Djokovic beaten, Sabalenka advances at Brisbane International
The result leaves the 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic with 99 career singles titles heading into the Australian Open, which he has won a record 10 times
The result leaves the 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic with 99 career singles titles heading into the Australian Open, which he has won a record 10 times
Gao Xinyu will face the formidable challenge of replacing women's world No. 5 Zheng Qinwen when she partners Zhang Zhizhen, China's highest-ranked men's player, at the season-opening United Cup starting on Friday.
Beaten in five sets after leading 2-0 in the Australian Open final, fifth seed Daniil Medvedev stunned World No.1 Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller in the men's singles quarterfinal at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The mixed doubles pair of B. Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy went down to the top-seeded Chinese combine.
The top seeds Bopanna, who won his first Grand Slam men's doubles in Australia this year, and Ebden defeated Granollers and Zeballos 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals on Thursday.
A foxsports.com.au report on Saturday claimed that TA was planning to use Barty's popularity for their good, "potentially looking at an unprecedented TV rights deal worth up to AUD500 million over five years for the Aussie summer of tennis".
Both Saina and Bopanna had earlier crashed out of the women's and men's doubles events, respectively, after losing their first-round matches.
The longer-term damage might be to Djokovic’s legacy. Given the extraordinary backstory to his medical exemption from COVID vaccination to enter Australia – along with the many questions that have arisen about his Covid infection in December – public opinion about him has swayed back and forth on a daily basis.
However, Barty said she has no problem about competing against players who are unvaccinated.
Djokovic, the nine-time Australian Open winner, is also the defending champion at Melbourne Park. The Australian Open commences on January 17.
