World number three Victoria Azarenka will take on reigning champion, Belgium Kim Clijsters in one of the two 2012 Australian Open Women’s Singles Semi-Final’s after both winning their respective Quarter-Final encounters on Tuesday.
Azarenka advanced to her first semi-final appearance at the year’s first grand slam and moved one step closer to claiming her maiden grand slam singles title following a three set 6-7 6-0 6-2 victory over Pole eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
Whilst Clijsters, the tournament 11th seed made her way into her seventh semi-final appearance down here in Melbourne following a hard fought straight sets 6-3 7-6 victory over world number one Caroline Wozniacki in a match which lasted one hour and 45 minutes.
Belarusian Azarenka needed just over two hours to move through to the final four but did it the hard way as she lost the opening set to her under-rated opponent out on Rod Laver Arena.
However Azarenka, 22 put behind her losing the opening set and dominated the remainder of the match (hitting 39 winners to Radwanska’s 16) as she won 12 of the next 14 games to move through to her maiden semi final appearance in Melbourne.
“I think it was very important to see how I could adjust after not playing really well in the first set. I completely turned it around, so I’m really, really happy about that.” Azarenka said at her after match media conference.
Azarenka will face reigning champion Kim Clijsters in the next round following the Belgium 11th seed quarter-final victory against Dane Wozniacki whose bid for a maiden grand slam title ended on day nine of the tournament.
Played in searing heat out on Rod Laver Arena Clijsters needed all her strength and relied on her experience and extraordinary tie-break records at grand slam to move into the next round.
Following taking out the first set in relatively ease Clijsters was seemingly headed in a similar direction in the second set as she lead 5-2 before Wozniacki called on her fighting spirit and won five of the next six games to send the game into a tiebreak.
Both ladies went toe to toe but it in the end it was Clijsters that hit the all important winners when it most counted as the Belgium made it a perfect nine from nine tie-breaks at the Australian Open and 19 out of 23 overall in grand slams.
Tagged with: Appearance, Australian Open, Break Records, Caroline Wozniacki, Champion, Eighth Seed, Final Four, Final Victory, Grand Slam Singles Title, Grand Slam Title, Kim Clijsters, Melbourne, Open Women, Opponent, Remainder, Rod Laver, Rod Laver Arena, Straight Sets, Tie Break, Victoria Azarenka