The quarterfinal match, Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova will begin at 7.30 am IST at the Rod Laver Arena on January 26, Tuesday.
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Williams paid tribute to Sharapova afterwards in a television interview. Probably not soon. But perhaps someday.
“She won through her qualities, her competitiveness, with her confidence, serve, but the level of play wasn’t fabulous”.
Is there a more lopsided rivalry in all of sports?
The gulf between Williams and Sharapova, a former number one and five-times grand slam champion, speaks volumes about the balance of power in the women’s game.
It dates back to 2004 when she last beat her in the Wimbledon final.
She came agonizingly close to winning all four majors last year, which would have made her the first person to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam in 27 years. It’s not necessarily anyone in particular.
“Right now, I have nothing to lose”, Radwanska said. “Yeah, today was very good tactics for me”. “It’s the first time in my career at the Australian Open where I’ve played three times in a row under the roof”. Hopefully I can play my best tennis in the semi, otherwise I will be in big trouble.
And on a fourth set point, the set was Williams’ in 55 minutes.
Not that either of those mattered.
Williams, who only lost three matches in 56 last season, called the trainer out at the changeover, apparently feeling unwell, but soldiered on and took control with an early break in the second set.
In contrast, the aces were starting to fly off the Williams racquet as she held for 3-3.
“When you’re playing someone who’s so great, you have to come out with a lot of fire and intensity”, she added. Sharapova said Williams was, as usual, just too good.
Both players struggled with their ball toss at one end, repeatedly practicing their toss to work out the best position to serve into the sun.
The next game saw the Russian push Serena onto the backfoot, as she pressed for the break, but the American held on after saving two break points. And then Sharapova’s collapsed.
Williams went on a five-game roll until Sharapova held in the second set, and then finished it off in the seventh game after saving break points.
Indeed, the way Williams dispatched a surely crestfallen Sharapova, all signs point to the American landing in Saturday’s finale, perhaps against the surging Victoria Azarenka.
“It’s obviously always frustrating”, Sharapova said.
“She presents a completely different game, an extremely exciting game. She makes you go back to the drawing board, not just for me, but for many other players”, she said. “She doesn’t give you many angles”. Radwanska has lost in the semifinal of a grand slam three times since 2013.
Fourth seed Radwanska will be looking to erase memories of her previous best finish at Melbourne Park, a 2014 semi-final loss to Dominika Cibulkova that lasted just 70 minutes.
The match stats bore out Williams’ usual dominance: a 31-11 edge in winners and a 13-3 margin in aces.
Put another way, when Williams is at the top of her game it is incredibly hard to beat her.
MELBOURNE, Australia Serena Williams says she doesnt remember much about the first time she played Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open. – 3-17 against Williams.
Serena Williams told the BBC that she’d been previously unaware of who she’d be playing next. What does she have to do to halt it?
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“Everything from here on out, every match, is a bonus for me. I like my chances”. Although perhaps it could happen if Sharapova waits long enough, when Serena is an actual golden girl, rather just a passionate fan of the old TV series “The Golden Girls”. But, even though she does seem to be on a a streak, she did admit that she made a few errors in her game on Sunday, The Guardian reported.
