Victoria Azarenka booked her spot in the semi-finals of the US Open after claiming a narrow win over Sam Stosur.
World number one into US Open semi-finals for the first time
Top seed Victoria Azarenka booked her spot in the semi-finals of the US Open after claiming a 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7/5) win over defending champion Sam Stosur.
Stosur, who stunned Serena Williams in the final last year, fought back impressively after a poor first set but was edged out in the final tie-break at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
World number one Azarenka had lost only 10 games on her way to the last eight and was facing a player she had not so much as dropped a set against in six previous meetings.
Stosur made the worst possible start by dropping her serve and was 3-0 down when a very heavy rain shower forced the players off court for more than an hour.
The Australian at least got herself on the board on the resumption but was making too many unforced errors and a backhand drilled well over the baseline handed the set to Azarenka.
Breaks
Stosur began the second set well as she broke her opponent's serve for the first time, although the Australian Open champion did manage to hit back.
But the seventh seed broke again in the seventh game and this time held on to take the set despite heavy pressure from her opponent.
Stosur displayed her never-say-die attitude again in the third set as she twice hit back after being broken to force a deciding tie-break.
Stosur made a terrible start to the breaker as she lost the first four points and although she recovered three straight away, Azarenka ultimately held on to take the win in two hours and 23 minutes.
"I think we both showed some excellent tennis. You could feel the pressure all the time. We really both gave it our all, fought really hard, kept making each other run like crazy," Azarenka said.
