The Semi-finals have been played and the finals have been set. And we are in for some , possibly, crazy finals I think.

The ladies played on Thursday and some great tennis was played. Unfortunately, I did not have the privilege to watch any of the matches due to my exams but apparently the 2nd semi-final between Keys and Swiatek was one of the best matches some people have seen. Exactly what you want in a grand slam semi-final to kick off 2025. The 1st semi-final was between 2 very good friends, Sabalenka the number 1 in the world and Badosa the 11th seed. Sabalenka found her range and her best tennis and booked her spot in the Australian Open final once again. No surprise she was the most picked lady as she hasn’t lost a grand slam hard court match in a very long time. She is going for her 3rd consecutive Aussie Open final. Just extraordinary figures and stats. The score in the semi-final was 6-4; 6-2 meaning Sabalenka scored a wonderful 9 points for all her teams.

Then we go to the match of the day on the 23rd of January. Swiatek the number 2 seed and the best scoring lady heading into the semi-finals won the 1st set against 19th seed, Keys, 7-5. This did not set her up for the win however as Keys came roaring back in the 2nd set playing untouchable tennis. The American leveling up the match quickly with a 6-1 set. The final set was always looking like it would go the way of the Polish Player. Swiatek having chances to serve the match out at 5-4 and 6-5 but both times Keys managed to break and ultimately took the match to a ten point match tiebreak to decide who the finalist would be. Both players played at an unbelievable level but it was ultimately Keys who took the tiebreak 10-8 and with it booked her spot in the final.

Keys was picked by 7 teams and was the substitute player for 2 teams of which both teams have been able to use her. Therefore meaning 9 teams have Keys scoring them points on Saturday. However Sabalenka has 53 picks and was the most picked lady in the fantasy league. Just 17 teams never had her. There are some teams with both which could be dark horses on day 14.

Onto the men’s semi-finals who played yesterday and it was a disappointing start to the day as Zverev took the opening set against Djokovic in a tiebreak (7-5) and that was that. Djokovic had to retire due to injury sending the 2nd seed through to yet another grand slam final. Will the German be able to get over the line this time.

Sinner the number 1 in the world and just like Sabalenka, is a player who just does not know how to lose on hard court was up against 21st seeded, American, Ben Shelton. The first set was tightly contested and the American actually was the player with the early break but was broken back immediately. The set ended up in a tiebreak and it was the Italian who took it comfortably 7-2. This set up the match as Sinner got into a nice and unbeatable rhythm and comfortably took the next 2 sets 6-2 to book himself into yet another grand slam final. What a player he is becoming.

Zverev was picked by 22 teams while Sinner was picked by 53 teams making him the most picked male. We as the fantasy league community do know some things about tennis don’t we.

Onto the long awaited leaderboard and before I mention the leaderboard I just want to say that there is still so much to play for in this years Aussie Open fantasy league. There are multiple teams who can win prize’s and there are multiple teams who can win the fantasy league. Many people have a different combination of players heading into the final 2 matches of the Aussie Open. It is very very exciting.

Anyway ‘Wallabie Wannabes’ do hold on to their lead but their lead has been cut down to just 1 point. ‘Miss Hits’ who has been their biggest competitor has closed the gap thanks to the way matches went in the semi-finals and is now right on the heels ready to snatch away the win. However the closing pack has also closed in to the top 2. ‘Eish’ has been silently moving up the leaderboard and now finds themselves in 3rd just 5 points away from the leader and 4 points away from 2nd. ‘Faulty Feet’ are just 3 points further back and are in 4th. ‘Heksie’s Pot Luck’ has finally but unfortunately dropped out of the top 3 for one of the 1st times this tournament and now sits in 5th. The last prize position is going to ‘Ally Cats’ who sit in 6th however there is a tie for 7th and they are just 1 point behind 7th spot. All to play for.

Onto the spot prizes and the battle for 41st is just so so close. There are many teams in and around that area of the leaderboard but amazingly after the semi-finals were played, ‘Eeny Meeny’ remained in 41st spot and still holds onto the spot prize.

Then we lost a few teams with Swiatek and Badosa and Djokovic all falling. This means we have our spot prize winner for 69th spot…’Backup Bandit’ dropped 5 places and was eliminated on day 12/13 so will hold onto 69th spot and so is our spot prize winner. Congratulations to Mark Hawkins!!

The other teams which were eliminated are ‘Lucky Strings’ who are sitting in 26th spot amazingly. Great picks who unfortunately did not make it to the final. ‘Strung Out’ who was sitting and fighting for 41st spot has now been eliminated in 45th spot. ‘New Balls Please’ and ‘Dodgy Dingos’ did not have the best Aussie Open and now are eliminated.

The leaderboard is also perfectly split on day 13…The top half all have over 200 points and the bottom half all have under 200 points.