Australian Open - Day thirteen - Women's final

Day thirteen of the Australian Open and in today's women's final Li Na beat Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets. 

The first set was very competitive but in the second set Li Na imposed her authority and Dominika was unable to step up to the challenge. 

For Dominika it has been a great tournament and I am sure at the beginning of the tournament she probably didn't see herself in the final. 

So getting to the final would have improved Dominika's ranking and she will hopefully build on this success to win a grand slam soon. 

For Li Na she would have come into this tournament at least expecting to get to the semi-finals. 

So winning her second grand slam I am sure exceeded her expectations and she will hoping to build on this success for the remaining grand slams of the year.

It was by no means a classic final but aLi Na was fortunate enough not to face a top twenty player on route to the final. But all that means is the draw opened up in favour and made this win possible. 

Australian Open - day twelve

Day twelve of the Australian Open and in the second men's semi- finals, Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in straight sets. 

This result did not come as a huge surprise to me as Roger is not getting any younger and as much as some  tennis pundits still think of him as world number one. 

 

I think Roger's time has come and gone and he is not getting any younger and yes he is supremely talented. 

But it is asking too much to expect him to compete and beat men that are five years younger than him now that he is a step slower.   

So the men's final will be between Stanislas Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal. This is a match that I think Rafa should win quite comfortably. 

League Cup - Semi-Finals

The League Cup semi-finals have took place over the last few days and Man City beat West Ham by three goals to nil and by nine goals to nil over all. 

This was a a very good win for Man City and an embarrassing loss for West Ham. However it does mean that West Ham can completely focus on their league battle and get out of the relegation zone. 

In the second semi-final Sunderland drew two all with Man United on the night but then beat on penalties. 

This was a shock result and I thought Man United would have won on penalties. But their penalty taking was woeful and Sunderland where the deserved winners.    

Australian Open - Day Eleven

Day eleven at the Australian Open and it is ladies semi finals day. Li Na beat the young Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets. 

This result was not a surprise as Eugenie did incredibly well to get to this stage and I am sure in a few years time she will be winning grand slams. 

Dominika Cibulkova beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets and this result was a surprise as Agnieszka is the higher ranked player. 

But at the same time Agnieszka has played a lot of three set matches and it was only matter of time before her energy levels dropped. 

So the women's final will be between Li Na and Dominika Cibulkova. 

In the men's draw Stanislas Wawrinka beat Tomas Berdych in four sets and he is now through to the final where he will face  either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. 

Australian Open - Day Ten

Day ten at the Australian Open and Agnieszka Radwanska beat the Victoria Azarenka in three sets. 

It definitely was a surprise for me as I thought that as Victoria had been playing reasonably well and I had expected her to least get to the final. 

Agnieszka has done a lot better than I expected but she has played a lot of three set matches at this tournament so don't think she will have any energy left if she does make it to the final. 

Dominika Cibulkova hammered Simona Halep in straight sets. This result was not too much of a suprise as Dominika has a good all round game which is slightly better than Simone's game. 

In the men's draw Rafael Nadal beat Grigor Dimitrov in four sets. Although Grigor pushed Rafa I would have been surprised if Grigor had won. 

Roger Federer beat Andy Murray in four sets. The first two sets where not competitive but Roger played incredibly well. However the third and fourth set where very different. 

In the third set Roger made more unforced errors which helped Andy to win the set.

 But in the fourth set Andy's lack of match fitness started to tell and Roger went on to win the set and the match. 

Australian Open - Day Nine

Day nine at the Australian Open and Ni La beat Flavia Pennetta in straight sets. This result was not a surprise as Ni La has been playing very well and did not really give Flavia the opportunity to really get into the match. 

Eugenie Bouchard beat Ana Ivanovic in three sets. Bearing in mind that Ana beat Serena Williams in the previous round. I would have thought Ana would have beat Eugenie. 

However Eugenie battled through to victory after losing the first set and she will now play Li Na for a place in the final. 

In the men's draw Tomas Berdych beat the number three seed David Ferrer in four sets. This was a surprise result for me as David has been playing well so I thought he was going to win the match. 

The shock result of the day was Stanislas Wawrinka beating Novak Djokovic in five sets.It was a pulsating match that had twists and turns.

 Stanislas just seem to play the bigger points better and had the marginal advantage of serving first in the fifth set. Novak made to very costly errors which cost him the game and the match. 

Australian Open - Day Eight

Day eight at the Australian Open and Dominika Cibulkova beat Maria Sharapova in three sets. 

This result was not a huge surprise for me as Maria has been struggling with her serve for a while now and against a player like Dominika it is understandable that her serve would break down. 

 

Victoria Azarenka beat a very poor Sloane Stephens in straight sets. Sloane was desparately disappointing and did not mount any kind of significant attack on Victoria's serve. 

Victoria now goes through to face Agnieszka Radwanska who beat Garbine Muguruza in straight sets. 

In the men's draw Roger Federer beat Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in straight sets. Jo- Wilfred did not play badly just that Roger was able to win those big points when it mattered. 

Andy Murray beat the 'lucky loser' Stephane Robert in four sets and he will now play Roger Federer in the quarters for a place in the semi- finals.

Rafael Nadal beat Kei Nishikori in three marginally close sets to make it to the quarter finals. 

Kei had chances to win at a least set and he could not take them as Rafa was always able to raise his level and win the match.