Australian Open Preview: The Doubles Final and Ferrer vs. Murray in the Semis

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(Jan. 27, 2011) Andy Murray and David Ferrer will battle it out to complete the men's finals equation on Friday at the Australian Open, while at the other end of the spectrum, four well-known women will duke it out for the doubles crown.

Here's a look at what lies ahead at Melbourne Park on Friday.

Women's Doubles Final

Gisela Dulko (1) / Flavia Pennetta (1) vs. Victoria Azarenka (12) / Maria Kirilenko (12) - As the No. 1 seed, it's no surprise to see Argentina's Dulko and Italy's Pennetta in this spot. They haven't lost a set yet, although they were pushed a bit by third-seeded Liz Huber and Nadia Petrova in a 6-4, 7-5 semifinal match. 

No, the big surprise is that the 12th-seeded Azarenka/Kirilenko combo is still alive with a Grand Slam title on the line.

The Belarusian and Russian have had no problem garnering fans for their matches, considering they are two of the more-searched women on tour, and this is Azarenka's second Australian Open final. She was the runner-up alongside Shahar Peer in 2008. Kirilenko made the semifinals as the No. 15 seed alongside Agnieszka Radwanska a year ago.

The pair knocked off the eighth seed in the third round, then eliminated second-seeded Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the final.

A win here would cement Dulko and Pennetta as the hottest thing going on the doubles tour. The pair took the 2010 WTA Championships title last autumn as the No. 1 seed, and won a total of five titles in 2010.

They were knocking on the door of Grand Slam success last year, reaching the quarterfinals of the French and US Opens and the semifinals at Wimbledon. Another final has been a long time coming for Pennetta. She reached the end of the US Open in 2005 but lost in the final.

Men's Semifinal

Andy Murray (5) vs. David Ferrer (7) - This is the moment for David Ferrer, who has the ironically unintentional distinction of being a Top 10 player from Spain, but no, not that one, as well as the guy whose name looks and sounds more like "Federer" than anyone but Federer himself.

With the colossal upset of No. 1 Rafael Nadal now in his rear view mirror, Ferrer must seize the moment against Murray, who is trying to live up to the hype bestowed on him by a kingdom starved for tennis winners. After all, they basically invented the sport. 

Murray knows a thing or two about stopping the hottest player in the tournament, having already done so in the quarterfinals with his four-set defeat of Alexandr Dolgopolov. Ferrer leads the head-to-head series 3-2, but all three wins are on clay. Murray won easily in their last meeting, a 6-2, 6-2 victory during the round-robin format of the Barclays.

This is Murray's fifth career Grand Slam semifinal. He's 2-2 in them to date, with wins over Nadal in the 2008 US Open and Marin Cilic here last year and losses to Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009 and Nadal last year at Centre Court.

This is Ferrer's second-ever Grand Slam semifinal. He was routed by Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 at the 2007 US Open.

Ferrer
Current Rank: seventh; Season Record: 9-0. 
Career Record 361-212; Career Titles: 10. 
All-Time Australian Open Record: 19-8 
Australian Open History: 2003 – first round; 2004 – second round; 2005 – first round; 2006 – fourth round; 2007 – fourth round; 2008 – quarterfinals; 2009 – third round; 2010 – second round; 2011 – semifinals.

Murray
Current Rank: fifth; Season Record:5-0.
Career Record 271-94; Career Titles: 16. 
All-Time Australian Open Record: 11-5. 
Australian Open History: 2006- first round; 2007 – fourth round; 2008 – first round; 2009 – fourth round; 2010 – finals; 2011 – semifinals.

Head to Head: Ferrer leads 3-2. 2006 Barcelona, Ferrer 4-6(5), 7-6, 6-1; 2006 Canada, Murray 6-2, 7-6(6); 2010 Rome, Ferrer 6-3, 6-4; 2010 Madrid, Ferrer, 7-5, 6-3; 2010 Barclays, Murray 6-2, 6-2.

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