British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Tanaqui · County player

Weeks 3 & 4 - Australian Open - main draw - Melbourne, VIC, Australia (hard)

brittak · Satellite level

Priesty wrote:
I can see from next door that Jake has just been broken and lost the second set 7-5
I'd arrange to meet up with you Brittak but am with my mate, who has gone to the toilet and left me guarding his seat.

No worries Priesty.

I had a stroke of luck.. As i still couldnt get on at the end of the second set, i gave up and was going to try and find something else to watch when i noticed a slight gap had opened up on the other side of the court and after a few minutes got a seat right in front of Leon Smith and Jakes team. So watched the last two sets there. Jake was a break up in the 4th and I thought he might be pulling off a comeback but had a bit of a fall and lost a bit of momentum. Shame but que sera sera.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

wolf wrote:
I just saw a ball girl collapse backwards in the Alexandrova - Sonmez match, try to get up and then thankfully a quick thinking Sonmez and the umpire had hold of her as her legs buckled a second time. Must be brutally hot conditions as usual.

From the Beeb's report on the retirements of Fran Jones, Marina Stakusic & FAA:

Early retirements became a theme on day two in Melbourne, with men's eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and qualifier Marina Stakusic - who was taken off court in a wheelchair - both forced to retire after cramping. The heat hit 30C in Melbourne, but it is common for players to compete in much higher temperatures. By mid-afternoon the Australian Open's heat stress scale read 1.4 out of five - deemed 'temperature playing conditions'.

Canada's Auger-Aliassime came into the Australian Open as part of the group tipped to challenge clear favourites Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner for the men's title. The 25-year-old surged into the world's top five after finishing last season with a flourish, including a run to the US Open semi-finals. But he fell at the first hurdle in Melbourne despite taking the opening set against Portugal's Nuno Borges.

"I can't recall ever in my life this [happening this] early in a tournament, this early in a match," Auger-Aliassime said after quitting when trailing 3-6 6-4 6-4. I don't have all the answers now."

Cramping was the root of the dramatic scenes involving Stakusic. The Canadian world number 127 went down in the third set of her first-round match against Australia's Priscilla Hon. A rubdown with ice did not improve the spasm in Stakusic's leg, forcing her to quit when trailing 1-6 6-4 5-3. Medical staff and Hon helped her in to a wheelchair before the 21-year-old was taken off court.