The last 8 Slam finals (women’s tour) where a Grand Slam champion has faced a first-time Grand Slam finalist, the Slam winner has won. Sets won and lost: 16-1 (Muchova). The last player to buck the trend? …Iga Swiatek at 2020 RG (d. Kenin).

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Only one player (man or woman) has won a Grand Slam final after losing the first set 6-0: Gaudio at the 2004 French Open.

That 3-3 game in the first (0-40) loomed large. And aside from the break point differential, Sabalenka was broken 3 times after holding game point. (The outlier was the last game.).

Amid the 5 hours. some particularly memorable moments (besides the MPs): . -Alcaraz save at 5-6, 30-all in 5th (FH diagonal slice) .-Sinner winner off Alcaraz drop in 5th .-Sinner telling chair ump that Alcaraz's ball was good at 5-5, 15-0 in 4th & not asking to replay point.

Those 3 match points for Sinner: . 1. Alcaraz's FH I/I forces error. 2. Sinner misses 2nd serve BH return long DTL (similar perhaps in the time he had on it to Sabalenka's return miss on the BP yesterday in last game). 3. FE/UE after Sinner had a good look on a FH.

Alcaraz in the final set TB (12 points):. -4 winners.-Forced 3 errors.-Made 1 UE.

Pretty dramatic finals this weekend, eh? . Gauff-Sabalenka and Alcaraz-Sinner won't soon be forgotten. Could be the toughest ever losses for the No. 1s, Sabalenka and Sinner.

As per the great tennis abstract site, that is the first time Zverev hasn't had a BP in a Slam match.

Last player to win the AO, USO that same year, then repeat as AO champ? Djokovic in 2015-16.

This would be Zverev's first straight-set loss at a Slam since 2023 USO (Alcaraz).

After Medvedev's mishit return winner last year deep into the 4th set TB, Zverev sees that net cord winner go against him against Sinner deep into this TB.

Zverev has produced first serves on all 8 BP faced. The lone one that wasn't into a corner was the one where he was broken on.

Keys becomes the latest at the AO to save a MP en route to the title (Osaka, Wozniacki, Kerber etc). When she hit that CC backhand overhead that caught the line while down 0-15 midway in the third. .

By winning that set, Sabalenka keeps this up: . The last time she lost in straight sets at a hard court Slam was at the 2020 US Open (Azarenka).

Sinner now 6-1 v Shelton in 7-6 or 7-5 sets. Won the last six.

High praise from Keys' coach, Fratangelo, for Sabalenka (Pavlyuchenkova match): '. there just wasn't a doubt in my mind that she wasn't going to win that match. That's kind of how you feel with Novak when he plays most matches, Serena when she played most matches, Roger, Rafa. '.

Djokovic v Zverev at the Australian Open on Friday: . Winners of the last 4 Olympic gold medals in singles (men) will be at court level.

With that win, Keys has now completed her set. She's beaten players ranked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. She was just missing '2'. And, of her more than 30 Top 10 wins, this was her 4th after losing the first set.

Not sure what she would say, but it seems like Keys is defending better than ever (with both the FH and BH slice) when needed. Or is it that Keys is using those shots instead of trying to hit big from difficult spots on the court?.