Azarenka gives Stosur a set, but takes her down in deciding tiebreak

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Wilson Blade 9

After winning the second set, Samantha Stosur raised our hopes that she could finally beat Victoria Azarenka for the first time in their seven meetings, and in the thrilling third set she recovered from 1-3 down to 4-4 and from a devastating 0-4 in the tiebreak to 5-5. But with a nice drop shot, world No.1 Azarenka earned her first match point and finished the job right away, 6-1 4-6 7-6(5).

After just nine minutes of play in the first quarterfinal of the 2012 US Open, top seed Azarenka raced to a 3-0 lead facing the defending champion, against whom she was victorious in straight sets in all their six previous meetings. The rain then started falling and play was suspended for one hour and 17 minutes, but when the match resumed Azarenka just continued where she started and eased through the first set 6-1. The seventh-seeded Stosur was determined to stop the unfavorable tradition and won her first set against Azarenka in 14 tries, when a crucial break in the seventh game of the second set earned her a confidence-boosting win over Azarenka, whose 2012 record on hard surfaces coming into the match was an astonishing 30-2, while at this US Open her scorelines leading up to the quarterfinals look like this: 6-0 6-1, 6-2 6-2, 6-0 6-1, 6-2 6-2. As described in the introduction, Azarenka had the edge in the third set and is now 7-0 career against Stosur.

Azarenka’s semifinal opponent will be either Maria Sharapova or Marion Bartoli, whose quarterfinal is now suspended due to rain. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

3 COMMENTS

  1. The third set (the only set I got to watch) was an absolute thriller!! Behind Serena, Vika is my favorite competitor. She is so tenacious. I love it! I have nothing against Sam but for some reason I like to watch her game get deconstructed by opponents who know how to take it apart. I.e Serena, Vika, Venus, Maria

    I’m looking forward to the potential Vika and Maria semi and I’ll be pulling for Vika! Sharapova just doesn’t do it for me. Love her fight and that really is about it. Vika has everything I look for in a tennis player minus the serve. Movement, forehand, backhand, net play, solid overhead, etc

    I would also love to see the quirky Bartoli advance to the semis. Since she beat Justine in the semis of Wimby 2007 and then lost to Venus I have been a fan since then. She’s different is also a ferocious competitor.

  2. Pleased at least that Stosur showed she could compete with Azarenka. If she is to have any chance of any more slams which I would love to see but rather doubt, Azarenka will be one she has to beat. Has to be able to do it against Sharapova too. She actually has a pretty good Grand Slam record against Serena Williams with US Open Final in 2011 and French Open Semi in 2010

    Sharapova Azarenka is a nightmare for me with the ludicrous noise. Hate not being able to hear the sound of the ball. Wish there was a red button option to cut out squealing and screeching without losing the sound of the ball.

  3. Des Platt

    Haha for some reason I’m very much able to tune out the noise when I watch them both play. Maybe because that just comes with playing in this generation. Since I started in 2007, almost every player has some form of grunt. I don’t think too much of it. Most of the time its just part of the exertion level. But Maria and Vika are definitely on another level.

    What I couldn’t stand watching was their matchup a few years ago when Vika wasn’t nearly as powerful, relentless, or as good a mover. It was mindless ball bashing with neither having a significant advantage. But Vika has improved and I like watching her match up with Maria now as she does everything a bit better than Maria other than maybe serve.

    Still fingers crossed for Bartoli.

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