Three minutes a day, knowing about tennis in the world. Hello fans and friends, today is Monday, January 20, 2025, and welcome to the afternoon newsletter brought to you by "Home of Tennis".

This morning, Beijing time, the 2025 Australian Open tennis season began the ninth day of competition. In the Men's Doubles third round, China-Czech pair Zhang Zhizhen/Mahachi lost 3-6 6-3 3-6 to 15th seeds Nice/Vasselin, missing out on the quarter-finals and ending their Australian Open journeys.

The mixed doubles pair of Zhang Shuai and Indian veteran Popana received a retirement gift from their opponents Townsend and Nice before the second round, and advanced directly to the quarterfinals without a fight.

In the fourth round of the Women's Singles, Ukrainian cabbage Svitolina played well, defeating injured Russian Kudermetova 6-4 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time in six years. Next, she will await the winner between Rybakina and Keys.

Let's take a closer look at the results from yesterday afternoon to evening. In the fourth round of the Men's Singles, 10-time champion Novak Djokovic played steadily, beating Czech rising star Lehecka 6-3 6-4 7-6(4) to advance to the quarter-finals. He will next face Spanish star Alcaraz, who has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the second year in a row after receiving a retirement gift from rising British star Draper after taking a 2-0 lead.

After reaching the quarterfinals, Djokovic declined the usual live interview. He then recorded a video explaining why, "The reason I chose not to do this was a few days ago a sports journalist from Australia who worked for Channel Nine, the main broadcaster of the Australian Open. He mocked Serbian fans and made insulting and offensive comments about me. So I want him to apologize publicly, but he hasn't yet, and neither does Channel Nine. So that's the only reason I didn't give this live interview. I have to stand by my decisions and stand by these positions until things are resolved. ”

Djokovic was talking about Channel 9 reporter Tony Jones, who made fun of the Serbian fans outside the studio window, "Novak, he's overrated; Novak, he's out of breath; Novak, get him out! ”

After the uproar, today, Tony Jones issued a formal apology to Djokovic and Serbian fans, "This is a disappointing situation, it must be said because of some comments. If I could sort out the timeline for you here: that comment was on the news on Friday night, and I think it was a joke, I think it was humor. It's in line with what I do most of the time, whether it's the Sunday football show, or the morning show here. That being said, I learned on Saturday morning that Djokovic and his team expressed their displeasure with the comments through the Australian Open. So, I immediately contacted their team to apologize. This was 48 hours ago, and if Novak felt that I had caused him any disrespect, apparently he did, and I apologized to Novak. "In the end, Tony Jones wants this to be the end of the matter. At the moment, Djokovic has not commented on the apology.

Elsewhere: Second seed Zverev defeated Frenchman Ember 6-1 2-6 6-3 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals against American Tommy Paul, who swept past Spaniard Fokina 6-1 in three ways.

In Women's Singles: Third seed Gauff defeated Switzerland's Bencic 5-7 6-2 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the second year in a row. She will next face Spaniard Badosa for a place in the semi-finals, who defeated Serbia's Danilovic 6-1 7-6(2) to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time in her career. Russia's Pavlyuchenkova defeated Croatian Vekic 7-6(0) 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time in five years and will face world No. 1 Sabalenka for a place in the semi-finals.

In the second round of the Women's Doubles, China's Wang Xinyu/Zheng Saisai eliminated 11th seeds Kudermetova/Shibahara Eina 6-1 7-5 to advance to the round of 16.

Finally, let's guess and recognize. The picture below shows a player on his knees celebrating after winning. Can you recognize who she is without prompting?

In the last guess, the golfer gave the correct answer. That's right, the person in the picture is British rising star Draper.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Maverick)