Li
Na
Road to
final (with ranking of opponent in brackets):-
First
Round - Ana Konjuh (WC)
Second
Round - Belinda Bencic (Qualifier)
Third
Round - Lucie Safarova (26)
Fourth
Round - Ekaterina Makarova (22)
Quarterfinal
- Flavia Pennetta (29)
Semifinal
- Eugenie Bouchard (31)
Li's first
two matches were against the youngest players in the tournament and she rolled
in the first 3 sets but Bencic gave her a battle in the second set forcing a
tiebreak that Li escaped. Then, against Safarova, Li was not on her game while
her opponent was and came inches away from leaving Melbourne. With that
reprieve, Li rallied to win the tiebreak then the deciding set to advance. She
admitted in an interview that her coach, Carlos Rodriguez, would not
be pleased. With new life, Li managed to win her next three matches with
only one set being contested and that was the second set against Bouchard. In
her last match, she consistently was winning points with her cross court
backhand.
Li is
the streakiest player in the WTA today and when she is hitting her shots with
accuracy, very few players can play with her but if her shots are off, she is
subject to lose to anyone. We know that Li can hit her backhand very well but
one thing that is not talked about much is her movement around the court. Her
coach has helped her develop a way to end points quicker. Besides her
shots being off, she can also get nervous at crunch time if the set and/or
match is close. If Li, who has made the finals three out of the last four
years, can continue to hit accurate shots, hold off nerves,
use Slam finals experience and reduce unforced errors, she will win
her first Australian Open title and 2nd career Slam title overall.
Ace Prediction: Li
6-3,7-6(7)
Dominka Cibulkova
Road to Final (with ranking of
opponent in brackets)
First round – Francesca Schiavone
(42)
Second round – Stefanie Voegele
(46)
Third Round - Carla Suarez-Navarro (16)
Fourth Round - Maria Sharapova
(3)
Quarterfinals – Simona Halep (11)
Semifinals – Agnieska Radwanska
(5)
Tennis players start their
careers earlier than most other professional athletes. When you read the
biographies of tennis players, most of them started from a very early age, some
as early as 4 years old. Many of them
are the children of teaching pros, or their parents were members of a tennis
club, or they saw older siblings playing and wanted to be a part of the
excitement.
Not many tennis players get to
attain their dreams. Tennis fans have become so used to an abundance of riches
from certain players that sometimes we forget how hard it is to succeed at the
top level of tennis.
One of these players is Dominika
Cibulkova. Domi, as she is known by many
tennis fans hails from the tiny country of Slovakia. This is the country where another player who
is more well known to tennis fans originated, Daniela Hantuchova. Domi, known for being height challenged, was
also known for being one of the few players to enter the top 20 and not win a
title. She lost her first 3 finals and
found it difficult to compete with the rest of the Tour’s bigger women.
Come 2011 that changed however
when Domi won her first WTA title at the Premier event in Moscow, the Kremlin
Cup beating Kaia Kanepi in 3 tough sets.
It was a hard fought battle and her joy at winning that first title
after a string of tough losses rejuvenated a career that was on its way down.
At the Grand Slams Domi did not
fare very well, reaching only the semifinals once before this at the French
Open in 2011 when she beat Maria Sharapova 0 and 2 in the quarter finals. Since that time success has been limited for
Domi at the Grand Slam.
In 2012 she took on coach Zeljko
Krajan and not only did he add some power to her game he taught her to become
more aggressive from the baseline. Her
serve, which was a weakness in her game, due to her height suffered against the
great returners. She continued to
improve under Zeljko, but after awhile, like many other of Krajan’s charges,
she parted ways with him. That year she beat Marion Bartoli to win a Premier level
event in the California desert, Carlsbad.
Her renaissance however, really
started last year in Sydney when after being blitzed by Aga Radwanska in the
final love and love, she would go on to beat Radwanska in a tough 3 setter at
the Bank of the West Classic in California.
This year she is playing with a
new racquet and a new outlook. Domi came
into the Australian Open as the No. 20 seed in the bottom half of the
draw. Her road to the final is as comprehensive as it got. She lost 5 games through the first 3 rounds,
struggled a bit against Sharapova in the round of 16 and completely blitzed her
last 2 opponents by dropping only 8 games.
One of these players was a top 5 player, Radwanska.
Tonight Domi faces Li Na, a woman
against whom she holds an 0 and 4 lifetime record with their last meeting
coming in Toronto last year. However, I
think we should throw these results out the window. The Domi that is playing now is a far cry
from the Domi of 2013.
Many pro athletes yearn to play
on the biggest stages of their careers.
A hockey player dreams of lifting the Stanley Cup. Basketball players the NBA
Championships. Tennis players dream of
winning a Grand Slam. We all saw what
happens when a tennis player makes the final of a Grand Slam when Marion
Bartoli, herself ranked outside the top 10 made the finals of Wimbledon for the
second time in her career and ended up hoisting the trophy from the perceived
favourite, Sabine Lisicki. It is a bit
coincidental that Domi’s best friend on tour is a player who took advantage of
her opportunities herself and won a Grand Slam.
I don’t think that Domi will be
overawed by the moment. She has been
playing this tournament as if she belongs.
Her serve has been clicking this tournament and apart from a small measure
of doubt after being up 5-0 in the second set against Sharapova, she has taken
the court and played with consistent aggression and belief.
Her opponent has been here before
in the finals of the Australian Open.
She is the crowd favourite as this is as close to a home Slam as she
will have.
I think however that Domi will
take this in 3 sets.
Spin’s Prediction: 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
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