Australian Open Semifinal Preview: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni vs Serena Williams
Surprise contender Mirjana Lucic-Baroni takes on world No.2 Serena Williams in the semifinal of the Australia Open. We preview the match.
Surprise contender Mirjana Lucic-Baroni takes on world No.2 Serena Williams in the semifinal of the Australia Open. We preview the match.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova ended the run of Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato on Wednesday to reach the final of the Australian Open.
Catch up on all the quarterfinal results from Day 10 of the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – No.2 seeds Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig overcame a stern test from the unseeded Gabriela Dabrowski and Rohan Bopanna to move into the semifinals of the mixed doubles competition at the Australian Open.
Mirza and Dodig needed one hour and seven minutes to complete the 6-4, 3-6, (12-10) victory despite hitting 19 winners to Dabrowski and Bopanna’s 32.
It was an interesting match for Mirza in particular, as the last time she shared a court with Bopanna they were on the same side of the net at the Olympic tennis event in Rio representing India in doubles. They finished fourth in the competition after losing the bronze medal match.
Up next for Mirza and Dodig will be a potential clash with another familiar pair of faces for the Indian World No.2, as they’ll take on either Mirza’s former doubles partner Martina Hingis and fellow Indian star Leander Paes or the Aussie duo Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth.
Also through to the semifinals are the unseeded duo of Abigail Spears and Juan Sebastian Cabal, who defeated Michaella Krajicek and Raven Klaasen, 6-4 6-3. They’ll face the winners between the top-seeded Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mike Bryan or Elina Svitolina and Chris Guccione.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni says it’s all coming together at just this right time at this Australian Open…
MELBOURNE, Australia – The bottom half of the Australian Open draw concludes the quarterfinal match-ups in Melbourne, featuring the much-anticipated clash between six-time champion Serena Williams and Johanna Konta, the in-form semifinalist from last year. No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova also hopes to continue her unbeaten run in 2017 against Cinderella story Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who is into her first major quarterfinal in nearly two decades.
We preview all the Day 10 matchups right here on wtatennis.com.
Wednesday, Quarterfinals
[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #5) vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #79)
Head-to-head: Pliskova leads, 3-2
Key Stat: Both Pliskova and Lucic-Baroni are playing in their second Grand Slam quarterfinals (Pliskova, 2016 US Open, Lucic-Baroni, 1999 Wimbledon).
Pliskova made her first 17 Grand Slam appearances without making the second week, but the Brisbane International champion is making up for lost time in her second straight major quarterfinal since reaching the US Open final.
It was a much longer drought for Lucic-Baroni, who needed 18 years to back up her breakthrough run at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships after a mix of personal and financial problems kept her off the tour for almost a decade.
The 34-year-old veteran takes on Pliskova for the first time since the 2015, when the two split their two meetings that season; Lucic-Baroni lost their most recent encounter in a third-set tie-break at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Pliskova has dropped just two sets all season, emerging victorious from a 10-8 final set against Latvian youngster Jelena Ostapenko to brush aside No.22 seed Daria Gavrilova in front of her home crowd.
Can Lucic-Baroni win the battle of big hitters to continue her fairytale run, or will Pliskova continue her newfound dominance at majors and reach another semifinal?
[9] Johanna Konta (GBR #9) vs [2] Serena Williams (USA #2)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Konta has dropped serve twice in four matches (tournament leader).
With defending champion Angelique Kerber out at the hands of CoCo Vandeweghe, Serena Williams suddenly found herself in a solid position to reclaim the No.1 ranking from her rival. To do it, she’ll also need to take home the Open Era record of 23 Grand Slam titles and her seventh Down Under.
Standing between her and the semifinals is an unfamiliar foe in Johanna Konta, the fastest rising force in women’s tennis since her initial 16-match winning streak in the summer of 2015.
Konta has been ruthless through four rounds, knocking out former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and 2015 semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova en route to her second straight quarterfinal in Melbourne.
Serena has taken out on-fire opponents in the past; can she solve the unflappable Brit on Rod Laver Arena, or will Konta keep up her potentially Slam-winning form into the final four?
Around the Grounds…
The women’s and mixed doubles events are rounding into form, and both feature doubles No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The American rejoins Lucie Safarova to take on the unseeded Japanese duo of Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato. Meanwhile, top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic will need to turn around from their three-set thriller over Aussies Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua to play No.12 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai, who dispatched reigning Olympic champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in two tight sets on Tuesday.
In mixed, No.2 seed Sania Mirza will partner Ivan Dodig for a second day in a row as they try to reach a second straight Australian Open semifinal; aiming to stop them are an unseeded pair in Gabriela Dabrowski and Mirza’s countryman, Rohan Bopanna.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Take a look at CoCo Vandeweghe in practice before her semifinal match at the Australian Open against Venus Williams.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Venus Williams is through to her first Australian Open semifinal since 2003 without dropping a set after powering past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 7-6(3).
“It’s wonderful to be here to start the year out with this,” an emotional Venus told the crowd on Rod Laver Arena. “I want to go further! I’m not happy just with this, but I’m just happy to be in the position to go further.”
Venus was made to work for every point by the No.24-seeded Pavlyuchenkova, who was into her first Australian Open quarterfinal and looking for a career-first Grand Slam semifinal appearance.
QFs are about to begin with @NastiaPav taking on @Venuseswilliams #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/e85sXfJP5G
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2017
Pavlyuchenkova punished Venus’ vulnerable second serve throughout the match, and the American found herself trailing down a break twice in both sets. But the experience of the seven-time Grand Slam champion showed in the big moments, and she broke back each time as Pavlyuchenkova faltered.
“I just think I wasn’t fresh enough to really go for the serves,” the Russian explained later in press. “I knew that I had to serve good because she’s very aggressive on the baseline and return. I was kind of putting a bit of pressure on myself on the serve. That’s why the percentage went low.”
Venus stayed aggressive throughout the hour and forty-seven minute affair, hitting 35 winners to Pavlyuchenkova’s 17 and striking 29 unforced errors against 32. She was a force at the net as well, winning 81% of the 16 points finished at the net.
The victory is Venus’ 50th win at the Australian Open, and, at 36 years old, she becomes the oldest player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Martina Navratilova in 1994 Wimbledon.
“I have a lot to give to the game,” Venus said in her post-match press conference. “I feel like I have a lot of great tennis in me. So any time you feel that way, you continue.
“Why not? I have nothing to lose, literally.”
Venus will play the unseeded CoCo Vandeweghe for a spot in the final after the American knocked out No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza in straight sets.
“To have that thought that there’s going to be at least one U.S. player in the final is great for American tennis,” Venus said.
“I’m sure she’s going to want to be in her first final. I’m going to want to be in only my second final here. So it’s going to be a well-contested match.”
“I'm just so excited that I have an opportunity to play again.” @Venuseswilliams #AusOpen #Venus pic.twitter.com/nlmCO654vQ
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2017
After correcting a misguided reporter who thought she was playing sister Venus in the semifinals, Serena Williams looks ahead to her match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
MELBOURNE, Australia – CoCo Vandeweghe played impeccable tennis to continue a career-best run, dispatching No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the Australian Open semifinals.
“It’s amazing to be in a semifinal,” she said in her post-match press conference. “But, you know, not satisfying. I want to keep going, keep playing. There’s more things to do out on a tennis court that I’m hoping to achieve.”
Vandeweghe might have been forgiven for having a letdown less than 48 hours after defeating World No.1 and defending champion Angelique Kerber in the previous round.
But with the help of coach Craig Kardon, it was clear the unseeded American came to play from the outset, earning break points in the very first game against Muguruza, who was playing in her first major quarterfinal since winning Roland Garros.
“I thought I took care of the things that I could control, which is the most important thing: not letting outside factors affect anything that was happening.
“It’s kind of weathering the storm a little bit, knowing what Craig and I talked about before the match: the game plan is going to work, and believing in it, not wavering from it, which I’m very proud of myself for doing, especially early in the first set when I was kind of squandering quite a few break points.”
The first set came down to one break of serve, which Vandeweghe converted and never looked back, losing just one more game in one hour and 23 minute masterclass.
“Maybe I play better nervous and scared. I don’t know. I think I don’t shy away from a challenge necessarily. I never have. Growing up, I’ve always just been wanting to prove people wrong in a lot of different regards.
“I think it’s more that I take it as an enjoyable challenge. It’s what I want to do. It’s where I want to be. To face the best players is definitely an accomplishment, to say for myself that I’ve gotten to the point that I’ve beat and face these top players.”
By the end of the match, she hit 31 winners to 20 unforced errors, handcuffing the typically aggressive Muguruza, holding the Spaniard to only 14 winners against 16 errors.
“I was surprised,” Muguruza said after the match. “I think she played unbelievable. Three times we played in the past, she didn’t show this level.
“Her serve, her shots were there. She barely missed. So it was a pretty good performance from her.”
Standing between Vandeweghe and her first Grand Slam final is No.13 seed and former No.1 Venus Williams, who is playing her first Australian Open semifinal since 2003.
“It’s a dream to play someone you grew up watching. To play an unbelievable player, future Hall of Famer in Venus, and to be on the court with her, I’ve only experienced it one time before.
“But to do it at this stage of a Grand Slam is kind of crazy. I mean, I can’t really put it into words. Not only when I was younger, it was unknown if I even wanted to play tennis, because I was playing basketball as well, but it was kind of, like, you see that, you see it happening, but you more see yourself there. You don’t see who the opponent is on the other side when you get there.
“To definitely have two Americans against each other in the semifinal I think is pretty cool.”
.@CoCoVandey reflects on her game… “It was like a freight train, you couldn't stop it.” #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/CMzpFOK5H1
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2017