Johanna Konta blasted Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets to set up an Apia International final with Agnieszka Radwanska in Sydney yesterday.
The British sixth seed dominated her evening semi-final with the former Wimbledon finalist, winning 6-2, 6-2 in 68 minutes.
She faces Polish second seed Radwanska, who is one win away from her second Sydney title after crushing fatigued Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-2 earlier.
Photo: AP
Konta lost both her only two matches with Radwanska last year, but she has been in terrific form this week, accounting for Arina Rodionova, Daria Gavrilova, Daria Kasatkina and now Bouchard without dropping a set.
“She’s been one of the best players for as long as I can remember, so she’s definitely doing something right,” Konta said of facing Radwanska in the final. “I’ve played her twice before, I’ve lost twice, so hopefully I will do a better job tomorrow, but either way I am looking forward to the challenge.”
It will be 25-year-old Konta’s third career WTA Tour final after winning in Stanford and finishing runner-up in Beijing last year.
Radwanska, the 2013 champion, was too clinical for the 19th-ranked Czech, who was showing the draining effects of her 4 hours, 22 minutes on court in the singles and doubles on Wednesday.
“I think I’m playing better and better each match,” Radwanska said. “I really like to play in Australia. I love the courts. I feel very comfortable here and in Melbourne. I’m just very happy to make another final, especially here when it’s always very strong tournament.”
Radwanska, who has reached two Australian Open finals, said she was ready for next week’s first Grand Slam of the year.
“I’ve already had good matches. I can feel I’m playing better and better. I’m hitting the ball better each match,” she said. “So I think that’s the most important thing to have match rhythm. So, yeah, I think I have had enough and I’m just ready for tomorrow, for my last match before Melbourne.”
In the men’s singles, Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller reached his third straight Sydney semi-final with a big-serving straight-sets victory over second seed Pablo Cuevas.
Muller thundered down 17 aces in ousting the Uruguayan 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 and faces two-time defending champion Viktor Troicki in today’s semis.
Troicki, on a 13-match winning streak in Sydney, advanced to the last four when Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew before their match citing a lower-back injury.
Austrian top seed Dominic Thiem went out to British No. 3 Daniel Evans 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in just over two hours.
Russian Andrey Kuznetsov overcame Spanish fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 and faces world No. 67 Evans in the other semi-final.
“That’s pretty much the best win of my career,” Evans said of his upset of Thiem. “In the end he didn’t really know how to get it by me.”
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
RSS