{"id":359381,"date":"2024-01-12T02:49:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T03:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359381"},"modified":"2024-01-12T07:02:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T07:02:31","slug":"sixteen-year-old-stuns-australian-open-qualifiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359381","title":{"rendered":"Sixteen-year-old stuns Australian Open qualifiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teenage sensation Alina Korneeva has booked her spot in the women's singles draw at the Australian Open<\/a> after stunning Anna Bondar in the final round of qualifying.<\/p>\n

In her\ufeff first major qualifying as a professional, 16-year-old Korneeva triumphed over 11th seed Bondar 6-3, 6-3 \u2014 after also defeating YeXin Ma and Sachia Vickery in the earlier rounds \u2014 to order her grand slam debut Down Under.<\/p>\n

As a qualifier, Korneeva could now face reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the first round depending on where she lands in the draw<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie fan favourite reflects on singles career<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE:<\/strong> Adelaide striker opens up on globetrotting career<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Former Melbourne star torches 'selfish' Demons<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Alina<\/p>\n

Korneeva came back from a set down in her second-round qualifying match against Ma, saving two match points in a third-set tiebreak to win 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(5) before easing past Bondar.<\/p>\n

While her second serve was vulnerable, \ufeffwinning just 36 per cent against Bondar, Korneeva was able to force errors from her rival's backhand to keep control.<\/p>\n

The teen star is no stranger to Melbourne Park, having clinched last year's Australian Open girls' singles championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In an epic three-hour tussle that left Korneeva and her opponent, close friend and compatriot Mirra Andreeva, both inconsolable at the net in an emotional embrace on Rod Laver Arena, commentators and viewers were in awe of the standard on display.<\/p>\n

After winning the first set tiebreak, Andreeva conceded back-to-back sets to go down to Korneeva 7-6(2), 4-6, 5-7.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Alex de Minaur faces former world No.3 in horror start as full Australian Open draw revealed<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Emotional<\/p>\n

Korneeva is the first girls' champion since Marta Kostyuk in 2018 to qualify for the main draw at the Australia Open only a year after winning the junior title.<\/p>\n

Kostyuk progressed to the third round before falling to Elina Svitolina.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian Open live and exclusive on Nine,<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and ad-free on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Korneeva made her WTA Tour debut in October 2023 and ended last season with a career-best world ranking of No.156 and the ITF's No.1 junior ranking.<\/p>\n

In July, \ufeffKorneeva achieved the biggest title of her career to date, pocketing $100,000 after winning the Figueira da Foz ITF W100 final.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0<\/strong>Ajla Tomljanovic's beef with Jelena Ostapenko set to re-ignite in Australian Open's second round<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teenage sensation Alina Korneeva has booked her spot in the women's singles draw at the Australian Open after stunning Anna Bondar in the final round […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":359383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=359381"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359385,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359381\/revisions\/359385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/359383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=359381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=359381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=359381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}