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Australian Open Capsules: Nadal beats Federer to move into men's singles final
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A look at Thursday's 11th day of the Australian Open tennis championships:
WEATHER: Sunny, high of 77.
ATTENDANCE: Day session: 21,126, Night: 17,440. TOTAL: 38,566.
WINNERS: Men: No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Women: No. 3 Victoria Azarenka, No. 4 Maria Sharapova.
LOSERS: Men: No. 3 Roger Federer. Women: No. 2 Petra Kvitova, No. 11 Kim Clijsters.
STAT OF THE DAY: 8 — the number of times Nadal has beaten Federer in 10 Grand Slam meetings.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I guess before you all thought I was a mental case. I was just young and emotional." — Azarenka to the Rod Laver Arena crowd after her semifinal win.
ON COURT FRIDAY: Men's semifinal: Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Murray; Women's doubles final: Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva vs. Italy's Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.
FRIDAY FORECAST: Sunny, high of 84.
Results
The Associated Press
Thursday
At Melbourne Park
Melbourne, Australia
Purse: $26.83 million (Grand Slam)
Surface: Hard-Outdoor
Singles
Men
Semifinals
Rafael Nadal (2), Spain, def. Roger Federer (3), Switzerland, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Women
Semifinals
Victoria Azarenka (3), Belarus, def. Kim Clijsters (11), Belgium, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Maria Sharapova (4), Russia, def. Petra Kvitova (2), Czech Republic, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Doubles
Men
Semifinals
Bob and Mike Bryan (1), United States, def. Robert Lindstedt, Sweden, and Horia Tecau (7), Romania, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Leander Paes, India, and Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic, def. Max Mirnyi, Belarus, and Daniel Nestor (2), Canada, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Mixed
Quarterfinals
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States, and Horia Tecau (8), Romania, def. Jarmila Gajdosova, Australia, and Bruno Soares, Brazil, 4-6, 6-1, 13-11 tiebreak.
Elena Vesnina, Russia, and Leander Paes (5), India, def. Lisa Raymond, United States, and Rohan Bopanna (4), India, 6-2, 6-2.
Legends Doubles
Round Robin
Men
Pat Cash, Australia, and Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia, def. Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis, Netherlands, 2-6, 6-4, 10-8 tiebreak.
Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, Australia, def. Wayne Ferreira, South Africa, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russia, 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 tiebreak.
Exhibition
Martina Hingis, Switzerland, and Pat Cash, Australia, def. Martina Navratilova, United States, and Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia, 9-8 (4).
Junior Singles
Boys
Quarterfinals
Luke Saville (1), Australia, def. Kyle Edmund (7), Britain, 7-5, 7-5.
Adam Pavlasek (10), Czech Republic, def. Kaichi Uchida (4), Japan, 6-3, 6-3.
Filip Peliwo, Canada, def. Joshua Ward-Hibbert, Britain, 6-3, 6-2.
Mackenzie McDonald, United States, def. Robin Stanek, Czech Republic, 0-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Girls
Quarterfinals
Taylor Townsend (14), United States, def. Sabina Sharipova (12), Uzbekistan, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Krista Hardebeck, United States, def. Irina Khromacheva (1), Russia, 6-3, 6-3.
Yulia Putintseva (4), Russia, def. Barbora Krejcikova, Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-3.
Eugenie Bouchard (2), Canada, def. Risa Ozaki, Japan, 6-4, 6-3.
Junior Doubles
Boys
Semifinals
Adam Pavlasek, Czech Republic, and Filip Veger, Croatia, def. Alexandre Favrot and Quentin Halys, France, 6-4, 6-2.
Liam Broady and Joshua Ward-Hibbert (6), Britain, def. Andrew Harris and Nick Kyrgios (4), Australia, 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 tiebreak.
Girls
Semifinals
Gabrielle Andrews and Taylor Townsend, United States, def. Rutuja Bhosale, India, and Aldila Sutjiadi, Indonesia, 6-3, 6-1.
Irina Khromacheva, Russia, and Danka Kovinic (1), Montenegro, def. Ilka Csoregi, Romania, and Elizaveta Kulichkova (3), Russia, 6-3, 6-4.
Wheelchair
Singles
Men
Semifinals
Maikel Scheffers (1), Netherlands, def. Stefan Olsson, Sweden, 2-6, 7-5, 9-7.
Nicolas Peifer, France, def. Stephane Houdet (2), France, 6-4, 6-4.
Women
Semifinals
Aniek van Koot (2), Netherlands, def. Marjolein Buis, Netherlands, 6-3, 6-4.
Esther Vergeer (1), Netherlands, def. Sabine Ellerbrock, Germany, 6-0, 6-2.
Quad
Championship
Peter Norfolk (2), Britain, def. Noam Gershony, Israel, 6-3, 6-0.
Third Place
David Wagner (1), United States, def. Andrew Lapthorne, Britain, 6-0, 7-6 (5).
Doubles
Men
First Round
Ronald Vink and Robin Ammerlaan (2), Netherlands, def. Ben Weekes, Australia, and Stefan Olsson, Sweden, 6-3, 6-2.
Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer (1), France, def. Satoshi Saida, Japan, and Maikel Scheffers, Netherlands, 6-2, 6-1.
Women
First Round
Esther Vergeer and Sharon Walraven (1), Netherlands, def. Sabine Ellerbrock, Germany, and Yui Kamiji, Japan, 6-1, 6-1.
Aniek van Koot and Marjolein Buis (2), Netherlands, def. Annick Sevenans, Belgium, and Daniela di Toro, Australia, 6-2, 6-3.
Quad
Championship
Andrew Lapthorne and Peter Norfolk (1), Britain, def. David Wagner, United States, and Noam Gershony (2), Israel, 6-4, 6-2
Show Court Schedules
The Associated Press
Friday
At Melbourne Park
Melbourne, Australia
Play begins at 11 p.m. EST Thursday
Rod Laver Arena
Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi (6), India, vs. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States, and Horia Tecau (8), Romania
Not before Midnight EST Friday: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci (11), Italy, vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva, Russia
Night Session (3:30 a.m. EST Friday)
Novak Djokovic (1), Serbia, vs. Andy Murray (4), Britain
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Only the trophy and the tears were missing from this latest Grand Slam installment of Rafa vs. Roger.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were on opposite sides of the net Thursday, meeting in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
And Nadal was the winner again — for the eighth time in their 10 Grand Slam matchups.
The Spaniard won 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4, covering the baseline with incredible speed and hitting forehand winners from almost impossible angles.
He applauded as Federer started to leave the stadium, then ran back onto the court, dropping onto his haunches and pumping his arms in triumph. All that, three days before the final.
Defending champion and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic will take on Andy Murray on Friday for a spot against Nadal in Sunday's final.
Maria Sharapova is chasing her fourth major title, and the No. 1 ranking, when she meets third-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the women's final on Saturday.
Sharapova beat No. 2 Petra Kvitova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to avenge her loss to the 21-year-old Czech in the Wimbledon final last year. Azarenka beat defending champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
The latest Grand Slam meeting between Nadal and Federer — who've won 26 majors between them — was a semifinal worthy of a final.
Nadal didn't excuse his celebration, but explained it as letting off steam.
"It's a fantastic victory for me. Very, very happy playing against the greatest of the history in semifinals, big match on Rod Laver (court)," he said. "It's one of the victories that's going to stay in my mind forever. It's a fantastic way to start the season. Very happy for everything."
Apart from the 11 consecutive points Federer lost after a 10-minute delay near the end of the second set — while the Australia Day fireworks display was in progress — the match was tightly contested.
Nadal has labored with injuries since losing the U.S. Open final, and he'd talked about having time off next month to let his sore shoulder heal. On the eve of the tournament, he hurt his knee while he sat in a chair at his hotel — and thought for a while that he wouldn't be able to play at the Australian Open. He has played with his right knee heavily strapped, but has still won six straight matches.
The 10th Grand Slam meeting between Nadal and Federer equaled the record for individual major matchups since the Open era began in 1968. Ivan Lendl beat John McEnroe in seven of their 10 meetings. Nadal now leads Federer 8-2.
Federer said it feels like Nadal plays his best tennis against him.
Last time the pair met in Australia, Nadal won the 2009 final in five sets. He had to console Federer as he sobbed during the trophy presentation.
"For me it didn't feel any different, you know, a finals or a semis against Rafa," Federer said of Thursday's match. "It's always an occasion ... Yeah, it was the same."
It was easier to handle walking off the court immediately, though, and not having his emotions broadcast to millions of people.
"It's nicer," Federer said. "I prefer to walk off this way than having to go through the trophy ceremony after losing."
Nadal has won the last five Grand Slam matches they've played — four of them in finals. The last time they met in a Grand Slam semifinal was at the French Open in 2005, when Nadal beat the then No. 1-ranked Federer en route to his first major title.
"We have had good matches over the years. I enjoy playing him. The crowd really gets into it, which is nice," Federer said. "We have a lot of respect for each other, which is good, too, I think."
For Nadal, the celebrations were more about his progress to the final rather than another win over Federer.
"That's why, because ... 24 hours to play my first match, I was in my room crying because I believe I didn't" have the chance to play in Melbourne, he said. "So it was a very, very tough situation for me, these hours.
"Two weeks later I am here in the finals," he said. "Having very bad expectations 24 hours before the first match, and now two weeks later I am playing well. I am in the final."
For his part, Federer, thinks his rivalry with Nadal is still good for tennis.
"I hope it inspires future generations or other players, being nice to each other on the court and all that stuff ... works as well at the highest of levels," he said. "We also kind of play well against each other. I always think he plays a bit better against me than against other players, but that's good for him."
Even so, Federer didn't hang around to watch Nadal's celebration.
"I mean, I was slightly disappointed, obviously, leaving center court, because I felt like my game was good and I could have done something in the finals potentially," he said. "But I don't have to worry about that now anymore. It's fine. I feel OK now. You know, it's in the past already."
Sharapova, Azarenka play for title, No. 1 ranking
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The age gap only two years, the difference in experience is vast between Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.
Sharapova will play her sixth Grand Slam final at the Australian Open on Saturday against Azarenka, who is making her debut. And it isn't just a major title on the line — the winner will claim the No. 1 ranking.
Four years after winning the last of her three major titles and approaching eight years since she lifted the Wimbledon trophy at 17, Sharapova has another chance to add to her Grand Slam haul.
"It means so much to be back in a Grand Slam final," Sharapova said. "It's nice to get that far again after losing quite early in the last couple of years."
Now 24, Sharapova has already been on tour long enough to experience the ups and downs of tennis. After winning the Australian Open in 2008, she underwent shoulder surgery that took her out of the game for nine months.
It took much longer for her to get back to her peak, and she lost at the Australian Open before the quarterfinals on her last two visits. She reached the Wimbledon final last year, but lost to Petra Kvitova — the player she beat in Thursday's semifinals.
"With the shoulder, I knew some examples of some people that did not quite recover from surgery and that was a little frightening, but I really had no option," she said. "Of course it took a long time and it was a process, but it was just something that was in my steps that I had to go through. And I did."
Azarenka worked on her fitness in the offseason, giving her the confidence to know she can play "as long as I need."
Azarenka may take added confidence from two previous wins over Sharapova in hardcourt finals in Stanford and Miami. They share a 3-3 record overall.
"She's a really, really good player, and I haven't had great success against her in the last couple of events that we've played against each other," Sharapova said. "I'd really like to change that. It will be important to tactically play right. She makes you hit a lot of balls and she's aggressive as well."
The Florida-based Russian often speaks like a veteran of the game — and she showed her experience in dealing with the media in the way she swatted away persistent questions about her grunting when she hits the ball.
"No one important enough has told me to change or do something different," she said after her quarterfinal win. "I've answered it many times before. I'm sure I'll answer it many more times ahead. I'm OK with that."
Two of the noisiest players in the women's game go head-to-head in the final. The WTA says its looking at ways to reduce the practice, which it acknowledges has become "bothersome" for some fans.
Any action is likely to start with younger players. Sharapova and Azarenka say it has been part of their game as youngsters, and neither has any intention of changing.
Azarenka's high-pitched hooting has been mimicked by the crowd at times during her Australian Open run, but the 22-year-old Belarusian has maintained her composure.
By beating defending champion Kim Clijsters in the semifinals, the third-seeded Azarenka took her winning streak to 11 matches after claiming the Sydney International title before the Australian Open.
Like Sharapova, Azarenka has dropped two sets in Melbourne, including one against Clijsters in the semifinals. It could have been much worse against the Belgian. Leading 4-2 against the four-time Grand Slam champion and crowd favorite, Azarenka was broken back after holding five game points.
No problem. She broke right back and after a nervy double-fault on her first match point, closed out the win. She said her ability to finish off the match against Clijsters is because of hard work and experience.
"Even if you believe 1 million percent, it's not going to happen," Azarenka said. "It's a lot of hard work. Those details, that confidence that you get from the tennis match makes you believe."
The Azarenka-Sharapova final means there won't be a No. 1 without a Grand Slam title to her name — the case with Caroline Wozniacki, who lost the top ranking with her quarterfinal defeat by Clijsters.
For Azarenka, the ranking is still a goal. She said after her fourth-round win she would be "lying" if she said it wasn't on her mind. Sharapova, the veteran of three previous spells at No. 1, only wants to add to her trophy collection.
"Having been in the position before, doesn't really (add anything to the final) to me," Sharapova said. "I think personally, for me, it's more about the Grand Slam win than the No. 1 ranking.
"That's just always been the goal for me."
-- Caroline Cheese
'Aussie Kim' exits likely last Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — With a quick wave and a smile, Kim Clijsters walked out of Rod Laver Arena for probably the last time in her professional career on Thursday, leaving behind a crowd that has come to view her as their own.
Clijsters, who plans to retire at the end of the season, was adopted by fans when she began dating Australian Lleyton Hewitt in 2000 and the affection didn't wear off after the couple split in 2004.
Playing on the Australia Day national holiday, her every winner was raucously cheered against Victoria Azarenka, but the Belarusian maintained her composure to win a seesaw semifinal 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 Thursday at the Australian Open.
One of the biggest cheers came when Clijsters walked off court and disappeared from view. The Belgian has never been the sentimental type.
"I mean, you don't think about it," she said of her emotions when the arena. "The loss is too fresh, I think, to think about something else. So I'm sure that will sink in the next couple of days."
By that time, she will back at her home in Belgium, where she lives with American husband Brian Lynch, a retired basketball player, and their nearly 4-year-old daughter Jada.
Lynch sat nervously courtside on Thursday to watch an absorbing semifinal, one of the best women's matches of the tournament.
"I'm sure I lost a few days of my life in that box but it was all worth it. Wifey is a true champ!" he tweeted afterward.
Spending more time with her husband and daughter is one of Clijsters' priorities after she ends her career, but she says she isn't in a hurry to leave tennis.
"I enjoy being at home. But I still enjoy playing tennis very much. I enjoy the challenge," she said. "I'm lucky enough that I'm capable of being in this position where Jada and my husband, they're capable of traveling with me, because otherwise it would be too hard to do that.
"Tennis has given me so many great memories and emotional rollercoasters. I don't think you can experience that again in any other thing in life, maybe except giving birth."
Clijsters has already retired once — in 2007 — but was tempted back in 2009 and has since won three Grand Slam titles.
She won the Australian Open a year ago but the remainder of the season was marred by shoulder, wrist and abdominal injuries. A twisted ankle last week almost curtailed the defense of her title.
Playing Li Na in the fourth round, she stumbled and turned her left ankle midway through the first set and needed immediate treatment. As her opponent struggled with nerves, a hobbling Clijsters somehow came from four match points down to win in three sets.
She had considered quitting, but didn't want to retire from her last match at the Australian Open. That sort of fighting spirit has endeared her to the sport-loving Australian public, and it showed against the 22-year-old Azarenka.
Scampering from side to side, retrieving balls that most players would not have got close to let alone returned, the 28-year-old Clijsters didn't seem at all bothered by her ankle. Several times, she almost did the splits as she stretched out wide to force her opponent to play one more ball.
Trailing 4-2 in the deciding set, Clijsters recovered from 40-0 down on her opponent's serve, saved another three game points and broke back — to elicit what must have been one of the loudest cheers of the fortnight.
"She made me run so much, I felt like I was running like a marathon out there," Azarenka said.
It wasn't enough. Azarenka broke right back and served out the win to reach her first Grand Slam final.
"It's unfortunate when you get so close," Clijsters said. "I know I'm capable of beating all these girls, but it's whoever's better on the day wins and gets to go through.
"But I could have been home already two days ago. I feel that I really gave it 200 percent, so in that way I really don't feel like I could have done anything differently these last two weeks."
Clijsters didn't reflect on her loss for long before looking ahead to her next target: The French Open, where she lost in the finals in 2001 and 2003.
"It is a challenge," she said. "It's one of the goals that I have this season, to give myself a really good preparation on the clay courts and try to be close to my best level when I get to the French Open."
-- Caroline Cheese
Commentary: No. 1 in women's tennis not what it seems
Caroline Wozniacki's stats in tennis majors make for grim reading.
The supposed top player in the world for the past 15 months has played in 20 Grand Slam tournaments since 2007 but made only one final, more than two years ago, which she lost.
At those premier events, she faced players ranked in the top 10 a total of seven times. But just twice — yes, twice — did she win those matchups. In other words, on the most prestigious stages, against the best players, the Dane consistently gets found out.
It gets worse. Wozniacki's 6-3, 7-6 (4) quarterfinal loss this week to Kim Clijsters at the Australian Open was the 14th time she succumbed at a major to a player ranked lower than herself. In other words, at tournaments that matter most in tennis, Wozniacki doesn't live up to her billing.
Which all means what? That the WTA's system, which awarded Wozniacki the top spot for 67 weeks, is flawed. You can study the WTA's small print all you like, about how it crunches the numbers to rank players by points they accumulate at tournaments over a 52-week period. Still, the result — Wozniacki, No. 1, without a major title — simply didn't compute.
The same was true of Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina, previous No. 1's without a slam. Compared to the clarity on the men's side, where the top three of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have 30 majors among them, the pecking order on the women's side made little sense.
Wozniacki reached the top more with consistency over the long haul rather than brilliance at the biggest events. The 21-year-old is a hard worker. She played in more tournaments — 22 a year — than most of the other top 10 women in 2010 and 2011. Only French workaholic Marion Bartoli trumped that, somehow finding time and energy to play 29 tournaments that award points last year. Maria Sharapova, who played 14 such tournaments in 2011, was a slouch in comparison.
Unlike Francesca Schiavone of Italy or Samantha Stosur from Australia, Wozniacki did not play Fed Cup, which doesn't award WTA ranking points. And she avoided debilitating injury. Serena Williams, the 13-time Grand Slam champion, sliced her right foot on broken glass in 2010 and was bedridden with blood clots on both lungs.
That is not to say Wozniacki was No. 1 by default, only because other top women were sidelined or not playing as much. Wozniacki won in Dubai, Indian Wells, Charleston, Brussels, Copenhagen and New Haven in 2011, following her six titles the previous year. Not bad at all. One doesn't need a WTA computer to tell you that.
But Wozniacki hasn't reached a Grand Slam final since her solitary appearance at one in 2009, at the US Open, where Clijsters tidied her away in straight sets. No matter what supporters say about Wozniacki's week-in, week-out dedication, that's an underwhelming showing from the player we're told was world's best. From their No. 1, tennis fans are entitled to expect more.
Martina Navratilova suggested as much this week.
"Clearly nobody feels that Wozniacki is a true No. 1," said the winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, words that wouldn't have been said about her.
Rightly, however, Navratilova blamed the WTA's system, not Wozniacki.
"She's No. 1 because that's how they set up the computer ranking," she said. "It weighs too much on quantity and not enough on quality."
One suggestion, echoed by Navratilova, is that the WTA could promote quality over quantity by awarding bonus points for wins against top players, a tweak that could reward lower-ranked players who surpass themselves and penalize top players who don't do as well as they perhaps should. The WTA awarded "quality" points in the past but says it has no immediate plans to do so again.
"In a step to simplify and make it easier for fans and media, the ranking system was changed in 2006 with full consultation with our player and tournament members," the WTA e-mailed in response to questions on this issue. "This decision to eliminate quality points was made with the support of the Players' Council. Our players felt that all players in any given tournament should have an equal opportunity to earn the same amount of ranking points, rather than have the amount of ranking points earned be partially dependent on their opponents' ranking."
Wozniacki's loss in Australia to Clijsters ended her reign at the top, at least for now. She will be replaced in new rankings Monday by Sharapova or Victoria Azarenka, depending on which wins their Australian Open final.
Sharapova, a former No. 1, won Wimbledon in 2004, the 2006 U.S. Open and the Australian Open in 2008. Azarenka is looking for her first major trophy in 25 tournaments. The winner Saturday will also take the top spot.
So, either way, women's tennis will again have a No. 1 with a major title.
Which is closer to how things should be.
John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester@ap.org
Notebook: Kvitova looks to rally, build on strong 2011
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Petra Kvitova was disappointed to fall short against the more experienced Maria Sharapova in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
However, after her breakthrough season in 2011, the 21-year-old Czech put the 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 loss in perspective.
"Yes, of course I'm disappointed right now," Kvitova said Thursday. "If I look back, I don't know, in a week, for example, it will be a good tournament for me, first semifinal in the Australian Open. So, I mean, now I'm really sad, but in the next days it will be fine."
The big-hitting Czech has quickly established herself as one of the game's elite players and a legitimate contender for major titles.
Consider where Kvitova had been a year ago: She came into the 2011 Australian Open seeded No. 25 and went out meekly to then-No. 2 Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals.
She won two tournaments before her remarkable run at Wimbledon, where she defeated Sharapova in the final for her first Grand Slam title. She capped off the year by winning the WTA Championships and rising to No. 2 in the rankings.
Kvitova could have gone all the way to No. 1 this week had she won in Melbourne.
She defeated Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 at the 2011 Wimbledon final in their first meeting.
"Probably, I play more aggressive in the Wimbledon and didn't have a lot of mistakes," she said. "It was fine match for the people, hopefully. I'm looking forward for the next matches."
INSTANT CHEMISTRY: Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva may want to make their doubles partnership a permanent one.
The Russians are playing together for only the sixth time — and the first time since last year's French Open — but they've made it all the way to the Australian Open final. On Friday, they'll face the Italian duo of Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani on Friday.
Both Kuznetsova and Zvonareva are better known for their singles play — they each reached career-high No. 2 — but they're not exactly strangers to the doubles circuit.
Kuznetsova has 14 doubles titles and won the 2005 Australian Open with Alicia Molik, and Zvonareva has five titles and captured the 2006 U.S. Open with Nathalie Dechy.
They're the first unseeded pair in the Australian Open women's doubles final since Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko won in 2008.
Vinci and Errani, the 11th-seeded team, reached the quarterfinals of last year's U.S. Open together.
Errani is enjoying the best Grand Slam tournament of her career. She reached the singles quarterfinals — her highest level — and tested Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova before falling in straight sets.
TV BLACKOUT: Bob Bryan will play for his record 12th Grand Slam doubles title with his brother Mike on Saturday, but he's advising his wife Michelle not to watch on TV.
The couple is expecting the birth of their first child — a girl — and the due date just happens to fall on the same day as the doubles final.
"I've been telling her, 'Don't watch the matches, it will get your heart rate going and you might spit that baby out,'" Bob Bryan said after the brothers' tight semifinal win Thursday. "She knows she's a few days away from me coming home. She's not going to risk it, not now."
Bryan almost caught an earlier flight back to Miami. The top-seeded brothers had to fight off a match point and rally from a 5-2 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker to beat Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania.
"I think we maybe got a little lucky," Mike Bryan said. "Played kind of our best tennis at the very end."
The brothers were coming off a tough, three-set quarterfinal win over Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland that didn't finish until 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday. They got a late start after the 4-hour-plus singles quarterfinal between Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych at Rod Laver Arena.
The Americans play the unseeded pairing of Leander Paes of India and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the final for a chance to make history.
They're tied at 11 career Grand Slam titles with the Australian doubles team of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, known at home as the "Woodies."
"They've always seemed like they've been happy for us and our success," Bob Bryan said. "They seem very secure with their own achievements and career. They've had an amazingly decorated history on the court."
Whatever happens on Saturday, Bob Bryan will be on the first flight out of Melbourne on Sunday morning.
"(Michelle's) been so happy and supportive of what we're doing," Bob Bryan said. "That makes it really easy."
-- Justin Bergman
Other Tennis Capsules
Police issue Tomic tickets, sparking feud
GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — Police issued two traffic tickets to Bernard Tomic after waiting outside his home while he spoke to a lawyer in the latest episode of a feud between the teenage Wimbledon quarterfinalist and local officers.
Australian media reported that officers tried to pull over Tomic, who did not stop but drove his BMW sports car back to his home at Southport on Australia's Gold Coast.
Two officers went inside the house to speak to Tomic, who then sought legal representation, saying he wanted to make a complaint against police.
The 19-year-old Tomic, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, had previously complained about perceived persecution by local police.
Sharapova to lead Russia in Fed Cup vs Spain
MOSOW (AP) — Maria Sharapova will lead Russia against Spain in the Fed Cup next month.
Sharapova will make her third appearance for Russia. The three-time Grand Slam champion won both of her singles matches against Israel in 2008. She lost in opening singles against France last year.
Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev also selected two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 31 Nadia Petrova and Australian Open quarterfinalist Ekaterina Makarova for the Feb. 4-5 best-of-five series on the indoor hard court at the Olympic Arena in Moscow.
Russia has won the Fed Cup title four times since 2004. Russia is 5-1 against Spain, which won the title five times between 1991 and 1998.
Schiavone, Pennetta to lead Italian Fed Cup team
MILAN (AP) — Former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta will again lead Italy's bid to regain the Fed Cup title.
Captain Corrado Barazzutti also picked Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci on Wednesday to play Ukraine in the World Group first round on Feb. 4-5 in Biella, Italy.
Schiavone, who won at Roland Garros in 2010, is at No. 11 in the WTA rankings. Pennetta is at No. 20, Vinci No. 25 and Errani No. 48.
No. 1 in the Fed Cup rankings, Italy won the trophy in 2006, 2009 and 2010. The team holds a 3-0 record over Ukraine, including a 4-1 victory at Kharkiv in the first round in 2010.
Bartoli left off France's Fed Cup team
PARIS (AP) — France captain Nicolas Escude has again left Marion Bartoli off the Fed Cup team.
Escude selected Alize Cornet, Pauline Parmentier, Virginie Razzano and Aravane Rezai to face Slovakia in World Group II, with Kristina Mladenovic as reserve for the Feb. 4-5 best-of-five series on indoor hard courts in Bratislava.
The ninth-ranked Bartoli is a former Wimbledon finalist, but she has clashed with Escude and the French tennis federation over the independent coaching setup with her father.
Bartoli also was left out of the team when France played Spain on clay in the World Group playoff last April.
