Djokovic beats Federer to reach Australian Open final

MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer saved a parting shot for anyone who thinks his time is up and a changing of the guard in tennis awaits.

"Yeah, I mean, they say that very quickly. ... Let's talk in six months again," he said.

The heavily hyped duel between Federer and Rafael Nadal will not happen in Melbourne, opening a rare window for someone else.

Federer, the defending champion, lost to Novak Djokovic 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-4 in the Australian Open semifinals Thursday night. It marks the first time since 2008 neither of tennis' most dominant men will play in a Grand Slam final. 

Less than 24 hours earlier, an ailing Nadal's pursuit of a Rafa Slam evaporated in a quarterfinal loss to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.

Djokovic will play Ferrer or Andy Murray in the final. 

On the women's side, the title match is set with Kim Clijsters facing Li Na. Clijsters beat Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3, and Li eliminated top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Federer and Nadal have combined to win 21 of the last 23 majors. This is also the first time since 2003 that Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam winner, will not hold at least one of the four major trophies.

The Swiss great was outplayed by Djokovic, who reveled in the cooler night weather. It was the second straight time Federer has lost to the Serb – he had match points before losing in the U.S. Open semifinals.

"It's disappointing and it hurts in the moment itself," Federer said. "I wish I could have won here again for the fifth time. But wasn't possible tonight. It's not the end in any way. It's a start for many other tournaments after this."

Federer said he didn't play the key points well. He fell behind quickly in the first-set tiebreaker on backhand errors, giving Djokovic four set points.

huffingtonpost

I'll be frank I did not bother staying up for this match (given it was shown at 3:30am EST) I cheated and looked at the results of the match when I woke up later in the day.

After which I felt no need to watch the match.  I get too upset watching Roger lose.

I debated with myself on whether to even bother making this post.  But I do have a few things to say on the topic.

Having not watched the match but read plenty about it.  I know that Roger had plenty of chances, he just wasn't able to capitalize on them.

Djokovic was just too good plain and simple.

I'm not really surprised that he won he's been in great form all tournament long.  I do hope that having beaten Federer he goes on to kick Murray's butt and wins the title.

As for Federer he did awesome, he just got defeated by a better opponent who just happened to be having a better day.

ETA: I realize this is actually quite a few days late but I felt like posting my thoughts anyway.

Kim Clijsters fights off Li Na wins first Australian Open title!

tears of joy after winning the last game and the championship on her serve

tennisforum.com

Now Australia can finally call her one of her own. Cementing her status as one of the top players over the past decade, an emotional Kim Clijsters won her fourth Grand Slam by taking her first Australian Open with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over China's Na Li.

It was a monumental victory for the Belgian, who despite being one of the best hard court players on the planet since 2003, had struggled time and time again to raise the big Melbourne trophy. 
  
Based on her winning the 2010 US Open as well as the year-end WTA Championships, Clijsters came into the tournament as the favourite despite her world No.3 ranking, but still had to put down a strong and ambitious field and did so by hardening her resolve when it matters most.

"Now I feel like you guys can finally call me Aussie Kim because I won the title," said the popular Belgian, who had earned the nickname during the first stage of her career when she was engaged to former No.1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.

She was in deep trouble against the powerful Li in the first two sets as she was unable to take control of cross court rallies, served poorly and watched Li rip winners to the corners and out-run her. Clijsters grew extremely frustrated at times, but finally bore down midway through the second set, as at 3-3, she began to mix it up her shot selection and won five straight games.

Li fought her heart in the third set, but by that time, Clijsters had found her game and began to fire winners down the line off both wings, return with more aggression and accuracy and spot her serves well. 


After holding to love to win the contest, Clijsters lifted her arms to the sky and cried in joy into her towel. She thought about her father, Lei, who passed away a few years ago and wished that he could share the moments with her. 


She let out all the tension that had wracked her body in an incredibly tense match. She thought about the difficult three-set loss she took to Justine Henin in the 2004 final.

She has wanted to win the Australian Open from the time she was kid when she watched Monica Seles win time and time again and go up into the audience to share hugs with her supporters.

"I remember Monica giving her speeches and how special it looked," said Clijsters, who also owns three US Open titles. "It was amazing. They're all emotional. I think what overwhelms me is that it's so intense up until that last shot, and then all of a sudden it's finished. Then it's just like a big relief. The disbelief maybe a little bit too it's over and that I was able to turn it around is what makes it all so special."

Li was hoping to become the first player from China to win major and unlike many first time entrants to major finals, she didn't freeze during the occasion. While she grew frustrated by some of her Chinese fans in the crowd who were trying to coach her, she still put up a valiant effort against the former No.1.

"She played better than me," Li said. "After the match, back to the locker room, I make joke, tennis should only play one set I still happy what I do today So I proud for myself. She have more experience than me in the Grand Slam. But after lose the first set, she changed a little bit, like play more aggressive, so I was feeling little bit like late or something."

Since her 2009 comeback, Clijsters has won three out of the five Grand Slams she's played. She's a humble sort who won't be the one stating how great she has become, but she's a much improved and more composed player since she returned as a wife and mother. 

With 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams out of the picture in the last two Grand Slams due to injury, the 27-year-old Clijsters has come in as the favorite and performed remarkably well.

Here, she survived the hard-hitting left-hander Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round, the intelligent Pole Aga Radwanska in the quarterfinals, then world No.2 Vera Zvonareva - who had upset her at Wimbledon - the semifinals, and then the red hot Li, who had knocked off No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals.

"Obviously, the last few years that I was playing [before her two year retirement], when I was No.1 or top 3, I've always been kind of one of the players that could win it," said Clijsters, who will rise to the No.2 ranking when they are released on Monday. "When I was younger, it kind of overwhelmed me a little bit. The pressure that I put upon myself got sometimes in the way of what I was trying to do out there. I think now that I'm a little bit older a lot of things that are being said in [the press], the pressure leaves as soon as I leave through that door. I think I was able to do that throughout this week, too."

"I know how hard it is to stay fit throughout two weeks, to try and be focused, and to try to not have a bad day like I had last year here [when she was stunned by Nadia Petrova]. You have to just try to stay really focused. I was able to do that really well, try to focus on trying to be the best Kim out there and not worry about the impact or the favorite role."

australianopenwebsite

I started watching the match late last night (around 4am eastern) but decided to go to sleep after Kim lost the first set.

It was such a pleasant surprise to see her pull the championship out in 3.

Got to watch a repeat of the match later this afternoon.  Although I gotta say what's with skipping the trophy ceremony TSN?.  Not cool. 

For the first couple of sets it really felt like either one could have won it.

It's only mid way through the second set that I knew Kim would win it.

Once again just like at the U.S. Open she had some patchy matches but raised her game and played her best toward the end when it really mattered.

Congrats Kim on an awesome win and your 4th grand slam title!. 

I would love it if she could make it a "Kim slam" before leaving the game again.

If she keeps playing like this it just might happen.

Although that's a big ask, a French, or Wimbledon would do nicely :).

Kim Clijsters in the finals of the Australian Open! :)

 tennisforum.com

The Australian Open Women’s semifinal match between No. 2-ranked Vera Zvonareva and No. 3-ranked Kim Clijsters looked like an epic battle, on paper. Clijsters won the U.S. Open last September, while Zvonareva was aiming for her third grand slam final in a row.

On the court, the match played out rather differently. Belgium's Kim Clijsters blew past her Russian opponent in two sets 6–3, 6–3.

I tried really hard every point,” Clijsters told ESPN. “I knew that I had to today. Vera is a tough player—I played some really tough matches against her last year, I lost to her a couple of times, so I knew that I had to come out here and really be on top of my game, and really lift my level compared to the other matches I’ve played here so far. 

“I really tried to focus on my tennis and tried to do what I do well out there and I tried to dictate the points and move around well and make my opponent go for that one extra shot every time.”

Kim Clijsters came out calm and in control, breaking Zvonareva in the first game. The Russian broke back, but Clijsters went on the win the set handily.

The second set mirrored the first, with Clijsters getting the early break. Zvonareva fought back to hold serve at love in the fifth game, and earned three break points in the sixth. 

Zvonareva then missed two shots, giving up four straight points, losing the game and pretty much losing her last chance to save the set.

Statistically, the match looked even: Clijsters scored 63 percent on her first serves, versus Zvonareva’s 65 percent; Clijsters had two aces and two double faults, Zvonareva one each. The only difference: Clijsters hit 18 winners and 18 unforced errors, while Zvonareva had 14 and 21 respectively.

This last stat tells the difference: Clijsters was able to get shots past Zvonareva, while the Russian either couldn’t return the favor.

It took Clijsters only 73 minutes to win the match, earning her the No. 2 ranking and a spot in the final against No. 9-ranked Li Na of China who upset top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark earlier in the day.

theepochtimes


Remember that switch I was talking about the other day?.

How I was waiting for Kim to flip it and dominate?.  Well she did just that!.

Zvonareva always seems to bring out the best in Kim.  I don't know what it is I think Clijsters is a bit like Federer in a way she only raises her game when faced with the toughest opponents.

She played the most solid match since her first one in the tournament where she bageled Safina.

She served better then she has all tournament long, cut down on the unforced errors, kept her concentration throughout.

She also seemed more calm and composed (sometimes once things don't go her way her entire game gets really erratic).  Not this time.

She raised her level of play knowing it would be required if she wanted to make it through.

At one point in the second set there were shades of the U.S. Open final.  That's not to say that Zvonareva played badly quite the opposite.

She was much more impressive here in the semis then at the U.S. Open final where she imploded.  Kim just outplayed her again.

Li Na will be Clijsters opponent in the final.

Clijsters will get a chance for a bit of revenge, or redemption if you will Li Na beat her in the finals of a tune up tournament prior to the Aussie Open in Sydney (where she was actually leading 5-0 in the first set!).

If Kim plays the way she did today though there's no doubt in my mind she'll be the one holding the trophy on Saturday.  Good luck Kim!.

Justine Henin says goodbye for good

Justine Henin has shocked the tennis world by retiring from the sport for a second time in her career.

The 28-year-old seven-time Grand Slam champion announced her retirement on her official website yesterday, a serious right elbow injury cutting short the 'second career' she embarked on this time last year.

Addressing her fans in an emotional letter, Henin explained that following extensive medical tests doctors had advised her to stop playing professionally.

"I spent the last days undergoing various medical tests and they have confirmed that my elbow has been damaged by my adventure in Australia," she wrote, saying she had suffered a great deal of pain since crashing out in the third round of Australian Open 2011 to Svetlana Kuznetsova, but had believed her will power would carry her through.

"Today the examinations are clearly (sic) and the doctors formally my elbow is too fragile and hurt so that my passion and my profession at high level cannot continue to exist...It is now clear and I accept that my career here...finally ends. Even though it's hard, very hard, while I came back with tremendous fighting spirit."

With 43 WTA Tour titles, Grand Slam victories at the Australian Open, French and US Opens, and an Olympic Gold Medal to her name, Henin is one of the most successful female tennis players - and athletes - of all time. She injured her elbow in a fall during her fourth round loss to compatriot Kim Clijsters in the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

The Belgian first retired on May 14, 2008 when ranked No.1 in the world, her long-time coach Carlos Rodriguez explaining: "Tennis became more than just winning for Justine and just winning wasn't enough for her anymore."

This time retirement was out of the famously strong-willed players hands. "After my crash at Wimbledon in June, I knew it would be difficult to come back. But I had decided to keep playing and to give everything to overcome the injury," wrote Henin on justine-henin.be.

"In these recent months I have rarely been spared from the pain, those last months were very hard. Time has passed and the doubts have grown and only return to the courts would give me answers. Not the answer I was hoping for...unfortunately.

"I'm in shock, of course, even with the work of these past seven months I had to understand there might be a reason for all this...I'm sorry...I had hoped for a different return and dreamed of a different ending.

Thanks for standing by my side during all these years. I will never forget your support and your loyalty."

WTA Tour CEO Stacey Allaster paid tribute to Henin's career saying: "We have all been fortunate to once again have had the opportunity to witness the beauty of her game during these many past months, and no doubt we will miss seeing her on court competing like only Justine can. Justine Henin will go down as one of the greatest female athletes of her era." 

australianopenwebsite

Well, what can you say I sort of said it all the first time she retired back in May of '08.  Except this time it seems even sadder, because it really looks to be for good.

Ending it in the worst possible way too, ending it on your own terms is always better then being forced to do so due to an injury.

Goodbye Justine, thanks for all the craftsmanship and excitement you brought to tennis over the years.  Good luck in whatever endeavours you wish to undertake, the tennis world will undoubtedly miss you.

You can read the entire letter Justine wrote to her fans on her official website.

Kim Clijsters into the semis at Melbourne with a bit of a struggle

Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijsters have set up a semi-final re-match of last year's US Open final with straight-forward wins in their respective Australian Open quarter-final matches on Wednesday.

No.2 seed Zvonareva, a finalist at the past two Grand Slam events, dominated the first match capitalising on the nerves of her opponent, Czech No.25 seed Petra Kvitova, to win 6-2 6-4.

It was a similarly comfortable time for the third seed Clijsters, Zvonareva's conqueror at Flushing Meadows last year, as she banished Polish No.12 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Having made her fifth Australian Open semi-finals, Clijsters looks well-placed to claim her fourth Grand Slam title as the only previous winner of a major tournament left in the women's draw.

In the second match, Clijsters took control of the first set with breaks in the third and fifth games. 

The Belgian was taking all the risks and getting the rewards, despite Radwanska pulling back a break, and when she broke her for the fourth time, she had wrapped up the first set in just 29 minutes.

Radwanska dug in for the fight early in the second set, but was unable to capitalise when holding 15-40 on Clijsters serve in the first game. 

The Belgian continued to attack and took a 4-2 lead only for Radwanska to reel off breaks in the seventh and ninth games to have the set on her racquet.

But the 21-year-old Pole was unable to close that out and the set went to a tie-breaker, where Clijsters' experience in the big matches came to the fore. 

With things evenly poised at 5-4, she upped the power and forced Radwanska into successive errors to claim the match in 94 minutes.

The 2004 finalist will feel she has plenty of improvement left in her game after making 37 unforced errors to Radwanska's 13 and being broken four times for the match.

It will be the third Grand Slam in a row that Clijsters and Zvonareva have met, with the pair having split their meetings last year in the Wimbledon quarters and the US Open final. 

Clijsters holds a 6-3 edge on head to head, but Zvonareva won their last meeting in Doha late last year.

 sportal.com.au

It's hard to describe this match really.  It was so topsy turvy it's a wonder I didn't get whiplash :D.  Back to back breaks in the first 3 games. Not a stellar start.

I'm still waiting for Kim to flip that switch and really dominate like I know she can at this point in the tournament.  Instead she's still playing really patchy tennis.  This match really was Clijsters to win or lose.

With as many breaks as she had against Radwanska she should have steam rolled.

Rather then making things easy for herself every time she was ahead, she kept gifting Radwanska with chances to break even and get back into the match.

It was a really off day for Clijsters as she herself admitted saying her legs felt heavy in the post-match interview.  But she managed to pull through despite it all.

And I suppose when you get right down to it that is the most important thing.

Hopefully she can scrap this performance, and start fresh playing better in the next one.  And she will  have to raise her game at least 80% if she wants to get past Vera Zvonareva who's playing unbelievably at the moment.

The last time these two played Kim blew her off the court.  Nerves getting the better of Zvonareva.

I'm not so sure that will be the case this time.  Although Kim's experience will undoubtedly help her.  The question remaining is will that be enough?.

Hopefully this next match will be a little more exciting because so far aside from Francesca Schiavone's matches the men are far superior over the women on that front.

Roger Federer rolls into the semis @ Aussie Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Defending champion Roger Federer advanced to the Australian Open semifinals with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win over Stanislas Wawrinka on Tuesday in a mismatch that had the intensity of a practice session. 

Federer, aiming to become the first man to win five Australian titles, was playing in his record-tying 27th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. He is into his eighth consecutive semifinal at Melbourne Park.

No. 19 Wawrinka was playing at this stage for only the second time at a major and struggled against Federer in the first all-Swiss quarterfinal at a Grand Slam. He had only beaten Federer once in their seven previous matches. 

Wawrinka had only one look at a break chance against the 16-time Grand Slam winner, in the sixth game of the third set, and lost three straight points to let Federer off the hook.

Federer cashed in on five of his seven break opportunities. 

Wawrinka received a code violation for smashing his racket into the ground, shattering the frame, after falling behind 2-0 in the third. His intensity picked up, but it was too late. 

"I obviously played Stan many times in practice and in matches ... maybe a bit of a battle for him to get used to the conditions," Federer said. "I had to fight extremely hard and I thought Stan played an amazing tournament." 

Wawrinka was on a nine-match winning streak, including a straight-sets win over former No. 1-ranked Andy Roddick in the fourth round. 

Federer next plays the winner of Tuesday's later match between No. 3 Novak Djokovic and Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych. Federer's last two Grand Slam losses have come against them - against Berdych at Wimbledon and Djokovic at the U.S. Open. Djokovic also beat Federer in the semifinals here in 2008 before going on to win the title. 

For Federer, the match will be more about making the final than seeking revenge.

"I got them back a couple of times at the end of the year," he said. "I don't feel like I need to get back at them necessarily, but I'm not just going to come out here and give them the match." 

cbc.ca

Well this turned out to be very anti-climatic didn't it?.  No sweating and hair pulling required 

Don't get me wrong I'm thrilled that Federer's form seems to be back on track with this convincing win.  

But after what Stan did to Roddick I expected a little bit more competitiveness.  

There were some wonderful shots courtesy of a very relaxed Federer.  He'll certainly have plenty of energy to spare for the 2 remaining matches that's for sure.  

And against either Djokovic or Berdych he'll need every drop. 

It only gets tougher from here on out.  But I know that Roger being the champ that he is will be up to the challenge.  Looking forward to it!. 

Kim Clijsters battles into the quarters in Melbourne

(Reuters) - Third seed Kim Clijsters overcame the night chill and a sluggish start to beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 6-2 and march into the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday.

The Belgian, a three-times grand slam champion and Melbourne runner-up in 2004, sealed a tough victory a little after midnight local time with a drilled backhand crosscourt.

"She was unpredictable," Clijsters told reporters. "I had to get a feel for it".

"In the second set I started being a bit more aggressive. I had to really step it up and finish it off," added the tournament favorite, who followed men's number one Rafa Nadal as the last match on Rod Laver Arena.

"I was very happy Rafa finished it off in three sets."

Clijsters squandered an early break gifted to her by a nervous Makarova and was forced to a first set tiebreak, which she took 7-3 on a cold evening in Melbourne.

Normal service resumed in the second set, although Clijsters needed to take anti-inflammatory pills for a tight hamstring in a minor scare.

However, she had already found the range with her heavier groundstrokes and broke the Russian twice to set up a clash with Polish 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

"At important moments, like in the tiebreak, she played unbelievable -- fighting for every point," said the 49th-ranked Makariva after her best grand slam run to date.

"I just have to go for every ball because if I wait for a mistake from her, I have no chance to win. She was better on the big points."

reuters

Unfortunately I was not able to see this match myself due to poor coverage by TSN again :(.  So I can't make a fair judgement on her performance.

But from what I've been able to find out Kim did alright.  Not spectacular, but just enough to win (which she has been doing pretty much the whole tournament).

Her last 2 U.S. Open's are testaments that sometimes that's all it takes.  Although I think if she wants to win she's gonna have to raise her game and stop making so many unforced errors.

Radwanska can be tricky, but I think she will be a able to get through that one in straights.

Honestly the only one who can really test her would be Zvonareva (assuming she handles the pressure of being in another Grand Slam final better then she did in last year's U.S. Open).

And maybe Li Na (seeing as she beat Clijsters in the tune up tournament in Sydney just prior to the Aussie Open).  Although I'm not sure she's in the same half as Clijsters if I'm wrong please correct me.

Good luck in the next round Kim!.