Day 11 at the 2008 Australian Open!

January 24th, 2008

Melbourne, Australia

Day 11 of the 2008 Australian Open didn't really offer up many surprises like the last couple of days. What was expected to happen, did happen and after Day 11, the tennis world has two women who will face off the the Australian Open championship on Saturday.

The first match on Rod Laver was Maria Sharapova taking on the pesky Serbian, Jelena Jankovic who had taken out the defending Champion, Serena Williams just two days before. Sharapova started strong going up 5-0 in the first set before closing it out 6-3. The next set once again was all Sharapova as she crushed the Number 4 player in the world, 6-3, 6-1. Sharapova moves into her 2nd consecutive Australian Open final.

The next match featured Ana Ivanovic vs. Daniela Hantuchova, which everyone thought would be easy, but turned out to be quite different. Hantuchova came out on fire, blasting away everything she could while Ivanovic looked tense and tight. Hantuchova eventually led 6-0, 2-0 before Ivanovic came back. After that it was all Ivanovic with Hantuchova trying to stay in the match. Ivanovic bested Hantuchova and won the match 0-6, 6-3, 6-4. She moves into her 2nd Grand Slam Final, her first being last years Roland Garros.

The Women's Final will be Maria Sharapova vs. Ana Ivanovic. The head to head is 2-2, with their most important meeting coming at last years Roland Garros Semi-Final where Ivanovic destroyed Sharapova 6-2, 6-1. Now though, the two are different players and it should be an interesting Final to watch and see who takes the biggest title so far played this year.

Rod Laver Arena Results:

Maria Sharapova d. Jelena Jankovic - 6-3, 6-1

Ana Ivanovic d. Daniela Hantuchova - 0-6, 6-3, 6-4

Top 10 Seeds:

1. Justine Henin - Lost Quarter-Finals (Sharapova)

2. Svetlana Kuznetsova - Lost 3rd Round (Radwanska)

3. Jelena Jankovic - Lost Semi-Finals (Sharapova)

4. Ana Ivanovic - Finals

5. Maria Sharapova - Finals

6. Anna Chakvetadze - Lost 3rd Round (Kirilenko)

7. Serena Williams - Lost Quarter-Finals (Jankovic)

8. Venus Williams - Lost Quarter-Finals (Ivanovic)

9. Daniela Hantuchova - Lost Semi-Finals (Ivanovic)

10. Marion Bartoli - Lost 1st Round (Arvidsson)