Kim Clijsters vs. Victoria Azarenka: Semi-Final Preview – Australian Open 2012
Kim Clijsters of Belgium stunned the world number one, Carline Wozniacki, to set-up a date with the third seed, Victoria Azarenka, at the Australian Open 2012 on Tuesday. Azarenka on the other hand bounced back to overpower the Polish number one, Agnieszka
Radwanska, in a three set thriller to reach the semi-finals at this first of the four Grand Slam event taking place on the hard courts in Melbourne, Australia.
Currently ranked 14th in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Clijsters leads the head-to-head series by 4-2 against the Belarusian. However, Azarenka is in great run of form and she stunned the Belgian in their previous meeting
at the Miami WTA Premier event last year. She lost her serve thrice but capitalised on six out of eight break opportunities, sealing the deal with a 6-3, 6-3 victory in 80 minutes.
Clijsters, who was number one in February 2011 but injuries ruled her out from the top-10 at the WTA Premier Rankings, fended off late resistance by the top seeded Dane to secure a final four spot at the Melbourne Park. The Belgian saved only one out of
five breakpoints she came across and coughed 40 unforced errors. However, Clijsters overpowered the Danish number one by cashing in 6 out of 13 break chances and hammering 39 winners. She formulated a first serve share of 68 percent and clinched tremendous
30 out of 42 points on it.
Belarusian number one on the other hand struggled in the opening set against Radwanska. After exchanging several breaks, she dragged the set to a tie-breaker where she was outclassed. Nevertheless, Azarenka made a fitting reply in the following set as she
went on a six games killing spree and equalised the set scores. she then shined again in the decider and clinched the set with three breaks of serve.
"I think it was very important to see how I could adjust after not playing really well in the first set. I completely turned it around, so I'm really, really happy about that," Azarenka said after her match against the Pole.
Azarenka lost her serves five times but broke the Pole’s serve 10 times, after converting 10 out of 17 break opportunities to her advantage. She also clobbered an acceptable first serve share of 68 percent and clicked an impressive 32 out of 57 points on
it.
"Kim is great champion. She knows how to be in the situation, handle big matches," Azarenka said about the defending champion. "You know, for sure she have big chance to be in the final, especially if she going to play like today. She's very consistent.
I think this is her big opportunity here."
The 28-year-old Belgian is in amazing form this season as she cruised into the last four at the Brisbane International, the first WTA event held in 2012. She recreated her 2003 magic at this major hard court tournament and upset Daniela Hantuchova, Na Li
and Wozniacki to reach this spot. Clijsters is expected to breeze past the Belarusian with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 victory over the 22-year-old Belarusian. However, the Belgian needs to reduce the number of unforced errors she commits and improve her defensive skills
in order to dominate against the world number three.
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