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Agencies
Doha
Victoria Azarenka maintained her undefeated record against Elina Svitolina, as the two-time Doha champion ousted this week’s top seed 6-2, 6-4 to reach the final four at the Qatar Total Open.
No.8 seed Azarenka improved to 4-0 against Svitolina with her 85-minute victory, which propels her into the 60th WTA semifinal of her career.
In her first match against a Top 20 opponent this season, Azarenka pushed past persistent pain and medical treatment from the trainer to fire 25 winners, more than double the amount from Svitolina.
“I really just tried to focus on what I could do, and not think about anything else, and try to find solutions and use every opportunity I had to play,” Azarenka said on court in her post-match interview.
“I just tried to play point by point and not think about the score, how long it’s going to take to play, if it’s going to be two sets or three sets,” Azarenka added.
“I’m really proud of the way I handled it mentally and how I approached this match.”
Azarenka broke Svitolina in the first game of the match but took her first medical time-out to have her back evaluated during the second game.
The two-time major champion would end up dropping that game, but still had enough zip on her returns to break Svitolina in the top seed’s next two service games and build a 4-1 lead.
Additional treatment from the trainer followed after that game, but Azarenka still maintained her solid form, holding her serve twice more to pick up the one-set lead. Azarenka won three-quarters of points off of Svitolina’s second serve in the opening frame.
Azarenka broke Svitolina three times en route to a 5-2 lead in the second set, but she did not serve out the match in that game, and failed to convert two match points on Svitolina’s serve at 5-3. Nevertheless, serving for the match for a second time at 5-4, Azarenka got it done on her third match point with a backhand winner.
Doha
Victoria Azarenka maintained her undefeated record against Elina Svitolina, as the two-time Doha champion ousted this week’s top seed 6-2, 6-4 to reach the final four at the Qatar Total Open.
No.8 seed Azarenka improved to 4-0 against Svitolina with her 85-minute victory, which propels her into the 60th WTA semifinal of her career.
In her first match against a Top 20 opponent this season, Azarenka pushed past persistent pain and medical treatment from the trainer to fire 25 winners, more than double the amount from Svitolina.
“I really just tried to focus on what I could do, and not think about anything else, and try to find solutions and use every opportunity I had to play,” Azarenka said on court in her post-match interview.
“I just tried to play point by point and not think about the score, how long it’s going to take to play, if it’s going to be two sets or three sets,” Azarenka added.
“I’m really proud of the way I handled it mentally and how I approached this match.”
Azarenka broke Svitolina in the first game of the match but took her first medical time-out to have her back evaluated during the second game.
The two-time major champion would end up dropping that game, but still had enough zip on her returns to break Svitolina in the top seed’s next two service games and build a 4-1 lead.
Additional treatment from the trainer followed after that game, but Azarenka still maintained her solid form, holding her serve twice more to pick up the one-set lead. Azarenka won three-quarters of points off of Svitolina’s second serve in the opening frame.
Azarenka broke Svitolina three times en route to a 5-2 lead in the second set, but she did not serve out the match in that game, and failed to convert two match points on Svitolina’s serve at 5-3. Nevertheless, serving for the match for a second time at 5-4, Azarenka got it done on her third match point with a backhand winner.
