Australian Open semifinals set
January 22, 2014
Radwanska finally broke her jinx against Belarusian Azarenka on Wednesday, defeating the defending Australian Open champ after losing to her in their last seven meetings.
When the dust settled on the three-set match, Radwanska had won 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 to knock Azarenka out of the tournament.
"It's hard to play someone I lost (to) so many times before. I knew she's a great player. Especially here, she was playing amazing tennis," said Radwanska.
With Azarenka's exit, the top three seeds are now out of the Grand Slam following the defeats of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
The win also ensures that the Australia Open will have a new female champion this year, as none of the semifinalists have won before.
Radwanska will now face Slovak 20th seed Dominika Cibulkova, with 4th seed Li Na of China facing Canadian 19-year-old Eugenie Bouchard. Both matches will take place Thursday.
Nadal, Federer to the semifinal
On the men's side, Spain's Rafael Nadal will be moving to the semifinals after winning a 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7), 6-2 match over Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov.
Nadal won the match depsite a nasty-looking blister in the palm of his left hand. The injury led him to give up seven double-faults.
"I felt that the biggest problem was the serve because, you know, serving like this gives me a problem for everything else," he said.
Nadal will now play Roger Federer on Friday in the semifinal after the Swiss beat Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
The match marks the 11th successive semifinal at Melbourne Park for Federer as he bids for a record 18th Grand Slam.
Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, who beat the men's defending champion, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, will play the Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych on Thursday.
hc/mz (Reuters, AFP)