After defeating Maria Sharapova in the final of the Australian Open to win her first ever Grand Slam, Azarenka pulled off another victory over the Russian in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open in New York 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The Belarusian world number one will now take one Serena Williams in the final, after the American scored a 6-1, 6-2, win over Sara Errani.

Having thrashed Sharapova in the final of the Australian Open earlier this year, Azarenka had the slight edge. And even after going down a set, the battling qualities of the world number came to the fore to pull off an impressive win.

"I felt like towards the end of the first (set) I was kind of getting a little bit better, trying to find the momentum and getting more and more comfortable in the match," Azarenka told reporters. "So even though I lost the first set I felt like it was close.

"I had a few opportunities, I missed them. But once it finished, I kind of thought that I had to turn it around and start from zero like it's a new match."

The Belarusian's serve was her biggest weapon, with Sharapova finding it difficult to put pressure on her opponent's serve. "I think I served much better," Azarenka said. "It was more commitment from me.

"I felt like I was creating those opportunities starting from my serve, which probably wasn't really the case at the beginning. I was just trying to place it well, not really going with the serve, with a plan on what I'm going to do next. So I think that was a big change from my side on my serve."

Sharapova was disappointed to throw away the advantage, after looking like she had everything under control by taking the first set. "It's frustrating, but it's the game of tennis," the French Open champion said. "A lot of swings in the match today.

"Certainly had the lead and the advantage, but she picked up her game. In the third I think a lot of it had to do with the returns. I didn't do much on her service games.

"She was winning them pretty easy. On mine they were quite long and just making too many errors not putting any pressure on her. So that's, I think, the most frustrating part."