Intense duet ends with a victory dance from Azarenka

Sports Writer

Saturday 8 September 2012

Incessant shrieking and wailing carried over the warm New York air.

Maria Sharapova, left, raced to an early lead but it is Victoria Azarenka who will contest the women's singles final. Picture: EPA

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Stewart Fisher

Nothing untoward had taken place, the only violence had merely been inflicted on a small yellow ball. Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka were meeting in a US Open semi-final and what a racket they made.

The Russian and the Belarusian – this year's French Open and Australian Open champions respectively – cultivate what is euphemistically known as a healthy rivalry and consequently contested this match if their very existence depended on it, their insecurities laid bare for all to see. Sharapova, a vision in cerise, was determined to avenge her defeat in the final at Melbourne and raced to an early lead. Her opponent – clad in luminous yellow – and seemingly spooked by her first time in the last four at Flushing Meadows started off spraying unforced errors all over the place and seeing her tame second serves dispatched to all corners of the Arthur Ashe arena.But having lost the first set 6-3, and suffering an early service break in the second, world No.1 Azarenka suddenly eased. She managed to control herself better and suddenly it was No.3 seed Sharapova who was out of sync.That service action of hers is never far from a breakdown, and although the Russian endured a couple of double faults to serve out for the set with an ace of all things, she failed to consolidate her advantage in the second, losing three of her service games in the face of a renewed Azarenka onslaught. The Belarusian took it 6-2 and led us into a decider.Even toilet breaks became a political act. Sharapova insisted on a 10-minute break before the final set, mainly as an attempt to arrive back on court after her opponent. Neither had lost a single three-set match all year, and this became a blinking contest of epic proportions, every point lost viewed as a catastrophe, every service held a chore, particularly for Sharapova. The Russian hit more winners, and made more unforced errors. Azarenka was the more consistent player and she controlled her will the better. A forehand on the Belarusian's first match point was inches into the tramlines, but she took her second when a Sharapova forehand flew long.It wrapped up Azarenka's 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory in two hours 42 minutes, the 23-year-old arriving in her first US Open final and continuing her quest to be only the second woman to add a senior title to the junior championship she won here in 2005. "I tried not to focus on the score and give whatever it takes," she said afterwards. "I knew my opponent was going to play hard so I just thought I was going to try harder."While Sharapova walked in a surly fashion off the court, Azarenka celebrated with a dance in honour of Redfoo, the tennis coach who is lead singer of pop group LMFAO. Last night Azarenka probably was.

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Intense duet ends with a victory dance from Azarenka

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