The world's best players produced some impressive displays in various semi finals.
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Williams impressively handled (4/3) Sharapova 62 76(7) to reach a second successive Brisbane final. The match was of the finest quality and intensity, frequently causing the crowd to gasp in admiration. Williams didn't serve well by her typically godly standards, with a first serve percentage of under 50% and hit 34 unforced errors to only 23 winners. However, she more than made up for that with some fantastic returning and defensive play. Sharapova played very well too, hitting 17 winners to 23 unforced errors. She broke Serena 4 times in all but struggled to back it up, letting a 3-1 lead slip away in the second set and failing to capitalise on two uncharacteristic Williams double faults back to back in the tiebreak. Both players struggled with doubles, though surprisingly Serena hit more; 8 to Maria's 7. This was Serena's 14th successive victory over Maria since she last won in 2004 but Sharapova was just happy to be able to compete at such a high level in her first tournament back.
2/2 Azarenka finally got a grip on her game to edge a tenacious (8/4) Jankovic 16 63 64 to move into her second Brisbane final, after winning here in 2009. Azarenka was atrocious in the first set, hitting 15 unforced errors as she mistimed everything. Jankovic was, in contrast wailing the ball for some surprising winners, particularly from her backhand. The turning point came in the first two games of the second set when Jankovic couldn't convert 6 games points (including 0-40 on Azarenka's serve in the first game). Gradually, Azarenka imposed herself with her smothering power and soon led 5-1 in the third, only to struggle with herself once again through the finish.
So the top 2 players meet again in what has gladly become a frequent occurrence. Williams leads the head to head 13-3 but only 4-3 in finals and the two were tied at 2-2 for 2013. Azarenka has only lost to Serena in hard court finals at the US Open (2012/2013) and these were both three setters. It will be entertaining as ever but Williams is playing much sharper tennis and should win, most likely in straight sets.
Elsewhere...
3/1 Li, who will lose her number 3 ranking to Sharapova next week, moved into her second successive Shenzhen final with a straightforward 61 63 win over German, Beck. She faces Peng next in a dream all Chinese final, whom she leads 3-1 in their head to head.
5/- Radwanska helped Poland reach their first Hopman Cup final with a 36 64 63 win against home favourite (18/-) Stosur, despite her previous 1-3 head to head deficit. Radwanska and Panfil won the mixed doubles and the tie 2-1. They will face France in the final, though (6/-) Kvitova also remained undefeated in singles, receiving a retirement from American, (12/-) Stephens due to a wrist injury after Kvitova had won the first set 63.
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