The quarter finals are now complete and there was another huge shock, marking the first time since 1997 that none of the top 3 seeds reached the semi final here.
(Rank/Seed)
5/5 Radwanska completed the seemingly impossible in defeating (2/2) Azarenka 61 57 60, snapping her 18 match win streak at the Australian Open. Radwanska was a puppet master in the first and third sets, using drop shots and lobs to beguile her more powerful opponent, retrieving seemingly unreachable shots, much to the crowds delight. She remained composed throughout, despite a wobble when she was broken in the 12th game of the second set, hitting 23 winners to only 15 unforced errors. Azarenka was never really in the match as she struggled to make easy put-aways, frequently mishitting her forehand on crucial points. Though she seemed to find her rhythm during the back end of the second set, she lost a closely contested first game of the third set after having held 4 game points and never recovered, imploding badly thereafter. Overall, she made 47 unforced errors, compared to 33 winners. You would never have known that Radwanska had lost her last 7 meetings against Azarenka with the way in which she dismantled the two time defending champion to move into her first Australian Open semi final.
21/20 Cibulkova used her past experience to crush (11/11) Halep 63 60 to move into her second major semi final, having lost in the semis of the French Open in 2009. Though Halep seemed to be rallying after a nervous start from 1-4 to 3-4 on serve, she wouldn't win another game as Cibulkova overpowered her. Halep eventually looked eager just to get off the court. Cibulkova was extra pumped for the match and later admitted that the fact that she'd been in this situation before (1-3 in previous major quarter finals) helped her remain calm.
Radwanska leads Cibulkova 4-1, winning their last meeting in Tokyo 2013, 63 64 whilst also beating her 60 60 in the final of Sydney last year. Cibulkova's one win came in last year's Stanford final, but even then she had to recover from 2-4 down in the 3rd! Radwanska is 1-1 in major semis (both at Wimbledon), whilst as mentioned, Cibulkova lost her only previous semi. I think Radwanska will be too solid and reach the final, to play Li.
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