Fourth seed Maria Sharapova overcame a second set rally by Petra Kvitova to advance to her third Australian Open final with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory on Thursday. She will now meet third seed Victoria Azarenka in the final on Saturday after the Belarusian earlier beat 2011 champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
A solitary break in the eighth game was all Djokovic needed to take the opening set, as the 37-year-old looked in total control despite playing well within himself in perfect conditions at a packed centre court.
Images from Day 7 of the 2024 Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday.
But defending champion, Andre Agassi at 33 years is still the man to beat.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni offered no excuses for her meek departure from the Australian Open semi-finals at the hands of Serena Williams on Thursday, keener to discuss the career-high ranking that will follow her stunning run at Melbourne Park.
World number one Roger Federer will begin the defence of his Australian Open title against Argentine Diego Hartfield while women's top seed Justine Henin of Belgium takes on Aiko Nakimura of Japan in the first round.
World number two Roger Federer lamented what could have been after he lost a thrilling five-set final to Rafa Nadal in the Australian Open on Sunday.
Russia's Ekaterina Makarova etched her name into Australian Open folklore on Monday by stunning Serena Williams 6-2 6-3 in their fourth-round match to end the American's aura of invincibility at Melbourne Park.
'I've been a little bit shocked this week with how players have been treated by the broadcaster.'
Aryna Sabalenka bludgeoned her way to a maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Kazakh 22nd seed Elena Rybakina on Saturday in a thrilling final .
A marauding Rafael Nadal ended Stefanos Tsitsipas's trailblazing run at the Australian Open on Thursday, thrashing the 20-year-old Greek in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 masterclass to reach a fifth final at Melbourne Park.
Victoria is undergoing a second lockdown and has nearly 8,000 active COVID-19 cases, while NSW has about 800.
'The prospect of Konstas facing Jofra Archer with the first ball of the Ashes on November 21 -- potentially delivered at 155km/h -- doesn't feel like a fair fight.'
The two players merely acknowledged each other with a wave before heading off court.
Jannik Sinner accepts that his rangy physique is probably never going to attract that much attention.
At 27, the second seed is still seeking his first Grand Slam title and hopes to become the first German man to win the Australian Open since Boris Becker in 1996.
Armed with a new coach and bigger racket, Roger Federer hopes being in the unusual position of underdog will help him add to his record tally of 17 Grand Slam titles.
Carlos Alcaraz reached his second Australian Open quarter-final on Sunday when his opponent Jack Draper retired injured when trailing 7-5, 6-1.
Aryna Sabalenka beat China's Zheng Qinwen 6-3 6-2 to retain the Australian Open women's singles title on Saturday.
A Hindu temple in Melbourne's Albert Park was vandalised with anti-India graffiti on Monday, days after the Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs was vandalised on January 16, Australia Today reported.
"(Novak) has said that he views this as a private matter for him. We would love to see Novak here, he knows that he'll have to be vaccinated to play here."
World number two Rafael Nadal will be sidelined for six to eight weeks by the hip flexor injury he suffered during his second-round loss at the Australian Open, the Spaniard's team said on Thursday.
Learner Tien is the youngest American man to reach the third round of the Australian Open since an 18-year-old Pete Sampras in 1990.
Karen Khachanov reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time on Tuesday after ailing American Sebastian Korda retired while trailing 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-0.
Novak Djokovic is ready to challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the Grand Slam stage when he returns to action at the Australian Open after an underwhelming campaign this year, the 24-times champion said.
Zverev fresh for Australian Open final after being spared gruelling Djokovic test
The loss ends five-time major champion Swiatek's bid to become the first woman to win the tournament in the Southern California desert three times.
Coco Gauff eked out a victory to reach her first Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday.
On-court coaching, previously banned and punishable by point deductions, disqualification or even suspension from tournaments is being positively encouraged at Melbourne Park with "coaching pods"
Lewis Hamilton will launch his bid to win the drivers' championship at a third F1 team when he makes his much-anticipated debut for Ferrari in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Wild card Caroline Wozniacki, another former champion and returning mother, will play 20th seed Magda Linette.
Australian Open set a Grand Slam attendance record with more than 900,000 spectators visiting over three weeks
Naomi Osaka felt the nerves but looked solid on her return to elite tennis after 15 months out as she got past Germany's Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 7-6(9) in the first round of the Brisbane International.
Djokovic had been favourite to win a 10th title at Melbourne Park and claim a 21st Grand Slam crown but the Serb now faces being deported from Australia.
Two people were injured and as many Sikh men were detained when two separate brawls broke out between Khalistani activists and pro-India demonstrators in Melbourne during the so-called 'Punjab independence referendum', the police said on Monday.
Jannik Sinner kept alive his dream of becoming the first Italian to lift three Grand Slam singles trophies.
Defiant Djokovic still targeting Grand Slam wins after Australia setback
Former Australian Open runner-up Petra Kvitova said on Monday she is expecting her first child with husband and long-time coach Jiri Vanek and would miss the year's first Grand Slam which begins in two weeks.
Rafael Nadal is tied with Roger Federer as the player with the most men's singles majors and the Spaniard can now overtake his great rival who has skipped the Australian Open.
Jannik Sinner bounced back from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev and win his maiden Grand Slam title.
