We have another upset at the 2014 Australian Open, as No. 2 seed Victoria Azarenka was ousted in the quarterfinals at the hands of No. 5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Azarenka managed to make it a match by taking the second set, but was soundly dominated in sets one and three, with Radwanska ultimately winning, 6-1, 5-7, 6-0.
Australian Open 2014: Agnieszka Radwanska upsets No. 2 Victoria Azarenka in quarterfinals
Women’s No. 5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska eliminated No. 2 seed Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals at the 2014 Australian Open.
Clive Brunskill
Azarenka had 11 forced errors in the first to Radwanska’s four, but Radwanska faltered in the second, with a whopping 18 of her own to Azarenka’s nine.
It took several break point opportunities, but Radwanska managed to break Azarenka to start the third set. Radwanska held on the second point, and Azarenka became increasingly frustrated. At the conclusion of the set, Azarenka angrily slapped the dead ball back at the net. On the next point, Radwanska jumped to a quick 40-love advantage, aided by Azarenka errors and double faults, and eventually broke her again.
A quick hold for Radwanska was followed by yet another break, with the decisive point coming on another Azarenka double fault. Radwanska easily held serve to win the set and the match. It’s an early exit for Azarenka, who is the defending champion.
The unpredictability continued in the other women’s quarterfinal matchup of the day. No. 20 seed Dominika Cibulkova continued her remarkable play, dominating No. 11 seed Simona Halep from start to finish. Cibulkova won the match, 6-3, 6-0.
Her strong play has been evident many times this tournament already, as she took Maria Sharapova, the No. 3 seed, to the limit and bested her in three sets. Cibulkova has now bested the No. 11 seed, No. 16 seed and No. 3 seed in this tournament.
In the semifinals on the women’s side, Cibulkova will take on Radwanska, and No. 4 seed Na Li will take on No. 30 seed Eugenie Bouchard. Li took down No. 28 seed Flavia Pennetta, while Bouchard scored a huge upset over No. 14 Ana Ivanovic, who eliminated No. 1 seed Serena Williams in the Round of 16.
Both of those matchups will be on Thursday local time. At the time of writing, there are still semifinal spots open on the men’s side, as Andy Murray and Roger Federer have yet to play, and Rafael Nadal, the No. 2 seed, still has to play No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals.
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