Former champion Maria Sharapova and Belarus's Victoria Azarenka will fight for the Australian Open title and the number one ranking after winning nerve-wracking semi-finals Thursday. Russia's Sharapova gained sweet revenge for her Wimbledon final defeat to Petra Kvitova, after Azarenka survived a second-set collapse against defending champion Kim Clijsters to reach her first major title match.
"I felt like my hand is about 200 kilograms and my body is about 1,000 kilograms," Azarenka said, wiping away tears. "Everything is shaking but that feeling when you finally win is such a relief. I can't believe it's over - I just want to cry."
Both semi-finals were closely fought and impossible to predict, and each went to three tense sets with Sharapova winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and Azarenka beating Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
The Australian Open has heralded a shake-up in women's tennis with Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki set to drop from world number one to four, and with Clijsters now following long-dominant Serena Williams out of the tournament. Azarenka can now claim Belarus's first ever grand slam title in Saturday's final, while resurgent Sharapova gets another shot at breaking a four-year major drought since her previous Melbourne win in 2008.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.