Victoria Azarenka is ready to confront whatever emotion that comes her way as she vows to deal with the straight sets defeat she suffered at the hands of Angelique Kerber in Wednesday’s Australian Open quarter-finals.
Entering into her meeting with the seventh-seeded Kerber owning a commanding 6-0 head-to-head record against her – including victory in the Brisbane final less than three weeks ago – and having dropped just 11 games in her first four rounds in Melbourne, Azarenka was tipped as a heavy favourite, not just for the win but for the Australian Open title.
But Kerber found a new level of aggression and survived enormous shifts in momentum to complete a stunning 6-3, 7-5 rout, hitting 31 winners to just 16 unforced errors in the 105-minute match.
In doing so, Kerber became the first German woman to reach the Australian Open semi-finals since Anke Huber in 1998 and she’s trying to be the first champion from her country to triumph in Melbourne since Steffi Graf won in 1994.
“I can’t describe it in words, I was 0-6 before I came here on court,” said Kerber. “I told myself just play like you play on the practice courts, just believe that you can beat her and I’m so happy I beat her for the first time.”
Kerber delivered a heavy blow to Azarenka, who was bidding to reach her first slam semi-final since September 2013 and add a third Australian Open crown to her resume. The Belarusian ex-world No.1 had been hampered by injuries and looked like she was finally back on track but was halted by a tricky lefty with relentless fight.
“I’m just going to let whatever emotion comes to me. I’m just going to work through it. If it’s sadness, if I need to cry, I may cry. I don’t know. If I need to break something, hopefully I don’t break anything, but I just might. Whatever is natural, is going to come, I’m just going to let it happen today,” an honest Azarenka conceded.
Her reaction is understandable.
Kerber got off to a monster start, breaking Azarenka at love in the first game and claiming a second break on her way to a 4-0 lead.
Azarenka got one of the breaks back and she almost got the second, pushing Kerber to fight for a six-minute hold in the eighth game.
The German lefty got three set/break points in the following game, but a ferocious Azarenka attacked the net and saved all three. It wasn’t enough as Kerber upped the pressure again and she took the set on a long ball from the ex-world No.1.
Azarenka struck 18 unforced errors in the opening set but started the second with a service break and was quickly up 2-0.
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— victoria azarenka (@vika7) January 27, 2016She got another break to lead 5-2 and serve for the set. Azarenka then went up 40-0 to create three set points. But Kerber had other ideas.
The No.7 seed, who turned 28, 10 days ago, crushed her returns, hitting four winners in a row before Azarenka double-faulted to hand over one of the breaks.
It spelled the beginning of the end for the No.14 seed. Azarenka served for the set two games later and had two more set points but some ruthless cross court backhands from Kerber saw her break again to make it 5-all. She sealed the match by winning her fifth consecutive game, wrapping up a tremendous comeback.
“I think the key from this match was that I was playing and I won the match. She didn’t lose it; I actually won it,” said an elated Kerber, who faces Great Britain’s Johanna Konta in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Kerber’s game reflected huge progress made by the German, who was known to be a defensive player and often relied on her own consistency and waited for her opponents to make mistakes.
But the current version of Kerber was attacking with her serve, her lefty forehand and every shot possible, which is something she admits she’s been working on a lot.
“It’s changed. It was not always like this,” said Kerber. “In the past I had a lot of matches where I was hoping, just trying to moving, catching every ball. But against top players, like also Vika, you must go for it.”
On her part, Azarenka blamed herself for not being mentally committed the whole way. She paid tribute to Kerber but also felt she gave her the chance to outplay her.
“From how I felt, I also let my opponent play a little bit. I think it was pretty clear. But she definitely deserve. She took her chances. She went for it. She got the win,” said Azarenka.
“I’ll be disappointed. I should be disappointed. That’s fair enough. But if it’s going to carry on? No. It’s going to be forgotten tomorrow.
“I have improved so much from last year. Taking these three weeks, I have to keep working hard. I’m in the right direction.”
