OK so now I'm getting to the real deep end of the Australian open tournament as this post will cover the semi finals of the ladies matches and we will see who made it into the final. And with that let's get on with it....
Right so the first semi final of the day was between Maria Sharapova and the unlikely Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova, who stunned Simona Halep, who was seen to be a real favourite for the title but it was not to be as the wily Makarova put her out. But Sharapova would prove to be a much sterner prospect for Makarova to try and upset as she had never beaten her in any of their previous matches and the match itself proved to be just that as Makarova found herself a break down straight away but she did manage to get herself back in to make 3-4. However it was short lived as Sharapova then broke Makarova once again and went on to take the set. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Sharapova continued to dominate Makarova and before we knew she was up a double break and served it out for a place in her 4th Australian open final with a straight forward 6-3, 6-2 victory. Well there is no doubt this would be the outcome of the match given that Sharapova had never been beaten by Makarova and given that Maria is the ultimate warrior in the ladies game it would be hard to see anyone else contend with her, except for maybe one person....
And that one person would be the winner of the second semi final which was between Serena Williams and the American newcomer Madison Keys who reached her maiden semi in a slam in Melbourne. And the match itself was much hyped given Keys qualities as a player not to mention an exceptionally hard hitter of the ball (even more so than Serena or Maria!) and Keys certainly came out swinging as she went a break up 3-1. But it wasn't long before Serena got herself back in the set and play continued on serve into a tiebreak where things were tightly contested again but it was Serena who came through it 7-5 to claim the first set. In the 2nd set however it was more plain sailing for Serena, although she broke twice, Keys still showed some brave resistance as she saved nine match points before she fell to the mighty Serena who powered her way into another Melbourne final with a 7-6, 6-2 win.
This was a really good match and a brave effort from Madison Keys as she went toe to toe with Serena in the first set but unfortunately she ultimately came up short in the 2nd set. But Keys should also be applauded for her gutsy efforts and she also did brilliantly to get so deep into the tournament and she is certainly one player to watch out for in the future. Keys is also currently being coached by Lindsay Davenport, a former Australian open champion herself and no doubt she will improve Keys mindset to potentially go on and win a major someday. As for Serena well she was just too good in the end and that was the difference as the World No.1's experience shone through and now she is about to enter her 23rd career grand slam final.
Sooooo this sets up the ladies final between the No.1 and No.2 seeds, Serena and Maria, so who will win this un???? Well........... its a pretty safe bet that it will be Serena as Maria has failed to beat her in their last 16 meetings and to take that amount of beating from one player, not to mention the greatest player in the world must be tough to recover from. However that's not to say the match itself might not be a competitive one as Serena and Maria have still had their share of competitive matches over the years although most of them have been won in straight sets by Serena. But the problem for Maria generally in her game is that against Serena she tends to go for too much and ends up piling up the error count and the double faults and she doesn't really have a plan B to back that up as she relies on her power game and her sheer will to win to see her through matches, but this doesn't wash with Serena. So the best we can hope for is a good contest between these two warriors of the ladies game and its just a bit of a shame in a way they aren't a better match up for each other as their rivalry can be occassionally exciting but not enough overall. But as for my prediciton???? Welllll I think Serena will win this one in straight sets but I think it could be tight, or at least one set will be tight and one easy. But whatever happens I think we will see Serena claim her 19th grand slam career title and that is quite a feat in itself.
Anyway that's it for my look at the ladies matches and let's hope the final is a good one and just maybe Maria might get her way this time (but I doubt!).
So I will be back soon with the men's semi finals....
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