Men Tennis Update – Australian open Saturday, January 26, 2013

Written by: Staff on 25th January 2013

Men Tennis Update - Australian open Saturday, January 26, 2013

epa03554999 Andy Murray of Great Britain (facing) during his semi final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2013. EPA/Mark Kolbe Pool uses. Use in books requires separate approval. NO LICENSING FOR CONSUMER PRINTS. |

Singles – Semifinal: (3) A Murray def. (2) R Federer 6-4 6-7(5-7) 6-3 6-7(2-7) 6-2

Andy Murray had a head-to-head lead over Roger Federer, but he had never beaten him at a Slam. Some of their matches had been heartbreakers. Now, the heartbreak is on the other side of the net. One match does not a changing of the guard make, but it was noteworthy that Murray could have won this in four sets; he was broken as he served for the match. It seemed like a case of nerves versus fatigue, and eventually fatigue lost.

In the short term, this doesn’t change anything. Federer remains #2 and Murray #3. That won’t change even if Murray wins the title (even though it would give us the spectacle of a player with two Slams — Murray — ranked behind #1 Novak Djokovic, who would have none). But the loss means that Federer will be several thousand points behind Djokovic. It seems quite unlikely that there will be a change at the top any time soon.

Mixed Doubles – Semifinal: Gajdosova/Ebden def. Shvedova/Istomin 7-5 7-6(7-5)

This means that we’ve had Australians in both the women’s doubles finals and the mixed finals. The Australians lost in women’s. But the opposition isn’t likely to be as tough in mixed….

Mixed Doubles – Semifinal: Hradecka/Cermak def. Peschke/Matkowski 3-6 7-5 10-7 (Match TB)

An interesting contest. Peschke/Matkowski would have been seeded #7 under Mixed rankings, and Hradecka/Cermak wouldn’t, so this is a defeat for mixed rankings. On the other hand, Hradecka/Cermak were the top unseeded team, so it isn’t much of an argument against mixed rankings. And there is always the fact that Peschke and Matkowski both seem to get nervous as they approach Slam finals. The final would certainly seem to favor Hradecka/Cermak, who have a lot more big match experience (including a Slam doubles title for Hradecka) than Gajdosova/Ebden.

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Andy Murray, Australian Open, Grand Slam, Novak Djokovic, roger federe, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News