Victoria Azarenka saw her magnificent run come to an end at the Miami Open Thursday. A physical issue with her leg and her game being affected by outside forces led to her exit in the semifinals against Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Stadium Court at Crandon Park Tennis Center. It was Stephens’ second time defeating the three-time champion of the tournament advancing to the finals.
The reigning U.S. Open champion dominated the Belorussian who dealt with a rain delay unable to get into action the next day against the American. While Stephens had been struggling since September, the world number 12 stood on a four-match winning streak not dropping a set in over a week. Azarenka hoped to have a better result against Stephens who she has beaten three times in the past wanted to not only get back into winning form against her but redeem herself from her loss over two weeks ago. A spot for the former number one in the finals would set things up for a potential fourth title.
Stephens opened the set but fought the wind that was slowing down the ball dramatically. Azarenka handled the situation winning break points before coming out a winner. She played with the wind on her service game putting enough speed on the ball but finding her opponent playing the return. They went to deuce where to breaks, the 28-year-old finished with a cross-court smash. Azarenka achieved the double break as Stephens consistently hit the ball long of the baseline giving the former champion leverage on the score.
Stephens got going in the fourth breaking Azarenka with more focus on keeping her returns inside the court before nailing the game point on the line. Returning to the first serve continued to rattle the American relying on her second serve to remain competitive. Opportunities for her were plentiful with five AD point attempts that took her 11 minutes to succeed. It was soon a tie game as Stephens made a serious comeback from 0-3. Azarenka answered back with a break from her end regaining the lead 4-3 unwilling to give up the lead.
Despite having a majority of the crowd working against her, the Belorussian came through in the eighth playing through deuce to go for the set in the ninth. Winning every point on the break, Azarenka nailed down her first shutout completing the set in 45 minutes. The 28-year-old maintained her first serve near 70 percent despite having trouble winning points at the tail end of the set. It was Stephen’s overall struggle on both the serve and returns that gave her opponent the edge to be a set up.
The second continued to be in the hands of Azarenka who gained a 2-0 lead on Stephens wanting to get out front and stay there. The American would let her keep that comfort for herself erasing the gap to level the set at two all. The hard work resulted in a hold in the fifth that gave her the lead sending cheers around the stadium. It was a momentum change for the American who held in the sixth taking a four-game winning streak to widen the gap. She made it 5-2 showing that the set was hers to win making it clear of her intentions to force a deciding set against the former world number one. She made it happen doing work on the serve that ended the set in 39 minutes
The competition was on for both of them to make moves in the third as a big moment hung in the balance. When Azarenka returned from a bathroom break to get refreshed, the set was on with the Belorussian serving to bring a start to a huge finish. Just when it looked as if she had her focus back, she left the door open for Stephens to hunt for the break. She got it after a couple of breaks that handed the 24-year-old her seventh straight win. The wins continued to roll for the American while the 28-year-old complained about the interruptions in the stands which umpire Marjia Cicak said she couldn’t fully contain.
It was becoming a downfall for her as Stephens continued to dominate winning the fourth in the set. She went for a fifth but the Belorussian found back forcing deuce in the hopes of bring an end to the shutout. With a lot of fight through three breaks, she managed to end the struggle for a moment avoiding being blanked in the match. It was clear that Azarenka’s leg was bothering her which saw Stephens rolling to a 5-1 hold playing for the match. With the end near, the American gained match point three time getting it done with a ball landing long and wide completing her day after two hours and nine minutes.
The Belorussian had a dismal end to the third where the return side of her game suffered greatly giving Stephens plenty of room. She finished winning 80 percent of her shots and four of six from the second serve. “I knew I had to just stay in it and obviously playing because Victoria such a great champion,” Stephen’s said to Andrew Krasny after the match. “I just kept battling and battling and it finally paid off in the second. From there I was a little bit more comfortable.”
She’ll await the winner between American Danielle Collins and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday.
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