Category — Australian Open

The look on Sloane Stephens’ face immediately after she upset Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open Tuesday night was priceless. So was her game.
Though Serena had a tough time navigating the rough waters with a back injury, something she said she injured before the match and tweaked in the 2nd set, give the 19-year-old Stephens credit. She had to survive some rocky moments in the match herself, particularly early on to prevail 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Stephens will meet No. 1 Victoria Azarenka tonight with the winner earning a trip to the final. No 1 is giving her chance to win against Azarenka. Regardless, Stephens has added her name to the tennis landscape.

While many are predicting a Maria Sharapova-Serena Williams clash for the title, the Australian Open has more drama before we reach that point. Thank Sloan Stephens for that since she will meet her mentor Serena in tomorrow’s quarterfinals. Sharapova advanced to the semis with a win over Ekaterina Makarova. On the other side of the bracket, we believe Sloan is in over her head, but we like her refreshing approach. She didn’t shy away from wanting to play Serena last night when asked by the talking heads on ESPN.

For the 7th consecutive time, Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal. This time Djokovic prevailed in a 5-set classic (5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5) to capture the Australian Open earlier today in Melbourne. The match took five hours and 53 minutes and was the longest Grand Slam final since the Open Era started in 1968 and the longest Australian Open match in history.
SI.com

Victoria Azarenka captures her 1st Major, schooling Maria Sharapova, 6-3, 6-0 for the championship of the Australian Open this morning.

We’re sorry to see the Australian Open coming to a close because there has been some excellent tennis played, but you can’t beat another final between these 2. They’re starting to get some real history with each other too, but Novak Djokovic had had the better hand lately.
N.Y. Times

Enjoying our final late night doses of the Australian Open.
Kim Clijsters is in the semis again of our favorite tennis tournament. Clijsters defeated top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who is still looking to reel in a major title, in straight sets tonight to advance.
AP

It took Serena Williams only 59 minutes to crush Greta Arn, 6-1, 6-1, in the 3rd round of the Australian Open on Saturday.
N.Y. Times

No American men advanced to the Sweet 16 of this year’s Australian Open. John Isner was the last U.S. player to be eliminated, losing a 5-set match to No. 18 seed Feliciano Lopez on Friday.
Did you know that no American has won a Slam since Andy Roddick captured the U.S. Open in 2003? What’s up with that?
Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe shed some light on the dark period.
GQ

Novak Djokovic dismissed Andy Murray in a dominating straight-sets victory for the Australian Open title.
SI.com

An emotional Kim Clijsters captures her 1st Australian Open title, defeating Li Na, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, earlier this morning.
N.Y. Times