Cilic reaches first Grand Slam Semi-Finals with win over Roddick

Tuesday, 26 January 2010 00:00

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MEN’S SINGLES

Fourteenth seed Marin Cilic defeated seven seed Andy Roddick 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 on Tuesday, in a dramatic encounter that lasted three hours and 50 minutes.

The 21-year-old is the first Croatian man to reach the Australian Open SFs. The victory against the American in the QF followed another 5-set win over 4-seed Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday.

It hasn’t been easy for the 6’ 6” youngster, he went through three five-set matches and two four-setter to earned the SF’s first spot of the Men’s Singles in Melbourne.Cilic spent about eighteen hours on court so far.

United States’ Roddick was the favorite entering the contest, but was bothered by a shoulder injury for most of the match, forcing him to call the trainer at the end of the first set.

Cilic finally breaks through with a display of his great talent, taking down two top-10 ranked players in his last two matches. He will face Scot 5-seed Andy Murray in the Semis.

Murray hasn’t really been put to the test in his first four matches, winning all of them in straight sets. The most anticipated QF by the Melboune fans, against 2-seed Spain’s Rafael Nadal, was short-lived as Nadal retired at the beginning of the third set because of severe pain in his right knee.

However, Murray dominated the Spaniard in the first two set, and was leading 7-6, 6-3, 3-0 when Nadal decided to quit. Murray controlled the encounter from the start with great first serves, and covering the court at amazing speed. Nadal was forced into errors as he had to aim close to the lines to keep Murray from dominating every point.

It was unfortunate that the encounter ended that way, but there was no doubt that Murray would have won anyway. There is some concern about Nadal’s injury, he had to lay off from competition for two months last year suffering of tendonitis on both knees, and it seems that the problem hasn’t been totally solved.

A very fresh Murray, who became the first British player to reach the Australian Open SFs since 1977, will be a huge favorite against Marin Cilic, who beat him, though, in September at the US Open.

WOMEN’S SINGLES

Belgium’s Justine Henin defeated 19-seed Russian Nadia Petrova 7-6, 7-5 to reach the Semi-Finals at the Australian Open, in only her second tournament since coming back from retirement after a 20-month break. It wasn’t pretty, with spots of good play mixed with poor shots, but Henin, who got into the tournament as a wild-card, got the job done and will face unseeded Jie Zheng from China in the SF.

Zheng has become the first Chinese woman to reach an Australian Open SF, ending Russian Maria Kirilenko’s dream run in Melbourne with an impressive 6-1, 6-3 win on Tuesday. She also equaled her best result in Grand Slam, having made it to the SFs at Wimbledon in 2008.

There was such a hype surrounding the glamorous Kirilenko over the last week after she beat Maria Sharapova in the opening round, combined with her great model-looks, that everybody forgot that Zheng (world No 35) is ranked 23 places higher than the Russian.

It showed from the start of the match, with the Chinese coming out firing and never slowing down. Kirilenko called a medical timeout after dropping the first set, leaving the court to receive treatment for a hip problem. Although she received assistance from a trainer at each change of ends during the second set, she didn’t seem to be overly affected in her movement. Zheng matched the more renowned hitter shot for shot and earned the victory.

It’s refreshing to see two players about five-foot 5” in the semi-final of a Grand Slam tournament, with spots usually filled up by six-foot (and over)Eastern- Europe women.

Henin is the favorite in that contest, but if Zheng plays like she did up to that point, this is a winnable battle and China could be represented for the first time ever in a final of a Grand Slam tennis tournament.

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Cilic reaches first Grand Slam Semi-Finals with win over Roddick

Cilic reaches first Grand Slam Semi-Finals with win over Roddick

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