Australian Open gallery, Day 9

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 15:18

As the Aussie Open approached the business end of proceedings there were just four main draw singles matches scheduled on the Rod Laver Arena on day nine.

The day session was dominated by the first womens quarter Vera Zvonareva against Marion Bartoli followed by the mens quarter-final between defending champ Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick.

Zvonareva pounded Bartoli into submission, winning 11 games on the bounce from 1-3 in the first set to come away with a 6-3, 6-0 victory. Read what our blogger made of it.

The recurring theme of unfinished matches continued when Djokovic had to quit his contest with Roddick complaining of leg problems and heat exhaustion.

The night session finally gave the fans some value for money when Dinara Safina and Jelena Dokic served up a cracker of a quarter-final.

Despite looking exhausted for much of the contest, the reborn Aussie clinched the second set and had her chances deep into the decider before world No.3 Safina clawed her way into the semis.

All the talk of late finishes had clearly had an effect on Roger Federer as he lined up against young Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro.

Federer wasted no time booking his semi against Roddick by producing one of his most dazzling performances for some time to crush Del Potro 6-3, 6-0, 6-0.

Strewth.

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