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Serena Williams misses four match points as Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova wins the final six games to reach the Australian Open semi-finals in Melbourne.
The Australian Open men’s final of Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic is a strong possibility with both men now…
There will be a new Australian Open champion on Saturday on the women’s side with all four competitors yet…
The Haitian-Japanese tennis player’s appearance in an advert sparks a conversation over race in Japan.
Australian Open semi-finalist Lucas Pouille has praised coach Amelie Mauresmo and believes more male tennis players should employ female coaches.
Pouille, 24, beat 16th seed Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.
At the end of 2018, Pouille started working with two-time Grand Slam winner Mauresmo, who had previously coached Andy Murray between 2014 and 2016.
“She’s a champion; she’s a great, great coach,” said Pouille.
“Men are coaching women, so why not the contrary? It’s not about being a man or a woman, it’s about knowing tennis and about having the good state of mind.
“She’s bringing a lot of confidence to my game. The goal is not to reach the final, the semi-final – the goal is to improve my tennis, to put what I work on during practice into the match.
“I’m just trying to focus on my game, not on the consequences and the results.”
Mauresmo, 39, helped Murray reach the Australian Open final and the semi-finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon during their two years working together.
She had been expected to become the captain of the men’s France Davis Cup team in 2019, but instead chose to work with Pouille, who only won five Grand Slam matches in 2018.
The Frenchman, who faces world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, said he “lost that joy of being on the court” last year.
“You lose one match, two matches, three matches, then you lose confidence and it’s tough to come back when you don’t enjoy it,” said Pouille.
“I took some time to think about what I wanted. I said, ‘OK, you have maybe 10 more years on tour, do you want to spend them like this or do you want to enjoy it?'”
Pouille believes Mauresmo, who won the women’s singles at the Australian Open in 2006, has helped him regain his love of the sport.
“She’s focused on every single ball during the practice, but at the same time there is a cool atmosphere,” added the Frenchman. “We’re not too serious when we are on the bench – we can laugh, we can make jokes.
“Once we go and hit the balls, we are really into it. That’s good to have the good balance.
“I wasn’t expecting to reach the semis or quarters. I just wanted to take step by step. The first goal of the tournament was to win the first match, and so on.”
Canadian star praises Pouille for breaking down his game
Milos Raonic was riding on the crest of a wave – his game, seemingly, back at its dominant best. The Canadian had won 94 per cent of his service games in four matches, he’d faced just five break points and struck 107 aces at this year’s Australian Open. But Lucas Pouille stopped his surge on Wednesday for a place in his first Grand Slam championship semi-final.
Raonic was clearly disappointed to make a last-eight exit at Melbourne Park for the third time (also 2015 and 2017), admitting, “I felt at the beginning of the match I was tossing the ball a little bit too far forward. It was not helping my serving percentage.
“I knew he was going to make things difficult. I wish I would have just served better and cleaned up some aspects of my game where I felt like I was just a little bit behind.”
The 28-year-old, who reached the Wimbledon final in July 2016, went on to offer some advice to Pouille as the Frenchman prepared to face World No. 1 and six-time former champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
“Not to expect that he needs to do too much more, and just to play within himself,” said Raonic. “I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s not so much only the opponent you’re facing, but it’s also the situation, which is a completely new one for him.
“I think he has to stay true to himself, try to do the things he does well, really focus on that aspect more than anything else.”
Raonic will now leave Melbourne to access a right knee that hindered his time on-court in 2018. “There is damage inside my knee that I’m aware,” he said. “I’m trying to avoid potentially having to have surgery on. I don’t know if I can afford that risk at this moment.”
The Canadian is next scheduled to compete at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, which begins on 11 February.
| Australian Open 2019 |
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| Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 14-27 January |
| Coverage: Daily live commentaries on the BBC Sport website, listen to Tennis Breakfast daily from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and watch highlights on BBC TV and online. |
US Open champion Alfie Hewett was one of four Britons to suffer defeat as the wheelchair tennis competitions got under way at the Australian Open.
Hewett, 21, lost 6-1 6-4 to Japanese world number one Shingo Kunieda, while Scot Gordon Reid was beaten 7-6 (10-8) 5-7 6-2 by Frenchman Stephane Houdet.
Lucy Shuker, a 2017 semi-finalist, was overwhelmed 6-0 6-0 by Dutch top seed Diede de Groot in the women’s singles.
Andy Lapthorne lost 6-1 4-6 6-4 to David Wagner in the men’s quad event.
Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut reached their second Australian Open semi-final on Wednesday, ending Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan’s quest for a 17th Grand Slam title as a team.
Herbert/Mahut fell down a break in the second set, and the Bryans served to level the quarter-final. But Herbert/Mahut broke back in the ninth game and pulled away in the tie-break to advance 6-4, 7-6(3).
The Bryans were playing their first Slam together since last year’s Australian Open, since Bob missed the final six and half months of the 2018 season because of a right hip injury that required surgery.
Herbert/Mahut made the 2015 final but lost to Italians Simone Bolelli/Fabio Fognini. The Frenchmen will next meet Americans Ryan Harrison/Sam Querrey, who upset seventh seeds Lukasz Kubot/Horacio Zeballos 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
On the top half of the draw, 2017 Australian Open champions Henri Kontinen/John Peers won 88 per cent of their first-serve points (29/33) and knocked out third seeds Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares 6-3, 6-4.
The 12th seeds will play Leonardo Mayer/Joao Sousa for a chance to return to the final. Mayer/Sousa beat sixth seeds Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus on Tuesday.