Australian Open 2008 Day Eleven Preview
Men's Singles Semi-finals: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga plays Rafael Nadal
Whatever the outcome of the semi final clash between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and world number two, Rafael Nadal, the young Frenchman can be immensely pleased with his Australian Open campaign. Not only has he played some fabulous tennis, but he has won legions of fans with his calm, pleasant on-court demeanour.
Tsonga was a wild card at last year’s Australian Open, and he made waves with an epic tiebreak against the sixth seed, Andy Roddick. Although he lost the match, it remains, today, the longest tiebreak in Australian Open history.
En route to the semis Tsonga denied seeds Britain’s Andy Murray (9), his friend and countryman, Richard Gasquet (8) and Russian, Mikhail Youzhny (14).
The heat, however, is going to be right up there at the Rod Laver Arena on Thursday. Apart from the fact that he is taking on the near-invincible Rafael Nadal, it will be the first time that he has gotten this far in a grand slam, and his fitness levels will surely be tested to the limit.
The pair has met on one previous occasion, the 2007 US Open, and it comes as no surprise that the victor on that occasion was Rafael Nadal – can Tsonga settle the score?
Women's Singles Semi-finals: Maria Sharapova plays Jelena Jankovic
Maria Sharapova, fresh from her emphatic win over the world number one, Justine Henin, is looking very, very dangerous.
She is, without a doubt, playing the best tennis of her career, and with the likes of Venus and Serena Williams out of the competition, it is likely, no probable, that she will claim her maiden Australian Open women’s singles crown.
Although Jelena Jankovic is ranked and seeded higher than Sharapova, she has only once bettered the attractive Russian. They have clashed a total of four times, and Jankovic was successful in Birmingham in 2007 on grass. Sharapova has won both hard court clashes, and that does not bode well for the number three seed.
More Hot Picks for 2008 Australian Open Day Eleven
- Ana Ivanovic (SRB) (4) plays Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) (9)
- Jeff Coetzee & Wesley Moodie (RSA) play Arnaud Clement & Michael Llodra (FRA) (7)
- Alona & Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) play Anabel Medina Garriques & Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) (10)
