Victoria Azarenka vs. Maria Sharapova: Semi-finals preview – US Open 2012
Reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka will encounter the Russian beauty Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals of the US Open 2012 at the hard courts of Flushing Meadows.
The Belarusian native dominated the head-to-head series with a 5-4 lead. The Russian met her rival for the first time at her home ground in the second round of Kremlin Cup in Moscow in 2007. Azarenka defeated Sharapova in straight
sets, 7-6(9), 6-2. Next in 2009, Sharapova avenged her initial defeat and gave the Belarusian a shocking upset, 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5 in the second round at the China Open.
The matches between the two contenders kept shifting sides, as none of the two has dominated the head-to-head encounter more than two tournaments in a row. Azarenka ruthlessly smashed the Russian in the final of the Australian
Open held earlier this year. The 23-year-old tremendously improved her game plan and mounted to world number one spot; however, in the last tournament Azarenka received a straight sets disappointment, 6-1, 6-4 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart,
Germany.
The top seeded, Azarenka swiftly made her way to the top and prevailed over all her contenders in straight sets at the running US Open Championships. She faced a tough encounter at the hands of the Aussie number one, Samantha Stosur,
6-1, 4-6, 7-6(5), in the quarter-finals.
Azarenka started her present year with her surprising victory at the Australian Open Championship and she has maintained her class since then at all the major tournaments. At the French Open, she received an unexpected defeat in
the fourth round by Dominika Cibulkova. At the Wimbledon Championships, the second seeded Azarenka received a straight sets upset at the hands of the Serena Williams, who later battled forward and secured the coveted Grand Slam title. She secured a bronze
medal against the Russian participant, Maria Kirilenko, at the Olympic Games last month.
The 25-year-old Russian professional’s graph follows a similar pattern. In comparison to Azarenka, she managed to clinch the winning title at the French Open by dumping Sara Errani, 6-3, 6-2. At Wimbledon this year, the top seeded
Sharapova received a deplorable upset at the hands of the 15th seeded German, Sabine Lisicki, in the fourth round. However, the right-hander Russian was unable to counter the supremacy of the American Serena Williams at the London Olympics due to
health issues but successfully bagged a silver medal for her country.
At US Open, the Russian tennis professional exhibited her admirable run of form and subjugated all her opponent in an assertive manner. Nonetheless, like the Belarusian she had a hard challenge in the quarter-finals against the
French veteran Marion Bartoli, defeating her in three sets in the end
Keeping the two professionals’ performances in view, the semi-finals match will surely be the most interesting encounter of the US Open this year, as both have an equal chance to prevail over one another. However, Azarenka can
surely snatch away the winning trophy as she is currently in a better form than the Russian is!
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