In one of the only matches that was able to start and finish on a rainy Tuesday at the U.S. Open, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka outlasted defending champion Sam Stosur in three sets to advance to the semi-final round.
The 23-year-old from Belarus, who was playing in her first career U.S. Open quarterfinal match, fought through a rain delay and a fierce tiebreaker to win 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (5) and advance to the next round.
The rain delay lasted for 75 minutes and interrupted the first set. Azarenka used a lethal return game throughout the match to counter Stosur's serve and has now beaten her all seven times they have faced each other.
This was the first quarterfinal in the past five years to get decided by third set tiebreaker, the last time being between Venus Williams and Jelena Jankovic.
Azarenka was also guaranteed the No. 1 world ranking no matter how far she advances the rest of the tournament by winning on Tuesday.
In the third set Stosur had a break point before Azarenka attacked aggressively with her serve, scoring an ace that helped bring the momentum back in her favor.
"When you're facing a break point, you don't feel like you're going to hope for a mistake," Azarenka said according to ESPN.com news services. "You have to make it happen. You have to change the momentum. You have to create something that will surprise her. (She) has the momentum going; she's feeling confident. She has a chance. I had to come up and be strong. "So I was like, 'OK. Let's do it. If I miss it, I miss it.' "
The tiebreaker started off easily for Azarenka when she went up 4-0, but Stosur battled back to 5-5 before Azarenka was able to regain the lead on a strategically placed drop shot. The match ended on a booming forehand winner from Azarenka.
This is the furthest the Azarenka has ever advanced at the U.S. Open and she now improves her record to 11-0 in three set matches on the year.
The second set win from Stosur was only the first time the Australian has been able to take a set against Azarenka in six career matchups.
Azarenka will play the winner of the match between Maria Sharapova and Marion Bartoli, which was delayed due to the rain on Tuesday. The match will pick up on Wednesday afternoon with Sharapova down 4-0 in the first set.
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