Strong Cast at the Australian Open Semi’s

January 24, 2008

(Long Island, N.Y.) As the Quarterfinals drew to a close yesterday in both Men’s and Women’s draws in the Australian Open tournament, a cast of strong players remains that should guarantee a hard, fun smashing tennis under the sun in the last three days of the tournament.

In the Women’s draw, both the defending champion and the World Number one have been eliminated paving the way for Europeans to settle the championship. World Number three player Jelena Jankovic remains as the highest seeded player after she defeated Defending Champion Serena Williams in straight sets yesterday 6-3, 6-4 to roll into the semis while fellow Serbian Ana Ivanovic defeated the other Williams Sister Venus in dominating fashion to forge a showdown with Daniela Hantuchova who defeated Polish, Radwanska to advance to her first ever Grandslam event Semis. Jankovic meanwhile will have to face the player who defeated World Number one Justin Henin in Maria Sharapova who has been playing really well and has shown great composure.

Overall for the Women’s draw it features a cast of young and athletic players that could bode well for Women’s tennis. Both Sharapova and Ivanovic are only 20 years old while Jankovic is 22. Hantuchova is the oldest at 24 years of age.

In the Men’s side, the world’s top three players remain. Roger Federer who is gunning for his 13th Grandslam title will face World No.3 Serbian upstart Novak Djokovic in what promises to be a hard fought game that features two of the elite players in the world today. Experts of course are in favor of Federer but only by the thinnest of Margins. Djokovic disposal of World number 5 David Ferrer in straight sets yesterday demonstrated that he might be ready to ascend the throne from Federer.

In other draws, Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal will try to stop the raging bull from France Jo-Wilford Tsonga who is the only unseeded player left in the tournament and one of the early surprises in the season opening tournament for the ATP this year.

Semis will start today with Sharapova vs. Jankovic headlining the event at 9.30 PM EST followed by Ivanovic vs. Hantuchova. The Men’s draw will play tomorrow with Nadal vs. Tsonga playing first then the much anticipated match of Federer vs. Djokovic unravels.

Posted by News LI Editor · Edited by Brianna - Filed Under Sports