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Sinner battles illness ahead of de Minaur match

Jannik Sinner talks to doctors during his medical timeout against Holger Rune.

Jannik Sinner talks to doctors during his medical timeout against Holger Rune. Photo: AAP

Rumours are swirling at Melbourne Park that world tennis No.1 Jannik Sinner is seriously ill with pneumonia, ahead of his crucial clash against Alex de Minaur.

Sinner was scheduled to practice as normal on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of his quarter-final Australian Open match against the Australian hope.

Tournament director Craig Tiley told the Herald Sun he expected the Italian to play.

“I was with their team yesterday. He’ll be ready to play tonight,” Tiley said.

“I think it’ll be a brilliant match.”

Sinner sparked concern during his fourth round win over Holger Rune, after he was seen trembling and struggling to breathe between points.

The 23-year-old defending champion also required a medical timeout for “dizzy spells”, sparking unconfirmed reports that he is recovering from pneumonia.

“I knew that the match would be a very close one, not only with Holger but with myself as well,” Sinner said afterwards.

“I was not well when I woke up, so I had to come into this match with caution.”

De Minaur has lost all nine of his previous encounters with the world No.1, including the past seven without even winning a set.

But Australian strategist Craig O’Shannessy believes Sinner is increasingly vulnerable – and not only because he is unwell.

O’Shannessy, who helped Novak Djokovic to four grand slam titles from 2017 to 2019, has noticed a sharp improvement in de Minaur.

“De Minaur’s got a couple of things in his favour,” O’Shannessy said at Melbourne Park.

“Firstly, remember [Sinner] got sick yesterday. I don’t know what it was but he certainly got the jitters.

“No.2 is that Demon is winning 56 per cent of his baseline points, which is higher than Sinner, who’s at 55 per cent. It’s close, but a 1 per cent advantage from the baseline is a big deal.

“So I see more offence. He looks more potent from the back of the court, making opponents uncomfortable. He’s rolling through the tournament with more confidence, and you just feel the tables have turned a bit.

“While Sinner was surging, it doesn’t feel like Sinner is surging at the moment. But it feels like Demon is surging.”

O’Shannessy was one of the masterminds behind Italy’s rise from the tennis doldrums to super powers and back-to-back Davis Cup champions. He plotted the game plans for Sinner and others in the past two Davis Cup finals, including their 2023 victory over de Minaur’s Australian team.

“With the way Sinner has been feeling, if he gets a gets a hot night, that would also help Demon,” O’Shannessy said.

“Humid conditions more than anything, if it’s not even hot. But if it’s really humid, and [de Minaur] continues attacking, he has a chance. He’s got to attack and that’s what he’s been doing well leading up to this match.

“I think it does come down to baseline performance early in the point, but Demon is certainly peaking at the moment.”

O’Shannessy said de Minaur remained the underdog.

“But there’s a stronger feeling that he’s more ready than he’s ever been to take on the challenge,” he said.

A victory over Sinner would present de Minaur with a huge opportunity to make the Open final. He would play the winner of Wednesday’s other quarter-final between American world No.20 Ben Shelton and unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

Keys advances to semi-finals

Source: Roland Garros

 

Keys advances to third Open semi

American Madison Keys has come back from a set down to beat Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 3-6 6-3 6-4 and book a spot in her third Australian Open semi-final.

In a high-quality affair on Wednesday involving only one service break in each set, the 29-year-old Keys held sway when it mattered most, setting up a semi-final with either Polish world No.2 seed Iga Swiatek or US eighth seed Emma Navarro.

“I felt like I had to start playing a little bit more aggressively and try to get to the net a bit quicker,” the 19th-seeded Keys said in her on-court interview.

“She was controlling a lot of the points and making me run so I felt like I needed to try and get on the advantage a little bit quicker and luckily I was able to do that.”

Keys’ best result at a major was reaching the final of the 2017 US Open. She also reached the last four at Melbourne Park in 2015 and 2022.

“I think I play a little bit smarter for sure,” said Keys, when asked to compare the difference between 2015 and 2025.

“Probably a little bit less fearless.

“But to be here 10 years later in the semi-finals again, I’m really proud of myself.”

No.28 seed Svitolina claimed the only break of the opening set in the eighth game and then closed it out 6-3.

The 30-year-old Ukrainian was made to work hard by Keys in her opening two service games of the second set but managed to hold both of them, including with a brilliant instinctive volley winner in the fourth game that appeared to shock both players.

But Keys would not be denied in the sixth game, finally claiming her first service break of the match at the seventh attempt to go up 4-2.

Minutes later the match was tied up at one set apiece.

Keys finally got her nose in front by claiming the only break of the final set in the fifth game before closing out the match in one hour and 53 minutes.

-with AAP

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