Linette Upsets Garcia to Reach First Grand Slam QF

Poland's Magda Linette celebrates victory against France's Caroline Garcia after their women's singles match on day eight of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2023. (AFP)
Poland's Magda Linette celebrates victory against France's Caroline Garcia after their women's singles match on day eight of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2023. (AFP)
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Linette Upsets Garcia to Reach First Grand Slam QF

Poland's Magda Linette celebrates victory against France's Caroline Garcia after their women's singles match on day eight of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2023. (AFP)
Poland's Magda Linette celebrates victory against France's Caroline Garcia after their women's singles match on day eight of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2023. (AFP)

Magda Linette came from two breaks down in the first set en route to beating No. 4 Caroline Garcia 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Monday to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

She will face Karolina Pliskova, who defeated Zhang Shuai 6-0, 6-4 in another fourth-round match on Monday.

Linette was lost for words in the on-court interview after the match.

“I don't really believe it,” she said. “I can't believe it, really. I don't know what happened. I'm speechless really. I don't know what to say.”

Fifth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka defeated Belinda Bencic 7-5, 6-2 on Monday to reach the quarterfinals for the first time. Bencic double-faulted to drop the first set, which put Sabalenka in control from that point.

“I’m super happy with the win today,” Sabalenka said. “She (Bencic) is an unbelievable player. She played so good. I’m really happy with the level today.”

Sabalenka faces Donna Vekic, who defeated Linda Fruhvirtova 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

Two other quarterfinal matchups were already set, with Elena Rybakina facing Jelena Ostapenko, and Jessica Pegula playing Victoria Azarkena.

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek and No. 2 Ons Jabeur have been eliminated, leaving No. 3 Pegula as the highest ranked women through to the final eight.

Sabalenka said she had worked hard on controlling her emotions during matches.

“It takes me a little while to understand that negative emotions are not going to help me on court,” she said. “You just have to stay strong and believe no matter what.”

Sablenka also said her fitness has improved.

“We did a lot of work in the preseason and I'm super happy that everything is working right now,” she said.

Novak Djokovic faced Alex de Minaur Monday for a place in the men's quarterfinals. Djokovic is aiming for this 10th title at the Australian Open and his 22nd Grand Slam title. The Grand Slam mark would tie him with Rafael Nadal for the most by any man.



Paralympic Triathlon Events Postponed Because of Poor Water Quality in Seine River

 View of the Seine river where the triathlon competition has been cancelled, during the 2024 Paralympics, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
View of the Seine river where the triathlon competition has been cancelled, during the 2024 Paralympics, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
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Paralympic Triathlon Events Postponed Because of Poor Water Quality in Seine River

 View of the Seine river where the triathlon competition has been cancelled, during the 2024 Paralympics, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
View of the Seine river where the triathlon competition has been cancelled, during the 2024 Paralympics, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)

Paralympic triathlon competitions in Paris scheduled for Sunday have been postponed because of concerns about water quality in the Seine River after heavy rainfall, organizers said.

The 11 para triathlon events are now scheduled for Monday, if upcoming water testing allows, the Paris 2024 organizing committee and World Triathlon said in a joint statement.

Rainstorms hit the French capital Friday and Saturday. Heavy rains cause wastewater and runoff to flow into the river, leading to a rise in bacteria levels including E. Coli.

This is the second scheduled change for the para triathlon events. They had initially been scheduled to take place over two days, Sunday and Monday, but were moved to Sunday because of rain forecasts.

The disruption is another hiccup for the city’s efforts to clean up the river for future public swimming, one of Paris’ most ambitious promises ahead of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics this summer. The men's individual triathlon event during the Paris Olympics was delayed and several test swims were canceled because of high E. coli levels after rainfall.

Some Olympic triathletes fell ill after swimming in the Seine, though it is unclear whether that was linked to the river water.