Australian Open quarterfinals in the bottom half set

After the seventh day of the Australian Open we have two quarterfinal pairs in the bottom half of the draw: Li Na [6] vs. Agnieszka Radwanska [4] and Maria Sharapova [2] vs. Ekaterina Makarova [19].

Li Na was broken in the first game of the match and climbed back from 5-3 and 6-5 down in the tiebreak to take the first set and then cruise through the second against seed No.18 Julia Goerges for a 7-6(6) 6-1 victory and her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since her French Open triumph one and a half years ago. Player with best win-loss record of the season will be her next opponent – Agnieszka Radwanska, who improved to 13-0 in matches and 26-0 in sets in 2013 by beating Ana Ivanovic 6-2 6-4, ending the encounter with two aces in a row. Li and Radwanska have an interesting recent history. Li quite routinely won their last three meetings in 2012, but Radwanska was victorious in their only 2013 clash in the semifinals of Sydney. Overall, Li leads 5-4.

Maria Sharapova reached the quarterfinals losing just five games! In her last match, against Kirsten Flipkens, the Russian’s score was 6-1 6-0, against Venus Williams she lost four games, and in her first two matches she gave out no games to her opponents. Sharapova next faces the same player as last year at the quarterfinal stage of the Australian Open – compatriot Ekaterina Makarova, who upset injury-hampered Angelique Kerber 7-5 6-4, the highest-seeded victim in the women’s draw. Sharapova leads Makarova 4-0 in their head-to-head record. (photo: Tidalist)