Australia Open: Alex de Minaur told ‘you can’t do that’

Australia has no male players left at the Aussie Open with Alex de Minaur called out by Jim Courier for an ugly moment.

Alex de Minaur at the 2022 Australian Open.

Australia has been cleaned out of players in the men’s singles draw at the Australian Open.

Alex de Minaur was the final hope — but he was easily dispatched by a red-hot Jannik Sinner in their bruising fourth round showdown on a day of drama at Melbourne Park on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, French veteran Alize Cornet was left an emotional wreck when she broke through to her first grand slam quarter-final and conducted a touching post-match interview with Jelena Dokic.

Meanwhile, Ash Barty toppled American phenom Amanda Anisimova in straight sets on Sunday night to book her spot in the quarter-finals.

‘You can’t do that’: De Minaur wiped out

Aussie Alex de Minaur has been eliminated after a frustrating night against No. 11 seed Jannik Sinner.

De Minaur had been hoping to become just the third Aussie male in the past 20 years to make the final eight at Melbourne Park.

The 22-year-old was outclassed by the in-form Italian 7-6 6-3 6-4 in a match that lasted over two-and-a-half hours.

Sinner left the Aussie crowd flat as he took advantage of a surprisingly out-of-sorts de Minaur, who piled up a mountain of errors.

Australia's Alex De Minaur is a fighter. Photo by William WEST / AFP.

In the final game of the second set De Minaur had the crowd on its feet when he fiished off a 20-shot rally with a crisp down-the-line winner. However, he followed it up with a strange, aggressive return of serve which triggered an unforced error.

Tennis legend Jim Courier was scathing of de Minaur’s brain fart.

He also suggested de Minaur should have been able to find another way to challenge Sinner - even on a night where his ground strokes weren’t landing where he wanted them to.

He said it was something de Minaur’s mentor Lleyton Hewitt and his coach Adolfo Gutierrez would have to speak to him about after the match.

“That was a wild miss on that first serve. I wonder if that last point took a little out of him,” Courier said in commentary on Channel 9.

“You cannot do that. You cannot do that. You just won a 20 shot rally. I think Alex got hyped and anxious, but that was the wrong decision. Those are the things that if you are Adolfo or Lleyton you must be writing that down and having that discussion after the match, win or lose.

“The little moments in this game come up and they are so important. It is OK to miss the shot but miss the right shot. That was the wrong choice.”

Day 8 results

Rod Laver Arena

From 11am AEDT — D. Collins [27] defeated E. Mertens [19] 4-6 6-4 6-4

A. Cornet defeated S. Halep [14] 6-4 3-6 6-4

J. Sinner [11] defeated A. De Minaur [32] 7-6 6-3 6-4

S. Tsitsipas [4] defeated T. Fritz [20] 4-6 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4

K. Kanepi defeated A. Sabalenka [2] 5-7 6-2 7-6 (10-7)

Margaret Court Arena

C. Dolehide/S. Sanders [9] defeated M. Kostyuk/D. Yastremska 6-4 6-4

L. Hradecka/G. Escobar defeated G. Olmos/M. Arevalo 6-4 6-4

D. Medvedev [2] defeated M. Cressy 6-2 7-6 6-7 7-5

I. Swiatek [7] defeated S. Cirstea 5-7 6-3 6-3

John Cain Arena

W. Koolhof/N. Skupski [10] defeated M. Giron/S. Kwon 6-3 6-4

R. Ram/J. Salisbury [2] defeated D. Sweeny/L. Tu 6-4 6-4

F. Auger-Aliassime [9] defeated M. Cilic [27] 2-6 7-6 6-2 7-6

Huge controversy as Tsitsipas wins epic

Stefanos Tsitsipas is through to the quarter-finals after a thrilling five-set thriller against American Taylor Fritz.

The No. 4 seed came back from 2-1 sets down to defeat Fritz 4-6 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4 after three-and-a-half hours.

Tsitsipas will now play Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.

The Greek star battled his mental demons throughout the match after he was given several code violation penalties for receiving coaching assistance from his father.

At the end of the fourth set, Tsitsipas was told by chair umpire Damien Dumusois to order his own player’s box to stop gesturing so animatedly.

“Stefanos, please, it’s a great match, but either you tell him [to stop], or I’m going to keep giving them (code violations),” he said.

Earlier, Tsitsipas screamed in the direction of his father and narrowly pulled out of an apparent attempt to throw his racquet towards the player’s box on Rod Laver Arena.

Tsitsipas has a reputation for brazenly ignoring warnings for receiving coaching and was able to complete his victory despite the string of warnings and violations committed.

Star breaks down after historic break through

France’s Alize Cornet is through to her first career grand slam quarter-final after a gripping battle with former Australian Open finalist Simona Halep.

Cornet has set a new record for the longest wait ever seen in women’s tennis after she ended a streak of 62 grand slam appearances without progressing through to the quarter-finals.

The 32-year-old made her first grand slam appearance in 2005. Her failure to make it through to the last-eight of a grand slam comes despite a previous WTA Tour ranking of No. 11 in the world. That streak is now over.

Cornet The Conqueror! 🌟@alizecornet reaches her first career Grand Slam Quarterfinal, taking down Halep, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. @AustralianOpen | #AusOpenpic.twitter.com/3VpNULxKWd

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) January 24, 2022

The emotion was all too much for Cornet on Monday afternoon after she wrapped up a 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory in the distressing heat at Melbourne Park.

‘What’s going on?’: Aus Open called out

French tennis star Nicolas Mahut has called out Tennis Australia for its apparent hypocrisy in response to the Peng Shuai t-shirt saga.

(TA) stood by what many are labelling a heavy-handed decision after video emerged on the weekend of security and police requesting a fan at Melbourne Park remove her shirt highlighting the plight of the Chinese tennis star — who sparked worldwide fears when she “disappeared” after making allegations of sexual abuse against a former top-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party.

TA told News Corp Australia it feared for Peng’s safety, but fans were not permitted to make political statements with their clothing at the Australian Open.

However, veteran American tennis reporter Jon Wertheim suggested there was something else at play behind TA’s decision to censor any mention of Peng by fans.

Chinese Baijiu distillery Luzhou Laojiao is one of the leading sponsors at the Australian Open, with 1573 logos appearing all over Melbourne Park.

Court 2, for example, was officially renamed to “1573 Arena” in 2019.

“I totally agree and when we watch these matches you will note the Chinese signage at the Australian Open, which some might suspect has a lot to do with this beyond political speech,” Wertheim said.

“If ‘where is Peng Shuai?’ is political speech we’ve gone down the slippery slope.”

Mahut, who was knocked out in the first round of the men’s doubles last week, also voiced his anger on social media.

What’s going on!? What lack of courage! What if you did not have Chinese sponsors #1573 #beyonddisappointedhttps://t.co/QghLVm8nKF

— Nico Mahut (@nmahut) January 23, 2022

‘The shot of the tournament’ stuns

No. 2 seed pair Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram have secured a 6-4 6-4 straight sets victory over Australian duo Li Tu and Dane Sweeny in their round three clash on John Cain Arena.

The highlight of the match came early in the first set, when doubles specialist Salisbury somehow managed to sprint back behind the baseline and return Sweeny’s backhand volley to win the point with a wild swing.

The 29-year-old celebrated on top of the time clock in the corner of the venue.

🚨 IS THIS THE SHOT OF THE TOURNAMENT?! 🚨

Take a bow, Joe Salisbury 🤯 that is UNREAL. #AusOpen - Live on Channel 9 and 9Now pic.twitter.com/wABn1jmFt9

— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 24, 2022

Halep in trouble early

Two-time grand slam champion Simona Halep has lost her opening set to France’s Alize Cornet on Rod Laver Arena.

The 32-year-old Cornet secured an early break in their fourth round encounter and cruised towards s 6-4 triumph in the first set.

Both player were struggling with the Melbourne heat as the second set got underway, with ice packs making an appearance.

Cornet broke serve yet again early in the second set, but in a stunning shift in momentum, Halep secured a double break to go up 4-3 with her serve to come.

Alex de Minaur’s highly-anticipated fourth round match against world No. 10 Jannik Sinner will commence immediately after Halep’s contest ends.

Collins through to QFs

American Danielle Collins has claimed a thrilling 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory over No. 19 seed Elise Mertens on Rod Laver Arena to book her spot in the Australia Open quarter-finals.

Collins broke early in the opening set, but Mertens fought back with a double break to take a the lead.

But the American took control again in the second set, breaking early and making sure not to waste the opportunity on this occasion.

The duo exchanged the lead in a thrilling top-turvy third set, with Collins eventually clinching two match points at 5-4 in the decisive set.

Mertens managed to save both points, only to gift her opponent the victory with a double fault soon after.

Collins will face either Simona Halep or Alize Cornet in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Danielle Collins. Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP

‘Amazing detail’ in Aussie star’s Open outfit

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have progressed through to the men’s doubles quarterfinal after defeating 15th seeds Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar in three sets on Sunday.

The “Special Ks” had a packed house on Kia Arena losing their minds as the duo claimed a 6-4 4-6 6-4 win in front of a wild crowd.

The spectators were vocal, trotting out the much-maligned “Siu”, the Seven Nation Army chant and making plenty of noise in a party atmosphere.

And Kokkinakis showed his support for the AO Pride Day by donning rainbow sweatbands during the thrilling contest.

AO Pride Day is an initiative that celebrates LGTBQ+ players and fans, and there will be several activations throughout Melbourne Park on Monday.

Luke Dennehy tweeted: “Thank you @TKokkinakis for supporting our AO Pride Day wearing our rainbow sweatbands on court three. Just amazing to have this kind of support.”

Love is love 🌈 @NickKyrgios · @TKokkinakis · #AusOpen · #AO2022pic.twitter.com/wtCtOposBZ

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2022

Kyrgios and Kokkinakis were also caught by the Channel 9 cameras giving each other some love before the match got underway.

Former Hockeyroos star Georgie Parker made headlines in 2020 for a similar incident with teammate Kathryn Slattery. and reacted on social media to the tennis stars’ “cheeky” moment.

I remember getting in a bit of trouble for something similar 😂🙃

pic.twitter.com/TvB3lmRrqS

— Georgie Parker (@georgieparker) January 23, 2022