We’ve reached the business end of Brisbane International 2012 and with the finals almost upon us, who is going to find their way to finals day?
Leading off in the first match of the day is the doubles semifinal between Aussie duo Casey Dellacqua and Ash Barty, and US pair Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. Dellacqua and Barty, who needed a wildcard to play this event, have been a revelation this week ousting the tournament’s top seeds. But while Dellacqua is an experienced doubles campaigner, having won a mixed doubles Grand Slam at the French Open, Barty is just 15-years-old.
Friends, Grand Slam finalists and doubles partners Andy Murray and Marcos Baghdatis are pitted against each other in the second match of the day for a place in the men’s semifinals.
Murray, the top seed here, has dropped the opening set in his first two matches in Brisbane so far. The slow starts have so far spurred the Scotsman into action, but he did have a close call against Gilles Muller, pulling out a second-set tiebreak win to stay in the match.
Baghdatis though has slipped through to the quarterfinals with little fanfare or trouble. His upset of fifth seed Kei Nishikori was vintage Baghdatis.
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A master craftsman on the court, Murray will be looking for a fast start against 26-year-old Baghdatis, while the Cypriot will need to be at his best if he’s to overcome Murray.
In the last of the men’s quarterfinals, 19-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic takes on Denis Istomin of
Uzbekistan. Istomin is yet to play a full match this week. His first opponent, fourth-seeded German Florian Mayer, retired with Istomin leading 7-6(5) 2-3, then in the second round, Tommy Haas withdrew before a ball was struck. Tomic, meanwhile, has delivered the knockout punch to Frenchman Julien Benneteau and Japan’s Tatsuma Ito on his way to his first quarterfinal on home soil.
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The night session features the women’s semifinals. First up it’s Kim Clijsters and Daniela Hantuchova. Clijsters has dropped just one set en route to the semifinals, against Ana Ivanovic in the second round. Hantuchova, however, has had a more interesting road to tonight’s match. The tall Slovak fought out two tough three-set matches in the opening rounds before receiving a walkover in the quarterfinals courtesy of Serena Williams’s injured ankle.
Closing out the night session is third seed Francesca Schiavone and big-hitting Estonian Kaia Kanepi. Kanepi surprised 2011 finalist Andrea Petkovic in their quarterfinal on Thursday, while Schiavone had to fight back from a set down to defeat former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic.
Be part of the action
There are still some tickets remaining for Friday’s day (men’s quarterfinals) and night sessions (women’s semifinals) and Saturday’s day session (men’s semifinals). You can purchase tickets online from Ticketek.