It ends in tears for Serena
NAOMI Osaka ended Serena Williams's bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title with an imperious 6-3 6-4 win on Thursday, a victory that booked her spot in her second Australian Open final and left the American great in tears.
In a rematch of their tumultuous 2018 US Open decider, Japan's Osaka underlined her status as the new queen of women's tennis and soaked up the cheers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd as fans returned to the Grand Slam after a five-day lockdown.
“It's just always an honour to play her and I just didn't want to go out really dud. I just wanted to try my best,” she said after her 75-minute match on a steamy afternoon.
“I was a little kid watching her play and just to be on the court playing against her is a dream.”
Osaka, the 2019 champion, will meet Jennifer Brady, who ensured there would be at least one American in the final after battling to a 6-4 3-6 6-4 win over Karolina Muchova in the other semi-final on Thursday.
It will be a rematch of last year's US Open semi-final, where Osaka edged Brady in three sets on the way to her third Grand Slam triumph.
Williams, however, exited in tears after an error-strewn match and with a question mark over her future.
The 39-year-old, who returned to the tour in 2018 after taking time away from the game to give birth to daughter Alexis Olympia, cut her post-match news conference short when she broke down after being asked whether it was a bad day at the office.
“I had so many opportunities ... it was just ... I made too many mistakes there and easy mistakes," said the American.
“Not like .... I was on the run or anything. They were just easy, easy mistakes.
“I don't know. I'm done,” she added before getting up to leave the room.
Brady kept the US flag flying, though, as she steadied in the late match to book her first Grand Slam final.
After needing five match points to break Muchova's resistance, Brady gets to continue a wild Australian adventure that began with 14 days in hard quarantine in the lead-up.
Meanwhile, defending champion Novak Djokovic declared himself fighting fit for the Australian Open final after ending the incredible run of Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev with his “best match” of the tournament on Thursday.
The Serbian world number one eased into his ninth decider at Melbourne Park with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win under the lights at Rod Laver Arena and will battle either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Daniil Medvedev for the title.
“This is the best I felt during the entire tournament,” he told Jim Courier on court.
“Felt great, I could swing through the ball, no pain, just best match so far, and it came at the right time and I'm thrilled to feel this way. Recovery is priority right now.
“I'm feeling the ball well, I'm playing well. I had enough match play, enough practice so right now it's just gathering all the necessary energy for the most important match of the Australian Open.”
GOLD FIELDS expects to increase group capex to almost $1.8 billion (about R26.5bn) in 2021 as spending towards the construction of the Salares Norte mine in Chile peaks and sustainable group capex increases.
Gold Fields expects a total group capex for the year of $1.177bn, and sustaining capital of $538 million, with non-sustaining capex expected to be $639m.
“The largest component of the capex budget for the year is Salares Norte, with the $508m expected to be spent. We expect Salares Norte to be at 70 percent completion by the end of 2021,” said Gold Fields.
The other increases are driven by specific projects, including the tailings facility expansion and underground infrastructure expenditure at South Deep, outside Johannesburg, the second decline at the Wallaby Underground mine at Granny Smith in Australia, and plant modifications at Agnew, also in Australia.
“This increase in sustaining capex will enable us to spend on key projects
that will allow us to sustain our production base of 2 million ounces to 2.5 million ounces for the next eight to 10 years,” said the group.
Construction of the Salares Norte mine began last year and was unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The group expects to produce between 2.3 million attributable ounces and 2.35 million ounces in 2021 with aIl in sustaining costs forecast at between $1 020 an ounce and $1 060 an ounce.
Gold Fields recorded 2.23 million attributable ounces during the year ended December 2020, a 2 percent
year-on year increase and within the revised guidance range of between 2.2 million ounces and 2.25 million ounces.
In May last year, the group downgraded its original guidance after Covid-19 disruptions weighed heavily on South Deep and the Cerro Corona mine in northern Peru.
In tandem with its gold peers, Gold Fields recorded bumper earnings in 2020 with headline earnings surging by more than fourfold to $729m, or $0.83 per share, from $163m, or $0.20 per share in 2019.
A final R3.20 per share dividend was declared, taking the total dividend declared for the year to R4.80 per share up from R1.60 per share a year earlier.
Cash inflow from operating activities jumped 41 percent to $1.257bn in 2020 compared with $893m in 2019, driven mainly by higher profit before royalties and taxation. However, the second wave of Covid-19 infections, which started in late 2020, took a terrible toll at Gold Fields.
“As at February 15, 2021, nine of our employees or contractors have passed away as a result of their Covid19
infections, eight of them at South Deep,” said the group.
In addition, Josephat Zvaipa, the chief operating officer, at Galiano Gold, joint venture partners in the Asanko mine in Ghana, died after contracting the virus.
Gold Fields said so far 2 705 employees had tested positive for Covid19, of which 170 were currently active cases, with 5 receiving care in hospitals.
Gold Fields share price closed 3.61 percent lower at R125.79 on the JSE yesterday.