Right OK time for another post on my coverage of the 2015 Australian open which is now into its second week and things are hotting up nicely as the temperatures rise both on court and off the court in Melbourne as the first slam of the year has just gone past the half way mark. So I will cover days 7 and 8 here of the ladies so we will see what is what.
Right so starting with Day 7 we had the first bout of 4th round matches which kicked off with Eugenie Bouchard who took on Irina-Camelia Begu, who gave the Canadian rising star a real run for her money as Bouchard was pushed into a 3rd set after taking the opener, her Romanian opponent took the 2nd. In the 3rd set however Bouchard wrestled back control of the match and broke Begu twice to seal the deal and reach her second consecutive Australian open quarter final with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win. After this was Maria Sharapova who had faced the tricky counterpuncher, Peng Shuai, who is now the Chinese No.1 singles player since Li Na retired last year. And the start of the match promised to be quite a competitive one as Peng took an early break but after that Sharapova fought back into the match and after that she didn't look back as she routed the Chinese player in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 to reach the last eight. Simona Halep up next also made short work of her opponent, Yanina Wickmayer, who prior to this meeting, Halep had never beaten her but Halep is now a very much improved player and she defeated Wickmayer with ease in 6-4, 6-2. And lastly Ekaterina Makarova played her match against the German player, Julia Goerges and the Russian, Marakrova who has enjoyed a good run of form in the slams lately continued that run as she beat Goerges with ease with a straight forward 6-3, 6-2 win.
So now we get onto day 8 which saw the remaining big guns go at it in their respective matches which saw the 4th round matches being rounded off to see who would make the quarter finals. So to start off we had last year's finalist, Dominika Cibulkova take on the two time former champion Victoria Azarenka who had made her comeback after sustaining a foot injury that left her out alot of last year. But it was Cibulkova who made the stronger start as she took the opening set, despite being broken initially by Vika (that's Victoria's nickname!) but Victoria was not yet done as she fought back to level the match at a set all. In the end however it was Cibulkova who caused the upset as she defeated the two time champion in the 3rd set with a break, which saw her reach the quarter finals after a tough 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win. This really saw Cibulkova step things up again like she did last year and she proved again she has got what it takes to potentially win a major of her own and just maybe she might yet.
After this we had Serena Williams take on Garbine Muguruza, the Spanish player who stunned Serena last year at the French open, so Serena no doubt would be out for revenge in this one. But Muguruza made life difficult for Serena once again as she broke the World No.1 to take the opening set. Serena however did what she usually does and fought back in the 2nd set to break Muguruza and before we knew it, we were into a 3rd set where Serena finally got her revenge on the Spaniard as she broke her twice to close out the match and seal her place in the final 8 with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 result. Well now that Serena has made it into the final eight I have to now see her as the top favourite to win the title as I don't think from this stage on there are any players in the draw that will beat her if she reaches the final, unless she get's upset on the way to it, but we will wait and see. Serena's next opponent however is Dominika Cibulkova so I can't quite see the dimunitive Slovak player get the better of Serena in a slam as Cibulkova has never beaten Serena, but then again there is always a first time for everything!
Next up was Agnieszka Radwanska who took on the other half of the Williams sisters, Venus, in their clash of the last 16. Radwanska actually went into this match as the favourite given Venus's fitness concerns over the last few years and also the fact that Aga (Radwanska's nickname) had never lost a set to her in their last three meetings. However that all changed in their match here as it was Venus that made a strong start and took the first set, but Radwanska soon fought back in the 2nd set to break Venus twice to level the match. And in the 3rd it was Venus that made her breakthrough as Radwanska started to crumble and Venus's power was too much for her, which saw the former World No.1 reach her first grand slam quarter final since 2010 with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory. Well this match really does signify the return of Venus to the big time as she is looking in really good form again after having suffered in recent years from Sjorgen's syndrome (an auto-immune disease) which left her in a state of chronic fatigue. But Venus is starting to really look like her old self and it looks likely that she could even deeper here in Melbourne.
And last of all we had the surprise of the tournament, the young American, Madison Keys who enroute caused a big upset as she stunned the 4th seed and current Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova in straight sets enroute to this point in the 4th round. And in the 4th round Keys faced another American, Madison Brengle who in the end was no match for the powerful big hitting Keys who blasted her opponent off the court with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 victory to see her reach her first ever grand slam quarteer final. Its great to see with these wins the emergence of fresh new talent in the ladies game as Keys now also joins the likes of Bouchard and Halep who have also made a strong impression in their short careers. Keys will next up face Venus Williams so I think that Keys might not make it into the last four but I'm pretty sure she can give Venus a match in the process.
Sooooo that's it for the ladies for now as the quarter finals are now set and they are pretty promising looking with some fresh new talent in their too which helps keep things fresh and there promises to be some really good matches ahead.
And with that I will be back soon with the men's matches.
See you in a bit.
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