The FINAL FOURS, AUSTRALIAN OPEN, THE WOMEN, THURSDAY, JAN. 28
1-SERENA WILLIAMS VS. 4- AGA RADWANSKA
Is there anyway that Aga Radwanska can trick Serena Williams, given that she lost to her eight times in a row? Not really, but at least she has reached the semifinals and, if she can get her teeth in, maybe she can bother her and begin to believe that she can actually win the match.
Back in 2012 in the Wimbledon final against Williams, Radwanska was spinning around, mixing it up, coming forward, back and forth and painting the line. They were locked up. They had split their two sets and it was 2-2 in the third. But then Serena calmed down, she took her time, she blasted some huge serves, she returned aggressively and she decided that she wasn’t going to scramble around. Radwanska fought, but she was merely hoping that Serena would happen to fail and she would win her first major. The only way that Radwanska was going to win was to risk it. She didn’t and she was gone 6-1 5-7 6-2.
Since then, Aga wasn’t really closed. In 2013 in Toronto, she looked pretty spry, her backhand was lethal and she really hustled, but the incredibly creative Radwanska fell 7-6(3) 6-4. She couldn’t break Serena down.
The 34-year-old Serena has said that she and Radwanska are now getting along off the court. That is very good, but that does not mean that the American will let her guard down. Serena also gets along well with Caro Wozniacki and Vika Azarenka, but she has still managed to beat them soundly, so that is not going to give her some slack. No, Radwanska is going to have to play as well as she can – even better. She is going to have to add a lot of speed on her first and second serve. She is going to yank Serena side-to-side with her backhand and forehand and come into the net whenever she can attack a short ball. Somehow, when Serena is blasting gigantic serves, she has to discover where she is going and pop it back very deep.
If Radwanska manages to do that, she will have an opportunity, but Serena is playing fantastic ball once again. In the quarters against Maria Sharapova, she knew that she had to be incredibly explosive and that is exactly what she did. We all know that Serena hiccupped in the semis against Roberta Vinci when she fell. This time, she won’t be as anxious. Before the tournament I thought Aga would win the trophy. Then, I though Serena was hurt. But now she is not. Serena will win in three, tough, fun sets.
7-ANGIE KERBER VS. JOHANNA KONTA
Clearly, Kerber woke up and smelled the roses to upset Azarenka, the favorite. Instead of pushing back, the German moved forward and cracked her much improved forehand. The lefty can sprint for hours, she can bend very low and bomb her backhand, and she can be pretty comfortable at the net.
Last year, the soon-to-be top 5 player won four titles, but she wasn’t able to reach the second week at any of the majors. This week, she decided she could really go for it and she did.
Now the 28-year-old Kerber is the favorite against the British Konta, who has reached the final four since the now-broadcaster Sue Barker did it 40 years ago. The 25-year-old Konta has really come out of nowhere. At the beginning of last year, she was ranked No. 147. She played a ton of US and Canadian challengers, rose up at the US Open and played tremendous ball at Wuhan and generic levitra faq uk Linz.
In 2016, she was already to go and during the past 10 days, she has been consistently striking the ball. She is more powerful and directed and she rarely grows tired.
However, she is not quiet there yet. Yes, she can bang it from the backcourt, but Kerber has more savvy. The German will win in straight sets to reach the final for the first time.