Iga Swiatek, the world no 1 and tournament top seed, was dumped out of the Australian Open on Saturday, losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the third round.
The Pole's wait for a first title at Melbourne Park goes on after this collapse, which came after two difficult matches against Sofia Kenin and then Danielle Collins in the last round. Noskova became the first teenager to knock out the top-ranked player at the Australian Open since Amelie Mauresmo beat Lindsay Davenport in 1999.
"I'm speechless, I knew it was going to be an amazing match with the world number one and such a player, but I didn't really think it would end up like this," said the 19-year-old Noskova.
Noskova looked on paper to be a potential banana skin for Swiatek with three top-10 wins to her name, but the Pole seemed in no mood to be dragged into another scrap as she broke in the sixth game and held to love in the next.
Having wrapped up the first set, the 22-year-old Swiatek looked to take control but Noskova held firm and turned the tables, responding with some dynamic hitting of her own to break and then level the match.
The Czech broke early in the decider and despite Swiatek briefly levelling, got her nose in front again and served for the match to seal a big upset.
"I was shaking a little," Noskova said about serving for the victory. "I didn't hit two first serves which was not the best start for me but I pulled out an ace."
Meanwhile, two-time runner-up Daniil Medvedev swept past Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime to power into the last 16.
The Russian third seed won 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 and set up a clash against Portugal's world number 69 Nuno Borges, who upset Bulgarian 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov in four sets.
It was a vastly different match from his late-night escape from two sets down against Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round, a contest that finished at 3:40am on Friday.
Medvedev admitted the early-hours finish had taken its toll, saying he had not got to bed until 7am.
"It was not easy, I'm not feeling fresh, I'm not feeling 100 per cent," said the Russian, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2021 Melbourne Park final and Rafael Nadal a year later.
"It was tough, especially after the last match I had. I felt it was hard for me when I ran, so I tried to always give him a tough shot so I didn't have to run. Finally, especially in the third set, I managed to pull off some good shots and am happy about my game."
Cameron Norrie produced his best ever grand slam victory to reach the fourth round for the first time.
Norrie had never beaten a player ranked as high as world number 11 Casper Ruud at a major tournament and had lost all three previous matches against the Norwegian, who is a three-time major finalist.
But the 28-year-old played with purpose to claim a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
He said: “It’s so special. I just kept a really good level throughout the match. I’ve been working really hard in the off-season on trying to be a little bit more aggressive. I managed to free up in the match and I really let go.”
Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round for the first time after opponent Shang Juncheng retired with injury in the third set.
Remarkably, this was 20-year-old Alcaraz’s first experience of playing a younger player in his 201st tour level match, but it was barely a contest, the second seed dropping just two games before Shang called it a day trailing 6-1, 6-1, 1-0.
Elsewhere, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka beat 11th seed Jelena Ostapenko and Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen defeated her compatriot Wang Yafan to go through.
In numbers
- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100
- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100
- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100
- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth
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MATCH INFO
Chelsea 4 (Mount 18',Werner 44', Hudson-Odoi 49', Havertz 85')
Morecambe 0
MATCH INFO
Uefa Nations League
League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)
Results
5pm: Wadi Nagab – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Al Falaq, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Shemaili (trainer)
5.30pm: Wadi Sidr – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Fakhama, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash
6.30pm: Wadi Shees – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Mutaqadim, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 – Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Bahar Muscat, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Wadi Tayyibah – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Poster Paint, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
THE DETAILS
Director: Milan Jhaveri
Producer: Emmay Entertainment and T-Series
Cast: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee
Rating: 2/5
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai Women's Tour teams
Agolico BMC
Andy Schleck Cycles-Immo Losch
Aromitalia Basso Bikes Vaiano
Cogeas Mettler Look
Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
Hitec Products – Birk Sport
Kazakhstan National Team
Kuwait Cycling Team
Macogep Tornatech Girondins de Bordeaux
Minsk Cycling Club
Pannonia Regional Team (Fehérvár)
Team Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Team Ciclotel
UAE Women’s Team
Under 23 Kazakhstan Team
Wheel Divas Cycling Team
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Race 3
Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars
