The pair advanced to the championship match after their opponents retired in the middle of Saturday’s semifinal match. After 52 years, this will be India’s first medal in men’s doubles at a continental competition.

The star shuttlers staged a remarkable comeback after losing the first game to defeat Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia 21-16, 17-21, 19-21 in a nail-biting final.

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PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy succumbed in the women’s and men’s singles quarterfinals, respectively. India’s premier transport PV Sindhu was eliminated from the women’s singles quarterfinals after losing to second-seeded An Se Young of Korea. However, India’s top shuttler, HS Prannoy, also succumbed in the quarterfinals. Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama defeated him. Their compatriot Kidambi Srikanth was eliminated in the round of 16 in the tournament. Srikanth was defeated by fourth-seeded Japanese player Kodai Naraoka.

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In his round of 32 match, silver medalist Srikanth defeated Sitthikom Thammassin of Thailand 21-11 25-27 23-21.

The Indian tandem of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag faced the Japanese duo of Ayato Endo and Yuta Takei in the round of 32 only three days after winning a historic Swiss Open title.

The Indian duo withdrew due to what appeared to be a knee injury sustained by Satwiksairaj, who was observed conversing with tournament officials and drawing their attention to his left knee. During the intermission of the first game, the Indians trailed 9-11.

In her first-round match, Aakarshi Kashyap defeated Canada’s Michelle Li, seeded sixth, 12-21 21-15 21-18. Ashmita Chaliha defeated Leonice Huet, a Frenchwoman, 21-12, 22-20.

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Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost their first-round doubles match against Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto of Japan.

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B competed in another men’s singles match Sai Praneeth defeated Jan Louda 21-16 18-21 21-12. Priyanshu Rajawat defeated Victor Svendsen in a singles match, 18-21, 21-16, 21-11. Kiran George defeated Mithun Manjunath by scores of 21-16 and 21-14.

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Elena Rybakina, who had just won Wimbledon, had to start the  Australian Open 2023 on Court 13, which was definitely a step down. She will finish it on the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, no matter what happens.

Aryna Sabalenka started the  Australian Open 2023 as a player who had lost in the semi-finals of three Grand Slam singles tournaments. This was not a good record for one of the most fierce players on the women’s tour. She will finish it on the last day, Saturday, no matter what happens.

It’s a statement from both of them to be one step away from the title. It promises to be a brutal power game battle, which is why their semi-finals on Thursday were both won in straight sets.

Australian Open 2023

Rybakina, a Kazakh who was born in Moscow and has a strong serve, beat two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka 7-6(4), 6-3. This is the third Slam champion that Rybakina has beaten at Melbourne Park in a row, after Iga Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko. So far, the 23-year-old has played in the finals of two of the last three Grand Slams. She is just restating why her win at Wimbledon last year, when she was stripped of ranking points, was not a fluke.

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A couple of hours later, Sabalenka of Belarus quickly beat Magda Linette of Poland, who was in her first Slam final at age 30. She won 7-6(1), 6-2, and hasn’t lost a set in the two weeks of the season-opening Slam. Make that a singles final, at least, after three missed shots at the last two US Opens and the Wimbledon in 2021.

Sabalenka, who is 24 years old, said on court, “I’m just so happy that I was able to get this win.”

When told that her average forehand speed was about the same as the men’s pros, the world’s No. 5 tennis player air-kissed her biceps and said, “I hit really slow balls today.” On a more serious note, Rybakina said the same thing after her match. She said that her shots weren’t going as fast under the lights as they usually do in the hot sun. It could be one of the things that makes the difference in the final.

“The conditions were different and harder. I couldn’t play my usual aggressive tennis against one of the best returners, Azarenka, said Rybakina, who has the most aces in the tournament so far.

Australian Open 2023

Rybakina’s match started with a double fault, but she got back on track with a serve that was not returned and three straight aces. Talk about making an early impression. Rybakina got off to a good start, but Azarenka won a backhand slice and net duel in the fifth game to get the first strike and the break. But Rybakina couldn’t be stopped for long. The Kazakh was calling the shots from the baseline, and Azarenka couldn’t do anything but move the ball to the other side of the court. Rybakina broke Azarenka again to even things up and make it 5-3.

Rybakina suddenly lost her deadly first weapon when she was serving for the set, and Azarenka found a great forehand down the line passing winner when set point came up. As Rybakina’s number of first serves went down (48% for the set), Azarenka was able to hold on and force a tiebreaker. That’s when the experienced Belarusian, who was mostly tight from her end to the barrage from the other, let loose with those unforced errors and a double fault as Rybakina slowly moved ahead.

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In the second set, there was no way to stop her. Not when she won the third game with a backhand return winner and broke to love while Azarenka, a PSG fan, kicked the ball in anger. Even though Rybakina served well, she also won 41 of the 49 return points, putting Azarenka under pressure from the start and keeping it up. After two double faults and a wild forehand, Azarenka’s serve and spirit were broken again.

Australian Open 2023

Similar to how Linette was during the second half of her semi-final match with Sabalenka. Sabalenka’s serve has been one of her biggest problems, but Rybakina’s hasn’t been. If it holds up in Melbourne, the Russian’s power game could take over. And the Pole just couldn’t deal with that much.

Linette got off to a good start with an early break, but Sabalenka was right back in the game as soon as she started making shots. In the tiebreaker, her range and rhythm were at their best. The Russian didn’t look at the Pole at all, and there was only one point between them. In the second set, Sabalenka continued to be the better player. Linette hit a backhand out of bounds in the third game, giving Sabalenka the break. Soon after, she got the double break, giving her a 4-1 lead. The difference between the two was the number of winners. Sabalenka had 33, while Linett only had nine.

Australian Open 2023

Sabalenka knows that by Saturday, that might not be the case. “She is an amazing player,” Sabalenka said of Rybakina. “She plays great tennis, is very aggressive, and has been to a final before.”

The Kazakh wants to use what he learned about enjoying the moment in London a little over six months ago to do the same in Melbourne. “I’m going to do my best, fight, and hopefully win.”

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On Friday at the Adelaide International 2, the fourth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut faced an in-form Thanasi Kokkinakis supported by a noisy home crowd, but the Spaniard kept his calm to win a tight 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3 semi-final match at the ATP 250 event.

Kokkinakis, a fan favourite from South Australia, gave Bautista Agut a tough time with his powerful serving and dazzling forehand play. The 34-year-signature old’s flat baseline hitting helped him save all nine break points he faced in a dramatic final set, sealing a victory after two hours and 35 minutes and setting up a championship match against Soonwoo Kwon.

Bautista Agut remarked of Kokkinakis after the match, “He’s a very talented player, he was serving fantastic.” On this court, he is outstanding. There’s a lot of promise there, and I hope for the best for him. Thanasi was a strong opponent on this court today.

Having won his first ATP Tour title in his hometown in 2022, Kokkinakis was in the midst of another impressive run. In the first set, Bautista Agut had little opportunities on return because to the accuracy of his serving; the Australian lost only three points behind his initial delivery. However, the Spaniard remained composed and took an early 4-1 lead in the tie-break, which proved decisive.

Case in point: the home team’s “wild card.” For the first time in their ATP Head2Head meeting, Kokkinakis broke Bautista Agut in the eighth game of the second set to force a third set, and the outcome of the match ultimately depended on Bautista Agut’s ability to continually elevate his level when facing break point. The World No. 26 reached his 22nd ATP Tour final with a break of Kokkinakis’s serve in the second game.

Bautista Agut, an 11-time tour-level champion, continued his tradition of good play in the first weeks of the ATP Tour season with his run in Adelaide. If he wins Saturday’s final against Kwon, it will be his sixth tour-level trophy in the month of January, including his 2016 and 2018 victories in Auckland, as well as 2017 and 2018 victories in Chennai and Doha (2019).

RBA ends Kokkinakis' dream run

Roberto Bautista defeats defending champ 7-6 3-6 6-3 to reach the final in Adelaide

(🎥 @TennisTV) pic.twitter.com/fsbHMU1ZHx

— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) January 13, 2023

When asked about his impressive January stats, Bautista Agut replied, “It feels wonderful to be back home after spending all year travelling and working, so for me to take a few days off after the end of the season and practise hard, feels good for me.” Over the course of my career, “I’ve always felt well at the start of the season.”

Before losing to Draper in the final, Kwon had defeated Jack in three sets, 7-6(6), 6-7(2), 6-3, with his own impressive performance of baseline hitting.

After losing in qualification to Draper in Adelaide last week, the South Korean was eliminated from this week’s ATP 250 by Tomas Machac. But once he was in the draw, he wasted no time in getting back at Machac in the first round and then beating second seed Pablo Carreno Busta and third seed Mikael Ymer to advance to the semifinals.

“Today’s match was quite challenging,” “Kwon responded when asked how he managed to last through the two hours and 45 minutes he spent fighting Draper in the sweltering Adelaide sun. “For me, today’s victory just brings a sense of relief and joy. He had a great showing the week before, so I made an effort to take this match in stride and maintain a positive attitude. I made an effort to be more assertive.”

Kwon won an exciting semi-final match with to his powerful forehand shots and steady clean baseline strokes. Kwon saved nine of 10 break points faced by Draper as the World No. 84 evened their ATP Head2Head series, 44-36.

He finally got his revenge on Draper and is now in his second ATP Tour final, following his 2021 run to the title in Astana (then Nur-Sultan). Six tournaments have been held in Adelaide since 2020, and Kwon is the first lucky loser to reach the final.

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