Serena Comes Back to Beat Azarenka
Serena Williams entered Tuesday’s quarterfinal against Victoria Azarenka having never lost to the Belarus native on grass, and despite a slow start, continued that streak with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win to reach the Wimbledon semifinals.
Down a set, Serena broke through at 2-1 in the second set. She broke Azarenka to take a 3-1 lead, and six games later she found herself with a 3-0 lead in the third set. The world number one American was able to comfortably serve out the remainder of the match and move into the final four.
“It’s been up and down, up and down, but somehow I’m still alive. I don’t know how. I’m just happy to still be here,” said Serena of her run at Wimbledon. “It was really fun out there. I found myself smiling at one point, and I saw Victoria smiling as well. It’s such a great atmosphere to be out here and playing and doing the best that we can. I think we both really enjoyed it.”
Serena will play fourth-seed Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. She holds a 17-2 record in her career against the Russian.
The other semifinal will be played between 13th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and 20th-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza.
Muguruza was the first through to the semifinals on Tuesday, downing 15th-seeded Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-3.
“It’s hard to achieve this, so I’m very proud and happy for Spain also,” said Muguruza. “All this experience helps you a lot and makes you believe that you can do it. So I’m going to be confident and ready for the match.”
Radwanska hung on to beat 21st-seeded American Madison Keys 7-6(3), 6-3, 3-6.
“I couldn’t feel any better, I’m just so happy I managed to stay in that match,” said Radwanska. “It was very tight and I just tried to play it point by point, game by game. That’s how you have to play it and in the third-set, one break was the difference.”
Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles Semifinals:
â–º(1) Serena Williams vs. (4) Maria Sharapova
â–º(13) Agnieszka Radwanska vs. (20) Garbine Muguruza
