Well, I'm pretty late with my look at the first grand slam of the season, the Australian Open from Melbourne, as the tournament finishes on this Sunday and it would take me ages to go over the results in full up until now. So, instead what I will do is take a look at the ladies semi finals matches in this post and look at the men's in another post, then do a separate post for both the men's and ladies finals matches.
So, with that all said, let's take a look then at how the semi finals went.
LADIES SEMI FINALS
Caroline Wozniacki vs Elise Mertens
Right, so the first ladies semi final up was between the current World No.2 (and former No.1) Caroline Wozniacki and the unseeded Belgium player, Elise Mertens. Caroline was very fortunate still to be in the tournament especially after her 2nd round match where she was 5-1 down against Jana Fett and had to save two match points but she found her feet since going into this match. Mertens on the other hand had put together a very impressive run in reaching her first grand slam semi final as she had beaten Elina Svitolina in the quarter finals, the 4th seed.
As for the match itself, well it was pretty much in Caroline's favour in the 1st set as she broke Mertens to go ahead and claim in the 1st set. The 2nd however was a bit more tense as Caroline went to serve for the match at a break up 5-4, she got tight and let Mertens back into the game, who broke back and pushed play to a tiebreak. However in the breaker, it was Caroline's experience and confidence that made the difference as very efficiently won the breaker 7-2 to reach her 1st Australian open final and her third major final with a 6-3, 7-6 victory.
Well there is little doubt that this was an impressive win for Caroline, especially considering the run that Mertens had put together herself she looked to a very dangerous player, however Caroline was able to weather the storm nicely and her great experience in the majors made the difference. This now sees Caroline Wozniacki with a chance to win her first ever grand slam title once again but I will say more about this in a bit, but first let's look at the other ladies match.
Simona Halep vs Angelique Kerber
So, the second semi final was between the current World No.1, Simona Halep and the former World No.1 and 2016 Australian open champion, Angelique Kerber in what promised to be a real cracker of a match. And the match itself didn't disappoint as both women put in a tremendous effort as they battled it out on Rod Laver arena and played some incredible lungbusting rallies.
The first set however saw Halep take the lead as she broke Kerber to move ahead and take it but in the 2nd set, Kerber having gone down a break to Halep, managed to fight back and break back and then went on to grab a break of her own to seal the 2nd set to level. And in the 3rd set, the crowd were treated to a thrilling decider where both women went at it full tilt and with play going past 6-6, this meant there would be no tiebreak (as there is no tiebreak in the deciding set at all the majors except the US Open). And at 8-7 to Halep, with Kerber serving to make it 8-8, this is where Halep made her move and forced the decisive error from Kerber, which saw Simona reach her first Australian open final and third major final overall with an epic 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 win.
Well there was little doubt that this was the match of the ladies tournament so far as both players were on great form and it was a real war of attrition that saw Halep dig just that little bit deeper in the end to seal the victory. Kerber also showed that she was back to great form after her slump last year and was so close to also being in the final again but in the end she was just pipped to the post by Halep. But both ladies played their part in what was a very high quality match that will probably go down as one of the best matches of the year.
LADIES FINAL PREVIEW AND PREDICTION
Simona Halep vs Caroline Wozniacki
Right, so this has set up a very intriguing ladies final between the world's top two players, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki, who have never won a grand slam and are both in their 3rd major final, so it will definitely be third time lucky for one of them. Not only that but if Caroline wins the title she will return to No.1 in the world whereas if Simona wins then she will stay at No.1, so this match is also the battle for No.1.
So this then begs the question....who will win??? Well, let's take a look.
First off with Simona Halep, she is the current World No.1 but she has yet to win a major final and her previous two finals have been both at the French Open, where she managed to win a set in both but ultimately lose out to Maria Sharapova and Jelena Ostapenko respectively. Halep had shown her grit in both matches, particularly in her first against Sharapova but she also showed signs of nerves and vulnerability as she had an early lead against Ostapenko in the deciding set of their French open final last year only to let it go and lose.
So, Halep has definitely shown signs of vulnerability and nerves will most likely play its part tomorrow for her plus she has also been trying to cope with an ankle injury in the event. However, Halep has been able to also show in this tournament so far that she can grind out tough matches as she beat Lauren Davis 15-13 in the final set in her 3rd round and 9-7 in her semi final with Kerber. So, if Halep shows that same level of grit tomorrow then its most likely that Simona can go on and win the match.
As for Caroline Wozniacki, she too has had a tough time progressing to the final, albeit not quite as tough as Halep has had it but she had to come back from the brink against the American qualifier, Jana Fett in the 2nd round from 5-1 down in the decider. Caroline had to also fight her way past Carla Suarez-Navarro in the quarter finals in three sets. However she definitely has had the easier route out of the two players to the final and hasn't been taken beyond 7-5 in a decisive set, so this will leave her with more in the tank than Halep has so far.
And this highlights another issue with Caroline is that she hasn't faced a player so far in the tournament that was ranked in the top 20, as the highest seeded player she has faced was Magdalena Rybarikova, the 19th seed (ranked 21). So, facing Halep will be a big step up for Caroline going from 19th seed right to the World No.1 and its one that could go against in that she hasn't faced off any top 5 or even top 10 players yet.
So who is going to win?????
Well.....I might be wrong but I'm going with Caroline Wozniacki on this one as I just think that even though she has not had to face any top 10 opponents so far in the tournament, she is bound to be the fresher of the two ladies going into this final. Not only that but Caroline leads her head to head with Halep 4-2 and she has won their last three meetings with the last being at the WTA finals, where Caroline thrashed Halep in straight sets. Caroline also has the slight edge over Simona in that she has won the WTA Finals, which is a bigger title than Simona has won in her career and this alone might give her the confidence and belief to take that next step to win her first slam.
However I do think that there will be very little in this match as both ladies games are very similar and both built on defence although Simona is slightly more aggressive than Caroline is but in terms of athletic ability there is nothing in it. So, this is a pretty level field here with both players having great defensive games, both athletic but also neither of them have a big weapon or a big serve, so there won't be a question of either one hitting each other off the court. There will doubtless be nerves on both sides here also as Simona has shown signs of getting tight in her previous major finals as has Caroline, so in the end it might come down to who holds their nerve better, either this or one player will simply outplay the other.
So, I think this one is just about 50/50 but I am going to give the slight edge to Caroline so maybe 51/49 in her favour and I definitely think this match could go to three sets. So, I might be wrong but I am going to go with Caroline in three sets and hopefully the match will be a great one to finish the tournament on. I'm also a fan of Caroline Wozniacki and I've been following her career over the last six or seven years, which has seen her hit many highs but also many lows where she often has been branded as not being good enough to win a grand slam as she had always been overpowered or outplayed by her opponents.
Don't get me wrong as I like Simona Halep too, who I think comes across as a kind, gracious person with a great attitude in both victory and defeat, so if she does win then she certainly deserves it and it would be a great way to back up her No.1 ranking. But for me I still think that Caroline might edge this one even though I do think there will be not much in it.
SIGN OFF
Right, so that's it for now I will be back soon with my look at the men's semi finals and a preview of the men's final.
So until then its bye for now!
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