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.



Premier League Rejects City Request to Delay Next Season’s Games after Club World Cup

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)
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Premier League Rejects City Request to Delay Next Season’s Games after Club World Cup

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)

The Premier League has rejected Manchester City's request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the US, the club's manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15. The Premier League's season will begin in August.

An increasingly packed football calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players' union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.

The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.

"I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)... maybe we'll play less games," Guardiola told reporters.

"The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don't postpone these games so that will be the moment of, oh, what do we have to do?"

He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.