TENNIS Live

Australian Open - Semi-finals - Women

Nationality Player Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5
Russian FederationD Safina67---
Russian FederationV Zvonareva36---

Vera Zvonareva

Nationality RUS
Date of Birth 07/09/1984
Height 1.72 m
Weight 59.1 kg

Dinara Safina

Nationality RUS
Date of Birth 27/04/1986
Height 1.82 m
Weight 70 kg
 

Live Comments

  1. 06:36 - So Safina is through to her first Australian Open final to face three-time winner Serena Williams on Saturday.

  2. 6-7 - SAFINA IS THROUGH TO THE FINAL! Zvonareva does well to get her compatriot on the defensive but that is a massive strength for Safina and she whips a forehand across court to seal the match. Zvonareva challenges the call, why not, but hawkeye shows it landed smack on the line and Safina is through

  3. 4-6 - Zvonareva dumps a forehand into the net to gift Safina two match points ...

  4. 3-3 - Safina gets off to a flier in the breaker with another couple a groundstroke winners but Zvonareva levels up at 3-3 at the change of ends

  5. 6-6 - SAFINA BREAKS BACK TO LOVE! Zvonareva really couldn't do much about that game as the younger Russian showed her metal with four groundstroke winners to force a second set tie-breaks

  6. 6-5 - A small wobble from Safina gives Zvonareva confidence as she comes up with a number of groundstroke winners to BREAK and leave herself serving for the set

  7. 5-5 - Zvonareva holds her nerve to deny Safina an easy end to the match by holding serve

  8. 4-5 - Safina produces another battling service hold when Zvonareva hits wide to leave herself in touching distance of the final. But it was the point before that really highlighted the younger Russian's power when she fires a forehand winner right onto the baseline

  9. 4-4 - Another solid hold from Zvonareva, although she did have to recover from 0-30 down, to stick on serve in this second set. We're approaching crunch time now and it would not be surprising if this set went to a tie-break

  10. 3-4 - Safina holds to keep herself narrowly in the lead, albeit on serve - a much better service performance from Safina now as fires down her third ace

  11. 3-3 - Safina hits back immediately earning herself a break point ... Zvonareva produces a stunning backhand drive volley to save the chance but quickly gifts her opponent another chance hitting a forehand down the line long ... again the chance goes begging though as Safina's attempted forehand down the line ends up in the net. A cross court forehand from Safina sets up her third chance ... and this time SAFINA BREAKS with a cross court forehand winner that lands smack on the sideline

  12. 3-2 - Safina's groundstrokes go a little astray at the crucial moment and gifts her opponent a break point by hitting a forehand down the line just wide ... and ZVONAREVA BREAKS! A must-have break for the older Russian as she already trails by a set

  13. 2-2 - Zvonareva is really perfectly the one-two punch of a serve out wide followed by a groundstroke out to the opposite wing for the winner, a strategy that helps her to hold and stick with Safina

  14. 1-2 - Safina produces a battling hold, saving a break point in the process, and again it is the blistering groundstrokes of the world number three that really prove the difference

  15. 1-1 - Zvonareva holds, when Safina hits long, to stop the run of five games against her and to get off the mark in the second set

  16. 0-1 - Safina opens up the second set with a service hold after another series of ferocious groundstrokes culminating in a forehand winner. Zvonareva, at the moment, is unable to get Safina on the run at all and the younger of the two Russians simply has too much power

  17. 3-6 - Safina's ability to find the angle on her cross court groundstrokes is really hurting Zvonareva as she takes four straight points to earn a first set point ... and SAFINA TAKES THE FIRST SET in 39 minutes when Zvonareva hits a cross court backhand wide

  18. 3-5 - Safina holds with a much better service game including a huge serve out wide that Zvonareva cannot get enough of her racquet to to return it in court. Zvonareva will have to serve now to stay in the first set

  19. 3-4 - Against serve Safina is cruising through as she earns herself three break points ... she only needs the one though the WORLD NUMBER THREE breaks with a backhand winner across court that wrong-foots Zvonareva on the baseline

  20. 3-3 - A horrible double fault from Safina, already her third of the match, gifts Zvonareva another break point ... but Safina manages to roll a second serve in before saving the break point after a solid rally from the baseline. Safina gives away a second break point with a backhand error down the middle of the court ... but this time an ace down the T does the trick .. and this time Safina manages to hold to keep things level

  21. 3-2 - Zvonareva holds from 0-40 down with a cracking winner that she really appeared to be struggling to hold on to and that's three games in a row from Zvonareva and leads her in the lead for the first time

  22. 2-2 - A first double fault from Safina, a real trouble for her during her quarter-final against Dokic when she served 11, and she is staring at a first break point ... and ZVONAREVA BREAKS BACK when a forehand winner down the line, albeit helped by Safina stumbling a little as she raced across the baseline

  23. 1-2 - Much better from Zvonareva as she holds to get on the scoreboard. Safina is really going for broke on her return of serve and in this game, they didn't really come off with most of the shots landing out

  24. 0-2 - Safina quickly follows up her opening break with a solid service hold - she is clearly firing on all cylinders on her groundstrokes already today throwing in a vicious backhand across court that lands smack in the corner for a winner

  25. 0-1 - A nervy opening service game from Zvonareva, she has never been in a Grand Slam final before, gifts her opponent a first break point .... and SAFINA BREAKS to open the match with some heavy groundstrokes before racing up to slam a short ball away across court for the winner

  26. 0-0 - Zvonareva won the toss and, unusually opted to serve first ...

  27. 04:48 - These two players have met nine times before, with Safina leading 5-4 in the head-to-heads, although once again Zvonareva has won their last three meetings

  28. 04:29 - Hello there, and welcome to Eurosport Yahoo!'s LIVE coverage of this second women's semi-final between third seed Dinara Safina and seventh seed, and fellow Russian, Vera Zvonareva