Murray, Raonic thunder into last four
Melbourne: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis stormed into the final of the women’s doubles event of the Australian Open after notching up a comfortable straight-set win here on Wednesday.
However, Rohan Bopanna’s campaign ended with a shock defeat in the mixed doubles quarterfinals with partner Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei.
Sania and Martina, who are on a record winning streak, continued to rule the roost as they brushed aside Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova, the 13th seeds, 6-1 6-0 in just 54 minutes at Rod Laver Arena to enter their third successive doubles Grand Slam final.
The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair will take on the seventh seeded Czech combination of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the summit clash.
Sania and Martina broke their rivals twice in the first set, which lasted 26 minutes, before steamrolling the German-Czech combo in the second set. The Indo-Swiss duo won the Wimbledon and US Open titles, before winning the season ending WTA Finals in 2015.
They continued their superb form this year, extending their unbeaten run to 35 with Wednesday’s semi-final win. They have also won back-to-back titles at the Brisbane and Sydney International events, before starting their Australian Open campaign.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray set up an Australian Open semi-final against the much-improved Milos Raonic when he weathered a fierce attack by David Ferrer on a day of rare success for Britain.
A thunderstorm proved an unlikely ally for Murray when it forced the Rod Laver Arena roof to be closed mid-match, helping him accelerate to a 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-3 win in the indoor conditions he enjoys.
Later Raonic, now working under former world number one Carlos Moya, continued his ascent with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Gael Monfils to reach the Australian semi-finals for the first time.
Murray is into sixth Australian Open semi-final and 18th overall in the Grand Slams, as he attempts to go one better after finishing runner-up at four of the last six editions in Melbourne.
But this time, the world number three has British company in the final stages after Johanna Konta downed China’s Zhang Shuai to become the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam semi since 1983.
Angelique Kerber stunned two-time champion Victoria Azarenka at the Australian Open for a last-four clash against Johanna Konta, the first British woman in a Grand Slam semi-final for 33 years.
The seventh-seeded Kerber, who had never gone beyond the fourth round at Melbourne Park before, blasted past the dangerous Azarenka 6-3, 7-5 in her first win against the Belarusian.
It was a huge upset for the German, whose six defeats against the 14th seed included this month’s Brisbane International final and an epic three-hour marathon at last year’s US Open.
Her reward is a clash with Konta, whose fairytale main-draw debut tournament continued when she outclassed giant-killing Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-1.
This time last year Konta was ranked 147 and fell in qualifying for Melbourne Park, but she has since risen 100 places, crediting her transformation with a new mental attitude. (Agencies)