Second seed Victoria Azarenka beat Italian Sara Errani in the Brisbane semifinals, while Marion Bartoli advanced when Amelie Mauresmo retired hurt during the first set of their semifinal.
“I’m obviously very happy – I just want to do better than the last time and win my first title,” said the last year’s finalist Azarenka who went past Errani 6-3 6-1 in just over an hour. “I will fight for every point. It’s the last match so you have to give everything you have and stay positive no matter what.”
In the other semifinal, Mauresmo, who beat top seed Ana Ivanovic in the Brisbane quarters, retired trailing 0-4 to fellow Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. During the match, Mauresmo received medical treatment to her left thigh and lower back.
“It’s frustrating and not how you want to end the tournament but I guess it’s more sensible to make sure I’m 100% for Melbourne,” said Mauresmo whose participation in next week’s Medibank International in Sydney has become uncertain.
Azarenka and Bartoli have played just once so far, in the second round of the 2007 Australian Open, and the Belorussian won in straight sets.
