Radwanska, Cibulkova advance to Aussie semis
Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - The women will also have a new winner at the 2014 Australian Open.
Fifth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska took down two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 to set up a semifinal match with Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
'Great. �I'm so happy and pleased, especially that I beat one of the best players in the world,' Radwanska said. ' Was not easy draw, not easy quarterfinal. I'm very happy that I made my first semifinal here.'
Azarenka's 18-match winning streak in Melbourne came to a sudden stop on Wednesday. She was trying to become the first woman to win the singles title here in three consecutive years since Martina Hingis (1997-99).
Radwanska's victory came less than 24 hours after Stanislas Wawrinka put an end to Novak Djokovic's three-year run as the men's champion at the Australian Open.
Radwanska ended a streak of three consecutive quarterfinal defeats at the Australian Open. She committed just 15 unforced errors compared to 47 for Azarenka.
'She was aggressive.�She was making everything. She was guessing right. I was just playing a little bit too predictive, you know,' Azarenka said.
Cibulkova, the No. 20 seed, cruised past 11th-seeded Romanian Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 in a match that lasted just 60 minutes to secure her spot in the semis.
The 24-year-old Cibulkova, who stunned No. 3 seed Maria Sharapova in the fourth round on Monday, is the first woman from Slovakia to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Daniela Hantuchova in 2008.
The diminutive Cibulkova improved to 2-3 in quarterfinal matches at Grand Slams, with her other win coming at the 2009 French Open.
'That time I was 19 years old.�I was pretty young. I would say also a different player. You know, I am much more experienced,' Cibulkova said.
Halep, who upended former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round, appeared overwhelmed in her Grand Slam quarterfinal debut.
'No, just I couldn't play today.�I had emotions, big emotions, and I couldn't manage this,' Halep said. 'Before the match I was very nervous and I didn't feel the ball at all.�I couldn't move my body and I couldn't play.'
Fourth-seeded Li Na and 30th seed Eugenie Bouchard will meet in the other semifinal.
The women will also have a new winner at the 2014 Australian Open.
Australian Open semifinalist Tomas Berdych will lead defending champion Czech Republic in the first round of the Davis Cup against the Netherlands next week.
It turns out my picks to capture Aussie Open titles both failed Down Under.
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