Victoria Azarenka battles past Li Na to reach the semis – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
In a gruelling quarter-final battle of the Mutua Madrid Open, the reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, disposed of the last year’s French Open winner, Li Na, on Friday. The belligerent top seed took one hour
and 54 minutes to wrap up victory at 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, to get a place in the semi-final of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event in Madrid, Spain.
The 22-year-old Belarusian rallied past the world number eight Chinese after being a set and a break down to turn the tables on her. Azarenka dropped the opening set early in the contest to fall back but regrouped immediately in
the following set to cruise to victory. It was her third consecutive victory over the Chinese number one on the WTA International Tour. She dumped her in Sydney, Australia, earlier this year to lift the season-opening title and her Friday’s victory levelled
the head-to-head series at 4-4 against Li.
"She was pretty unbelievable in the first set, hitting all the lines and all the corners, so I didn't really have a chance, especially on the return," Azarenka said. ""There are a lot of things I had to change and come up with
in order to surprise her. I had to turn something around. I don't know if it was confidence or self-belief, or just pushing myself to be better and really wanting to win. I don't know what happened, but I'm just glad I could turn things around."
Azarenka coughed seven double faults in the match but clinched 39 out of 61 points to stay alive in the competition. She had 11 break opportunities but only five conversions proved sufficient for her to drive the eighth seed Chinese
out of the star-studded event. Li could barely register three out of seven break points in the entire matchup to finish on the losing side in the end.
Azarenka is slated to face the fourth seed Pole contender, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the semi-final rounds of the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday. Radwanska registered a twin-sets victory, 6-4, 6-4, against the surprise American qualifier,
Varvara Lepchenko, in the quarter-final brawl on Friday.
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