After advancing to the AO 2025 combined doubles quarterfinals with Germany’s Kevin Krawietz, Ellen Perez revealed some huge rankings objectives.
Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2025 | Sean A’Hearn
With a brand new associate in each girls’s and combined doubles, Ellen Perez is hoping to take her recreation to the subsequent stage.
“Numbers-wise I’d like to crack prime 5; I acquired to [world] No.7 final 12 months. Clearly chasing a [WTA] 1000 title and a [Grand] Slam, they’re those I haven’t been capable of do,” Perez stated.
Pairing with Germany’s Kevin Krawietz in combined doubles at AO 2025, Perez got here up in opposition to fellow Australians Priscilla Hon and Alex Bolt within the second spherical.
In a good opening stanza, third-seeded Perez and Krawietz had been the primary to pounce, breaking late earlier than serving out the set.
There have been some stunning web exchanges with nice reactions and precision volleys from all 4 gamers. With not a lot separating the groups, it was Perez and Krawietz that took their probabilities, ultimately prevailing 7-5 6-4.
Sporting a nasty bruise to her proper eye sustained throughout a girls’s doubles match with Belgian Elise Mertens yesterday, Perez stated the black eye didn’t have an effect on her efficiency.
“I perhaps wasn’t 100 per cent however I knew I might do just about the whole lot to no less than 90 per cent to provide us probability,” she stated.
“And even right this moment the swelling’s gone down. It’s fairly purple but it surely didn’t have an effect on me right this moment.”
Perez famous the bittersweet feeling of enjoying fellow Australians, revealing a little-known secret regarding one in all her opponents.
“Enjoying Aussies particularly at dwelling, it’s a bizarre feeling ‘trigger you need to get the Aussie followers behind you however I do know (Alex) Bolty and Pri (Hon) very well and so they’re huge servers, huge ball-strikers.”
“Bolty’s my housemate now so we had a little bit of banter, a little bit of forwards and backwards between us. I instructed him I’d minimize the contract if he beat me,” she laughed.
Three combined doubles pairs that includes Aussies within the #AO2025 quarterfinals 🤩
🇦🇺 Olivia Gadecki 🇦🇺 John Friends
🇦🇺 Kim Birrell 🇦🇺 John-Patrick Smith
🇦🇺 Ellen Perez 🇩🇪 Kevin Krawietz pic.twitter.com/9qePfsCic8— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 20, 2025
Perez and Krawietz subsequent face one other Australian pair in John-Patrick Smith and Kim Birrell – a probably difficult match-up in line with Perez.
“It’s not going to be a simple match. I do know JP’s a lefty. He’s going convey lots of totally different spins and he’s at all times been useful,” she stated.
“I do know he’s performed semis, or perhaps even finals right here with Astra [Sharma] … he performs nice doubles and he’ll arrange the courtroom nicely,” she stated.
“Combined is at all times about simply that one little break, that one alternative. Who lets up on the improper time. Every of us know one another’s video games fairly nicely, so it’ll simply be who can capitalise on the proper moments.”
Contesting their first match at AO 2025, Perez defined how the first-time pairing with Krawietz about.
“Kevin requested me to play on the US Open and on the time I’d already dedicated to a different associate however I stated, ‘let’s preserve the chats open’. I don’t have a long-term associate going ahead, I’d like to play if we get the prospect,” she stated.
“I left it a number of months after which stated, ‘hey what concerning the Aussie Open?’ and he stated, ‘yeah, let’s do it’.”
Perez expanded on why she believes the major-winning German and ladies’s doubles associate, Mertens, will assist propel her profession.
“Every little thing’s going nice. He serves nicely, covers a lot of the courtroom. The most important half for me is simply feeling snug and pleased on courtroom and he makes it tremendous simple. Not one to get indignant and rolls with the punches,” she stated of Krawietz.
“That was the important thing transfer to switching companions with Elise Mertens. She’s received a number of Grand Slams, so she is aware of what it takes.
“I wished to seek out that associate that had that have and even game-wise matched and gelled with a few of the issues I used to be missing.”
In a last-minute courtroom change to Margaret Court docket Area, Olivia Gadecki and John Friends defeated Hungarian Timea Babos and El Salvadorian Marcelo Arevalo 6-4 6-4 in only one hour and 4 minutes.
Gadecki is seeking to attain her third successive combined doubles semifinal on the AO, whereas Friends additionally made the semifinals in 2022.
“That was one. Liv carried me in that one,” stated a humble Friends
“We’ll simply loosen up tonight, benefit from the win and prepare for tomorrow as a result of on this format something can occur.”
Discover your strategy to play: Go to play.tennis.com.au to hit the courtroom and have some enjoyable!
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