Ace Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her Croatian partner Ivan Dodig defeated local favourites Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth to enter the Australian Open mixed doubles fil.

 
The second seeded Indo-Croatian pair outplayed the Australian duo 6-4, 2-6, 10-5.
 
They will now take on the winner of the second semi-final featuring Elina Svitolina-Chris Guccione and Abigail Spears-Juan Sebastian Cabal.

Federer will now compete for his fifth crown in his sixth Australian Open final.

Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer will attempt to win his record-stretching 18th Grand Slam championship after a battling performance in the Australian Open semi-finals against compatriot Stan Wawrink 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3.

 
He will up against his old foe Rafael Nadal or Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the final.

Roger Federer celebrates after defeating compatriot Stan Wawrinka

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Top seed Andy Murray defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets to reach the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena on Friday.

Murray, fighting for the year-end first place in the world rankings, took 86 minutes to defeat the Swiss number one 6-4, 6-2, Xinhua news agency reported.

He also improved to 10 wins and seven defeats against Wawarinka, although winning one game was enough to send him to the last four.

Also Read : Murray tops men’s singles tennis rankings

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The 29-year-old topped the group with a perfect record in the second group, beating Marin Cilic of Croatia in the first match and edged fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan in the second.

Nishikori also reached the semifinals as the second place finisher in the group, making his match against Cilic later meaningless.

Murray will fight for the final berth against fourth seed Milos Raonic of Canada and Nishikori meet Serbia’s Novak Djokvic.

IANS

Britain’s Andy Murray topped the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world singles ranking for the first time in his career on Monday with 11,185 points, after winning the Paris Masters title on Saturday.

Serbian Novak Djokovic, who spent 223 weeks on top of the rankings, came in second with 10,780 points, 405 points less than Murray, reports Efe.

“It might only be for one week, so I might as well try and enjoy it, because I could lose it at the Tour Finals and never be there again,” Murray told ATP’s official website.

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“So, I was really happy about that and hopefully will feel the same way going into London, as well. I’m sure I will, because you’re competing against the best players in front of a big crowd there,” the 29-year-old added.

Meanwhile, Canadian Milos Raonic jumped to the fourth place, while Croatian Marin Cilic came in seventh.

The current ATP rankings and point scores are as follows:

1. Andy Murray (Scotland) 11,185 points

2. Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 10,780

3. Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) 5,115

4. Milos Raonic (Canada) 5,050

5. Kei Nishikori (Japan) 4,705

6. Gael Monfils (France) 3,625

7. Marin Cilic (Croatia) 3,450

8. Rafael Nadal (Spain) 3,300

9. Dominic Thiem (Austria) 3,215

10. Tomas Berdych (Czech) 3,060.

IANS

By Yassh Grover

When he lifted the trophy at the clay courts of Roland Garros, Novak Djokovic became the eighth player in history to complete a Career Grand Slam. And the third man to hold all major titles at once. Now popularly called as a Nole Slam.

So it’s no surprise the Serbian starts the Wimbledon Championship as a clear favourite to lift his fourth title. The World number one had got the better of Swiss king Roger Federer in last year’s final; a four-set encounter at the All England Tennis Club to defend his title.

Under the guidance of tennis great and coach Boris Becker, himself a three-time Wimbledon winner, Djokovic takes the grass courts on his super hot streak. But the defending champion will be under pressure; to defend his title and bag his fifth straight grand slam win. Since he entered Wimbledon last year, Novak is yet to lose a match in majors.

Among his challengers, Rafael Nadal is giving the grass court event a miss. Third seed Roger Federer is very much in the mix; and if he has any hope of adding to his tally of grand slam titles then this is the place to do it. Djokovic’s path through the draw looks easy enough before he runs into big serving Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals. Then Federer could be waiting for him in the last four stage.

But the toughest challenge for the Serbian could come from the local hero and 2013 champion Andy Murray. The second seed, despite a semi-final ouster last year, has been in devastating form in the majors. Murray comes into this year’s Wimbledon with two runner-up finishes in grand slams under his belt. The British is looking at a potential match against Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals on his side of the draw. The other Swiss great of tennis has added former champion Richard Krajicek to his coaching staff.

Garbine Muruguza on hot pursuit of Serena Williams

In the women’s section, top seed Serena Williams will have to shake off the humiliating French Open final loss to Garbine Muruguza. But the American will take heart from the fact that she had beaten Muruguza in the Wimbledon final last year to lift the crown. This year the defending champion is looking for her seventh Wimbledon title, while the French Open champion Muguruza will try to stop her her from doing that.

Petra Kvitova has had an inconsistent year but the two-time winner is at her very best on grass and could put in an impressive performance during the next fortnight.

In the top half of the draw, former finalist Agnieszka Radwanska is another player who is adept on grass-courts and could produce a deep run in the tournament. Similarly, Dominika Cibulkova has been in good form of late and the former Australian Open finalist could do some damage in the second week of the tournament.