Former Grand Slam champions Victoria Azarenka and Elena Rybakina yesterday reached the semi-finals of the season-opening Brisbane International, but in contrasting fashion.
Azarenka took 2 hours, 30 minutes before finally outlasting third seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in the first match on Pat Rafter Arena.
The Brisbane tournament is a warmup for the Australian Open, which the 34-year-old Azarenka won in 2012 and 2013.
Photo: AP
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina was then handed a spot in the last four when her Russian opponent Anastasia Potapova withdrew with a stomach problem after losing the first set 6-1.
Azarenka was in control early as she took the first set with one break of serve, but as the match progressed Ostapenko began to find her range and deservedly leveled.
Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, was comfortable on serve in the third set, while Azarenka struggled to hold hers, but at 5-6 and serving to send the set into a tiebreak, the Latvian cracked and a poor service game handed the Belarusian victory.
Photo: AFP
Azarenka is to play top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the last four after she defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4.
“I thought the quality of tennis was incredible,” Azarenka said. “She was blasting returns, blasting winners, so I had to stick in there. I was looking forward to seeing how my game was going to match up this year, and I think it’s pretty good.”
In the other quarter-final, Rybakina raced to a 4-1 lead when Potapova asked for the trainer to treat what appeared to be a stomach injury.
She played the next two games, but withdrew when 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina took the first set.
Rybakina next faces Linda Noskova, who defeated Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-3.
In the men’s singles, Russian Roman Safiullin beat Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to set up a semi-final against top seed Holger Rune of Denmark, who defeated Australian qualifier James Duckworth 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).
ASB CLASSIC
AP, AUCKLAND, New Zealand
US Open champion Coco Gauff yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the ASB Classic with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Varvara Gracheva of France on a rainy quarter-finals day.
The top seed and defending champion needed only 24 minutes to win the first set and took the match in 52 minutes.
Gauff has not dropped a set at the tournament, and did not drop a set in winning the tournament last year.
Rain delayed the start of the match and was threatening at the end, but Gauff rushed to victory with dark clouds gathering, sending down five aces.
“I thought I served really well, probably the best so far at this tournament, which is something I was really working on in the off-season,” Gauff said. “Last year there was a lot more rain, so I was glad I was able to finish my match.”
Gauff is to play fellow American Emma Navarro in the semi-finals. Fourth seed Navarro beat Petra Martic of France 6-4, 4-3.
Navarro lost to Martic 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 when the pair met in Cincinnati in August last year, but she turned the tables yesterday with an authoritative display, putting 80 percent of her first serves in play and attacking Martic, particularly on her second serve.
“Tennis always keeps us on our toes, so you’ve got to be ready for things like rain delays,” Navarro said. “I was happy with my performance today, played my most comfortable tennis out here.”
Navarro rushed to a 4-0 lead in the second set before Martic claimed a service break, and the match went with serve until Navarro took the match on her third match point.
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