Serena master-class silences Azarenka
Serena Williams produced a master-class to reach the semi-finals
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Tuesday, 30, Jun 2009 09:27
By James Christie.
Number two seed Serena Williams brought her A-game to Centre Court as she overwhelmed the noisiest player left in the draw.
Her 6-2 6-3 defeat of world number eight Victoria Azarenka can only be described as an awesome display of power tennis in a match that offered far more quality than the Safina against Lisicki contest which preceded it.
Azarenka showed no nerves early on - her long legs often taking her imposingly to the service line by the time her opponent managed to get a racket on her serve.
But her banshee-style shrieks became increasingly desperate as Williams, showing the full range of her skills, broke her in the sixth game.
This was soon followed by a superb down-the-line backhand, hit with such force that she was on her knees by the time the stroke was completed.
Surprisingly, this brought not a flicker of emotion to the face of the unusually subdued number two seed.
But she couldn't resist crying "Come on!" when clinching the first set 6-2 with an aggressive yet error-free performance - proof of how much winning a set against a dangerous opponent means to her.
The bookmakers' odds reflected their belief that Azarenka was the one player left in the tournament capable of preventing yet another all-Williams final.
Yet defeat for the Belarusian seemed odds-on when two double faults meant she had to survive a break point in only her second service game of the second set.
Happily for her, the ruthlessness she used to weather that crisis was also evident when she broke Serena's serve for a 3-2 lead, raising hopes that she could take the match the full distance.
But then it was Williams' turn to break and show her title rival just how to hold serve from the Royal Box end.
The sight of the underdog bouncing the racket on the balding Centre Court so it almost rebounded in her face was becoming a familiar one as the match neared the hour mark.
Her frustration was understandable as another double fault allowed Serena to serve out the match easily from 5-3 up.
The two-time Wimbledon champion will be hoping to take her awesome first-set form into the semi-finals.
If she does she could well go on to end sister Venus' ambition of winning three All England titles in a row.