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Post by Admin on Jan 21, 2014 0:07:15 GMT
Tonight at the Australian Open, 19-year-old Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., will do what no Canadian singles player has done in 22 years – play a quarter-final match at a Grand Slam. The 30th-seeded Bouchard, coming off a breakout 2013 season, will face tournament No. 14-seed Ana Ivanovic. Bouchard is playing in the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time. She lost out in the qualifiers last year in Melbourne as she began her first full season on the senior WTA Tour. She had opened the 2013 season ranked 147th in the world, and ended it at No.32, winning the Tour’s Newcomer of the Year award. It’s the first time she has been seeded at a major.
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Post by Admin on Jan 21, 2014 14:40:09 GMT
It all started very well for Djokovic, who had scorched through his first three matches here, formidable in form and relaxed in demeanour. Chest slightly puffed, that half-smile on his face as he set about his business, he took the first set off Wawrinka in just 31 minutes. Djokovic, finding extra whip, broke to lead 2-1 in the fifth, but Wawrinka, imbued with the confidence of one who has come so close before, broke straight back. Djokovic’s change of pace shots were not having their usual effect. Instead of the slice forcing Wawrinka long, the Swiss was mopping it up with his backhand, the shot that doesn’t have all the beauty of Roger Federer’s, but is wildly more versatile. And then at 5-5, 40-15, another twist. A rain delay. The players sat down for a few moments as the sprinkles passed, and then they resumed. But although he got a free first serve to bomb down for 6-5, it looked like the pause might have backfired for Wawrinka. Flexing his legs in the cool evening temperatures as officials struggled to fix his broken seat, another line in the plot, the Swiss looked tired, the Serb threatening. With Djokovic serving down 7-8, Wawrinka stepped out of the way of a body serve, framing it back over the net. Djokovic, surprised, dinked it out. And on the next point, a match point, a moment you can’t afford to mess with, Djokovic decided to serve and volley. The return pinged back from Wawrinka, low over the net, and Djokovic missed the forehand volley by a lot.
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Post by Admin on Jan 22, 2014 2:01:20 GMT
Dominika Cibulkova reached the second Grand Slam semi-final of her career as she outclassed Simona Halep at the Australian Open. The Slovak, seeded 20, provided one of the shocks of the tournament when she beat Maria Sharapova in round four. And she continued that form against 11th seed Halep, recovering from serving three double faults in one game to take the first set. She then broke immediately at the start of the second to set up a 6-3 6-0 win. The 24-year-old will meet either Agnieszka Radwanska or Victoria Azarenka in the last four on Thursday.
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Post by Admin on Jan 22, 2014 6:27:02 GMT
Agnieszka Radwanska unveiled her best tennis to knock out two-time defending champion, Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 to advance to her first Australian Open semifinal. The win snapped Radwanska’s seven-match losing streak to Azarenka, who had won their last 12 sets dating back to the 2012 quarterfinals here in Melbourne. Stat sheets don’t have a column for the number of “oohs”, “aahs” and “Oh no she di’n't!” heard during the match. If they did, then Radwanska’s 23 winners to just 15 unforced errors would seem far more impressive than they initially seem. But Radwanska came out right from the start and played contained, error-free tennis to put the onus on Azarenka to be the aggressor. It was clear from the start that the defending champion wasn’t feeling her shots today and as the match wore on, Radwanska tightened the screws. The shots off her racket became more unpredictable and the placement more uncomfortable, and when Azarenka tried to make her move to break Radwanska’s serve, she stood tall. Agnieszka Radwanska gave no opportunity for Victoria Azarenka to come back in the third set.
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Post by Admin on Jan 23, 2014 0:21:18 GMT
It wasn't an easy road, but Li Na, Eugenie Bouchard, Dominika Cibulkova and Agnieszka Radwanska are into the semifinals of the Australian Open. After tomorrow, only two will remain. Who will be the 2014 finalists? Eugenie Bouchard generated more hits on ausopen.com on Tuesday, after her big win over Ana Ivanovic, than either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. A 2012 Wimbledon junior champion, the 19-year-old Canadian will now be inside the top-20 in next week’s new WTA rankings. She plays Li Na in Thursday afternoon’s semifinals. “It’s something I’ve been doing since I was five years old, working my whole life for and sacrificing a lot of things for,” said Bouchard, sounding almost detached about everything – including joining Carling Bassett (US Open 1984) as the only Canadian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. "So it’s not exactly a surprise. I always expect myself to do well.”
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