Tennis
Djokovic: “With Alcarath it’s like when we played at our best with Nadal”
After his victory at the Cincinnati Masters, Novak Djokovic praised Carlos Alcarat for his quality and emphasized that the games with him are at the level he played with Nadal at his best.
In a thrilling final of 3 hours and 49 minutes, Novak Djokovic, who was struggling with heat stroke, managed the big surprise against Carlos Alcarath and won the Cincinnati Masters 1-2 in sets.
The world number two, who has won 39 Masters trophies, idolized the Spanish tennis player, stressing that the matches he plays with him reminded him of the ones against Nadal.
“It was one of the most exciting and difficult games I’ve ever played in my entire career, mentally, emotionally and physically. It was a real roller coaster ride. I don’t think I’ve played many games like this in my career.” We can maybe compare it to the 2012 Australian Open final with Nadal. This time it was 3 sets but we played almost 4 hours. In the 3rd set I had many chances, even for a double break. The match point at 5-3 was incredible and a clue to what happened in that game.
About if he’s surprised at how mentally strong Alkarath is: “Now I’m not surprised. Maybe last year or the beginning of the year I was surprised by what he did, how he won the big games and the big tournaments. It was amazing what you can do with it.” The guy just has to take his hat off. He plays with so much maturity and handles the pressure extremely well for a 20-year-old. We mustn’t forget how young he is.
The feeling he gives me when I face him is like when I faced Nadal in the best time of both of us. Every point is a fight. It’s amazing what I experience with him there. All the games we played were like that.”
On his serve, which worried him in a few moments of the game: “I didn’t serve as well as I did in the rest of the tournament, but I also played under completely different conditions. I played 4 games at night and in the sun this afternoon. It was very hot and sometimes unbearable.” . My serve today made life difficult for me because I had to play more big rallies.
When you’re in a big tournament against one of the best players in the world, you can’t just sit back and stay focused all the time. When I’ve lost my serve and it’s 5-5 or after I’ve lost 15-40, it affects you mentally. But I’m very happy with how I played the next game and later the tie-break. Overall it was a great race with ups and downs.
Source: sport 24
Ukrainian tennis player Yulia Starodubtseva (WTA 110) She completed her campaign at the 2026 Australian Open.
The Ukrainian player was defeated in three sets in the first round Family Tomljanovic (Australia, WTA 78) in 2 hours 33 minutes.
Australian Open 2026. 1/64 finals
Yulia Starodubtseva (Ukraine) [Q] – Ayla Tomljanovic (Australia) – 6:4, 6:7 (3:7), 1:6
Starodubtseva held her second head-to-head match against Tomljanovic. In 2025, Yulia lost to Ayla at the start of the WTA 1000 competition in Beijing.
Starodubtseva started with the qualifiers at the Australian Open, where she managed to defeat Alice Tubello, Despina Papamikhail and Victoria Tomova.
Yulia played on the courts of Melbourne for the third time in her career and has not yet managed to get past the first round of the main draw.
Tomljanovic will play in the 1/32 final against Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who knocked out Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska the previous day.
In addition to Starodubtseva and Yastremskaya, Marta Kostyuk also left the Australian slam from the Ukrainian representatives. So far, the only Ukrainian who has managed to advance to the second round of AO-2026 is Elina Svitolina. Angelina Kalinina and Alexandra Oleynikova will start at the Major on the 20th.
Video review of the match
Photo gallery of the match
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Tennis
Fainting in the hellish heat. The Russian tennis player’s match at the Australian Open turned into drama
Alexandrova’s strong act drew thunderous applause from the stands.
The Australian Open began with a dramatic incident in a match involving Russian tennis player Ekaterina Alexandrova. The game, in conditions of hellish heat, had to be urgently stopped due to an incident that even precautions could not prevent.
“You don’t feel good”
Alexandrova came to Melbourne with the hope of a good result, and there were all the prerequisites for this. The Russian tennis player is currently ranked 11th in the WTA rankings. In the first round match, she was considered a big favorite, because her opponent Zeynep Sönmez had never risen above 69th place in the world rankings in her career. Before the Australian Open, she was not even in the top 100, but made it into the main draw through qualification.
The start of the match was left to Ekaterina, she was one game away from winning the first game. But the Russian woman managed to give the set to her opponent with a score of 5:2, losing five games in a row. The next segment didn’t start easily either. Our athlete allowed her opponent to make a break in the first game.
But by the ninth game, Alexandrova managed to straighten out the situation. She served for the set, with two rallies left to win. But when the score was 40:40, the game had to be stopped urgently. The girl serving the balls near the referee’s tower suddenly fell. She became ill in the Melbourne heat, despite wearing protective headgear. The temperature that day reached 28 degrees. The victim stood up, but had difficulty staying on her feet.
– She felt very bad. She said she was fine, but it was very obvious that she wasn’t. So I went up to her and said: “Sit down and drink something, you don’t feel well,” the BBC quoted Sönmez as saying.
On the way to the chair, the girl felt worse in Zeynep’s arms, which led to loss of consciousness. Alexandrova did not immediately notice the incident, since it happened on the side of the Turkish woman, but when she saw it, she also decided to help. She reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a cold towel. Doctors quickly arrived to the victim, brought the girl to her senses and took her to a room under the stands. The stands responded to the action of the tennis players and doctors with applause.
“Being a good person is more important”
The dramatic incident brought down the mood of our tennis player. She gave away two rallies in a row, allowing her opponent to make a break and reduce the gap to a minimum. But Alexandrova immediately took her opponent’s serve, which led to her victory in the second set with a score of 6:4.
It seemed that Sönmez’s resistance would be broken, especially since Ekaterina took the lead in the decisive period with a score of 3:0. But out of the next seven games, the Russian was able to take only one, losing 4:6, which led to her unexpected departure in the first round of the tournament.
After the victory, the Turkish woman attracted a lot of attention from the press thanks to the timely assistance provided to the girl, but Zeynep is very modest. At the same time, the Turkish tennis player chose the very right words.
“When we were walking, she lost consciousness, and, fortunately, I caught her. She was shaking very badly. “I always say that being a good person is more important than being a good tennis player,” the BBC quotes Sönmez as saying.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
Tennis
Russian tennis player Selekhmetyeva advanced to the second round of the Australian Open for the first time
Russian Oksana Selekhmetyeva reached the second round of the main draw at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career, beating German Ella Seidel in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
The meeting ended with the victory of the Russian tennis player with a score of 6:3, 3:6, 6:0. The match lasted 1 hour 47 minutes.
Selekhmetyeva, ranked 101st in the WTA rankings, will play in the second round with the winner of the match Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan, WC) – Paula Badosa (Spain, 25).
Grand Slam Tournament. Australian Open. Melbourne (Australia). Hard. Total prize fund: about $75 million
Women. First round
Oksana Selekhmetyeva (Russia) — Ella Seidel (Germany) — 6:3, 3:6, 6:0.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
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