Key events
Down break point at 0-2 1-2, Darderi locates an ace, but he must soon handle another, Sinner dashing in to put away a volley having cracked a forehand to the corner. But a netted return restores deuce and from there he closes out the game before celebrating by petulantly throwing down a towel next to his coach. Meantime, Swiatek is doing all she can to prevent Inglis getting on the board, an overhead dispatched with prejudice saving game point at 3-0.
Swiatek breaks Inglis immediately for 2-0 and though, as she seeks to consolidate, she’s taken to deuce, she eventually prevails. She can play a lot better than this – and if she wins, against Rybakina, she’ll have to.
Otherwise, Musetti, now firmly established at the top of the game, whacked Fritz while, in the men’s doubles, the champs are out, Henry Patten and Harri Heloivaara beaten by Patrik Rikl and Petr Nouza 6 and 6, spurning five break points without facing any. Regular reader will know Patten is coached by Calvin Betton, a great friend of the blog who’s been furnishing us with pro angles and insights for years now; well, Luke Johnson, Calv’s other charge, is still in, with his partner Jan Zielinski, and they’re looking very good.
To recap what went down overnight, the champ is out of the women’s competition, Our Maddy losing in straights to her good mate, Jess Pegula, who’ll now meet Amanda Anisimova in an enticing quarter-final – the others are tasty too, Gauff meeting Svitolina, Sabalenka facing the surging Jovic and Rybakina the winner of Swiatek v Inglis.
They’re away now, Swiatek holding, while on Court, Sinner breaks again to lead a ticking Darderi 6-1 6-3.
Inglis, passed over for a wildcard, saved a match point in the first round of qualifying, then played a decider in the last, and this is an amazing occasion for her: an Australia Day headline slot against a great in the making. Having struggled on tour for years, she now receives £243,000 – great stuff, though she did get lucky with Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal. I can’t say I wasn’t looking forward to seeing her against Swiatek, but Inglis changing her life is a pleasant consolation.
A quick, er, comfort break, and our players are out on Laver.
At Wimbledon, Sinner looked like losing to Dimitrov, flummoxed by him at two sets down, then poor old Griggzy hurt his pec and had to quit; in the last round here, he was craping at 1-1 and a break down to Elliot Spizzirri, only for the officials to call a heat break which allowed him to recover. Which is to say that, like the best sportsfolk, he has a goldfish memory, able to accept and absorb fortune, ill or good, and move on remorselessly. He leads 6-1 3-1.
Sinner leads Darderi 6-1 1-1, though there was minor controversy earlier: yesterday, Carlos Alcaraz was ordered to take off a health tracker worn around his wrist, so today, the champ tried hiding it under his sweatband – to no avail. he too was told to get it off, but so far appears to be surviving. And as I type, Darderi misses a forehand to be broken, at 1-6 1-2 so leathers a ball into the crowd, receiving a code violation for his trouble, and also hammers his racket into the surface. That’ll learn it.
Preamble
G’day all and welcome to the Australian Open 2026 – day nine!
We’ve not, it’s fair to say, been over-furnished with close matches so far in this tournament and, with Jannik Sinner already all over Luciano Darderi, another looks likely to go by without giving us what we want.
But we can hope and, starting on Laver shortly we have Maddison Inglis, an Australian qualifier, taking on Iga Swiatek. The no 2 seed is, of course, a heavy favourite, but she’s looked less than impregnable hitherto, struggling against Yue Yuan and losing a set to Anna Kalinskaya.
Then, following them on to court, a contest with the potential to consume a significant chunk of our working days, as Ben Shelton takes on Casper Ruud. This slot was meant to be filled by Novak Djokovic v Jakub Mensik, but the Czech found he could no longer battle a stomach injury – a shame for him, as he may not get another chance to meet his hero in such circumstances, and a shame for us because as a ruckus it had serious potential; what can you do?
So, though Shelton v Ruud was an ideal bonus match, if both players are at it – and they have been so far, the former yet to drop a set and latter very clean in binning Mattia Bellucci, Jaume Munar and Marin Cilic – we’re in for a treat.
Let’s go!
