Victoria Azarenka overcomes Kim Clijsters to reach the final – Australian Open 2012
Sheer dismay for the Belgian tennis fans, as the defending champion, Kim Clijsters, lost her semi-final matchup at the Australian Open against the belligerent third seed Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka on Thursday. 11th seed Belgian hung in the contest for two hours and 12 minutes before eventually succumbing in the final set to the world number three, Azarenka. The scores were 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, in favour of the third seed Belarusian, booking her a berth in the title round of the Grand Slam Down Under.
It was an evenly poised contest, with Clijsters named as the hot favourite for winning. The former world number one remained very competitive throughout the match but her error-ridden game play proved a bit too taxing for her. Azarenka played well in the competition but 44 unforced errors from the defending champion eased her course to victory. The 22-year-old Belarusian had a brilliant start to the contest but lost her ways in the middle parts to let her opponent back in business. She kept her focus in the game and kept winning crucial points to bag the final set, booking a spot in her first ever grand Slam final.
After dropping the opening set at 4-6, Clijsters ignited her rage mode and came out firing at the third seed opponent in the next set. She nailed two successive breaks of serve to rocket away to 5-0 and then went on to seal the second set in her favour with a breadstick.
With the contest levelled at 1-1, the final set was bound to be a nail-biter and it actually proved to be one. A series of serve breaks was witnessed by both players but Clijsters kept spilling unforced errors on regular occasions. Azarenka fully capitalized on her opponent’s mistakes and a crucial break point conversion in the eighth game left her serving for the match. The world number three delivered the final blow in the next game to seal an emphatic victory over the defending champion.
Azarenka will take on the winner of the other big match between the world number two, Petra Kvitova and the former champion, Maria Sharapova, in her first major final this weekend.
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