Victoria Azarenka dodges Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis – Apia International Sydney 2012
Third seed Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka, bounced back from a set down to oust her eighth seed Pole opponent, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the semi-final contest at the Apia International Sydney tournament. On Thursday, Both contenders
went face-to-face in Sydney Olympic Park and battled for almost two hours before the world number three, Azarenka, nailed down her rival. An epic three-setter that ended up with a cumulative score 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in favour of the third seed was witnessed by
colossal crowd in the arena.
Azarenka led head-to-head scores with 5-3 before this encounter and the psychological advantage seemed to have played its part, for the game at the sporting ground for both players was almost equal. With so much experience of playing
against one another, it was obvious that match will not end up in straight sets, as both players were in exciting form throughout the tournament. Radwanska had an edge after flabbergasting everyone by defeating the world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, in
the quarters. It was sure that Azarenka will face a very tough battle to plonk Radwanska, who was fuming with confidence.
Radwanska held her serve in the first game of the match. Three consecutive breaks in the subsequent games lifted the tempo of the match. The Pole continued to hammer her opponent and held her serve to take 4-1 lead. She broke once
again and managed to hold on to her serve after surviving a deuce. First set was over in quick succession and crowd was ecstatic to witness the second favourite dominating the show.
Both players started the second set cautiously and hung on to their respective serves for the first seven games. The Pole was looking to drag the match into the tie-breaker situation because she was not improvising at all to dismantle
the concentration of her opponent. Her laid back approach backfired and Azarenka broke in the eighth game to take the lead that was good enough to finish off the set with a subsequent successful serve game.
Vigilant start to the third set witnessed both players hanging on to their first four serves. Radwanska looked a bit tired as well and her fatigue cost her game, as she gifted the serve game to her opponent. Successive breaks for
the third seed earned her the massive lead that was clearly not recoverable with those tiring legs of Radwanska.
Victoria Azarenka finished off the game in style and marched into the grand finale where she goes head-to-head with the Chinese fourth seed, Li Na.
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