The Australian Open
AO Women: Day 8 review
Iga Swiatek admitted she was feeling the pressure during a 6-2, 6-2 upset loss to Elena Rybakina in a fourth-round battle of Grand Slam champions at the Australian Open on Sunday.
The top-seeded WTA No. 1 with three titles at the majors in her resume, was unable to motivate herself against Kazakhstan’s reigning Wimbledon winner in a 90-minute shocker.
With the third-round defeat of second seed Ons Jabeur, this edition becomes the first Grand Slam in the open era where the top two seeds in both the men’s and women’s singles draws have lost prior to the quarter-finals.
Men’s top seed Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Casper Ruud both exited in the second round.
Swiatak said she had only herself to blame in defeat.
“The fact that I had 40-15 in the first two games, and I couldn’t close it was a little bit disturbing,” the Pole who claimed eight titles in 2022, said.
“But then I came back; I was pretty happy with how disciplined I am.”
Her efforts, however, were not enough to produce the victory as the overlooked Rybakina came through to dominate.
“For sure I need to work on my, I don’t know, kind of mindset and fight a little bit more as I did last season.
“For sure I’m going to take time right now to kind of reset.”
She added after losing her second match of the season against eight victories: “The past two weeks have been pretty hard for me.
“Today I didn;’t hae that much ro fight with, I took a step back in terms of how I approach these tournaments, and I maybe wanted it a little bit too hard.
“Elena was the one that was more solid today. I felt like it was more about who is going to put more pressure on the opponent, and she did that pretty well.
“On my serve I felt I needed to work really, really hard to get any point because my first serve wasn’t working.”
Rybakina, who pumped out six aces and broke four times, was pleased with her afternoon’s work on the Laver showcourt.
“When you play against No. 1, you have really nothing to lose.
“I knew I had to be aggressive from the first ball because she’s a great mover, and she defends really well.
“I was trying to just attack her from the first ball, and it really worked well.”
2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko had plenty of vocal complaints about the electronic line calling system being used at this edition.
But the Latvian didn’t let her irritation get in the way of a 7-5, 6-3 upset outside title favourite Coco Gauff.
“I have to keep more focus on the game and on the court,” the outspoken Baltic player said.
“Of course, if there were some calls which I asked my team,(in the player box) obviously, what they saw and I can do that sometimes.”
The winner added: “I’m just more hungry now to win another Grand Slam and just to play well and to be back in top 10 and just to play consistently”
Gauff gave full credit to her winning opponent: “Jelena played really good tennis, really aggressive. I feel like everything was working for
her today.
“I tried my best in the moment to combat that. There were a couple of things I could have improved on, but overall I think she deserved to win today.”
Third seed Jessica Pegula bucked the upset trend, laying down a 7-5, 6-2 defeat of Barbora Krejcikova.
Jannik Sinner has broken his silence as the end of his three-month ban from tennis nears, with the world No. 1 admitting it will take “a little time to find myself again.”
The Italian gave his thoughts to SkySports Italia as he prepares to resume training in a few weeks with his ban for involuntary doping infractions ending on May 4, just a fortnight before the start of Roland Garros.
Sinner signed an agreement with anti-doping body WADA to serve time away from the sport which he dominated in 2024 after inadvertently ingesting a banned substance off the hands of his now-ex masseur last season.
The player called the entire episode “a little unfair” but accepted an ad-hoc sanction arrangement.
“It could have been much worse. We accepted (the suspension) quickly, even if I did not really agree .
“We had to choose the lesser of two evils and I think that’s what we did. What I’m going through is a little unfair, but if you look at it, it could have been much worse – it could have been even more unfair “
The 23-year-old added: “Once I made that decision, it took me a little time to find myself again. Other things happened, beyond this affair, which weren’t easy for me.
“It will take me a little more time to digest all of that, but I’m here. I can’t wait to make my return to Rome (Masters which begins a few days after his return).”
Sinner, a two-time Australian Open champion who also holds the US open crown. is unsure of his reception by peers when he comes back to the Tour in Rome.
“I don’t know what could happen . I’m certain of how things happened – I’m innocent.
“I want to play tennis and be very calm, that’s the end of it. I’m sure everything will be fine, even if it might take a while to get going again at first .”
Despite being out of action, Sinner has managed to maintain the top ATP ranking as rivals Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz continue to trail through poor results during their rival’s enforced absence.
Paula Badosa has given herself less than a month to be fit for the Madrid Masters after withdrawing from Miami with a recurring back problem.
The Spaniard who once touched second in the world retired before her fourth-round match in Florida more than a week ago.
She is hoping to be back on court when Madrid begins in three weeks.
The 27-year-old described her injury as “small hernia that has moved from the vertebra, but I’m being treated for the best treatments.
“My goal is to be back in Madrid.”
This year’s Australian Open semi-finalist added: “I’m doing well. I’m trying to take things positively, put things in perspective, and I’m doing fine.
“Physically? Well, I’ve had every test possible.
“This time I was more scared than I should have been because it was on the opposite side.
“I’ve always had discomfort on the right side, and now it’s on the left. I was worried it was another stress fracture, but fortunately it isn’t.”
Main photo:- Paula Badosa in Miami action before retiring – by ISF Ltd
Aryna Sabalenka shook off a one-hours rain delay as she defeated Jessica Pegula for the third time in a row, winning the Miami Masters on Saturday 7-5, 6-2.
The world No. 1 kept a firm grip on the top ranking spot after dismissing her American opponent after finals wins over Pegula in Cincinnati and New York last season.
Victory in just under 90 minutes was the second title of the season for Sabalenka, who lost 2025 finals at the Australian Open and earlier this month at Indian Wells to teenaged Mirra Andreeva.
The final began an hour late due to rain in South Florida.
Sabalenka broke on six of her 14 chances while dropping her own serve four times.
Sabalenka finally lifted the trophy here on her seventh appearance after reaching quarter-finals in 2021 and 2023.
The winner claimed her eighth title at the 1000 level while improving her record over Pegula to 7-2.
Sabalenka owns 19 career trophies including back-to-back Australian Opens and the US Open last September.
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