Australia reaches Davis Cup semis by beating the Netherlands

Associated PressNov 22, 2022, 10:34 PM EST

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MALAGA, Spain – Alex de Minaur and Jordan Thompson won their singles matches to help Australia qualify for the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 2017 at the expense of the Netherlands.

De Minaur beat Botic van de Zandschulp 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the series 2-0 and set up a semifinal tie against either Spain or Croatia.

“We’ve got a great team, a lot of belief and a lot of passion,” De Minaur said. “I’m very happy to win today. “Every single one of these players on our team is going to play their heart out. We’ll do everything we can for our country.”

Australia is the second most successful nation in the team competition with 28 titles but the last triumph dates to 2003.

De Minaur completed his rally with a break in the 10th game of the final set by building a 40-0 lead and converting the first match point on an indoor hardcourt in the southern Spanish city of Malaga.

He started his comeback by breaking Van de Zandschulp in the first and last games of the second set. The Dutch player took the first set with a break in the 12th game. He recorded three victories in the group stage, including a win over American Taylor Fritz.

Earlier, Jordan Thompson also came from a set down to defeat Tallon Griekspoor 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and give Australia a 1-0 lead.

The Australian hit 16 aces to overcome his Dutch opponent in a hard-fought match that took almost three hours.

“Davis Cup is something special, you feel extra pressure, so I was a little bit bit tight to start with,” Thompson said. “He was playing great tennis but I hung in there, got a bit more aggressive as the match went on. It means the world.”

Thompson got the decisive break to jump to a 4-2 lead in the final set and held on. After losing the opening set, the Australian came back with a break in the 12th game of the second set.

The final doubles of Wimbledon champions Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell of Australia against Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop of the Netherlands was not played.

The quarterfinal tie between the 2019 champion Spain and 2021 runner-up Croatia is Wednesday.

The quarterfinals wrap up Thursday, when the U.S. meets Italy, and Canada plays Germany. The semifinals are Friday and Saturday, and the title will be decided Sunday.

Alcaraz wins Indian Wells over Medvedev, regains No. 1 rank

Associated PressMar 20, 2023, 1:00 AM EDT

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 to win the BNP Paribas Open title and regain the world’s No. 1 ranking.

The 19-year-old Spaniard will move from second to first in the ATP Tour rankings on Monday, displacing Novak Djokovic. The Serb withdrew from Indian Wells before the tournament began when he couldn’t gain entry to the U.S. because he’s unvaccinated for COVID-19.

“For me, it’s a dream come true again,” Alcaraz said. “Obviously being in front of such great players like Novak, it’s an amazing feeling.”

“I would say this has been the perfect tournament,” he said.

In the women’s final, Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (11), 6-4 and handed the world’s second-ranked player just her second loss this year.

Last year, Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach No. 1 in ATP history after his title at the U.S. Open.

He achieved another mark in the third round at Indian Wells. That’s when Alcaraz notched his 100th career match victory, the second-quickest player behind John McEnroe to do so.

Alcaraz also became the first man to win the tournament without dropping a set since Roger Federer in 2017 and the youngest man to win the title in the desert.

“I really trust in every shot that I hit,” he said. “If I miss, I don’t mind.”

Alcaraz hit 19 winners and had 10 unforced errors while keeping Medvedev off-balance with a steady array of serve-and-volley and drop shots. The teenager never faced a break point while opening leads of 3-0 in the first set and 4-0 in the second.

“What I improve a lot is to don’t take the pressure, just to play relaxed,” Alcaraz said. “That’s why I show a great level, because I feel like I have no pressure. I enjoy. I’m playing relaxed.”

Medvedev’s 19-match winning streak ended. It went back to his title run in Rotterdam in February. He then won tournaments in Doha and Dubai.

“I want to congratulate you for the work you have done in the last few months,” Alcaraz told his opponent. “Winning three titles in a row and reaching the finals here is an amazing achievement.”

Alcaraz and Rybakina earned $1,262,220 each for their wins.

Rybakina carried the momentum from her straight-set semifinal upset of top-ranked Iga Swiatek into the final and beat Sabalenka for the first time in five career meetings.

For the first time in their budding rivalry, the match didn’t go three sets. Sabalenka went the distance to beat Rybakina in the Australian Open final in January. In that match, Sabalenka fired 17 aces and rallied from a set down to win her first Grand Slam title.

This time, the 10th-seeded Rybakina had seven aces and No. 2 seed Sabalenka committed 10 double faults. Sabalenka won just 11 of 35 second-serve points.

“I would say that I was super disappointed with my serve, so I was back to old habits,” she said. “I was like a little bit overreacting on things, and I wasn’t there in the first two games in the second set.”

Rybakina broke for leads of 2-0 and 5-2 in the second set before Sabalenka closed to 5-4. But Rybakina served out the victory in just over two hours.

“This tiebreak was really epic, I would say, with all these double faults and nerves,” Rybakina said. “In the end, it was just focusing on every point and try to fight till the end.”

Rybakina improved her match record to 16-4 this year; Sabalenka fell to 17-2.

“This tough loss will motivate me more because I don’t like to lose in the finals,” Sabalenka said. “This is the worst.”

During the victory ceremony, Rybakina, the current Wimbledon champion, told the crowd it was the first time she’d beaten Sabalenka.

Sabalenka stepped forward, took the mic and said, “I will make sure it was the last one.”

Then she smiled.

Rybakina defeats Sabalenka to win Indian Wells title

Associated PressMar 20, 2023, 12:58 AM EDT

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Elena Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (11), 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas Open and hand the world’s second-ranked player just her second loss this year.

Rybakina carried the momentum from her straight-set semifinal upset of top-ranked Iga Swiatek into the final and beat Sabalenka for the first time in five career meetings.

This time, Rybakina had seven aces and Sabalenka committed 10 double faults.

Rybakina improved her match record to 16-4 this year; Sabalenka fell to 17-2.