Semi-final action - Day 11

Two contrasting women's semi-finals were played out on Thursday afternoon in Melbourne. Two unheralded Chinese players had the possibility of meeting in the final of the Grand Slam of Asia and the Pacific, but they were up against two champions of the game, in Serena Williams and Justine Henin.

First up was Li Na, who had beaten Venus to get here, and would have to beat sister Serena, the defending champion, to progress further. It was an extremely close match which was ultimately decided by two tiebreaks. Serena it was who played the bigger points better to emerge victorious, although Li Na has nothing to be ashamed of.

Then it was the turn of Zheng Jie to tackle the graceful terrier that is Justine Henin. In contrast to the first semi-final, this one was a no-contest as Zheng crumbled to the overwhelming force of the Belgian. Henin ran away with a 6-1, 6-0 scoreline and is looking good for a come-back Grand Slam triumph.

The first of the men's semi-finals was played in the night session between marathon man Marin Cilic and Briton Andy Murray. Cilic had contested 3 five-setters on his way to the last four whilst Murray had yet to drop a set en route to his penultimate match of the Open.

For the first set and a half, Cilic dominated, sweeping Murray from one side of the court to the other with some devastating forehands and gruelling rallies.

But Murray managed to hang in there, and as Cilic began to tire, Murray gained greater control, hitting winners from all over the court. Murray will now compete in just his 2nd Grand Slam final on Sunday, but will he be facing Federer or Tsonga? Their showdown begins in around five hours' time.

Henin motors on - Day 9

Seven-time Grand Slam champion and returning hero, Justine Henin, beat giant-killer Nadia Petrova in a close quarter-final in which the Belgian came through 7-6, 7-5. The "Roger Federer of women's tennis", as Todd Woodbridge labelled her, is looking better with each match, and will face Chinese Zheng Jie, who beat Maria Kirilenko, for a place in the final.

Andy Roddick got awfully lucky in his last 16 match with Fernando Gonzalez when the most outrageous umpiring decision saw Mr. Molina fail to replay a challenged point when the Chilean had a shot on the questioned ball. Roddick  was resultingly awarded the point, which just happened to be game point, break point and set point at a crucial moment in the match.

He wasn't so lucky against Cilic, when after coming back from two sets down, the young Croat blew him away 6-3 in the fifth.

The amazing run of Marin Cilic has seen him conquer Stanislas Wawrinka, Juan Martin Del Potro and now Andy Roddick, en route to his first Grand Slam semi-final.

There, he will meet Andy Murray who was on top of Nadal from the start, taking the first set 6-3 and then winning the 2nd set tiebreak in a largely impressive performance against the second best player in the world. Murray had an answer to everything Nadal came up with, and with the Briton leading 3-0 in the third, the Spaniard conceded the match, being troubled with yet another knee injury which flared up in the 2nd set.

However, Murray should be cautious of the dangerously impressive Cilic, who could yet spring another surprise at Melbourne Park.

A tennis feast! - Day 7

Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro put on a monumental show of big hitting in this fourth round match in which the scoreline swung back and forth throughout. I am absolutely delighted and relieved to tell you that the beast Del Potro was beaten, Cilic winning this marathon, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3. Del Potro was a huge threat to Federer should he have reached the final.

Current Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal faced off against giant-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic in a close encounter. Nadal took the opener only for Karlovic to level in the next set. But nadal began reading the Croat's serve and was totally on top by the fourth set. He won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Nadia Petrova continued her giant-killing act as she powered past 3rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets, the final score reading 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Belgian maestro Justine Henin came up against young compatriot Yanina Wickmayer. The youngster had been the surprise package of last year's US Open, and after losing a first set tiebreak, she went on to race through the second set 6-1. But Henin, seven times Grand Slam champion, kept her cool and put on another great exhibition of her skills, winning the decider 6-3 to set up a quarter final with Petrova. As much as Henin insists it is a great physical challenge for her after missing the last couple of years on tour, she nevertheless looks like she's never been away.

In the first match of the day, Andy Murray quite comfortably beat an inept John Isner in three straight sets. While the American has a serve to boast of, he possesses absolutely nothing else based on this performance, and was rather incapable of maintaining, let alone winning, a rally. Where does this leave Andy Murray? He has had four simple matches in which he hasn't been stretched in the least, and now he must be prepared to take on the second best player on the planet in Rafael Nadal. I think we will be seeing the Scot on a plane out of Melbourne in the very near future, perhaps on Tuesday.