Victoria Azarenka wins tight three setter against Jelena Ostapenko

Victoria Azarenka gives a smile after her three set win against Jelena Ostapenko at the Brisbane International

Victoria Azarenka went the distance for the first time and was victorious at the Brisbane International on Friday. The former world number one used her experience with depth to take down Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 at Pat Rafter Arena at the Queensland Tennis Center. It was full effort battle between the two stars, with the 34-year-old entering her 64th career semifinal.

The two clashed for the third time and were the first to come on hard courts. Both came out hot in Brisbane, with one finding her comfort, and returning to the tournament. The other made her debut strong, defeating Camila Giorgi and Karolina Pliskova. Though her round three match took much more effort, the Latvian was in to change tactics against the former world number one. The 34-year-old took down Clara Burel in straight sets, reeling the competition in late against the French star. Having two wins against Ostapenko, the charm of getting a third would put her into the semifinal.

Azarenka allowed a point on serve and went for the break in the second due to Ostapenko’s frustrations on the first serve. The eighth seed backed it up for a comfortable 3-0 run, hoping that she could keep the heat on her opponent. The third seed succeeded in holding serve in the fourth. Due to a second double fault in the match from Azarenka, the Latvian took control during deuce, scoring the break.

Azarenka reestablished her gap in a break back to love, playing in the middle of the court and firing the ball deep. The tactics gave her a 5-2 control of the set, anticipating a potential double break to end it. Ostapenko remained firm on serve delivering the winners to get a third win. Azarenka put things into high gear and built three set points to force Ostapenko to err and end the set in 36 minutes. Errors were the difference maker for the eighth seed, who only had three while the Latvian reached double digits.

On serve in the second set, Ostapenko rallied to lead the way on serve and try to turn the tables. They went through five holds of serve until the sixth where Ostapenko dug in deep with her skills and emotions to gain a break. Azarenka fought through three deuces, but the winners that the Latvian fired were too much to manage. Seeing a two-game gap, the third seed backed up the break and sat a game from forcing a decider.

The 34-year-old handled the pressure on serve in the eighth, smashing big shots deep to extend the set forward. Ostapenko got the job done, forcing a last error from Azarenka in the ninth to take the second in 44 minutes. Both launched 25 winners in total in the set and committed very few errors, but despite nine aces from Azarenka, Ostapenko outscored her on points.

Azarenka was first to strike in the third set, with Ostapenko following along despite challenges. They held serve through four games before the fifth became highly contested. It was the eighth seed, who suffered a break, but scored the break back to remain even at three-all. The seventh game stood out as the biggest tug of war for the lead, with both players playing nine deuces. Azarenka managed to find the winner on the court to take the lead.

Ostapenko refused to let anything slip away on serve and made it four-all with the break in hand. The eighth seed got the upper hand and on the last point, got the ball over the net. Ostapenko refused to believe that the ball bounced only once on her opponent’s side and got into it with the umpire. Despite her anger to never have her officiating her matches, she steadied her service to make it five-all. The 34-year-old notched her third shutout on serve, winning the 11th and a shot to play for a place in the semifinal.

Azarenka took advantage of a double fault from Ostapenko, gaining two match points to see the return go into the net ending a dramatic 2-hour and 30-minute fight. “With Jelena, sometimes you have to put on helmet and try to stay in there,” said Azarenka joking. “She’s an incredible player, we have seen it many times and she’s a grand slam player, and proved many times that she can beat anybody on any given day and is always very dangerous.”

With a major obstacle out of her way for the third time, she’ll go into Saturday’s semifinal awaiting Aryna Sabalenka or Daria Kasatkina.