Gonna go sit downstairs in a mo on the laptop ready for Serena - Jelena.
Should be a good one, not happy they have put a doubles match on before Serena as I will have to stay up late, I also want to make sure I am up in time for the Maria - Henin match.
Strange scheduling as it looks like if Serena's match goes to a third, she may then have to go straight onto the next court to pplay doubles with ehr sister. :wacko:

Oh yeah, so she does! Do you have any links for streaming - free fo course :D

Hold on, I'll have a look around :ok:

SB, I can't find a stream as such but do you really wanna watch the match live as I may be able to sort something for ya?

Flame, can you get a stream for thie Serena match on Bwin? I can't find it, I'm sure i can't get it in the UK.. :(

Gonna go watch the match... later :wave:

Wow! Well done Jelena, takin out Serena in straight sets! Some really good play from both, the commentators seemed to focus on Serena sayin she wasn't movin well at all. I thought she was movin okay and hittin some great shots but Jelena's length was just consistently very good. Good match and glad I stayed awake to watch it. I wonder if Serena will still play the doubles as she is scheduled to

And so Jankovic is through to her third Slam semi (leaving Wimbledon as the only one she hasn't reached), defeating defending champ Serena 6-3, 6-4. What an effort. The scoreline doesn't tell the whole story, with so many games (especially in the second set) locked at deuce several times over, and long, tense rallies aplenty. Well done.

Unfortunately Serena was subpar, only showing flashes of the form she had demonstrated all week. This has been the case in every Slam since winning this event last year, enough so that I no longer think it was simply a Henin issue or fitness issue after all, but a Serena issue. It is some sort of quarterfinal syndrome she needs to work through, where she arrives sluggish, off-kilter and visibly struggling with her own body and emotions. I'd like to see her do it soon since I still think she has several titles left in her.

For her part, for someone whose prospects were written off not only before the AO but especially after her epic narrow escape from Paszek on opening day, Jankovic was looking sharp indeed. She did everything she needed to out there and stayed positive, her stellar defence seeing her through as always but also exploiting openings wherever they arose, betraying tension only when trying to serve for the match at 5-3 (being limply broken to 15) and looking stunned and elated after converting her very first match point. I almost thought Serena was on the verge of staging a Miami-esque fightback (she was actually at 40-15 with game points for evening the set 5-all, which would have made it a very different match in all probability) but it didn't materialise.

She has to be, after Henin of course, the Williams sisters' chief nemesis, having now knocked out both Venus and Serena as defending champs from Slams. Nevertheless, Jankovic will be the heavy underdog against either Sharapova or Henin, although she did record one win over the former last year and as we know has often pushed the latter (though not recently anymore). If Ivanovic falls tomorrow, I think Jankovic will reach the No 2 spot for the first time (I have yet to do the maths), and if she prevails, I imagine the buzz over the potential for an all-Serb final (as with RG last year) will begin anew.

not the result i expected - well done Jankovic :ok:

me neither - quite gobsmacked!

well done Jankovic :clap:

I just saw a rerun of the secxond set and I can't say I was really impressed with either of them. Jankovic scraped through despite her nerves and Williams really made way too many mistakes even by her standards.

Meanwhile Shazza leads Henin 5-4 in the first set with Henin serving to stay in the match after Shazza had led 4-1.

And Shazza has her first set point on Henin's serve at 30-40....

Shazza takes the first set on her 4th set point....Very interesting!

Sharapova breaks in the second set :blink:

....and she breaks again!

Maria now 4-0 up in the second set!!!! :o :o

wow one favourite gone and another on her way out!!

yeah - don't think Sharapova vs. Janokovic was the semi anyone was expecting.

Gav, are you watching it??? I know people have been saying that maria has been playing well all week - how's Henin playing?

Yes - in the prediction contest I had put Sharapova to win in 2 sets but my preference was for Justine to win. I knew she woudl have too much power for the Belgian :(

Yep, Maria is playing really well, I saw the first set and she was dictating. Lost only 4 point on first 4 service games, then promptly lost her serve when serving for the set but managed to grab that set. She is moving really well. Henin looks a bit nervous though.

best hope Henin holds serve here or it could all be a bit embarrassing :unsure:

i'm not even going to look at mine - i think i could be having a 'nil points' day with the women tbh! :blush:

I'm watching it on and off while doing other things but it looks like Shazza is just overpowering her. Henin doesn't seem to have the power or movement she had at the US Open...

Two match points for Shazza for a second set bagel........


SHE GOT IT!!!!! :bow: :bow: :yahoo: :yahoo:

well done Sharapova :clap:

I think we all thought Maria had some chances, but to get it in 2 sets and the second to love.. well done Maria indeed..

Justine Bagelled :B&B: :yahoo:

Also, from what I could see Maria has added some kind of all court approach to her game, hitting drop shots and coming into the net as well as her usual power game.... maybe that contributed to the result?

That she has as I just watched and recorded the match.But her clasic volleys still suck big time which is why she was swinging at most of them hitting drive volleys to great effect.What a win really! :o

Well...Serena and Justine both out... Venus may well have a wry smile (although I am sure she won't want to see her sis out she is a major threat).

So far I have zero points for the women and all of ONE for the doubles :yikes:

Well done to both Jankovitch and Sharapova :bow:

Well done Sharapova and Jankovic...at least one surprise there. :D
Was thrilled when I got up this morning to see Jankovic had beaten Serena...well done :clap: :clap: :clap: Looking far more interesting to me now :yahoo: :yahoo:

The Sharapova victory isn't a shock, although the scoreline certainly is. Henin hasn't looked quite as invincible as she did last year, and the bad thing about winning every match you play is that you don't get as much rest as the others. Not to take anything away from Sharapova though: it's almost 100% that it'll be a Sharapova vs Venus final, which should be awesome unless one of them runs away with it, as is so often the case.

Jankovic beating Serena really was a shock. Nothing but praise for Jankovic there, who I completely write off before the tournament (with good reason admittedly, and Paszek really should have beaten her in R1). I doubt she can beat Maria, but to get this far is a pretty incredible achievement for her.

Wow!!! :o :o

really chuffed for Maria! :yahoo: :yahoo: :bow:
So glad too she dished out a bagel, especially against Justine who is more often the giver of such fine baked goods rather than the reciever.
Did Maria just outplay her? I hope she did, not to have anything against Justine but this is a great result and will probably silence a few of Maria's detractors.

Go Maria!
A Venus - Maria final now please and a really good competitive final will top this tournament off perfectly. :D

Maria's post-match interview is up on the AO site

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/i...1004984990.html

I'm not *entirely* sure that i understand it all - but i get the impression that she doesn't have the best relationship with the media..... :blink:

Really good win for Maria! :clap:

I'm pleased it's her against Jelena in the semis - I don't really mind who wins, though I would expect it to be Maria!

Although the prospect of a Maria - Venus final is a little bit daunting for the eardrums ... :P

go Maria :clap: :clap: :clap:

I really don't hear the grunting as much as other people I don't think,
although saying that, I remember their Wimby 2005 semi and the grunting there at a couple of set points for Venus was just :yikes: but the shots they were playing. wow, the louder grunting added to the drama, there is a clip of it on Youtube..

watch the first 2:20 of this video. Great stuff. the crowd found it funny too.

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What a bizarre interview :blink:

I think Maria must have thought the press were trying to get at her there but tjey didn't seem to pick up on that and they kept pushing...
Strange interview.. must be hard sometimes for players to be very careful what they say isn't misconstrued..

:giggle:

I thought this was a bit weird:

:blink:

Maybe she thought she was a teacher for a split second. :crazy1: