conditions in Melbourne. Sabalenka has now made the semis or better at the last 8 grand slams and 14 of the last 17.

Chris and Kim also talk tennis’ bad boy Nick Kyrgios who was spotted partying on two consecutive nights before his AO Mixed Doubles Round 2 loss with Leylah Fernandez. They question if it is time for Tennis Australia’s support of Nick to stop after such a display. Also up for discussion is player privacy after Coco Gauff was filmed smashing a racket after her semifinal loss and made it clear she felt there was not somewhere private apart from the locker room for the players to go.

Finally they give a collect-a-set update where three players are still in the running to win the official AO cap thanks to our sponsor AO Travel & Experiences.

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