2012 Sony Ericsson Open Day 8 Results: Victoria Azarenka Can’t Be Stopped — Or Can She?

Victoria Azarenka came scarily close to being dropped in Key Biscayne.

The world No. 1 lost an opening set 6-1 to world No. 16 Dominika Cibulkova.

Azarenka served seven double faults and won just 40 percent of her second service points. She only saved 43 percent of her break points, but luckily for her, Cibulkova only saved 22 percent of her break points.

In the end, Azarenka squeaked into the quarterfinal round with a 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory.

The past 25 wins weren’t all the biggest challenge for the young Bulgarian, but No. 26 is one she will surely remember.

The match took two hours and 49 minutes. Azarenka will face No. 7 seed Marion Bartoli of France in the next round.

No. 8 seed Li Na also pulled through in a three-set match to advance to the quarterfinals. The Chinese tennis star beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, in two hours and one minute. Both players had five double faults and Lisicki was the only one to tally an ace.

Nole. Nole. Nole. 60 Minutes fame one night, winning another match the next. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic won in straight sets against his longtime pal and countryman Viktor Troicki.

From the Miami Herald:

“It’s interesting having a childhood friend who became No. 1 in the world,” Troicki said of Djokovic, nicknamed Nole. “From the time he was young he had a goal to be the best, and everything he did was to achieve it. But, honestly, he hasn’t changed. He is the same person, always friendly, always making jokes.”