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2015 Australian Open: Men's and women's semi-finals preview

Roar Guru
28th January, 2015
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Andy Murray has his sights set on the world number one ranking. (Image: Creative Commons)
Roar Guru
28th January, 2015
1
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We are down to the last four men and women at this year’s Australian Open and Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are all in-sight of the final, but have to face some tough opposition first.

For the third consecutive year Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka will clash in the latest instalment of their thrilling Australian Open rivalry, which has seen them split their last two meetings, both five-set thrillers.

The other men’s semi-final will see Tomas Berdych face off against three-time runner-up Andy Murray, who ended Australian interest in the competition with his straight-sets victory over local favourite Nick Kyrgios on Tuesday night.

On the women’s side, it will be America versus Russia in the final with the first semi-final being an all-American showdown between Serena Williams and Madison Keys, and the second seeing Maria Sharapova and Ekaterina Makarova lock horns for the right to represent Russia in Saturday night’s decider.

Let’s now preview each of the four semi-finals in chronological order.

Thursday, January 29 (not before 1:30pm)

Ekaterina Makarova (10) versus Maria Sharapova (2)
Head-to-head: Sharapova 5-0
Last meeting: Sharapova 6-2, 6-2, quarter-finals, 2013 Australian Open

Ekaterina Makarova advanced to her second consecutive Grand Slam semi-final after upsetting third seed Simona Halep in the quarter-finals. The left-handed Russian has yet to drop a set so far but to reach her first Grand Slam final she will have to keep up the intensity she displayed against the Romanian.

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Not only has she lost all five of her meetings against Sharapova to date, she has only won just one set in that patch. She was also on the wrong end of straight-sets losses in back-to-back Australian Open quarter-finals in 2012 and 2013.

Sharapova came dangerously close to crashing out in the second round when she faced two match-points on compatriot Alexandra Panova’s serve in the final set. Having survived that, and subsequently cruising past Zarina Diyas, Peng Shuai and Eugenie Bouchard to get this far for the first time since 2013, the 2008 champion will be heavily favoured to reach the final for the first time since 2012.

But can Makarova destroy the script and become the seventh Russian (after Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva) to reach a Grand Slam final?

The answer – no.

Prediction: Maria Sharapova in straight sets.

Serena Williams (1) versus Madison Keys
Head-to-head: first meeting

In 2013, it was Sloane Stephens. Last year, it was Eugenie Bouchard. This year, it’s Madison Keys, who becomes the third consecutive 19-year-old to reach an Australian Open semi-final.

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Keys will enter her semi-final against world number one and hot tournament favourite Serena Williams with absolutely nothing to lose after embarking on a giant-killing run which has seen her take down multiple Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams. She also knocked out our very own Casey Dellacqua in the second round.

Now the most inexperienced of the Australian Open semi-finalists faces the most experienced in what threatens to be a mismatch. Serena Williams has won 18 Grand Slam titles and is a very good chance to hit 20 this year.

Five-time champion Williams was back to her ruthless best as she dominated last year’s finalist Dominika Cibulkova in her quarter-final, losing just four games and somewhat easing the pain for the Williams family after older sister Venus had lost to Keys in the earlier quarter-final.

Keys will have to overcome not only history, but also the mountain in experience, to reach her first Grand Slam final.

Only Martina Hingis, Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters have beaten each of the Williams sisters at the same Grand Slam, and not since Ana Ivanovic reached the 2007 French Open final has any female teenager reached a Grand Slam final.

While Keys will be out to continue her dream run at the Australian Open, unfortunately the experience of Serena Williams will win her through to a sixth Australian Open final (and almost certainly a sixth title).

Prediction: Serena Williams in straight sets.

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Tomas Berdych (7) versus Andy Murray (6) (not before 7:30pm)
Head-to-head: Berdych 6-4
Last meeting: Berdych 6-3, 6-4, quarter-finals, 2013 Cincinnati Masters

Both Tomas Berdych and Andy Murray enter the first of the men’s semi-finals in impressive form.

Prior to the commencement of this season, Berdych hired the services of Murray’s former hitting partner Daniel Vallverdu in his bid to win a maiden Grand Slam title.

The 2010 Wimbledon finalist has so far been inspired by Marin Cilic’s US Open victory as he looks to become the first Czech man since Petr Korda won the Australian Open in 1998 to top the Grand Slam dais.

Berdych was impressive in defeating Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, dominating the first two sets before fighting off a brave comeback by the 2009 champion to win in straight sets and thus end a 17-match losing streak against the Spaniard.

Standing in the way of the ‘Berdman’ and his second career Grand Slam final is three-time runner-up Andy Murray, who ended the run of Nick Kyrgios in his quarter-final match and is a good chance to return to the final for the fourth time.

The Scot endured a poor 2014 season by his standards, but appears to be returning to top form as evidenced by his unbeaten run in singles play at the Hopman Cup and the fact he’s dropped just one set en route to the semi-finals.

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Now he has the chance to return to the Australian Open final for the fourth time and unlike the last two times, when he won the Friday semi-final in 2011 and 2013, he will have the advantage of two full days’ rest should he win as expected.

That could come into play on Sunday night with the winner of the Djokovic-Wawrinka tie likely to be mentally and physically exhausted, given their recent history at the Australian Open.

I expect Murray to win and give himself a shot at winning his first Australian Open.

Prediction: Andy Murray in four sets.

Friday, January 30 (not before 7:30pm)
Novak Djokovic (1) versus Stan Wawrinka (4)
Head-to-head: Djokovic 16-3
Last meeting: Djokovic 6-3, 6-0, round robin, 2014 ATP World Tour Finals

Ladies and gentlemen, cancel your plans for Friday night because Novak Djokovic will be out for revenge against the man who twelve months ago knocked him out of the Australian Open in a thrilling five-setter which finished 9-7 in the final set.

The year before that, Djokovic and Wawrinka also went five sets but that time, the Serb won 12-10 in the final set after breaking the Swiss in the final game. Djokovic eventually went on to win his fourth and most recent Australian Open title.

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Now, prepare yourselves for yet another epic sequel when the two gladiators of the Australian Open go head-to-head.

World number one Djokovic has been in great form at Melbourne Park, dropping no sets, losing his serve just once and seeing off the challenge of Canada’s Milos Raonic to return to the semi-finals.

Wawrinka, the defending champion, has been in good form as well, dropping just one set as he seeks to successfully defend the title which he won by defeating Rafael Nadal in four sets in the final last year.

If the last two meetings between the pair at Melbourne Park, on either side of their equally as thrilling semi-final at the US Open in 2013, is anything to go by, then fans can expect yet another Grand Slam thriller between the two.

In the end, Djokovic should get through to a fifth Australian Open final where he will shoot for a record fifth title, skipping clear of Andre Agassi and Roger Federer who both have four Australian Open titles.

Prediction: Novak Djokovic in (yes, you guessed it) five sets.

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