By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Victoria Azarenka gave Serena Williams all she had, but in the end she was too generous when it mattered.
Photo Source: Christopher Levy
Victoria Azarenka had it. Then she had it again. Then, suddenly, heartbreak.
In their first meeting in over a year, Serena Williams saved three match points to get by the rapidly improving Azarenka, 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(1), notching her 26th consecutive victory and setting up a quarterfinal with either Carla Suarez Navarro or Ana Ivanovic.
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The World No. 1, who hasn’t lost since her second match at last year’s WTA Championships in Singapore, found herself in loads of trouble on several occasions, but she was able to wiggle her way out to secure her third consecutive victory against Azarenka, and her 14th in 17 career meetings.
Williams struck 49 winners against 53 unforced errors, while Azarenka notched 20 winners against 38 unforced.
After a first set that featured no breaks of serve, two uncharacteristic swing volley misses by Williams gave Azarenka a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker. A big, unreturnable serve gave Azarenka a 5-1 lead, but Williams suddenly surged and rallied to take the next six points and the set.
With momentum on her side it looked as if Williams might be off to the races as she took the lead in set two, but she was broken while serving at 3-2 and again at 3-4 before Azarenka would claim the set.
In a see-saw decider Williams raced out to a 3-0 lead before Azarenka rallied back to level at 3-all then saved two break points to level again at 4-all.
Azarenka then valiantly saved a match point while serving at 4-5 when a bold forehand down-the-line under pressure won her the point.
But the real—and crazy—drama occurred in the final game after Azarenka had broken Williams for a 6-5 lead. With Azarenka holding triple-match point, Williams rallied to win the next two points before Azarenka imploded, serving three consecutive double-faults to allow Williams to win the game.
With her confidence shot, Azarenka would never recover. She never had a chance in the tiebreaker as Williams cruised to victory, 7-1.