Andy in semi without fanfare

Andy Murray apparently expressed his concern to Tournament Director Craig Tiley that he had not played a night match whereas 2nd seed Roger Federer had played all but one of his under lights on Rod Laver Arena.

Well the ramifications of that are just coming to the surface.  Because of the alleged expression of concern, Craig informed Andy that scheduling decisions are actually made by his boss, tennis supremo R.Federer, and that the issue should be taken up with him.

Taken aback Andy approached Roger who accomodated him by granting him a special venue for his quarter final with surprise opponent Jeremy Chardy from France.

Armed with Cabcharge vouchers and accompanied by a spare ball boy, the players journeyed out to Oak Park where the second court was free for 2 hours.  The ball boy would be happy to fill the central umpire role and call the lines provided the players could pick up the balls whenever the server needed them.

Is there no end to Roger's thoughtfulness?

Until now Andy had not lost a set, and he had thrashed the 14th seed Gilles Simon, another from France, in the previous round.  Chardy had provided the Open with a huge upset, dumping 6th seed Juan Martin Del Potro in a 5 set marathon round 3 match before dealing with 21st seed Italian Andreas Seppi in the round of sixteen.

Set 1 began ominously for Chardy as he served a double fault on the first point. He followed this gem with a forehand failure and later another double fault set up a break point which was converted without any assistance from Murray who just witnessed the disaster.

In the third game Murray fired three successive forehand winners to move from 30-15 down on Chardy's serve to break the French player again and lead 3-0.

A win for Murray would at last see him on Rod Laver Arena at night (first time in 12 months) and he had started in the best way towards achieving that goal.  More forehand success for the Scot and some good serving from Chardy coloured the next couple of games and then Andy became careless, losing his serve in game 6 on the back of poor backhands, to now only lead 4-2.

The single break advantage proved enough, holding firm until the end of the set which was awarded to Andy Murray 6-4.  The Oak Park court was certainly generating some pace, and was a step up in class from the ones on which he had practised back home in Scotland.

Chardy served first in the second set and at 1-1 he made several unforced errors to lose that serve and trail 1-2.  Murray meantime was spreading all his winners across the board in a concerted effort to squash any comeback attempt from Chardy.  Another break in the fifth game plus a Chardy double fault on set point in the seventh game gave the 2 set lead to Murray 6-4 6-1.

Andy's forehand generated several stylish winners in the third set and the third seed ripped into the too often inadequate serve of Chardy.  The second and sixth games were service games that were dropped and Murray forced Chardy into error in the eighth game to give up yet another break of serve and the match 6-4 6-1 6-2.

Andy Murray had won through to another semi final and if he could only find his way back from Oak Park he may even have the chance to participate in it.

Sloane Surprise

Serena Williams is the best female tennis player on the planet of that there is no doubt, and her toughest match this year was against 19 year old American Sloane Stephens on the way to her Brisbane title.  It was in straight sets but it tested the great one who had praise for the rising star.

A few weeks on and the two were opponents once more but in a much more important circumstance - a Grand Slam tournament quarter final.  Serena had progressed here as expected by blasting four would be rivals off the court, be it the one in Hisense Arena or Rod Laver Arena, where today's clash had been scheduled.

Sloane, the 29th seed had knocked off Laura Robson in the fourth round who in turn had eliminated the Open's eighth seed Petra Kvitova.  While this would be an experience to remember for Stephens, there was no reason for Serena to make it one to cherish because this was a day for the Williams sister, and Sloane could have her turn down the track.

Set one was not vintage Serena and the rally exchanges were able to be entered into fairly freely by Sloane Stephens right from the word GO!
For a debut quarter final at this level, the cool performance throughout the first half dozen games or so impressed everyone, and must have been of concern to Serena who in the eighth game gained some respite with the first break points of the match.

The third of these successfully converted giving Serena a 5-3 lead and the option to serve for the set, which she took up without consultation.  The opening set to Williams 6-3 and so far pretty much to script in the scorebook but a closer contest on the court of play.

Set 2 and the biggest drama of the Aus Open was about to unfold.  Serena Williams broke Sloane Stephens to lead by a set and a break, but the match was turned on its head when Serena suffered a back injury.  It appeared to restrict her, but even without that discomfort, the younger American was actually beginning to dominate off her forehand and tactically winning by taking the net position whenever she could to shorten and finalise points.

Games were tied at 2-2 once Stephens had worked her way on top in many of the rallies and the 29th seed took a 5-3 advantage after the back problems of Serena entered the equation.  Serena took a medical time out off the court after she had somehow manufactured a break back in the ninth game, due in part to the inexperience of Stephens.

Upon her return games were quickly 5-5 and the unanswered question surrounded Serena's ability to survive a third set should the match need to go that far.
Sloane steadied and in general play was on equal terms with Serena - occasionally the shot of a champion would be fired but infrequently enough to not cause too much heartache for the emerging star.

At 5-6, Serena served and clearly was conscious of her predicament, delivering some painfully slow first and second serves which lit up the Stephens eyes.  In a poor standard game Serena sank to the lower of two lows and gave up the serve and with it the second set 7-5.  One set all, and Sloane Stephens also would be serving first in the decider.

Serena fought out the final set determined to overcome the injury disadvantage, and as the games rolled by she appeared to be able to play with more freedom and conviction.  What she lacked was the self confidence and trust in her ability to play the shots of which she is so capable as evidenced time and again this tournament.

Sloane Stephens could have been playing her twenty first quarter final and not her first, such was her poise in this most delicate of moments.  Games were on serve until the seventh, although Serena had to fight a long battle to level at 2-2.  At 3-3 with Stephens serving, Serena created her chances.

Three of these chances went begging as Sloane thrilled the crowd with her courage and brilliance under heavy fire.  Finally on the fourth she relented and at 4-3 with a serve to come surely the Serena moment had just happened.

Surely not because Serena was not the impregnable one today and Stephens had more than a fair share to do with that.  The break back was immediate and defiant, and for Serena it was the final kick in the guts.  The great one could not muster enough to break again and became easy fodder for Sloane in the twelfth game when she broke once more to defeat the best player on earth 3-6 7-5 6-4

A semi final against the reigning champion is the next day's challenge, and don't be surprised to find it just as challenging for Azarenka.

Aus Open 2013 confirms a new star, but the legend that is Serena Williams remains intact.

Vika versus Sveta's old tricks

In un unexpected quarter final top seed Victoria Azarenka would need to be on her guard against two time Grand Slam title holder Svetlana Kuznetsova.  Ranked way below the Belarusian, Sveta has the experience, talent and strength of mind not to be intimidated as many of Vika's contemporaries tend to be.

Extended time out of the game through injury has invigorated the Russian and Azarenka is performing well, but slightly below her stunning form of 2012 here.

That being noted, everything pointed to the consistency of Azarenka winning through to another semi final.  Sveta has the capacity to commit too many errors not to be placed under pressure for more of the match than Vika who has grown to trust her game so much over the past 18 months.

Set 1 presented the crowd with the first look at a truly tested Azarenka for this year's event.  The first four games alone lasted the length of most of Azarenka's previous sets, and game four was essential viewing.
Here, on the Azarenka serve, both players pulled out some exhilarating saves amongst a few forgettable swings, but on balance it was quarter final tennis as we should receive from the calibre of the two on stage.

Vika saved a break point and Sveta out pointed the top seed on several game points with wonderful forehand winners and a memorable smash.  Finally it took a Sveta backhand to finish the epic game and take a 3-1 lead in an already worthy contest.

Kuznetsova carried on her solid work, counting on her backhand once more to serve out the fifth game and lead 4-1.  So close to a set, but with Vika at the other side of the net, near is not worth contemplation.

Setting up two break points in the seventh game on the back of a backhand winner Azarenka watched Kuznetsova double fault to give the game away and things were back on serve 3-4 with Vika to serve.
Without much protest from Sveta, Vika levelled the match at 4-4 and the odds had swung heavily back to the top seed for first set honours.

Kuznetsova applied her best efforts to delaying that outcome and held competently to lead 5-4 and then had the chance to take a 6-5 lead.  This she found impossible to achieve.  Azarenka stepped up the pace with a backhand winner, forehand volley and forehand winner for the break.

Azarenka served out the set after Sveta saved one set point and the reigning champion led 7-5.

The deflation experienced  by Kuznetsova could almost be felt by the crowd as such a tight set had slipped from her grasp.  Azarenka immediately increased the pain by breaking in the second to lead 1-0, but Sveta refused to fold and against all the odds she picked herself up and gave Azarenka one last whack.  It stunned Vika who faltered at the next hurdle nod games were 1-1.

That was the last hurrah for Sveta as finally Vika broke her resistance.   This was particularly sad as she had only recently come back from knee surgery.  A resistance fracture could require long term mental therapy.

Azarenka 7-5 6-1

Victoria Azarenka raised her game to a standard necessary to reach the semi finals but credit should be given to Svetlana Kuznetsova for forcing this to occur, since no other player had bothered pushing the top seed as she was in the first set today.

More mixed but why not women's doubles?

Not wanting to harp on the short changing of the public by tournament match schedulers but in fact I do want to.

Tuesday night was the first of two quarter final nights, and as such was to feature as the main event one of the men's quarter finals from the side of the draw on show for the day in question.

Understandably with one of the women's singles quarter finals played at night the day session would be a little bare so instead a doubles match makes sense as the second night fixture, in this case following the Djokovic/Berdych clash,

Logically a women's doubles match should be allocated the spot given that this was a quarter final night and that the women's doubles had reached that section in the draw.  However, in the infinite "wisdom" of the decision makers responsible for the Saturday night scheduling debacle,  a second round mixed doubles match was deemed superior value for the spectators, each of whom had invested significant money to attend the second Tuesday night session.

My beef is not anything to do with the players - each of the four that played tonight did so with integrity and displayed great skills while entertaining what remained of the audience.

However, there was a women's doubles match played earlier in the day between the Williams sisters and the top seeded Errani and Vinci which would have been perfect as the back up to the men's singles clash at night.

Clearly in practical terms not a good idea given Serena's singles commitments the following day, but then what about the missed opportunity of seeing our Australian pair of Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua play their quarter final at night on the best court in front of a big crowd?

I guarantee that if you wish to retain as much of the crowd as possible following the conclusion of the main event (if you choose to play it in that order) then the secondary match must have more meaning attached to it, and men's and women's doubles have that meaning far more than mixed.

Fortunately the Aussies won through on an outside court and are scheduled to play a semi final on RLA at night, but if they had lost, so to would have been the chance.

As far as the Mixed Doubles played tonight, in a fantastic performance by unseeded Australians Matthew Ebden and Jarmila Gajdosova, blasted out were the second seeded team of legend Leander Paes from India and his team mate Elena Vesnina from Russia, after the Aussies lost the first two games.  Straight sets 6-3 6-2.

The Aussies hardly put a foot wrong for the entire match especially dominant at the net volleying confidently from both wings.  Hopefully this sort of effort will boost the two of them in their singles efforts to come in 2013.

Djokovic decisive

After spending five hours on court dealing with far more of Stanislas Wawrinka than that for which he had prepared or cared, top seed Novak Djokovic's mission should he choose to accept it, and his presence on Rod Laver Arena tonight suggested he had, was to put a close to the Tomas Berdych chapter of Aus Open 2013.

The contribution of the 5th seed from the Czech Republic had its moments.  None of them amounted to anything terribly exciting, although the fourth round win over South Africa's Kevin Anderson did impress, and the final set tie break was as extensive as it was gripping.

However, Djokovic had participated in two of the finest matches of the tournament so far, one deserving of a single chapter to itself.  So the decision, hard as it was to make for the judges, was for Berdych to go home.

In the opening set, Novak made his intentions known.  The departure was not about to be convoluted, sentimental or protest filled.  In the third game, Djokovic rifled a backhand winner to break the Czech serve and lead 2-1.  Berdych seemed relaxed about the whole deal, and while the Djokovic razzle dazzle happened all around him he diligently went about the business of finding trouble with his serve.

The Djokovic forehand was especially potent and Berdych needed far more first serves to hit the mark if he was to prevent the return game of the champion from overpowering him.  Novak felt no such pressure while serving and salivated each time Tomas stepped up to the plate.

Additional breaks were delivered to the Djokovic camp in each of Berdych's next two service performances, the seventh game ending with a sad double fault, a punctuation mark which the chair umpire deemed suitable to employ when ruling off first set activity.  6-1 Djokovic.

As the underdog support mentality grew within the crowd, Berdych appeared to finally shake off his pre-match nerves and join in the match as the genuine 5th seed and not some cheap facsimile.
Novak identified with the sympathy exuding from the crowd towards Berdych and donated to what seemed a worthwhile charity with a couple of unforced errors in the opening service game of Set 2.

Djokovic can claim that back on his tax while Berdych could claim the break of serve.  The set progressed and with it came a marked improvement in the Tomas Berdych game.  The significance of that first game also grew by the minute due to the inability of Djokovic to make inroads on the Czech serve as he had done so freely in Set 1.

The tennis was terrific with Berdych blasting winners from his forehand that left Djokovic motionless and usually several metres from where the ball landed.  Djokovic too was continuing to play at a top level and eventually Berdych was left to serve for the set at 5-4.

As expected, Djokovic through everything into this game in an attempt to keep the set alive.  He created a range of break points to which Berdych replied with an ace and winners.  Deservedly the set was won by Berdych 6-4 and the match was level.

Another twist in the match could not be discounted and sure enough Novak, who underwent self admonishment all through the second set and I understand even put himself on cleaning duties for a week after his slip up, put the quarter final back on his preferred track.

The Set 3 scoreline was 3-0 with a single break of the Berdych serve when the players sat down for the first time.  Enough damage done we thought to give Novak the set, but not enough for the top seed who wanted more blood.  A slashing backhand demoralised Berdych as it capped off another service break to extend the lead to 4-0 and erase any remaining doubts as to where this set would finish.

The players did the required stuff until they reached the conclusion of a set dominated by Djokovic 6-1 and he now appeared set to cruise into the semis.  However we did think that when he led Wawrinka two sets to one.

However, once bitten, etc.

Although Berdych lifted in the fourth set, so too did Djokovic, and the result was attractive tennis.  The one soft spot on serve occurred in the third game and importantly on the Berdych serve.  With 2 break points available, Djokovic chose the second to use and take the vital lead 2-1.

The rest was just great to watch and after almost two and a half hours it was Novak Djokovic serving for yet another Grand Slam tournament semi final - his 11th in succession. (Ferrer and Murray with 2 are next best, with Murray a chance to make it 3)

Tomas played his role and the game lasted longer than Novak would have liked with match points saved.  However the inevitable could only be deferred not prevented and the world number one would be playing David Ferrer on Thursday night after his 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-4 quarter final victory.  

Sharapova tested - for a couple of games

The final day match, effectively to determine Li Na's semi final opponent pitted second seed Maria Sharapova against compatriot Ekaterina Makarova.  Maria had spent less time on court than anyone to be paid more money than most, and Makarova could make things a little more complicated if she actually did something different from the three previous victims.  One thought is to take the word competitor just a tiny bit literally.

What Ekaterina did from the outset is use her serve to place Sharapova in situations that she was less comfortable than she had been to date in the tournament.  Accordingly Maria failed to break serve and Ekaterina led 1-0.  Sharapova had no trouble evening the situation and handing the pressure back to Makarova though I hardly think the pressure placement moved from Makarova from the time she knew that Maria was today's assignment.

With a couple of well directed double faults Makarova was able to assist Sharapova in achieving the first break of serve for the match in the third game and memory drifted back a long 48 hours to when Kirsten Flipkens won the first game and then lost the remaining twelve to Maria.  One hoped that the same fate would not befall Ekaterina.

Far from it in fact, with history being made in the fourth game.  The hitherto untouchable Sharapova serve was broken by Makarova and games now were at 2-2, a concept which the scoreboard took some time to digest, having been programmed to affix a zero in the games column of any of the Sharapova opponents in the early rounds.

The honeymoon period for Makarova lasted for the full fourth game before Sharapova took stock of her plight.  Then with tennis shots glorious to view and less pleasant to hear, Maria went on a roll, taking apart the Makarova game until it resembled nothing more than a rough idea, and parcelling up the set 6-2.

Maria strangely lowered her scream a few octaves in the second set, proving that not only does she have wonderful variety of stroke play but great vocal range to boot.  All the while Ekaterina became more confused and her original plan to combat the Sharapova all court game was now in its fifth edition, severely edited from the original.

Sharapova hit a stack of winners as she raced through yet another set dropping only two games to a disappointing Makarova. The match was won 6-2 6-2.

Maria would now play in the semi final against a level of opponent who should test her beyond the first few minutes.  Li Na won the 2011 French Open and her vanquished semi final opponent on the road to that success was none other than Maria.

Spanish Duel in the Melbourne Sun

This would not be the first time that two Spanish men had saddled up for battle in the 2013 Aus Open, but today the stakes were the highest they had been for 4th seed David Ferrer and 10th seed Nicolas Almagro.  Ferrer, an old hand at quarter finals played at this level began the favourite over Almagro who while impressive to this point had been assisted by injury to Janko Tipsarevic in the fourth round.  Never had Nicolas progressed beyond a Grand Slam tournament quarter final so a win today would be career defining.

Base line tennis was the order of the day and we had two of the best exponents to bring it to us. Ferrer had hit peak form at the right time entering this match and his accuracy surprised no one, especially not Almagro who had seen his opponent's abilities from up close over many years.  Almagro is a claycourter with a difference and the single handed backhand sets him apart from almost all professionals on tour today.

The opening set went to script for the better part, with hard hitting ground strokes from on or around the  base line, lots of spin which shocked neither player, but with a lousy first serve percentage from Almagro which Ferrer was not able to exploit.
The seventh game sponsored the only break point for the set and it came courtesy of the David Ferrer serve.  A forcing shot from Almagro, as if any of his shots deserved an alternative description, rendered a Ferrer backhand obsolete and in he process his service game broken.  Almagro led 4-3 and he led with various other scorelines until he was finally content with the one that read 6-4.  It fitted him well and he wore it into the start of Set 2.

More of the same in the second set with the players making ground to balls that had no physical right to be reached and not only that for the racquet to be prepared in such a way for the replies to be just as elusive when they landed across the other side of the net.  Again no hint of drama on serve until Ferrer located trouble when traversing through the fifth game.  It was a break point sneakily hidden by Almagro and designed to cause irreparable damage when converted, which conversion Nicolas duly undertook.

Trailing 2-3, Ferrer kept pace with Almagro to trail 3-4 and then set about retrieving the situation by investing in 15-40 on the Almagro serve in the eight game.  Nicolas had been tipped off, though, and used 2 big serves to block the break points away and move to the safety of 5-3.
David did as instructed while the remaining two games were completed and allowed Almagro to build his lead to 6-4 6-4.

Now things could really begin because Ferrer was hungry for a five setter.

Nicolas had problems with his first serve once more in Set 3 and yet again David could not take advantage.  The accuracy and weight of shot continued to define the long and far from boring rallies as the two warriors battled on.  Nicolas broke the Ferrer serve to lead 4-3 and for the first time seriously have talk circulating re the possibility of the 4th seed exit.

The break was consolidated and when the time came at 5-4 for Almagro to serve for a semi final berth, the best of David Ferrer emerged from its hiding place.

He barely missed a shot in the entire game, and that coupled with the inability of Almagro to put enough first serves into play conspired to break the serve and level the set at 5-5.

Ferrer thrived on the momentum shift as if were his own adrenalin, and he became unstoppable, taking the next two games and stealing the set from under the eyes of his mate 7-5.

The fourth set included the standard fare of powerfully hit rallies and lots of running, but the big difference came on the scoreboard where the serve was finally affected and significantly.  Many break points were created by both players and several converted, beginning with Ferrer losing his serve in the third game and lag behind 1-2.

In a case of  "any serve you can drop I can drop too" Almagro mimicked Ferrer in the very next game for 2-2.  The two played around like this in games seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve, with Almagro serving for the match in both the tenth and twelfth.

The fact that Nicolas had now failed with three attempts at serving out the match did not augur well for his chances in the tie break which was the only way to decide the fourth set since the players were obviously too intent on breaking each others serves to have worked it out beforehand.

Ferrer did win the tie break and accordingly the right to contest the fifth set which Almagro needed like a leg cramp, and it seemed he was about to inherit one of those too.

The fifth set did fall the expected way with Ferrer the more solid of the two as the match developed and the Almagro mental scars grew.  If Ferrer gives you that many chances in a match and none of them are taken then eventually it will sting you in the cruellest manner.

Ferrer into yet another semi and eyeing his first ever Grand Slam tournament final
4-6 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4) 6-2