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Wednesday, 27 January 2016 00:21 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Russia’s Maria Sharapova (L) reacts as she shakes hands with Serena Williams of the U.S. after Williams won their quarter-final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park, Australia, January 26, 2016. REUTERS
Reuters: Reigning champion Serena Williams ramped up the power in the second set to vanquish fifth seed Maria Sharapova for the 18th match in a row and reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-1 victory on Tuesday.
Sharapova broke the world number one in the first game and mounted a stiff challenge in the opening set but wilted in the second to extend a losing record that goes back 12 years.
Williams said the Russian brings out the best in her.
“When I play her, I know automatically I have to step up my game,” Williams said. “I think that makes me play better. When I’m forced to play better, I do well.”
The gulf between Williams and Sharapova, a former number one and five-times grand slam champion, speaks volumes about the balance of power in the women’s game.
Williams has reached the last four at Melbourne Park on six previous occasions and gone on to win the title every time.
On Tuesday’s evidence, it looks like only illness or injury can prevent the 34-year-old from repeating the feat and adding a 22nd major title to her collection.
The American, who came into the tournament after a four-month layoff, twice had treatment for ‘food poisoning issues’ during breaks in the 92-minute rematch of last year’s final.
Sharapova handed back her early break with two double faults in game four but started the match well and offered a genuine test in the 55-minute opening stanza.
The Russian showed character to storm back from 0-40 down to hold serve for 4-4 and was all over Williams’s serve in the next game, the American yelling “C’mon!” on successive points as she finally held.
The match turned on the next game when Sharapova fended off three set points despite failing to get her first serve in before Williams converted the fourth after a long rally with a volley at the net.
Sharapova had fired 21 aces in her fourth round match but managed just seven against Williams.
“I think if you’re serving maybe 180 (kph) against somebody else compared to Serena, that’s an ace,” said the 28-year-old.
“Against Serena, as we all know, the return is one of her great strengths. She’s very explosive. She stays quite close to the baseline.
“She cuts the ball early. She doesn’t give you many angles.”
Williams has an 8-0 record against her semi-final opponent Agnieszka Radwanska, who as the fourth seed is the highest ranked challenger remaining in the draw.
“Nothing’s guaranteed in sports,” said Williams. “I still have to win two matches against potentially two extremely tough opponents.”
Reuters: Roger Federer advanced to his 12th Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday with an efficient 7-6(4) 6-2 6-4 victory over sixth seed Tomas Berdych.
Federer was pressed hard in the opening set, taking it in a tie-break after swapping service breaks with Berdych, before the Swiss won the important points in the second set to take control of the match.
The Czech broke early in the third set before 17-times grand slam winner Federer broke back in the third game and upped the pressure on his 30-year-old opponent, breaking again in the ninth then serving out to seal it in two hours, 16 minutes.
Federer now waits the winner of the quarter-final between world number one Novak Djokovic and Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who play later on Rod Laver Arena.
Reuters: Defending champion Novak Djokovic issued a chilling warning to his Australian Open challengers on Tuesday (January 26) by storming to a 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory over seventh seed Kei Nishikori to set up a blockbuster semi-final against Roger Federer.
The world number one was far from his imperious best and struggled on serve but was content to allow his Japanese opponent to fall on his own sword with 54 unforced errors under the Rod Laver Arena floodlights.
Nishikori broke the Serb twice in the third set and edged 3-1 ahead but was unable to capitalise on his own serve and threw his racquet onto the court in a rare show of frustration.
Djokovic fired a sizzling cross-court backhand winner to close out the match and will make his sixth appearance in the last four at Melbourne Park, having avenged his loss to Nishikori in the 2014 U.S. Open semi-finals.
Reuters: Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza extended their winning streak to 34 matches to reach the Australian Open semi-finals with victory over German-American duo Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Coco Vandeweghe on Tuesday.
Swiss Hingis, 35, the former singles number one whose career has blossomed again as a doubles specialist, is also in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles with another Indian partner, Leander Paes, and will face top seeds Mirza and Ivan Dodig.
Top seeds Hingis and Mirza, who teamed up last March and won the Wimbledon and the U.S. Open titles, came through 6-2 4-6 6-1 against Groenefeld and Vandeweghe.
They will face German Julia Goerges and her Czech partner Karolina Pliskova for a place in the final.
In the men’s doubles, British fortunes continued to soar with Jamie Murray reaching the semi-finals with new Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.
They edged out 13th seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, conquerors of six-times champions the Bryan brothers, 6-7(3) 6-4 7-6(3) on Tuesday.
On Monday, Andy Murray and Johanna Konta both reached the quarter-finals of the singles -- the first time in nearly 40 years Britain has had a representative in the last eight of the men’s and women’s singles at a grand slam.
Murray and Soares, who won the Sydney title in only their second tournament together, face French duo Adrian Mannarino and Lucas Pouille in the semis after they surprised top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in three sets.
In the other half of the draw Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek beat Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, while Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers beat Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock.
