The Korea Herald

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Serena loses in quarters, Azarenka into semis

By Korea Herald

Published : Jan. 23, 2013 - 19:58

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Serena Williams. ( AP-Yonhap News) Serena Williams. ( AP-Yonhap News)
MELBOURNE (AP) ― Serena Williams’ dominating run at the majors is over. American teenager Sloane Stephens is headed to the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Williams injured her back in the second set, hampering her serve, and the 19-year-old Stephens kept her composure in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory on Wednesday.

It was the first loss since Aug. 17 for the 15-time Grand Slam winner, ending a run of 20 consecutive wins. She hadn’t lost a match at a Grand Slam tournament since the French Open, where the first-round exit sparked a resurgence in the second half of 2012 that included titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the U.S. Open and the WTA Championship.

After winning her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, Stephens next plays defending champion Victoria Azarenka. 
Victoria Azarenka reacts after a point against Svetlana Kuznetsova on Wednesday. (AFP-Yonhap News) Victoria Azarenka reacts after a point against Svetlana Kuznetsova on Wednesday. (AFP-Yonhap News)

With her most famous fan sitting in the crowd wearing a shirt reminding her to keep calm, top-ranked Azarenka overcame some early jitters to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-1 in the earlier quarterfinal match on Rod Laver Arena.

After dropping serve in a long fourth game which went to deuce 10 times, Azarenka recovered to dominate the rest of the match against Kuznetsova, a two-time major winner who was floating dangerously in the draw with a No. 75 ranking as she recovers from a knee injury.

Azarenka’s American rapper friend, Redfoo, returned from a concert in Malaysia to attend Wednesday’s quarterfinal match.

Wearing a red sleeveless T-shirt that read “Keep Calm and Bring Out the Bottles,” the name of his next single, Redfoo stood, clapped and yelled “Come on, Vika!” during the tight first set.

Asked if it helped to have her No. 1 fan wearing a keep calm logo, Azarenka said “I was looking more at the part that says ‘Bring out the bottles.’”

Of her game, she added, “I’m just glad I could produce my good tennis when it was needed.”

Williams’ loss was a boost for Azarenka, who lost all five head-to-heads against the American in 2012 and is 1-11 in their career meetings.

In the men’s quarterfinals, 17-time major winner Roger Federer was playing No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a night match and U.S. Open champion Andy Murray was to meet Jeremy Chardy of France.

Novak Djokovic is already through to the semifinals after his 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych on Tuesday night.

The 2-hour, 31-minute victory took exactly half the time of his five-set, fourth-round win against Stanislas Wawrinka.

“It was a great performance. I was hoping to have a shorter match ... just not to go over 5 hours,” Djokovic said, in a comparatively subdued mood after a more routine victory. “It’s always going to be tough against Tomas; he’s an established player. He has a big game, big serve. He can compete against anyone on any surface.”

Djokovic will meet No. 4-seeded David Ferrer in the semifinals.