Righty so now we get onto the next part of my posts on the 2014 Australian Open, which has already seen so dramatic upsets on both the men's and ladies side of the net. And this post will cover days 10 and 11 from the ladies event and we will see who reached the semis and who will play in the final.
So starting with Day 10 first up on court we had Dominika Cibulkova of the Slovak Republic who took on the in form Romanian, Simona Halep in the quarter finals. Halep who has become one of the most dangerous opponents to the game last year alone on the WTA tour was expected to give Cibulkova a real match. However Cibulkova turned that on its head as she went ahead and demolished the young Romanian in a convincing fashion as she beat her in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 to advance to her first Melbourne semi final. Cibulkova has really proven to be quite impressive in Melbourne and while she is a pint sized tennis player (and pretty nice!) what she lacks in size, she makes up for in power and sheer effort as she really outplayed Halep. Dominika also has more big match experience as well as she has previously reached the quarters and semi finals of grand slams in the past, especially at the French Open and she has proven that she can be dangerous here as well, so I'm sure can do well.
After this we had Victoria Azarenka the defending champion who faced off against Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the last four as well. And the the odds were stacked firmly in Vika's favour as she has dominated Radwanska in their last six meetings where Aga has never even won a set! But here it was Aga who turned the tables and she must have taken something from those six defeats and used it to push herself out there to play a great match against Vika as she used all her guile and ingenuity to outplay Victoria and she broke her twice to take the first set. In the 2nd set Vika managed to fight her way back into the match as she broke Aga to level the match at a set all. But despite the pressure being back on Radwanska to deliver, deliver she did as she sped to victory and outplayed a frustrated Azarenka and ended her 18 match run in Melbourne with an impressive 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 win. This was quite a remarkable victory for Radwanska and she played a terrific match from the outset as she outwitted Azarenka in just about every way. And its almost inconcievable to think that Radwanska would be able to beat her given their previous matches where Aga was completely whitewashed, but then things change and Radwanska deserves alot of credit for playing a terrific match. And there is a nice irony in that the one player that became a cakewalk for her to beat, ended up being the player who would be Azarenka's undoing at her biggest and most successful tournament. As for Vika well its time to just regroup and I'm sure will bounce back in time for the American hard court swing to begin.
Moving onto day 11 we had the semi finals matches take place which first up saw Agnieszka Radwanska, the second highest seed left in the draw face the pint sized Dominika Cibulkova for a place in the final. Aga walked into this match as the heavy favourite as she has only lost to Dominika once and she already has been a previous finalist at Wimbledon. However Cibulkova had other ideas as she turned up on court, fresh as a daisy, whereas Radwanska looked tired and fatigued by comparison, as the two women played tennis, Aga could very little to stop the determined Slovak, who soon sped tio victory with a 6-2, 6-1 win to reach her first grand slam final. This was quite a surprise result and certainly not the one I had expected as I thought Agga would use her head to head against Cibulkova. However in the end it just wasn't to be and Radwanska later admitted that she felt tired after having played longer matches and spent more time on court, which in the end aided her defeat and costing the match, which is a shame as its a match I would have liked her to win, but I'm sure Aga will get back out there again soon enough for the rest of the year. As for Dominika Cibulkova this was a very impressive win and especially she is ranked inside the top 20 her defeat of Maria Sharapova and now Radwanska shows that on her day she can just about beat anyone, so I'm she will go into the finals with alot of confidence.
And lastly we had Li na who played against the newcomer Eugenie Bouchard, the Canadian teenager who stunned Ana Ivanovic in the quarter finals. However Bouchard was not able to do the same here as Li Na utilised her experience to take down the plucky young Canadian with a double break in the first set. The second set however was a tighter affair as Bouchard started to push Li Na more, but in the end it was the more experienced player in Li Na that allowed her to beat Bouchard and saw the Chinese No.1 go through to her third Melbourne final with a convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory. Well they say third time is a charm and this just might prove to be the case for Li Na and given her experience on tour she was always going to be the overwhelming favourite to win the match and reach the final. As for Bouchard, despite her loss she has had a terrific tournament in Melbourne having reached her first grand slam semi final it shows she could go a long way in the future.
So this sets up the ladies Australian Open final and it has to be said the lineup isn't exactly what we would have expected as I'm sure we were all backing a Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka final. However in a tournament that has had so many dramatic upsets (just like Wimbledon did last year as well) it give things an unpredictable feel which is always refreshing in grand slam tennis and in tennis generally. So this all brings on the question, who will win???? Well for me it has to be Li Na as she has already won the French Open so she knows what it takes to win a slam also this is her third final in Melbourne, so surely she can utilise her previous experience to win the title this time. Also Li Na has a commanding lead over Cibulkova as she has never lost to her in their previous four meetings. However that is not to say that Cibulkova doesn't have a chance her as she had been in great form in Melbourne and she still has alot of energy after two quick wins against Halep and Radwanska, which should leave her fresh for the final. But because she has never won a slam its hard to say if she has got what it takes to actually win one here. So while Cibulkova is not the favourite she does have a chance, but overall the favourite for me still has to be Li Na. However their previous matches have been quite close in the past so it should hopefully prove to be an entertaining final.
Anyway so that's it for now for the ladies, next up is the men's remaining quarter finals and the first semi final from Days 10 and 11.
See you in a bit. :-)
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