Australian Open 2013 - Li and Azarenka setup final clash

Li was pumped up and on form vs Sharapova

Australian Open 2013 Day 11 - Li and Azarenka setup final clash

In the first Men's singles semi-final Novak Djokovic crushed David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in under and hour and a half and looked scary good.         

Earlier on day eleven there were two compelling women's singles semi-finals that, although they were not pulsating three set thrillers like twelve months ago, provided many talking points.

In the first semi-final Li Na produced a wonderful display of calm and composed power hitting to repeat her 2011 French Open semi-final victory over former Champion Maria Sharapova.

I predicted the result before the tournament but I would not have predicted the scoreline of 6-2, 6-2 after the way Sharapova had roared through to the last four dropping just the nine games.

But the Russian was really made to look second best by superb play from the Chinese No.1.



Sharapova was outhit and outplayed

Li, a finalist in Melbourne two years ago, broke in the opening game and again to take a 4-1 lead.  The 30 year-old wasn't just slamming glorious winners all over the court but she was showing real patience and building her winning points very effectively.

She also showed good mental strength when Sharapova got one of the breaks back to 2-4 as Li broke right back and served out the opening set to 15 at 5-2.

Perhaps Sharapova's main opportunity came when she held two break points to open a 2-0 lead in the second and really swing the momentum of the match.

But she failed to capitalise and it was Li who gained the first break to go ahead 3-2.  Li saved a break point in the following game with a big backhand winner crosscourt and broke Sharapova for a fifth time to reach 5-2. 

    

A first match point went begging with a forehand that went wide but an ace brought Li a second match point.  She forced a final error from the Russian to move into her third major final after 93 minutes.

In the second semi-final 19 year-old Sloane Stephens appeared a bit overawed in her first Grand Slam semi-final as defending champion Victoria Azarenka quickly opened a 6-1, 2-0 lead. 

However in the third game of the second set the Belarusian top seed appeared to half twist her ankle and it certainly affected her focus and momentum.

Stephens was able to capitalise and broke back with a big forehand and then levelled at 2-2.  When the 29th seed had Azarenka at 15-30 in the fifth game a major turnaround looked possible but Azarenka held on and broke Stephens in the next game.

Stephens struck straight back for 3-4 but her second serves were proving easy fodder for the World No.1 who broke again and served for the match in the ninth game.

Azarenka was really struggling towards the end

Inexplicably Azarenka was then crippled with nerves and missed five match points with a series of nervy forehand errors.

Stephens missed a couple of chances to get back on serve but on a third the American slammed a forehand winner down the line to recover to 4-5.

At this point the reigning champion had both Trainer and Doctor on court and disappeared for a 10 minute break. 

In her post-match press conference she said a dislodged rib was making it her hard for her to breathe.

When play eventually resumed Stephens holds a point for 5-5 but cannot convert and Azarenka created a sixth match point. 

Stephens' final backhand landed just long and Azarenka was into her second Australian Open final in succession.

The young American will I am sure have plenty more Grand Slam semi-finals to come but needs to work to develop her second serve as under pressure from Azarenka it looked decidedly lightweight.

Azarenka must defend her title against Li on Saturday to hold onto the No.1 ranking otherwise Serena Williams will rise to the top spot after the tournament.

Will we see other big matches between the two in 2013?

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