Three minutes a day, knowing about tennis in the world. Hello fans, today is Saturday, January 25, 2025, and welcome to the afternoon newsletter brought to you by "Home of Tennis".

This afternoon, Beijing time, the 14th day of the 2025 Australian Open tennis season will begin. The Women's Singles final will kick off at around 4:30 p.m. and will see defending champion and top seed Sabalenka take on American Keys Case. This will be the sixth meeting between the two in their careers, with Sabalenka holding a 4-1 advantage in head-to-head record.

However, in the first five encounters, Keys was still a big girl. Now, she has a husband, and after getting married, under the tutelage of her husband Vlatangello, Case's ball skills and tactical awareness have been significantly enhanced, not only winning the championship and quickly improving the world rankings, but also reaching the final of the Australian Open, two Grand Slam champions of Krybakina and Swiatek. Therefore, for Sabalenka, Keys with her husband's blessing is not easy to deal with, and she needs to play super high to successfully defend her title. Of course, Keith is also very eager for this championship, and it is really difficult to predict who will die at that time!

Let's take a closer look at the results of yesterday afternoon's session Beijing time. In the second semi-final of the Men's Singles, world No.1 and defending champion Sinner continued her hot streak by beating 21st seed and rising American Shelton 7-6(2) 6-2 6-2 to reach the final for the second year in a row. The Italian also became the youngest male player to reach two Australian Open finals since Courrell in 1992-1993.

After the match, Sinner's two coaches, Darren Cahill and Simone Wagnoz, praised their protégé, saying that he had a maturity that his peers did not have, "I know he is only 23 years old, but sometimes it feels like he is much older and smarter than us, he is an incredible young man, and we are not surprised to see him back in the final." ”

Shelton, who lost the game, wasn't too frustrated, believing he was close to the top players, "I know I'm close, I'm close, I know I have a lot of necessary qualifications, I'm confident in myself. I think what is needed next is more opportunities to play against the top players, to gain experience and consistency in the game, and that will be my goal this year. ”

In addition, in the first semi-final, German Zverev Jr., who received Djokovic's retirement gift, once again greeted Djokovic at the post-match press conference, "I think the first set is still a very high level match. I think there is a torn muscle, and he knows that if he wants to beat me after losing the first set, he will probably have to play for at least three more hours, which is very difficult if you have a torn muscle or a muscle injury. You know it's hard to keep playing at high intensity with a muscle tear because it's not going to get better. In the worst-case scenario, it gets worse, maybe worse. Secondly, as I said on the pitch, I have only respect for him and I absolutely admire him. ”

After Djokovic retired yesterday, he continued to post on the media, saying goodbye to the Australian Open and wishing Zverev Jr. the final championship.

In the second semi-final of the Women's Doubles, Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Shu-wei and Latvian star Ostapenko defeated second seeds Dabrowski/Lutledge 7-6(3) 3-6 6-3 to reach the final of their first Grand Slam tour, and both players reached the Australian Open Women's Doubles final for the second year in a row. This is the 9th Grand Slam women's doubles final of the 39-year-old's career, and she will be aiming for her eighth Grand Slam women's doubles title.

Finally, let's guess and recognize. The picture below is of a player who falls during a game. Can you recognize who she is without prompting?

In the last guess, some golfers gave the correct answer. That's right, the person in the picture is the famous Kazakhstani player Rybakina.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Maverick)