MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Latest (all time local) at the Australian Open on Thursday:
7:15 pm
Tennis legend Dylan Alcott’s farewell party has gone haywire with his loss to Sam Schröder of the Netherlands in the wheelchair quad final.
After a 48-hour whirlwind, the 2022 Australian of the Year was upset 7-5, 6-0 from Schröder in Thursday’s final at Rod Laver Arena.
Alcott, 31, admitted before the match that he was “fried” after arriving in the national capital Canberra on Tuesday night after a semi-final win, soaking in the Australia Day honors that came his way and what he said was preparing for it. His “Last Dance”.
Alcott retired with 15 Grand Slam titles. He completed an unprecedented Golden Slam last year, winning all four majors in the wheelchair quad as well as the Tokyo Paralympic event.
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4:30 pm
It is going to be the All-Australian men’s double final at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokinakis, dubbed a “special K” team, defeated the third-seeded pair of Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos 7-6(4), 6-4.
This was preceded by the nearly full Rod Laver Arena which admitted many fans without requiring tickets and using their Melbourne Park Ground Pass.
At the near-empty Margaret Court Arena, fellow Australians Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell defeated the second seeded team of United States’ Rajiv Ram and Britain’s Joe Salisbury 6-3, 7-6 (9), four sets. Points saved in the second set.
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3:15 pm
Mixed doubles finalists are set at Melbourne Park, with the Australian wild-card entry of Jamie Forlis and Jason Kubler set to play in Friday’s final after a severely late finish in their semi-finals.
In the match that ended after 2 p.m. on Thursday, due to the marathon men’s quarterfinal between Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassim, won in five sets by Medvedev, Forlis and Kubler continued their unpredictable run.
After saving a match point, the pair defeated Lucie Heradeca and Gonzalo Escobar 2–6, 7–6(2), 10–6 to advance to the championship match.
“I didn’t wake up, I swear, until after the first set,” Kubler said.
Australia will face Kristina Mladenovic and Ivan Dodig, who defeated Zhang Shuai and John Peer in the second semi-final.
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2:20 pm
The top seeded Czech team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Sinyakova advanced to the women’s doubles final at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-3 win over third seeded Russian pair of Veronika Kudermatova and Belgium’s Elise Bertens.
Kerjikova and Siniakova will play Beatriz Haddad Maia and Anna Danilina in Sunday’s final. Earlier, Hadad Maiya and Danilana defeated No. 2 seeded Japanese pair of Shuko Aoyama and Ana Shibahara 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
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at 2 pm
Beatriz Haddad Maiya and Anna Danilina advanced to the women’s doubles final after beating Japanese pair Shuko Aoyama and Anna Shibahara 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena.
Haddad Maia of Brazil and Danilina of Kazakhstan will play the top seeded Czech team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Sinyakova and the winner of the latter semi-final between third seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Alice Bertens of Belgium.
Next on Rod Laver is the men’s doubles semi-final with “Special K” Aussies featuring Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokinakis playing third-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.
The women’s singles semi-finals are scheduled for the night’s event at Rod Laver Arena. Top-ranked and local hope Ash Barty plays American Madison Keys, followed by Inga Switek’s match against another American, Danielle Collins.
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