Andy Murray and Johanna Konta have made it to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, meaning Britain will have a male and a female player in the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time since 1977, when Sue Barker, Robin Drysdale and John Lloyd all reached this stage.
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In the first of the quarter-finals played in Melbourne today, Murray beat Ferrer 6-3 6-7 6-2 6-3. Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka takes on Barbora Strycova in the following match, with French Open champion Stan Wawrinka set to play Canadian Milos Raonic in the final match of the afternoon.
Murray grabbed a break for 3-1 in the third and, with a storm approaching, play was immediately suspended so the roof over the court could be closed. Li Na saved a match point in her third-round match at the 2014 Australian Open on the way to the title. “With two matches gone the world number two’s sharpness suggests another run deep into the tournament is in the offing, barring an emergency call from home about his wife’s pregnancy”, writes Mike Dickson. “I grew up in Scotland and the weather is not as good as here so I grew up playing most of my tennis indoors”. At stake for both players is a first semifinal appearance at the tournament.
Andy Murray says veteran Spaniard David Ferrer has inspired him to believe he can play long into his thirties.
On Wednesday, a half-hour before Kerber began her 6-3, 7-5 win over Azarenka to advance to the semifinals, tennis’ governing bodies announced they will commission an independent review of their anti-corruption unit to restore “public confidence in our sport” following the reports that possible evidence of match-fixing was not properly investigated.
Zhang needed to win three matches in qualifying, so she’s on a seven-match winning streak in Melbourne. Monfils entertained the Margaret Court Arena crowd with his manic all-over-the-court antics, including a bounding full-stretch dive that resulted in him needing an injury timeout for treatment on his right hand.
Top-seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia and No. 3 seed Roger Federer of Switzerland will contest the other semifinal on Thursday.
Murray and brother Jamie became the first siblings in the Open era to reach the semifinals in both men’s singles and doubles in Australia. Ferrer has lost in the quarterfinal of a grand slam five times since 2013. “She’s an incredibly intense, focused player who was No. 1 and has won so many Grand Slams for a reason”. Williams had 13 aces, hit 31 winners to 11, and broke Sharapova’s serve four times.
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“I found it easier to return [after the roof closed]”.
