After being down match point in her first-round encounter against Japan’s Misaki Doi, Kerber has built steadily through the tournament and can now look forward to a quarter-final encounter against either two-time Open champion Victoria Azarenka or Czech Barbora Strycova.
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Johanna Konta of Britain makes a backhand return to Zhang Shuai of China during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.
On paper, Azarenka’s 2015 was a disappointment: two Grand Slam quarterfinals and a year-end ranking of No. 22, a long way removed from her days as No. 1 in the world and victor of two major singles titles, at the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013. The $32 million Australian Open 2016 will finish on 31 January. Responding to reports that possible evidence of…
Murray has had a tough time of it though, coincidentally dropping a set to Joao Sousa just as his father-in-law Nigel Sears, coach to Ana Ivanovic, was having a medical crisis in the next court.
“Oh my God, it’s finished”, Konta said in her on-court interview after becoming the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in 32 years.
The talented but unproven 21-year-old Beck was in the second week of a major for the first time in 14 career appearances, and experience was clearly a factor in the second set.
Twice champion Victoria Azarenka reached her fifth Australian Open quarter-final on Monday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over unseeded Czech Barbora Strycova. The fact that it is the Australian Open and it was the fourth round, that’s pretty cool.
Both players held their opening serves before the Belarusian started finding space, creating four break points in the third game, but Strycova fended them off and held on.
Konta on Thursday tangles with another unexpected player, Angelique Kerber, who pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament since Rafael Nadal exited in the first round by ousting the seemingly impregnable Victoria Azarenka 6-3 7-5.
Novak Djokovic and Federer will contest the other semifinal. But on Wednesday, she lost the first four games of the match and, after saving three set points, the first set. Konta is getting at least 51 percent of her first serves in play and is winning no less than 68 percent of those points.
“That helped me a little bit”, Murray said.
“The key from this match was that I was playing and I won the match”, Kerber told reporters.
“I can’t describe it. I was 0-6 (in their head to head) before I came on court”.
Like Azarenka, Kerber is a form player, winning four titles last season – second only to Williams, who claimed five – although she failed to translate that to the Grand Slams.
In an all-German match, No. 7-seeded Angelique Kerber is playing Annika Beck in the first match on the main Rod Laver Arena. “I have improved so much from a year ago”, Azarenka said. “I couldn’t be happier”.
Ferrer won 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in two hours, four minutes on Hisense Arena to set up his sixth appearance in the last eight.
“But she taught me actually that I’m on a good way and try to believe in myself”.
Quarterfinal matches on Tuesday in Melbourne will be (4) Agnieszka Radwanska vs. (10) Carla Suarez Navarro, and the blockbuster (1) Serena Williams vs. (5) Maria Sharapova.
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The independent review announced in a news conference at Melbourne Park, earlier reported by The Associated Press, will be funded by the Tennis Integrity Board, which oversees the anti-corruption unit set up by the sport in 2008 to combat match-fixing.
