Australian Open: Semi-finals, Pt.2 - Déjà Vu Déjà Vu

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Ill clean up the rest of the events along with the ladies final tomorrow. But for now, let's just finish the semi-finals.

=Suicide Pick=
Round 1: Venus Williams [D. Torro Flor]; Jerzy Janowicz [d. Moriya]
Round 2: Ka Plíšková [D. Dodin]; Lleyton Hewitt [d. Becker]
Round 3: Agnieszka Radwanska [D. Lepchenko]
Round 4: Eugenie Bouchard [D. Begu]
QF: Simona Halep [D. Makaraova]
Mixed Round 1: Hingis/Paes [D Jovanovic/Thompson]
Mixed Round 2: Dellacqua/Peers [D.Klepac/Guccione]
Mixed QF: Mirza/Soares [D. Dellacqua/Peers]
Mixed SF: Hsieh/Cuevas [D. Hingis/Paes]

And I am done at the semi-final stage. Expect this feature to return, accompanied by one or two new ones, bigger and better, for the French Open.

ROD LAVER: DJOKOVIC d. WAWRINKA
...Djokovic opened up by dismissing Bedene and then Kuznetsov fairly routinely. He had Verdasco and Muller next for a change of pace. And what pace they have, though it wasn't anywhere near enough to unseat the top seed. He then beat eighth seed Raonic comfortably and fourth seed Wawrinka uncomfortably to advance to the final.

I was a little harsh on Murray's cake walk to the final and I would extend the same criticism to Djokovic's road, but I can’t because he has earned it. If Murray had faced Novak's path would he have looked as good? Quite possibly not. Djokovic was average but did enough to win 7-6 [1], 3-6, 6-4, 4-6 in three and a half hours. The quality was questionable, with Djokovic breaking seven times to Vavy's five. Djokovic hit just 27 winners. That is shocking. Djokovic did win 41% of receiving points, which if he replicates in the final will surely make him the winner.

Winners - 27/42
Unforced errors - 49/69

This match was not a classic five-setter. It is the worst of their AO series so far and it has badly let the side down. But what you should reflect on is the last set. Yes, Wawrinka imploded. Of course he did. But Djokovic showed an upturn in his form, he showed an improvement. I think if he plays maybe five per cent better than he did in that last set Murray could be in trouble.



Tomorrow, I clean up the rest of the event. We are at the end of the meal and what a meal it has been but, alas, there is still scrumptious sauce left. So tomorrow I will be doing this:



We all know my analogies and synonyms are rubbish, but they stay this rubbish so by the time we get to this stage of a slam they begin to look relatively decent. Anyway, I will be mopping up the last of that scrumptious sauce. I may even review the women's final. I will also be previewing our dessert and coffee -- the men's final will be a rich vanilla cheesecake and the mixed a strong espresso.

How does this sound for a work in progress title: "Serena Williams Too Good, Pulverizes Pova"...
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It was nice of Casey to last this long although I guess it would've been nice to have a bit more to celebrate.

Thanks, Galileo.

We're almost done now, we've almost finished one more slam.

And remember to visit WTA BACKSPIN. Always remember to visit WTA BACKSPIN.

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