6 hours Ago By Billie Eder
If you’re around Melbourne Park today, and want to catch a glimpse of the players, but don’t have a ticket to the sessions, here’s where you can catch them practising today. Jannik Sinner will be on practice court 17 from 4pm. Credit: Eddie Jim One of tennis’s most respected analysts is convinced Alex de Minaur can at last conquer Jannik Sinner and gatecrash the Australian Open semi-finals.
De Minaur takes on Sinner at Rod Laver Arena tonight having lost all nine previous encounters with the world No.1 and defending Open champion, dropping the past seven matches without even winning a set. Australian strategist Craig O’Shannessy believes Sinner is more vulnerable right now – and not only because of the Italian’s ill health.
Alex de Minaur advances to the quarter-finals. Credit: Getty Images O’Shannessy, who helped Novak Djokovic to four grand slam titles while working with the Serb from 2017 to 2019, has noticed a sharp improvement in de Minaur’s attacking mindset and tactics. “De Minaur’s got a couple of things in his favour,” O’Shannessy said.
“Firstly, remember he got sick yesterday. I don’t know what it was, but he certainly got the jitters. “Number two is that Demon is winning 56 per cent of his baseline points, which is higher than Sinner, who’s at 55 per cent.
It’s close, but a 1 per cent advantage from the baseline is a big deal. So I see more offence. He looks more potent from the back of the court, making opponents uncomfortable.
“He’s rolling through the tournament with more confidence, and you just feel the tables have turned a bit. “While Sinner was surging, it doesn’t feel like Sinner is surging at the moment. But it feels like Demon is surging.
” AAP When Novak Djokovic doubled over in pain on Rod Laver Arena last night, seven-time singles champion turned commentator John McEnroe said on ESPN: “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine. Don’t be fooled.” When the American’s brother and co-commentator Patrick McEnroe asked, “Did you see this coming?” John replied, “Yes”, tennis and news websites and Serbian media report.
Novak Djokovic doubles over in pain. Credit: Chris Hopkins Djokovic went into little detail about his injury when speaking to reporters after the match, but said he’d have to wait until Wednesday to see how much it would affect him. He had taken a medical time-out during the first set of last night’s quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz.
“Since I’m still in the tournament, I don’t want to reveal too much [about my injury],” Djokovic said. “But the medication started to kick in and it helped no doubt. I had to take another dose .
.. [and] if I lost the second set, I don’t know if I would continue playing.
“I felt better and better and managed to play a great couple of games to end the second set. “I saw Carlos was hesitant a little bit at the back of the court, so I took my chances and started to feel better and move better, so it did not bother me or create any hindrance towards the end of the match, only in the second set. “I will see [what] the reality is tomorrow morning.
Right now, I will try to be in the moment and enjoy this victory.” What’s a good tennis match without a bit of spice and controversy? People have clipped up the moment they believe Carlos Alcaraz mocked Novak Djokovic’s sore leg in their quarter-final last night. Is he mocking him? Or is it a coincidence? We’ll let you be the judge.
After the match, Alcaraz said : “I think everybody saw in the second set he’s [Djokovic] struggling a little bit to move. “I don’t know if it was more running to the forehand or running to the backhand, but obviously, he was struggling. “Then, [in] the third and fourth sets, I didn’t see anything bad from him.
I’m not saying he made a show. I’m just saying that ..
. it’s obvious, and everybody saw it, that he’s struggling in the second set.” The run of hot weather seems to be over, at least for today.
It looks like jumper weather, with a top of 21 degrees forecast. Good morning to all our tennis fans out there, and welcome to our live coverage of day 11 of the 2025 Australian Open. It’s officially Demon day – the day when Australia’s Alex de Minaur faces Jannik Sinner in one of the biggest matches of his career.
More on that match, and the other quarter-final matches, later. Until then, I’ll take you through all the news from overnight, and everything you need to know before today’s play gets under way. Alex de Minaur soaks up the love from the Melbourne Park crowd after his fourth-round win.
Credit: AP.
