The semi-finalists at the 2022 Australian Open have been confirmed. Day-10 Down Under was to the point, with half of the encounters settled in straight sets.
2022 Australian Open Day-10
It started with American Danielle Collins, who thumped France’s, Alize Cornet. After a competitive first set, the 27th seed shut Cornet down in the second.
The seventh seed, Iga Świątek survived a scare to advance to the final four. Estonian, Kaia Kanepi looked poised to pull off an upset. However, Swiatek managed to get control of the match and didn’t let up.
In the Men’s draw, 4th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas wasted little time to book a spot in the semis. The Greek brushed aside 11th seeded Italian Jannik Sinner and should be favourite to go all the way at this stage.
The second seed, and actual favourite, Daniil Medvedev meanwhile survived a scare by 9th seed, Felix Auger-Aliassime to continue a push for a second Grand Slam title. It was a 5-set thriller and an insane way to wrap up the quarter-final stage.
French toast and Świątek snap back.
This morning, Danielle Collins became the second American to progress to the semi-finals. The 28-year old will compete in just her second Major semi, after reaching the same stage at the same tournament back in 2019.
After a couple of tough matches that went the distance – which includes a 4-6, 6-4 and 6-4 win over 19th seed Elise Mertens in the previous round – Collins needed just the two sets and 98-minutes to see off Alizé Cornet. 7-5 and 6-1 the final score, with the American aware of what will be required to make it through to a maiden Grand Slam final.
“No matter who I’m going to play, they’re going to be very tough competitors, very relentless, powerful, strong, everything you would expect in a semifinal,” said Floridian after the quarter-final bout.
“Last time I was here in the semifinals I had never done that before. I’ve made some deeper runs in tournaments since then. Hopefully, I can carry the confidence that I’ve gained over the last couple of years and be able to use that to my advantage.”
Signed, sealed, delivered 📦
Danielle Collins storms into her second #AusOpen semifinal with an emphatic 7-5 6-0 win over Alize Cornet. #AO2022
🎥: @wwos · @espn · #Eurosport · @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/M3O1cfl3vT— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2022
Movin’ on up
Collins is on route to make her top 10 debuts in the WTA Singles rankings. She will, however, need at least make the final of the Major Down Under. A target that’s not out of sight.
Lined up to face the 27th seed is Polish hopeful, Iga Świątek. The 20-year old has a couple of tough encounters under her belt. It culminated in a come-from-behind victory over the 36-year old, world No. 115, Kaia Kanepi earlier this morning.
The Estonian won the first set and took the second to a tie break. That’s when Świątek started to dominate, winning the stalemate 7-2, before seeing out the third set.
It was the longest match of the seventh seeds career. She spent over three hours in the Rod Laver Arena to claim a 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) and 6-3 victory.
Comeback complete 👊@iga_swiatek is through to her second Grand Slam semifinal, overcoming Kaia Kanepi 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3.#AusOpen · #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/22v9d1V2kE
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2022
Herculean effort and Russian resilience
Over in the Men’s draw of the 2022 Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas was dangerously efficient in seeing off 11th seed, Jannik Sinner. The fourth seed has never lost in a Grand Slam quarter-final and looked far from dropping that record today. The Greek converted all breakpoints on offer see off the Italian 6-3, 6-4 and 6-2 in a little over two hours.
“Jannik is a very good player. So I tried to focus on my best shots and it paid off more than I thought,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview.
“I am very, very happy with the way I served today and the way I came in and used my tactics in today’s match structure. Having the crowd support is truly unbelievable.”
Statement made ‼️
🇬🇷 @steftsitsipas puts in a flawless performance to defeat Jannik Sinner 6-3 6-4 6-2 and advance to his third #AusOpen semifinal.#AO2022 pic.twitter.com/oEHvMtsDRB
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2022
The 23-year old will look to compete in a first-ever Grand Slam final in the State of Victoria. Standing in his way is the second seed, Daniil Medvedev, which will be a rematch of last years semi.
The Russian had a totally different experience to that of Tsitsipas and was taken to the limits by the Canadian, Felix Auger-Aliassime in a 5-set epic. The 21-year old got close to carrying out a disruption within the Grand Slam, especially in the final set. However, the Canadian couldn’t convert on two break points late in the final set. It took 4-hours and 42-minutes, but Medvedev is through to the final four with a 6-7 (4-7), 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 and 6-4.
Never count @DaniilMedwed out 🙅♂️
From two-sets-to-love down, the world No.2 completes the comeback to defeat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7(4) 3-6 7-6(2) 7-5 6-4 and advance to his second consecutive #AusOpen semifinal.#AO2022 pic.twitter.com/Pbel08qtGM
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2022
Thursday, 27 January 2022 – Semi-Finals
Matteo Berrettini vs Rafael Nadal – 05:30
Ashleigh Barty vs Madison Keys – 10:30
Danielle Colllins vs Iga Świątek – 11:45
