Day 12, lady semi-final day. There were 2 very different semi-finals on day 12. The first was a repeat of the US Open final in 2023, Gauff vs Sabalenka, whereas the other match was between 2 players who have never been so deep into a grand slam before, 12th seed, Zheng and unseeded qualifier Yastremska.

The first match on was between Sabalenka and Gauff. In terms of the fantasy league 43 teams had Sabalenka whereas just 27 teams had Gauff. The match started and it was Sabalenka who started the stronger of the 2 as she lost just 1 point in the first 2 games. Gauff however knows how to hang in a set and she lost just 2 points in the next 2 games which meant we were level at 2 games a piece. Sabalenka then held and fought hard for the break in the 6th game to once again lead by a break at 4-2. She made it 5-2 and was a game away from the 1st set. Gauff held from 30-30 to force Sabalenka to serve it out. The 9th game went to 30-30 and once again it was Gauff who won the next 2 points and we were back on serve at 5-4 with Sabalenka now looking a little frazzled. Gauff then held, having to save a set point in the 10th game. We were level again at 5-5. Sabalenka was unable to hold her cool and lost the next game to make it 4 straight games for Gauff who was now serving for the opening set. Gauff was 30-0 up but then never won another point in that game and we were heading to a tiebreak which seemed like a fair way to settle the opener after the roller-coaster of a set we had watched. What A Tiebreak from Sabalenka. She did nothing wrong and won the tiebreak 7-2 to win the opener and lead the semi-final 1 set to love. The opening was an important one for Gauff because if she had been broken in the 1st game, Sabalenka would have just freed up even more and raced away with the match. It was a long opening game with Gauff saving break points on her way to somehow winning the game to lead 1-0. 4 love games later and the score was 3-2 to Gauff. Sabalenka held to 15 to make it 3-3. The 2nd seed looking tough to break now. Gauff won the 7th game but once again she had to save break points. It definitely looked like it was a matter of time before Sabalenka found the break. Sabalenka held from 30-30 to make it 4-4 and now it was vitally important for Gauff to hold. Unfortunately for the American, she was unable to and Sabalenka broke to lead 5-4 and she was now serving for the match. The game headed to deuce but it was the 2nd seed who got her revenge and booked her spot in the Australian Open final for a 2nd consecutive time. Can she defend her title?

Onto the 2nd semi-final and what a story it would be for either one of them if they had to win this semi-final. Yastremska was trying to go from qualifying all the way to a final which was last done by Raducanu when she won the US Open. Zheng was trying to reach a final which would be the first time a Chinese lady reached a final since Li Na did it in 2014. Yastremska started the match and held her first service game which would have eased a few nerves. An extremely long game occurred in the 2nd game and just like the semi-final before it was Yastremska who broke Zheng to lead 2-0 in the opener. But just as the semi-final before Zheng broke back immediately and held to make it 2-2. Two holds later and it was 3-3. Zheng then made her move in the 7th game as she found herself 0-40 up. Yastremska saved all 3 break points but could not save the 4th and Zheng was now up a break 4-3. Zheng had to save a break point in the 8th game before holding for a 5-3 lead. Yastremska forced her to serve it out which Zheng impressively did do and it was the Chinese player who led a set to love. Zheng was the first to strike in the 2nd set as she broke in the 3rd game to lead 2-1. She could not hold onto the break unfortunately and Yastremska broke straight back to level it at 2-2. Once again it was the 7th game which Yastremska could not hold serve and it was 4-3 to Zheng once again in the 2nd. She held for 5-3 and Yastremska did a good job to force Zheng to serve out the match. Zheng did so and booked a spot in Saturday’s final. Zheng became the first women to reach a grand slam final while not having faced a top 50 opponent throughout the tournament. This shows what a mammoth task she has ahead of her on Saturday. Zheng also became the first Chinese grand slam singles finalist since Li Na 10 years ago to the day. Which is just incredible.

Onto the fantasy leaderboard and ‘Tennis Addicts’ increase their lead over the pack to 9 points. ‘Lorna’s Lucky 13’ hung onto 2nd with ‘Serve with Eish’ still in 3rd. ‘Faulty Feet’ remain in 4th while ‘Aussie Guess’ remain in 5th. The only change at the top was ‘Fraud Watch’ dropping from 5th to 7th and ‘Left Back in the Changerooms’ moving into 6th place.

We unfortunately lost our first team with the loss of Gauff. 2nd Choice who sit in 53rd spot and are now the first team in red.

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.