It was a thrilling day of semi finals for the Australian Open with the top 2 seeds in the Mens draw appearing and the top 4 Womens seeds taking part.
Nicol David was in awesome form winning a clinical 3-0 match against Australia’s No 3 seed, Rachael Grinham. The crowd tried their best to lift the Queenslander and for a few points in the second game, it appeard she may get back in the match. She had two games balls which were gained by her usual shotmaking and wrongfooting of her opponent. Nicol weathered that storm and went on to win in three games.
The second semi saw a repeat of last year’s with Jenny Duncalf taking on Northern Ireland’s Madeline Perry. In a match punctuated by let calls and conversations with the referee, eventually winning in 4 games. The first two were a close affair before a bizarre loss of concentration allowed Perry to win the third game in a canter (11-2). Duncalf regrouped for the fourth and duly won in impressive style. Top two seeds through to the final.
In the Mens side, Australia’s David Palmer couldn’t keep his run going against the World No 1, Nick Matthew in the first match. Although he got off to a great start, Matthew eventually wore Palmer down with a constant barrage of cross courts and well placed drives. By the end, it was obvious the tasks of the week before had taken their toll. Matthew in three games.
The other semi was also a repeat of last year’s with Ramy Ashour and Greg Gaultier renewing their rivalry in style. While not quite up to the quality of that match, this year’s had everything, including on-court banter and some French expletives which only the referee seem to notice! Greg won the first game and was in each of the three others, but couldn’t quite close the gap and Ramy won in four games.
So the top two seeds meet in both finals.
