The Australian Open women's draw was blown wide open on Sunday after world No 1 Iga Swiatek was stunned in straight sets by Elena Rybakina in the fourth round, before Jelena Ostapenko defeated Coco Gauff.
In a battle between the two most recent Grand Slam champions, it was Wimbledon winner Rybakina who emerged victorious, claiming a 6-4, 6-4 victory inside Rod Laver Arena to advance to the quarter-finals.
Top seed Swiatek, who won Roland Garros and the US Open last season and was heavy favourite to win her fourth Grand Slam in Melbourne, joins second seed Ons Jabeur in exiting Melbourne Park unexpectedly early.
"It was a really tough match and I really respect Iga," said Kazakhstan's Rybakina, the 22nd seed. "She's a young player and think she played really well. It's a big win and I'm just happy to get to another round."
Rybakina will face Ostapenko in the quarter-finals after the Latvian, French Open winner in 2017, defeated American seventh seed Gauff.
Swiatek led 40-0 on her opening service game and 15-40 on Rybakina's delivery in the next, but it was the 6ft (1.84m) Russian-born player who showed her resilience and power to win both for an early 2-0 lead.
The Pole composed herself to hold in the next and then went on the attack, creating three break points and converting the first when Rybakina went long to level the set at 2-2.
At 3-3, 30-30, Swiatek's first double fault gave Rybakina another chance which she seized with a sizzling backhand crosscourt return. The Wimbledon champion comfortably served out, powering down her fourth ace on her first set point to move ahead after 42 minutes.
Swiatek stepped up at start of the second set, attacking off her forehand and broke immediately for 2-0 to chants of "Iga, Iga" from a small, but noisy, contingent of Polish fans clad in red and white.
The cries proved short-lived, though, as Rybakina broke to love at 1-3 as Swiatek's first serve deserted her.
Rybakina, by contrast, was now firing down serves with power and accuracy, her fifth ace helping her to level at 3-3.
"I think I was serving good and just struggling a bit on one side," Rybakina said. "But in the important moments I played really well and that made the difference."
Swiatek had won the pair's only previous meeting in straight sets at Ostrava in 2021, but history counted for nothing against the confident Kazakh who forced Swiatek to save two break points at 4-4.
A sixth forehand winner of the match from Rybakina created a third, which she took when the Pole netted and served out with ease to take the match.
Over on Margaret Court Arena, 17th seed Ostapenko ended Gauff's unbeaten start to the season with a 7-5, 6-3 victory to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time.
"I knew she's such a great player, super young and she's playing really well but I really had nothing to lose," said Ostapenko, who won her fifth WTA Tour title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last year.
"I just went there and tried to show my best and try to fight for every point and to make it hard for her and I'm really happy with the way I played."
Ostapenko, whose last Grand Slam quarter-final came at Wimbledon in 2018, has endured some tough injury-hit years since and had never before beaten a player ranked inside the top-10 at the Australian Open.
"I was trying to stay positive all the time," Ostapenko, 25, said. "And I knew I have to play aggressive, even if I miss some balls.
Gauff had not dropped a set on the way to the last 16 and the match was a tight affair, with little to choose between the pair, but it was Ostapenko who played the crucial points better, pouncing at the end of each set. She broke Gauff at 6-5 to take the first, then again at 4-3 in the second.
"At the end, I think I kept her under so much pressure and it brought me a win," said Ostapenko.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The biog
Age: 23
Occupation: Founder of the Studio, formerly an analyst at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
Education: Bachelor of science in industrial engineering
Favourite hobby: playing the piano
Favourite quote: "There is a key to every door and a dawn to every dark night"
Family: Married and with a daughter
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The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
7.40pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Switzerland, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Lord Giltters, Adrie de Vries, David O’Meara
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Land Of Legends, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
10pm Dubai Dash Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,000m
Winner Equilateral, Frankie Dettori, Charles Hills.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Scoreline
Swansea 2
Grimes 20' (pen), Celina, 29'
Man City 3
Silva 69', Nordfeldt 78' (og), Aguero 88'
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
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The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
Read more about the coronavirus
'Project Power'
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback
Director: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Rating: 3.5/5
'Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower'
Michael Beckley, Cornell Press
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
