Linda Pearce is the Chief Tennis Writer and general sports reporter for The Age. She writes about a range of sports, including football, netball, and gymnastics. Linda has twice been named Australian tennis writer of the year.
Meeting the 16-year-old Mirjana Lucic in a Sydney hotel lounge during her first, spectacular, career ascent, the Croatian prodigy anointed by Steffi Graf as her most likely successor had a physique and demeanour well beyond her years. She was also grouped with Martina Hingis and the Williams sisters as the future of the women's game.
Venus Williams has reached her first Australian Open semi-final in 14 years, matching the most recent Wimbledon result that was her best at a grand slam since 2009. At 36, the oldest woman left in the tournament is the oldest to ever advance this far.
Daria Gavrilova cannot win this Australian Open, but lost in the fourth round to an opponent – fifth seed Karolina Pliskova – who she believes definitely can.
While not quite the men's tennis equivalent of the Williams family, the Zverevs boast the mature-aged Mischa (age 29, ranked 50), who eliminated top seed Andy Murray from the Australian Open and on Tuesday night plays the great Roger Federer, and wonderboy Sascha (aged 19, ranked 24) who pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets.
A quarter-final beckons for Daria Gavrilova, the last Australian left in the Australian Open singles.
When one of Australia's bright young prospects Googles himself, he sees only the images of his second cousin, who got the name and fame first. Matthew Dellavedova the Milwaulkee Bucks guard is the best-known "Delly" in the family; for 16-year-old Matthew Dellavedova, Â the name is a a conversation starter, certainly.
It was, Serena Williams was told during the on-court interview that followed her routine 6-1, 6-3 defeat of fellow American Nicole Gibbs, exactly 19 years ago to the day that she played her first match on Rod Laver Arena. Except that, actually, it wasn't. Ah, details, details.
"Yeah, sure, he's the favourite. Maybe. I don't know."
For the first time in three years, there will be no local male presence in the last 16.
Bernard's Tomic's father once deemed Dan Evans too inferior to practice with his son, but he wasn't the person the Brit said 'doesn't know how to act on a tennis court'.
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