Victoria Azarenka upsets Vera Zvonareva to reach the final of Sony Ericsson Open
World number eight Victoria Azarenka of Belarus continued to surprise tennis fans around the world as she defeated world number three, Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the semi-final of Sony Ericsson Open at Miami, Florida on Thursday
evening. The Belarusian took just one hour and sixteen minutes to oust the Russian from the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournament, settling the final score to 6-0, 6-3.
21-year-old Azarenka beat the Russian after suffering two consecutive losses last year, reducing the head-to-head deficit against Zvonareva to 3-6. This was the 11th victory for the Belarusian in the running WTA season,
granting her a place in her first final of the year. It is her second victory over a top ranked player at Sony Ericsson Open; as she defeated the world number two, Kim Clijsters a day ago to reach the semi-finals.
The world number three Zvonareva appeared in no sorts of form during the competition and failed to exhibit her true class. She won just 41 out of a total of 104 points being played in the game, while the rest of 63 points were
bagged by her opponent. The Russian coughed four double faults and never broke Azarenka in the whole matchup, while dropping her serve on five different occasions.
Azarenka was ruthless right from the beginning of the contest, breaking her opponent in every single serve game and winning 82 per cent of her first serve points. Zvonareva’s unforced errors wore her out in the opener and she kept
crumbling under immense pressure from the Belarusian. She dropped her serve three times before submitting the first set to Azarenka at 0-6.
Zvonareva uplifted her game in the next set and served better but was still unable to crack a serve break. Azarenka stung two vital break points and raced to victory by sealing the second set at 6-3 to reach the final at Miami.
She will be facing the former world number one, Maria Sharapova of Russia to have a shot at her sixth WTA title. Sharapova stood victorious against the 21st seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany in the semi-final, defeating her 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.
Tags: