Former world number five Jelena Ostapenko continued to build momentum ahead of the Australian Open by reaching the Adelaide International semi-finals with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Marta Kostyuk on Thursday. The 12th-ranked Latvian made her Grand Slam breakthrough by winning the 2017 French Open title and is starting to rediscover her top form for the Jan. 14-28 Australian Open, where she will begin her campaign against local hope Kimberley Birrell.

Brisbane quarter-finalist Ostapenko edged an intense opening set against Ukrainian Kostyuk and raised her level again in the next after dropping serve, as she broke to go ahead 3-1. There was no looking back from there as Ostapenko settled the contest in style to reach the last-four, where the 26-year-old faces the winner of the clash between Elena Rybakina and Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/sloane-stephens-ousted-in-hobart-jelena-ostapenko-beats-sorana-cirstea-in-adelaide-678139">Sloane Stephens ousted in Hobart, Jelena Ostapenko beats Sorana Cirstea in Adelaide</a>

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova later takes on second seed Jessica Pegula in the other quarter-final of the warm-up event. Russia's Daria Kasatkina is already through after receiving a walkover from Laura Siegemund. In the men's draw, 2023 Australian Open quarter-finalist Sebastian Korda progressed with a comfortable 6-4 6-4 win over local favourite Christopher O'Connell.

At the Auckland Classic, top seed Ben Shelton advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena and will next take on Taro Daniel who beat Alexandre Muller 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3. Briton Cameron Norrie pulled out of his clash with Alejandro Tabilo after the second seed sustained a wrist injury.

Former world number five Jelena Ostapenko continued to build momentum ahead of the Australian Open by reaching the Adelaide International semi-finals with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Marta Kostyuk on Thursday.

Former world number five Jelena Ostapenko continued to build momentum ahead of the Australian Open by reaching the Adelaide International semi-finals with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Marta Kostyuk on Thursday. The 12th-ranked Latvian made her Grand Slam breakthrough by winning the 2017 French Open title and is starting to rediscover her top form for the Jan. 14-28 Australian Open, where she will begin her campaign against local hope Kimberley Birrell. Brisbane quarter-finalist Ostapenko edged an intense opening set against Ukrainian Kostyuk and raised her level again in the next after dropping serve, as she broke to go ahead 3-1. There was no looking back from there as Ostapenko settled the contest in style to reach the last-four, where the 26-year-old faces the winner of the clash between Elena Rybakina and Ekaterina Alexandrova. Also read: Sloane Stephens ousted in Hobart, Jelena Ostapenko beats Sorana Cirstea in Adelaide Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova later takes on second seed Jessica Pegula in the other quarter-final of the warm-up event. Russia's Daria Kasatkina is already through after receiving a walkover from Laura Siegemund. In the men's draw, 2023 Australian Open quarter-finalist Sebastian Korda progressed with a comfortable 6-4 6-4 win over local favourite Christopher O'Connell. At the Auckland Classic, top seed Ben Shelton advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena and will next take on Taro Daniel who beat Alexandre Muller 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3. Briton Cameron Norrie pulled out of his clash with Alejandro Tabilo after the second seed sustained a wrist injury.

Tennis: Former world number five Jelena Ostapenko marches into Adelaide semi-finals

Novak Djokovic dug deep to save a match point on the way to a battling 6-7(8) 7-6(3) 6-4 victory over Sebastian Korda in the Adelaide International 1 final on Sunday ahead of this month's Australian Open. A day after he overwhelmed Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final despite sustaining a hamstring injury, Djokovic moved freely on court but was pushed hard by Korda before the Serb made a late charge to deny his opponent a potentially career-defining win.

"I hope you enjoyed the show tonight," Djokovic said. "I want to say a few words to Seb and his team. Amazing tournament, amazing effort today. I'll probably say that you were closer to the victory today than I was.

"The future is bright for you so just keep going," Novak said.

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Korda broke for a 5-4 lead in a tense first set and was 40-0 up on serve when Djokovic hit back to level the scores, but the world number five came undone in the tiebreak as the American soaked up the pressure to convert his seventh set point. A fuming Djokovic yelled at and banished two members of his entourage from their courtside seats before the second set, in which he uncharacteristically struggled with his returns to allow Korda to dominate the rallies.

But with the crowd behind him on his return to Australia after his deportation last year due to his unvaccinated coronavirus status, Djokovic raised his game to save a match point before forcing a tiebreak which the top seed won.

Djokovic held for a 5-4 lead in the final set and the 35-year-old closed out victory with a break of serve as Korda finally felt the pressure and double-faulted before making two errors.

Djokovic thanked his team for tolerating him in good and bad times.

"Today I'm sure they didn't have a blast with me going back and forth with them," Djokovic said before addressing the crowd. "It definitely felt like playing at home. You guys made me feel very welcome, so thank you."

Victory also helped Djokovic go level with his great rival Rafa Nadal on 92 ATP singles titles in the open era, with only Ivan Lendl (94), Roger Federer (103) and Jimmy Connors (109) ahead of the duo.

Djokovic is bidding for a record-extending 10th Australian Open title at the Jan. 16-29 tournament to draw level with Nadal on 22 Grand Slam titles.

Novak Djokovic dug deep to save a match point on the way to a battling 6-7(8) 7-6(3) 6-4 victory over Sebastian Korda in the Adelaide International 1 final on Sunday ahead of this month's Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic dug deep to save a match point on the way to a battling 6-7(8) 7-6(3) 6-4 victory over Sebastian Korda in the Adelaide International 1 final on Sunday ahead of this month's Australian Open. A day after he overwhelmed Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final despite sustaining a hamstring injury, Djokovic moved freely on court but was pushed hard by Korda before the Serb made a late charge to deny his opponent a potentially career-defining win. "I hope you enjoyed the show tonight," Djokovic said. "I want to say a few words to Seb and his team. Amazing tournament, amazing effort today. I'll probably say that you were closer to the victory today than I was. "The future is bright for you so just keep going," Novak said. ALSO READ: United Cup 2023: USA's Taylor Fritz beats Italian Matteo Berrettini to steer America to maiden title Korda broke for a 5-4 lead in a tense first set and was 40-0 up on serve when Djokovic hit back to level the scores, but the world number five came undone in the tiebreak as the American soaked up the pressure to convert his seventh set point. A fuming Djokovic yelled at and banished two members of his entourage from their courtside seats before the second set, in which he uncharacteristically struggled with his returns to allow Korda to dominate the rallies. But with the crowd behind him on his return to Australia after his deportation last year due to his unvaccinated coronavirus status, Djokovic raised his game to save a match point before forcing a tiebreak which the top seed won. Djokovic held for a 5-4 lead in the final set and the 35-year-old closed out victory with a break of serve as Korda finally felt the pressure and double-faulted before making two errors. Djokovic thanked his team for tolerating him in good and bad times. "Today I'm sure they didn't have a blast with me going back and forth with them," Djokovic said before addressing the crowd. "It definitely felt like playing at home. You guys made me feel very welcome, so thank you." Victory also helped Djokovic go level with his great rival Rafa Nadal on 92 ATP singles titles in the open era, with only Ivan Lendl (94), Roger Federer (103) and Jimmy Connors (109) ahead of the duo. Djokovic is bidding for a record-extending 10th Australian Open title at the Jan. 16-29 tournament to draw level with Nadal on 22 Grand Slam titles.

Novak Djokovic equals Rafael Nadal's ATP tally in stunning win over Sebastian Korda to win Adelaide title

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Tennis: Former world number five Jelena Ostapenko marches into Adelaide semi-finals

Novak Djokovic equals Rafael Nadal's ATP tally in stunning win over Sebastian Korda to win Adelaide title