SMITH TON TAKES THE HEAT OFF CUMMINS
BATTING star Steve Smith made Pat Cummins’ captaincy debut “easy” with a stunning century in his first innings for a month despite not picking up a bat until last Sunday.
Smith said he had spent time after the 2-1 loss to India just “chilling” as he waited for a call to be made on the now postponed tour of South Africa.
But a single day’s practice was enough for the Allan Border medallist to find his rhythm and he pounded nine fours and six sixes in his innings of 127 runs (124 balls) in NSW’s 59-run one-day win over Victoria at North Sydney Oval.
“I actually had my first hit yesterday, I haven’t touched my bat believe it or not,” Smith said.
“It’s been nice to spend some time away, chill for a bit. Once South Africa got called off it was about having a hit yesterday, getting myself in a decent frame of mind to come out and play.”
Smith wasn’t burdened with the captaincy either, a job given to
Cummins for the first time. The national vice-captain and potentially in line to replace Test skipper Tim Paine when he steps away, Cummins said it was a “different” experience being in charge, as well as headlining the bowling attack.
“I think the 50 overs went a bit quicker than a normal one-dayer
because you are just always thinking,” Cummins said after taking 3-38 and making 49 with the bat.
“I was looking up at the scoreboard, trying to work out the overs, making sure my maths were OK. It was a bit different. I had Moey (Moises Henriques) out there next to me, I leaned on him a fair bit.”
Smith, who lost the Test captaincy after the sandpaper scandal in South Africa, said Cummins would have tougher days as skipper.
“I think it was a pretty easy day in regards to plans,” he said after NSW rolled Victoria for 259, having set them 319 to win.
Both Smith and Cummins praised first-gamer Ollie Davies, who continued his Big Bash form with a sparkling innings of 57 off just 41 balls, including three sixes.
Smith and Cummins are set to turn out again tomorrow for a Sheffield Shield clash, again against Victoria.
SERENA Williams came back to tennis after the birth of her daughter with only one goal in mind: to win grand slam No.24.
But even if she doesn’t reach that mark, whether it be at Saturday’s women’s final at Melbourne Park or in the future, her place as the greatest of all time cannot be disputed, according to Mouratoglou.
He poured cold water on Australian Margaret Court’s claims to the throne on Monday, despite her record 24 titles pipping Serena’s 23, describing the outspoken star’s achievements as being played in a “different sport”.
Just 11 of Court’s grand slam wins came in the Open era, coach
Patrick when professionals were allowed to compete with amateurs.
Talk of equalling Court follows Williams at every grand slam, but Mouratoglou says the 39-year-old is far from obsessed with that statistic.
“I don’t think she needs that validation,” he said ahead of Williams’ quarter-final showdown with second seed Simona
Halep on Tuesday night. “But, I mean, clearly she came back to tennis to win some other grand slams, so that’s for sure the goal.
“Now, she’s not as obsessed with the 24 (as) most of the people in the tennis world, but definitely she wants to win grand slams. That’s the only reason why she came back to tennis.”
Court won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open in 1960 – eight years before the Open era began – a point Mouratoglou believes is crucial when comparing her career with that of Williams.
“There is tennis before the Open era and tennis after the Open era,” he said.
“We all know it’s two different sports. It’s an amateur sport and a professional sport.”
PICTURE this as a conversation around Jessica Pegula’s family dinner table.
“So Dad, are you going to buy the team?”
Terry Pegula pauses, puts down his knife and fork and replies: “Yeah, I think we’re going to get it. Donald Trump and Jon Bon Jovi have been sniffing around but it looks like we’ve got them covered.”
The team in question is the Buffalo Bills and in 2014 the Pegulas outbid Trump and Bon Jovi to purchase the NFL franchise for $US1.4bn – three years after they’d bought NHL team the Buffalo Sabres for $US189m.
It’s jaw-dropping stuff and that’s exactly the same reaction Jessica Pegula is getting at the Australian Open.
The unseeded 26-year-old American has stormed into the quarter-finals after taking down fifth-seed Elina Svitolina, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Pegula, who had never had a win over a top-10 player before the Australian Open, has taken out two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, former US
Open champion Sam Stosur and former world No.10 Kristina Mladenovic.
It’s been a good month for the family, with the Bills also enjoying a breakout season on the back of young quarterback Josh Allen, making the AFC Championship game for the first time since 1994.
“I think it’s been really cool to watch them and kind of channel that energy into how I’ve been doing,” Pegula said.
“It’s definitely something I think I tried to take into my game a little bit, even watching the team getting that grit, that competitive attitude, having that mindset. In tennis, it’s like 90 per cent sometimes of the matches.”
Pegula, who is now guaranteed a handy $525,000 payday of her own, considered giving up tennis after a long battle with knee and hip injuries.
She was forced to spend a year-and-a-half in recovery after hip surgery and is playing in only her ninth grand slam.
Her ranking of 61 is set to drop dramatically after the Australian Open and she faces fellow American Jennifer Brady in the quarter-finals.
AUSTRALIA loves an underdog, and so does the Australian Open.
When Marcos Baghdatis was a beaten finalist in 2006, he was the first unseeded player to have reached the men’s final since Thomas Enqvist seven years before – but the Happy Slam always seems to toss up a fairytale run.
This year we have three unheralded, unseeded players vying for stardom. But are they on a hiding to nothing? Or can fairytale runs lead all the way to glory? There’s precedence for the latter; even at Melbourne Park, where Serena Williams won Grand Slam title No. 8 as an unseeded player.
However, Williams had a few more points on the board by that stage than any of the 2021 edition of Australian Open bolters, which features women’s hopefuls Hsieh SuWei and Jessica Pegula, and men’s Grand Slam debutant Aslan Karatsev.
In 1976, Australian Mark Edmondson became the first unseeded player of the Open era to win a Grand Slam when he upset countryman John Newcombe in the Australian Open final. Two years later, fellow Australian Chris O’Neil achieved the same feat and remains the last Aussie woman win the Australian Open.
In the 43 years since, 11 more have done the unthinkable and come from the stars – or at least outside the 32 seeded players – to stun the world and win a Grand Slam title. There have been young guns such as 17-year-olds Boris Becker (Wimbledon, 1985), Mats Wilander (French Open, 1982) and 19-year-old Iga Swiatek
(French Open, 2020), as well as incredible comeback tales such as when Kim Clijsters returned from the birth of her child to win the 2009 US Open. And even the odd bolt from the blue: think Goran Ivanisevic breaking Pat Rafter’s heart as a wildcard at Wimbledon 2001.
The current crew have their own incredible stories.
Hsieh, at 35, is the oldest female to make her Grand Slam quarter-final debut in the professional era. She has a unique style – two-handed forehands and backhands – and an Australian coach, Paul McNamee. American Jessica Pegula, the world No. 61, arrives in the quarter-finals with the best financial backing of any tennis player on the planet. She has billionaire parents who outbid Donald Trump to buy NFL franchise the Buffalo Bills.
From a purely tennis perspective, Karatsev is perhaps the most remarkable, having gone through qualifying in Doha last month to reach his first Grand Slam main draw.
Four matches later and he’s made the Australian Open last eight.