We mentioned Mirra Andreeva would be a stiff challenge for Aryna Sabalenka to overcome and she’s already proved that’s the case.

The young Russian put Sabalenka’s serve under immediate pressure, earning three break points in the opening game of the match.

Sabalenka saved each to hold, but the early signs are clear Andreeva is not intimidated by the world number one.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka is yet to drop a set in Brisbane, but she faces a stern test against Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.

At 17, Andreeva has already reached the semifinals of a major following an inspired run at last year’s French Open.

She is ranked at a career-high 16 and is seeded eighth in Brisbane.

This promises to be an intriguing match-up.

Coco Gauff has completed her assignment by winning the opening singles rubber in the United Cup semis.

Gauff defeated Karolína Muchová 6-1, 6-4 to give the US a 1-0 lead over Czechia at Ken Rosewall Arena.

Service breaks were traded late in the second set, but Gauff already had one up her sleeve.

Taylor Fritz is up next against Tomáš Macháč.

That’s the official note from the tournament organisers.

Hopefully he’ll be OK to play in the Australian Open.

Coco Gauff is two games away from giving the US a 1-0 lead in its semifinal with Czechia.

Having won the first set 6-1 against Karolína Muchová, Gauff is up 4-2 in the second, with a break in hand.

She did have some trouble holding serve in the sixth game of the second set, with Muchová picking up break points.

But Gauff eventually held to move a step closer to victory.

So, there is a bit of a bottle neck of matches taking place this evening.

For one, Jiří Lehečka, who has just won the men’s singles semifinal, will have a couple of hours off before he plays in the men’s doubles semifinal with Jakub Menšík on Court 1.

Their opponents in that match will be Nicolas Jarry and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the latter of whom will be playing in the other men’s semifinal tonight, which starts no earlier than 8:00pm.

That means he won’t be on court until close to 10:00pm.

The reason that doubles will be on Court 1 is because the women’s doubles final is tonight, which is going to feature Mirra Andreeva.

Andreeva, of course, is in action against Aryna Sabalenka in about 45 minutes.

Confused?

Good.

The first men’s finalist, Jiří Lehečka has been speaking after his win over Grigor Dimitrov.

“This is never the way how you want to finish a match,” Lehečka said.

“Obviously you just want to win, but not like that.

“Hopefully Grigor is fine. Hopefully he’ll be ready for Melbourne.

“I don’t know if it’s something serious or not. I just felt in the last two points he made, he couldn’t move.”

He said that he was very impressed with the level he played.

“The first set and the first half of the second was a good level. I think that we both played good tennis,” he said.

“In the first set I was a bit more solid in the game where I broke his serve, he made two mistakes at the net.

“Overall it was good tennis from my side. I was focusing on keeping the aggressive game style, going for the points, not to be scared to play aggressively. I think that it worked well.”

That didn’t take long!

Coco Gauff has burst from the blocks in her singles match against Karolína Muchová.

The 2023 US Open champion was all over Muchová, winning the first set 6-1.

She almost managed a ‘bagel’, having earned set points when her opponent was serving a 0-5.

As Gauff powered through the first set, her US teammate Taylor Fritz was seen on the TV screens running through the corridors at Ken Rosewall Arena.

He may now need to rush through his warm-up ahead of his clash with Tomáš Macháč.

The second United Cup semifinal in Sydney is upon us, with the US facing Czechia.

The women’s singles is opening the semi, with Coco Gauff up against Karolína Muchová.

The semifinal winner will meet Poland in Sunday’s decider.

Disappointing news for defending champion Grigor Dimitrov, who was forced to retire from his semifinal against Jiří Lehečka.

Dimitrov made the call to withdraw from the match during the second set.

It was not long after the second seed took a medical timeout for a suspected hip injury.

Jiří Lehečka won the first set, with the second level at 4-4 when Dimitrov retired.

We wish Dimitrov the best and hope we see the fan favourite in Melbourne for the Australian Open.

We agree Jaime!

Thanks to all the volunteers working long hours, not only at the Brisbane International but at all the tournaments being held in Australia and New Zealand at the moment.

Naomi Osaka fans rejoice!

The former world number one will contest the Auckland final, having defeated Alycia Parks in their semi, 6-4, 6-2.

Osaka, seeded seventh in Auckland, will face Clara Tauson in Sunday’s tournament decider.

Grigor Dimitrov’s Brisbane title defence is looking shaky after the second seed conceded the first set to Jiří Lehečka.

Lehečka won the first 6-4.

Games are on serve in the second, with Dimitrov leading 4-3.

Naomi Osaka is close to earning a berth in the Auckland final after winning the first set of her semi.

The two-time Australian Open winner leads Alycia Parks 6-4, 2-1, with a break up her sleeve in the second.

Spare a thought for Parks, who was on court earlier in the day for her quarterfinal.

The first men’s semifinal is underway, featuring two players who have a fair history together in the game.

Number-two seed Grigor Dimitrov is the current world number 10 and defending champion in Brisbane.

He’s looking to join luminaries such as Radek Štěpánek, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Milos Raonic in reaching back-to-back finals.

He has already appeared in the final on three separate occasions.

Jiří Lehečka is looking for back-to-back titles in Australia following his victory at the Adelaide International last year – his maiden ATP crown.

The 23-year-old Czech has got a game that is not all that easy for Dimitrov to handle — he’s won their last two encounters for a 2-1 overall head-to-head record.

In Adelaide, Ajla Tomljanović has lost in the qualifying rounds.

Tomljanović fell to Ashlyn Krueger, with the American winning 7-5, 6-4.

We’ve just been speaking to Brisbane International finalist Polina Kudermetova following her semifinal victory a short time ago.

“I’m so happy for this big tournament and my first
final,” she said.

“I’m so excited what I will do good work for this
week.”

She praised the work her coach had done with her over the last year and was looking forward to continuing to progress through the rankings.

“When I was coming to Australia, I say for my coach, ‘hopefully I will win the quallies, the first one,” she said with a broad smile.

“Then I say when I was winning the quallies, I say let’s try to win one game, I will be happy’.

“Then he all the time tell me, just play for your match, what you were doing, your work on the practice [court] and you will be win the match.”

Having already sealed a spot in the final, Poland has completed a 3-0 sweep against Kazakhstan in the opening Sydney semi.

Polish pair Maja Chwalińska and Jan Zieliński defeated Kazakhs Zhibek Kulambayeva and Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 6-1.

The second semifinal between the US and Czechia will be contested this evening.

Congratulations to Japan’s Aoi Ito after she won the Canberra International.

Ito, who was seeded seventh in the national capital, defeated China’s Wei Sijia 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

The win hands Ito her first WTA Tour singles title.

It should see the 20-year-old enjoy a rankings bump from the career-best 126 she currently holds.

Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović is looking to come through qualifying to reach the Adelaide International main draw.

She’s on court at the moment against American Ashlyn Krueger, who won the first 7-5.

Krueger played at the Brisbane International as recently as yesterday.

The American lost her Brisbane quarterfinal to Polina Kudermetova, who has since made the tournament decider.

Another player who made the rush to get to Adelaide from Brisbane was Marie Bouzková.

Bouzková was on Pat Rafter Arena last night when she faced Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals.

After going down in straight sets to the world number one, Bouzková has her back to the wall against Australia’s Gabriella Da Silva Fick in Adelaide.

Da Silva Fick won the first set 6-2.