reuters
London, July 7: Serena Williams remained on course for a ‘Serena Slam’ even though for a brief while Victoria Azarenka threatened to usurp her plans in their Wimbledon quarterfinal duel here Tuesday. In the end, Serena emerged victorious 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a match of sheer class which lasted 127 minutes on the Centre Court.
Hitting three aces in the final game of the match, Serena let out a shriek of delight when Victoria hit a backhand on the tramlines to signal the end of the tie on first match point. But she did not deserve to lose and she matched Serena shot for shot, except in the aces division where the American had 20 while Victoria had only seven.
Also advancing to the last four stage were Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbine Muguruza. Second-seeded Sharapova defeated Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, Radwanska overcame Madison Keys 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-3 while Muguruza trounced Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-3.
But all these matches faded away with the London evening as Serena and Victoria slugged shot for shot. If the Serena serve pulled her out of trouble a number of times, Victoria’s forehand had the American running from corner to corner.
In the end, Serena managed to pull off the great escape act because of her superior firepower and the ability to win the big points. She broke Victoria twice in the second set and then got the most important break of the match in the sixth game of the third set. But the second game of the second set was a classic as it had six deuces before Victoria claimed it with service winner.
Victoria was up love 30 with Serena serving for the match. But then it was not going to be the Belarusian’s day.
