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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A protester threw papers onto an Australian Open court and briefly delayed the fourth-round match between Olympic champion Alexander Zverev and Cameron Norrie of Britain on Monday. Printed in black on the white pages was the message “Free Palestine” and "While you're watching tennis bombs are dropping on Gaza." Ball kids gathered up the papers and the match continued after a short delay. Zverev won the match 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) to advance to a quarterfinal against No. The Palestinian death toll from the war has soared past 25,000, the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said Sunday,___

Persons: —, Alexander Zverev, Cameron Norrie, Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, “, ___ Organizations: Olympic, Margaret Court, Palestine, Security, Australia, Margaret Court Arena, Kia Arena, Police, Hamas, Health Ministry Locations: MELBOURNE, Australia, Gaza, Victoria, The Israel, Israel

☆ Top seed Swiatek crashes out, Gauff exits Australian Open in tears
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"I felt the pressure, and I felt that I don't want to lose instead of I want to win," said Swiatek, who dominated last season with two Grand Slam wins. Rybakina, the 22nd seed, might have expected to face Gauff in the quarter-finals but the much-hyped American teen was upset 7-5 6-3 by Jelena Ostapenko, the forgotten Grand Slam winner of women's tennis. The win secured a first Australian Open quarter-final for hard-hitting Ostapenko, as well as the first at a Grand Slam since her run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2018. Latvia's first - and only - Grand Slam champion stunned the world when she hoisted the trophy at Roland Garros as an unseeded 20-year-old. Third seed Pegula will face the winner of Victoria Azarenka and China's Zhu Lin for a place in the semi-finals.

☆ Early French Open triumph proved a burden, says resurgent Ostapenko
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 22, 2023 Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in action during her fourth round match against Coco Gauff of the U.S. REUTERS/Loren ElliottMELBOURNE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Grand Slam success came to Jelena Ostapenko in a hurry when she hoisted the French Open trophy as an unseeded 20-year-old but the early career triumph soon became a burden. She next plays Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who sent world number one Iga Swiatek packing in the early match at Rod Laver Arena. Her country's first Grand Slam champion, Ostapenko is hardly alone in being unable to back up after winning a major title but her retreat from the spotlight was sudden and sustained. Of course, (there was) a lot of attention from everywhere outside the court, like photo shoots and all those kind of things. Ostapenko is no shrinking violet and has sometimes let her emotions get the better of her on court.

☆ Ostapenko knocks out Gauff to reach Australian Open quarters
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 22, 2023 Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in action during her fourth round match against Coco Gauff of the U.S. REUTERS/Carl RecineMELBOURNE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Jelena Ostapenko stunned Coco Gauff 7-5 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday after putting on a power-hitting clinic. Latvian Ostapenko has struggled to reach the heights of her French Open-winning days but the 17th seed simply overpowered the American at Margaret Court Arena. Ostapenko was ruthless in the finish, unleashing a thumping forehand down the line to bring up match point, then clipping the line with a crosscourt forehand winner to give Gauff no chance. The 17th seed will meet Elena Rybakina, who shocked top seed Iga Swiatek, for a place in the semi-final. Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lehecka high on belief after Australian Open heroics
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I didn't expect that," world number 71 Lehecka, who made his breakthrough last year by reaching the Rotterdam semi-finals as a qualifier, told reporters. Hopefully we'll go one more step, step after step. "To be in those moments and be cool under pressure, play well the right points, serve well to close the match, it's a good sign of a good player," Auger-Aliassime said. "Yeah, I'm sure for those reasons he'll be a good player in the future." Up next for Lehecka is a potential meeting with third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, his conqueror in the Rotterdam semi-finals, if the Greek gets past Jannik Sinner.

☆ Shelton gets better of Popyrin and 'rowdy' crowd to roar into last 16
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I know I came from college tennis and I really thought it was rowdy there, but this stadium is something special," a grinning Shelton said. "Us Aussies, we stick together," De Minaur had said in a post-match interview after the home fans watched him beat Benjamin Bonzi at Rod Laver Arena. The fans found their voice again in the second set when Popyrin took it to a tiebreak but Shelton was undeterred, silencing them again with both his firepower and finesse, closing out the set with another roar. "For the first 12 or 13 years of my life, I swore that I would never play tennis. Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rublev rolls on, Pliskova through to last 16 at Australian Open
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2023 Britain's Dan Evans reacts during his third round match against Russia's Andrey Rublev REUTERS/Hannah MckayMELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Fifth seed Andrey Rublev avoided a third round banana skin in the form of Briton Dan Evans at the Australian Open on Saturday after former world number one Karolina Pliskova sailed into the last 16 of the women's tournament. Red-headed Russian Rublev has found Evans a handful in the past but swept aside the 25th seed 6-4 6-2 6-3 with 60 winners on a glorious afternoon at Melbourne Park. A quarter-finalist two years ago, Rublev had unleashed on the chair umpire in his previous match after being warned for an audible obscenity. Unseeded Croatian Donna Vekic joined Bencic in the last 16 with a 6-2 6-2 win over Spain's Nuria Parrizas Diaz. After a lengthy medical time-out, the 19-year-old returned to complete an impressive 6-4 6-2 7-6(5) win over the Frenchman.

☆ Marathon man Murray runs out of steam against Bautista Agut
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Between points against Bautista Agut he shuffled around the baseline like a frail senior citizen but when the ball was in play he threw himself around the court to give the Spaniard a proper scare. My legs were actually OK ... but I was struggling with my lower back," Murray told reporters. With the crowd firmly in his corner, Murray broke Bautista Agut in the first game of the fourth set to raise hopes of levelling the match but he ended up squandering a 2-0 lead before dropping serve in the ninth game. METAL HIPBautista Agut knocked Murray out in the opening round of the tournament four years ago, after the tearful Scot said his hip was shot and his career might be over. "It's more enjoyable for me when I'm playing like that, when I'm coming into a major event and really believing that I can do some damage."

☆ All business Swiatek eases into second week at Australian Open
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 20, 2023 Poland's Iga Swiatek reacts during her third round match against Spain's Cristina Bucsa REUTERS/Sandra SandersMELBOURNE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Top seed Iga Swiatek continued to carve her way through the Australian Open draw on Friday, dismantling Cristina Bucsa 6-0 6-1 in bright sunshine on the Margaret Court Arena to reach the fourth round. The 21-year-old world number one, who is looking to add a first Melbourne Park crown to the French and U.S. Open titles she won last year, was all business as she whipped through the first set in 23 minutes. World number 100 Bucsa had simply no answer to Swiatek's all-court game and the Spaniard only managed to avoid the dreaded 'double bagel' 6-0 6-0 scoreline by holding her last service game. Swiatek should face a tougher test in Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the last 16 after the big-serving Kazakh earlier upset last year's losing finalist Danielle Collins. Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Neil FullickOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sinner completes epic comeback, Krejcikova wins easy at Australian Open
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

He went on to blank his opponent to draw huge cheers from the crowd on Margaret Court Arena, which had witnessed an epic comeback from Andy Murray only hours earlier. The former world number one was not happy to end his match at 4.05 am on Friday, describing the late finish as a "joke" and "disrespectful." "We'll always look at it, when we do the (tournament) debrief -- like we do every year. Two all-American matches are also scheduled for Saturday, meaning that a total of six American men can advance -- which would be the highest number to reach the last 16 at the Australian Open since 1995. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sabalenka rolls on at Australian Open, Volynets delivers upset
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

read more"In my life, 20 years, I've never had one umpire bad like you," he told umpire Miriam Bley. "It's the biggest mistake of the Australian Open. Evans will next meet Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who beat Finn Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2 6-4 6-7(2) 6-3. J.J. Wolf joined them in the next round after he beat Argentine Diego Schwartzman, the 23rd seed, 6-1 6-4 6-4. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Murray grinds down Kokkinakis in late-night epic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Murray, back with coach Ivan Lendl who guided him to his Grand Slam titles and to world number one in 2016, has not gone past the third round of a Grand Slam since 2017 when his hip condition first surfaced. Kokkinakis tightened with the finishing line in sight and the venom gradually went out of his shots as Murray threw caution to the wind and locked on to his target. Relentlessly Murray ground his way back into the contest to set up a deciding fifth set, sealing the fourth set with a second-serve ace. There was pandemonium when he saved four break points at 3-3 and Kokkinakis was within two points of victory when Murray served at 4-5 in the decider. "Thanks for staying, but now I think we should all get off to bed," Murray said.

☆ Swiatek into third round indoors as rain stops play outside
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Jan 18, 2023; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Iga Swiatek during her second round match against Camila Osorio on day three of the 2023 Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. World number one Swiatek overcame Camila Osorio 6-2 6-3 under the roof on Rod Laver Arena and Italian Sinner waltzed past Tomas Etcheverry 6-3 6-2 6-2 on the similarly protected John Cain Arena. "It was really intense physically and Camila was running to every ball, she didn't give up," said Swiatek. "For sure, the level today was good, I served well, I returned good as well as I think he is a very good server so I'm very happy to be in the next round," Sinner said. "I'm very happy to play on this court with the roof, hopefully it won't rain in the next days."

☆ Sakkari wins after silencing Shnaider's 'inappropriate' celebrations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

After a wry grin, Sakkari grew serious and walked toward the chair umpire holding up a finger, saying: "If she screams one more time in my face ... No, no, no, no. One more time and I'm going to speak to the referee." Taking charge of the situation appeared to work for Sakkari, who duly broke the 18-year-old Russian to take the set, then locked down the match to reach the third round. "During a match you can be very pumped or, you know, the way that some players celebrate their points, it's not appropriate," Sakkari later told reporters. Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'It's not rocket science', Auger-Aliassime fights back from the brink
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"It's quite simple, you have to put the ball in the court without missing," Auger-Aliassime laughed, explaining the transformation. So I was just trying to put one more ball in the court and make it simple, make it work." It was quite a contrast with the opening two sets when Auger-Aliassime overcooked his shots on both sides and sprayed 25 unforced errors, with Molcan gleefully taking advantage. "The numbers show it but he was just way more consistent than I was in the first two sets," Auger-Aliassime conceded. A quarter-finalist in Melbourne last year, Auger-Aliassime will next play Argentine 28th seed Francisco Cerundolo or France's Corentin Moutet.

☆ Djokovic resumes quest for perfect 10 at Australian Open
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Rohith Nair | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic was denied the opportunity to win a record-extending 10th Australian Open title last year after his deportation but he returns to Rod Laver Arena holding no grudges when he begins his campaign in Melbourne on Tuesday. Winning the title in Melbourne will also make Djokovic the second player to win one Grand Slam at least 10 times after Nadal's 14 titles at Roland Garros. As Djokovic aims to equal defending champion Rafa Nadal's tally of 22 Grand Slam titles, Ons Jabeur renews her quest for a first when the Tunisian takes on Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek. The pair played two engrossing matches last year at the Stuttgart final and at the U.S. Open where Berrettini triumphed on both occasions. Men's second seed Casper Ruud, runner-up at last year's French Open and U.S. Open, wraps up the night session on Margaret Court Arena against the Czech Republic's Tomas Machac.

☆ Nadal survives early test, Kyrgios pulls out in Australian Open shock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

With Draper's injury reducing him to a groaning wreck, Nadal finished strongly to close out the match 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-1. With Kyrgios gone and last year's women's champion Ash Barty retired, the chances of a another home winner for local fans are greatly diminished. Seventh seed Coco Gauff also raced into the second round, while last year's finalist Danielle Collins advanced with a tougher, three-set win over Anna Kalinskaya. Briton Raducanu will next face teenager Gauff, who won in Auckland and confirmed her good form with a 6-1 6-4 win over Katerina Siniakova. Italian 15th seed Jannik Sinner, a quarter-finalist last year, was the first man to reach the second round, rolling over Briton Kyle Edmund 6-4 6-0 6-2 on John Cain Arena.

☆ Azarenka prevails over Kenin in battle of former champions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I also thought she was coming in with nothing to lose so I knew she was going to play well, play freely. Kenin will perhaps have been encouraged by her fighting display on Margaret Court Arena after three years blighted by injuries, illness and off-court issues. Kenin fought gamely to hold serve for 5-4 but Azarenka made no mistake when serving for the set. The second set was much tighter with the key moment coming in the tiebreak when Azarenka boomed down her fifth ace and Kenin responded lamely with a double fault. "The off season is full of blood, sweat and tears so we can go out there and do our best.

☆ Nadal launches title defence as Australian Open ushers in new era
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MELBOURNE, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal will kick off his Australian Open title defence on Monday with a first round test against rising Briton Jack Draper as a new era begins on the blue hardcourts of Melbourne Park. The top seed has had only one win since September's U.S. Open and admitted his title defence was vulnerable to an early shock after two straight defeats in the lead-up. The reigning French and U.S. Open champion opens her campaign against Jule Niemeier in the first evening match at Rod Laver Arena, the German who gave Swiatek a huge scare in the U.S. Open fourth round. With American tennis looking for a new champion in the post-Serena era, Coco Gauff will open the day session at Rod Laver Arena against Czech Katerina Siniakova. Medvedev, the men's seventh seed, will return to the scene of last year's final heartbreak when he faces unseeded American Marcos Giron in the late match at Rod Laver Arena.

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