Azarenka Outlasts Venus to Reach Qatar Open Final

February 27, 2015 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Victoria Azarenka won her 14th consecutive match at the Qatar Total Open on Friday, battling back from a set down to beat Venus Williams 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Things did not look good for the Belarus native early on as Venus took advantage of some Azarenka double-faults and rolled 6-2 in the opening frame.

“I had to change something after the first set. Otherwise, it was going very one-way street,” said Azarenka. “And Venus is the type of player that she’s not going to give anything. You got to fight hard and got to try to come up with the solutions.

 I haven’t seen her play like this for awhile, especially in the first set. Although I believe that I wasn’t sharp enough; I wasn’t quick enough. But she was really dictating the pace and really going for her shots. I had to find the window and find that opportunity to kind of get back in the match.”

Azarenka turned it around in the next two sets, winning 12 of the final 18 games, firing a total of 36 winners in the process, to move into the final in Doha.

In the final she will take on Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. She needed just 77 minutes to get past ninth-seeded Carla Suarez-Navarro 6-3, 6-2.

The Czech has won eight of her last 10 matches and fired 24 winners to cruise to the straight-set victory.

“It’s so exciting!” said Safarova, who is seeking the first WTA Premier title of her career. “It’s my first final this year, and I’ve been playing so well in all my matches, so I’m really, really happy.”


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
USTA NTC

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