The women’s singles draw is nearing its conclusion as the Coco Gauff faces off against Aryna Sabalenka while Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska takes on Qinwen Zheng.
Meanwhile, Aussie star Matt Ebden is in action alongside soon-to-be-crowned doubles No. 1 Rohan Bopanna in the men’s doubles semi final against Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen.
Follow along for live updates from Day 12!
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WOODY’S BIG AUSSIE WORRY
Australian tennis legend Todd Woodbridge felt the need to close the roof on Rod Laver Arena could come back to bite Matt Ebden.
Ebden and Rohan Bopanna are in action against Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen in the semi finals of the men’s doubles.
It was Ebden and Bopanna who cruised and took the first set 6-3 with the roof open.
However, play had to be halted at 1-1 in the second set due to inclement weather as the roof was then closed to keep the match going.
From that moment onwards, it was Machac and Zhizhen who gained the ascendancy as they went on to take the second set 6-3, forcing the contest to a deciding third set.
It was exactly as Woodbridge predicted on Nine.
“I like the breeze, the roof open, for Bopanna and Ebden,” Woodbridge said.
“I think they’re a better combination with that.
“I think this (roof closure) actually helps Machac and Zhang. They’re bigger, cleaner ball strikers off the ground. It definitely will help them on serve and give them another cleaner look at some of the returns.
“Matt Ebden was serving with a bit of help from the breeze, now he gets no help from the breeze.”
Woodbridge even described Ebden’s serve as “a little more vulnerable” with the roof closing.
However, Ebden and Bopanna regrouped in the third set and surged ahead to a 5-2 lead as it looked like they would cruise to victory.
But Machac and Zhang refused to lie down, holding serve in the eighth game to make it 5-3 before securing the vital break in the following game.
Their their hard work to find a way back into the semi final contest was then on the verge of being undone when Ebden and Bopanna secured three match points at 0-40.
Remarkably, Machac and Zheng fired back thanks to some big serving from the latter to even the deciding set at 5-5.
FOLLOW ALL THE ACTION IN OUR LIVE BLOG BELOW.
DAY 12 ORDER OF PLAY (all times AEDT)
Rod Laver Arena
Men’s doubles semi-finals (not before 1pm):
T. Machac (CZE) and Z. Zhang (CHN) v R. Bopanna (IND) and M. Ebden (AUS)
S. Bolelli (ITA) and A. Vavassori (ITA) v Y. Hanfmann (GER) and D. Koepfer (GER)
Women’s singles semi-finals (not before 7:30pm):
No. 4 Coco Gauff (USA) vs No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
Dayana Yastremska (UKR) vs No. 12 Qinwen Zheng (CHN)