If Youzhny had easily dispatched Melzer in the last round, Lopez would pose no threat at all to him to reach the austrlian open finals on Saturday. The russian was under pressure on several points against home town favourite Melzer yesterday but overcame the odds but silencing the partisan crowd. I think if youzhny continues to play this well, he might have a real go at the french open when it kicks off in two days time especially if his backhand is that powerful and precise.

Loez has had an easy route to the semi finals by defeating not so tough opponents and judging by his results thus far, the ninety-something ranked player has proved to be effective against the smaller name players but a complete flop when he takes on the real challenge. Today, he will be brought back to earth by  a n in-form Youzhny and all in fairness, the match could barely last an hour.

Youzhny 2-0 @ 1.83 with bet365