Wednesday night saw a battle between the past two Sony Ericsson Open women’s singles title holders – and Victoria Azarenka came out on top, brushing aside defending champion Kim Clijsters 6-3, 6-3 to book her place in the semi-finals. The Belarusian was efficient in breaking Clijsters, converting six of her eight chances. Azarenka had lost four of their five head-to-head matches.
“I think I played a little bit more aggressive [than in the past], played more forward, tried to come in more. That was the biggest difference. And physically I was much more stable today,” Azarenka said afterwards.
The win gives Azarenka her best result of the season; she reached the quarter-finals at Indian Wells and Sydney. The No. 8 seeded Azarenka and 2009 champion now plays No. 3 seed Vera Zvonareva for a chance to reach the Miami final for the second time in three years. “I have to play at a high level, because she's a very consistent player,” assessed Azarenka.
“She's showing some of her best tennis in her life right now, so I definitely have to be aggressive and focused on my game to play forward, and have fun.”
The Russian owns a 6-2 advantage against Azarenka, but the two split their four meetings in 2010 – Azarenka won at the Australian Open and Doha, while Zvonareva won their latest two encounters in Montreal and the WTA Championships.
