Rrrright well I am way behind in my coverage with the Australian open as the tournament now is in the business end as we are now at the semi finals stages of both the mens and ladies events. So this will be a very quick catch up of what has happened over the last week and a half on the ladies side of the net and to look forward to the semi final matches and my thoughts on the possible winners.
So let's get going and give this un a look.....
Soooo to save time on doing the usual day 1, day 2, day 3 approach I used to take with my coverage instead I'm going go by the main seeds progress and a few surprise players who have got their way deeper into the tournament.
And to kick I thought I would look at how Serena Williams, the defending champion has done so far as she went into this tournament with some doubt due to leg injury however she soon dispelled any fears and announced she was fit to play. So Serena's progress in the tournament so far has been fairly serene (sorry!) as she has managed to confidently make her way into the second week, which saw her take on her familiar rival, Maria Sharapova with Serena having won their last 18 meetings. And this one was no different as she overpowered Sharapova in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to reach another semi final down under. So Maria looks to be well on course for reaching another final as she will next take on Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the final and remains odds on favourite to win.
Next is Victoria Azarenka who was tipped to be one of the favourites to win the title and she started her tournament with a strong start and she blazed her way into the 2nd week without dropping a single set. However Vika came up against an in form Angelique Kerber who had never previously beaten Azarenka in seven attempts. However Kerber kicked Vika to the kerb (sorry another bad pun!) and defeated her Belarusian nemesis for the first time in her career to reach her first Aussie open semi final.
And the other seeds that have fallen in the tournament include Simona Halep who fell at the first hurdle to a surprise player, the Chinese, Zhang Shuai who went on to become one of the real surprises of the tournament who reached the 2nd week and her first major quarter final. Petra Kvitova also suffered an early 2nd round loss at the hands of the newcomer and newly citizend Aussie, Daria Gavirolva who won the Hopman cup along Nick Kyrgios earlier this month. Carolien Wozniacki the former World No.1 also went out in the first round to continue her miserable run at grand slams as she was beaten by Yulea Putintseva in three sets. Sam Stosur the home favourite also went out early in the first round to the Czeck player Kristyna Pliskova in straight sets. Venus Williams who had gotten herself back in the top 10 also fell at the first hurdle to Johanna Konta of Great Britain (and I will say more about Johanna in a bit!).
And the last few that are still in the tournament starting with Agnieszka Radwanska who had a great end to last year as she won the biggest title of her career at the WTA finals. And Radwanska has continued her fine form at the Aussie open as she sailed into the 2nd week but had a tough 4th round match against the German Anna-Lena Friedsam but managed to come back from a break down to win the match in three sets. Radwanska went on to beat the Spaniard, Carla Suarez-Navarro in the quarter finals to reach her 2nd semi final down under, setting up a clash with Serena Williams.
And last of all is one of the great surprises of the tournament, the British No.1, Johanna Konta who has put together a very impressive run in Melbourne and she got her campaign off to a good start after she beat Venus Williams in straight sets. After this Konta grew in confidence and made her way into the 2nd week where she emulated her best effort at a slam in the 4th round last year at the US Open looking to go one step further against the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova. And much to everyone's surprise Konta did just that as she stunned the Russian in a gruelling and thrilling match that lasted just over 3 hours that saw Konta reach her first grand slam quarter final winning in 4-6, 6-4, 8-6. And in the quarter finals Konta faced the other surprise player, Zhang Shuai but Konta proved to be too good for her and she took her impressive run a step further as she won the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to reach the semi finals of the Australian open for the first time.
Well this really is quite an amazing achievement by Johanna Konta as I looked at her first round opponent in Venus Williams and did not fancy her chances of getting past that opening match. However Konta defied the odds and went from strength to strength throughout the tournament and with much determination and belief she has managed to get herself in a position where she just might reach the final. Whether or not she does, well time will tell but one is for sure and that is Konta has now hit the big time.
So this brings me onto my look at the two ladies semi final matches.
First up Serena Williams will take on Agnieszka Radwanska for the final and this could be a very intriguing match as it could well be a bit of cat and mouse play involved. Aga (Agnieszka's nickname!) has alot of guile and court craft and on her day she can give the very best of players a real headache. However Radwanska lacks the raw firepower needed to really take down Serena and she also has a slow second serve which Serena will no doubt punish if Radwanska offers it up at any point, which no doubt she will. So for me I have to go with Serena on this one but I think it could still be an entertaining match with some great points but it would be hard for me to see Serena drop a set here so I'm going with a straight set win for Serena and my scoreline prediction will be 7-6, 6-2.
And then we have the second semi final between Angelique Kerber and Johanna Konta in a match which will be hard to predict given that these two have never played before. Going into this match Kerber has the edge though and more experience in reaching the latter stages of a grand slam, however she has never reached the final of a slam before herself and there will be plenty of pressure on her to deliver. Konta meanwhile has nothing to lose going into this match and her fine run of form so far in Melbourne has proven she has got the tools and the belief to take the big scalps and Kerber could well be next on her list. However for me I still have to go with Kerber for the match but I think it will be a very close contest but in the end the German player will edge it and my prediction will be Kerber in three sets: 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 (for what its worth!).
Right so that's it for now and I will be back soon with an update on the men's matches.
Back soon!
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