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.



Bayern Rivals Leverkusen and Dortmund Drop Points in Bundesliga

Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck gestures after losing the German Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund, in Berlin, Germany, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck gestures after losing the German Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund, in Berlin, Germany, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
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Bayern Rivals Leverkusen and Dortmund Drop Points in Bundesliga

Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck gestures after losing the German Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund, in Berlin, Germany, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck gestures after losing the German Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund, in Berlin, Germany, 05 October 2024. (EPA)

Bayern Munich won without playing on Saturday as Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund dropped points to modest opponents.

Dortmund slumped at Union Berlin to a 2-1 defeat without injured forward Karim Adeyemi, who starred in the team’s 7-1 rout of Celtic in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Defending champion Leverkusen squandered an early two-goal lead over promoted Holstein Kiel and drew 2-2. It was only Kiel’s second point in its debut top-flight season.

Leverkusen played in a special black jersey with red trim to commemorate the club’s 120th anniversary, and for Xabi Alonso it was also a special occasion – the Spanish coach took over exactly two years before.

Leverkusen fans didn’t have to wait long to celebrate after Victor Boniface opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Jonas Hofmann made it 2-0 four minutes after that. Leverkusen looked set for a rout.

But the home team failed to make more of its dominance — Boniface had another goal ruled out for offside — and Kiel secured a lifeline before the break when Max Geschwil scored after a corner. Fiete Arp scored an unlikely equalizer from the penalty spot in the 69th.

Also, Freiburg won at Werder Bremen 1-0, and Wolfsburg enjoyed a 3-1 win in Wolfsburg.

St. Pauli was playing Mainz later.

League leader Bayern visits second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.