29/01/2015 DAY 11: Australian Open 2015

DAY 11 – AUSTRALIAN OPEN

The semifinals of the great event started aplomb. Sharapova breezed past Makarova while Serena faced a stiff resistance while conquering the teenager Madison Keys. In the men’s semis, despite losing the first set, Andy Murray won the semi against the Czech Thomas Berdych.

Men’s Singles (Semifinals)

In spite of some early heroics by Berdych, the 7^th seeded Czech lost to the 6^th seeded Englishmen Andy Murray. Murray with his aggressive vocal tennis scampered off safely by dropping only 8 games after the first set.

Andy Murray (6) defeated Thomas Berdych (7) (7-6; 6-0; 6-3; 7-5)

Women’s Singles (Semifinals)

The second seeded Sharapova got the better of 10^th seeded Makarova. Though some intense rivalry was witnessed between the two Russian players, but in the end, Sharapova triumphed and with this increased her unbeaten streak against Makarova to 4 matches to nil. In the other American match, the unseeded Madison Keys gave a strong fight to the top seeded Serena. Serena on a bid to retain her no. 1 spot from Sharapova had to play her best. Both the players were strong on their serve. But the injury riddled Keys lost in straight sets.

Sharapova (2) defeated Ekaterina Makarova (10) (6-3; 6-2)

Serena Williams (1) defeated Madison Keys (7-6; 6-2)

Serena will play Sharapova in the finals on Saturday.

Men’s Doubles (Semifinals)

In both the matches, the unseeded pair got the better of the seeded pair. However, the intensity of the matches was extreme and the balance could have shifted any way throughout the matches.

Herbert/Mahut defeated Dodig/Melo (4) (6-4; 6-7; 7-6)

Bolelli/Fognini defeated Rojer/Tecau (6) (6-4; 3-6; 6-3)

The finals will be played on Saturday.

Mixed Doubles (Quarterfinals)

Hseih/Cuevas defeated Srebotnik/Melo (6-1; 6-2)

Mladenovic/Nestor defeated Black/Cabal (6-2; 6-3)

The semifinals will be played tomorrow.

Tomorrow at Melbourne

The finals of the women’s doubles will be played. Men’s semifinal between Djokovic and Wawrinka is also scheduled. And the two mixed doubles semifinals will also be played.