Australian Open Day 10 Preview: Murray and Azarenka Bid for Spots in Semis
The first halves of the men’s and women’s singles semifinals at the Australian Open were set yesterday. Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska all booked their spots in the final four in Melbourne, and the other half of the semifinals will be determined today with four intriguing matchups:
(2) Andy Murray (Great Britain) vs. (8) David Ferrer (Spain)
Eighth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer enters this match as the only player on the men’s side who has not dropped a set thus far, bit will face a much stiffer opponent when he faces off with Andy Murray tonight. The Glasgow, Scotland native has admitted the distractions of his wife Kim Sears being home in England preparing to give birth to the couple’s first child have affected him, but Murray’s play on the court would not indicate that. While Murray has won the last five meetings and is 12-6 in his career against Ferrer, the Spaniard has looked sharp and healthy in his first few matches, and with both players skill at the baseline, we could be in for a long match.
(13) Milos Raonic (Canada) vs. (23) Gael Monfils (France)
Milos Raonic is coming off the biggest win of his career in the fourth round. The 13th seeded Canadian hung on to beat fourth-seed and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in a tough five-setter, and will need to find some fresh legs when he takes on Gael Monfils. The 23rd seeded Frenchman has benefitted from a favorable draw up to this point as Raonic will be the first seeded player he will face, but Monfils has still looked good early on. He has been his usual energetic and flashy self, but the results have been there. He will need to bring his complete focus if he wants to take out Raonic, who has yet to lose so far in 2016.
(7) Angelique Kerber (Germany) vs. (14) Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
While the Serena Williams-Maria Sharapova matchup from yesterday stole all the headlines and was the most talked about quarterfinal, this matchup between seventh-seed Angelique Kerber and 14th seed Victoria Azarenka could turn out to be one of the best matchups of the tournament. Nobody on the women’s side has looked more impressive than Azarenka so far in 2016. The Belarusian dominated her way to the Brisbane title, and has lost just 11 games through her first four matches in Melbourne, but faces her toughest test yet in Kerber. The big-hitting lefty can match Azarenka’s power, and will need to serve extremely well to have a shot. Azarenka is 6-0 all-time against Kerber, including a 6-3, 6-1 win in the Brisbane final two weeks ago.
The semifinals of the women’s doubles draw will be played tonight as well. The top-seeded duo of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza seek their 35th straight victory when they take on the 13th seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova. The other semifinal will see 15th seeded Chinese duo Yi-Fan Xu and Saisai Zheng face off with the seventh-seeded Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.
